The PERHAPANAUTS are going to ALBUQUERQUE~!

okay...

so craig and i are packing our bags and heading out wests where we'll be guests this coming weekend--june 21rd-23rd--at the ALBUQUERQUE COMIC EXPO in beautiful Albuquerque New Mexico! we'll be staying with some old friends of ours--walter and jesse...bazinga! that'd be cool though...

but we are heading out a day early to try to take in some of the sights and soak up some of that awesome southwest vibe! 

if you're in the area, of course, we hope you'll stop by and see us! we'll have all the trades and packages of all five DANGER DOWN UNDER!s and assorted other Perhapa-shwag--as well as some all-new HAPS bumper stickers for you to slap on your car and let everyone know you support the paranormal!

i'm really looking forward to meeting and getting a chance to chat with folks from the new mexico/arizona area. aside from a few shows years ago in texas, i really haven't spent much time in the southwest. craig and i are hoping that maybe we can find a few new perhapa-fans to add to our ever-growing family. so come on out and say hey!

hope to see ya there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

though i try not to mention sad things too much here on the blog, we lost my dad about this time last year. and, though it has made this past year a little lonelier, i know that he was itchin' to meet up with my mom, who had taken the journey 6 years before him.

and while i was somewhat pre-occupied this past weekend with the albany comic con, it still made father's day an extra sad event for me and my brother. we miss him. dad is on our minds a lot.

but it's my mother who has been in my mind these past few weeks even moreso.  

my mom was a wonderful person; just a very positive, very loving, very friendly person. she was a warm and compassionate mom--truly, my best friend and supporter growing up--an active member of her community, and a school teacher whose former students remember her with happy smiles and stories.

so you wouldn't think that sweet, silver-haired sandy dezago would have a dark secret...but she did.

mom loved true crime. a voracious reader, mom would buzz through three books a week, easy. and while she'd enjoy various bestsellers and works of fiction from time to time, her deepest passion was for true crime, namely the factual accounts of murders and murder investigations. years before CSI and the nationwide fascination with forensics and crime scene investigations came into vogue, my mom already knew how to do all of that stuff. she was on the cutting edge of the latest evidence gathering techniques when the oj trial was in full swing. me, my brother and my dad would turn to look at this strange woman who was sitting in our living room, rattling off names of chemicals and scientific procedures as she 'solved' the case ahead of time. i truly believe in an after-life and i believe that, in it, we are free to pursue the things we are passionate about. if that is the case, i'm sure that my mom's solving crimes in heaven. *   (*yes, i know that brings up some interesting questions, but lemme go with this.)

in the past few weeks, however, my mom has been 'possessing' me--the good kind, i mean. like when molly takes over some unconscious person. my mom's been tweaking my own fascination with true crime and mystery, steering me towards some unsettling tv shows and documentaries, making me want to watch the biography channel a lot. 

like most people, mom was horrified by the crimes, astounded by the techniques that talented police and law enforcement officials used to track down and capture these disturbed individuals...but also, fascinated and intrigued by what led these deviants to carry out their twisted nightmares. isn't that what we all wonder when we read these reports; where is that line and what made them cross it...?

lately i've dvr'd and watched reports on;

ed gein

ted bundy

the green river killer

the btw killer

and found myself on the edge of my seat with each of these chilling documentaries.

and it's all mom's fault.

i love her for it, of course, and feel her watching with me. weird topic to be bonding with my mom over, i know. and, naturally, i have a ka-billion other memories of my mother that are nothing but bright happy days of laughter and love. but whenever i get that urge to look in on the dark side of humanity, i know that my curious mom is right there with me.

   

'kay--i gotta go pack for the trip!

as that super-70s poet, keith partridge once sang; "point me in the direction of albuquerque..."

have a great weekend!

 smell ya later!

 todd