study break

I have cup of plain eggnog (no alcohol) beside me. I feel very Christmasy. I've started on a lot of things but am nowhere near to completion on most of them. Blurg.

Went to study/write at Barnes and Noble. Their chairs are comfy, and it's also great for people watching. Especially when I can sit at my favorite table that faces most of the store and the escalators to the bottom floor. Finally finished my script, but I still have to do the shot list. I'll look over my script in a day to see how I feel about it before I print it out.

Ooh, must tell you about comic book store guy.

I was looking for Batgirl: Year One after reading a review, so I decided to try this comic book store just south of here and close to Barnes and Noble. It was hard to find, and it was a little, dinky store, smaller than my bedroom really. Not a lot of comic books.

I walk in, and no one's there. But a guy from the back comes in and says hi. He's kind of chubby, nerdy looking. I notice some sort of sauce stain on his shirt, maybe barbecue since I walked by a rib joint to get there. He asks if I'm looking for something. I tell him what I'm looking for. He finds where it is exactly and gives it to me. He was very nice and not unattractive by society's standards, but definitely someone who would be typecasted as a "nerd." Then he walks to the cashier register. With my back to him, I start reading a couple of pages. After, I look at some other comics before I go to pay.

He takes it from me and asks if I'm a Batgirl fan. I lie and say no, that I'm getting it for a friend. He engages me with a little Batgirl trivia. "You're not going to read this then?" he asks. I lie and say no. He tells me Barbara Gordon isn't his favorite Batgirl, but that it's still a good read. He likes Cassandra Cain--although he didn't refer to her as Cassandra Cain exactly--I knew what he was talking about.

"She's half Chinese." And he pauses and smiles shyly before going on about her kick ass abilities. I'm guessing this was for my benefit since I've been mistaken for part Chinese, but I tend to overanalyze in these kinds of situations. Minutes later, I bid Merry Christmas as I leave and he says the same.

I'm trying to figure out why I lied to him about the book. It's not something to be ashamed of, I guess I wanted to see his reaction and how much information he'd give me if I acted totally oblivious. What I experienced was a nice encounter with a comic book fan. He wasn't preachy or anything, he was very informative and kind.

When I'm lying to strangers, faking someone else, not being myself, but maybe a better version of me...I feel strangely confident.

I need to get back to my shot list.