Some of you may have caught Neil’s post yesterday:

“The central conceit in the Alfred story in the first part of WHTTCC was something that Kurt and I spun and grew thirteen [fourteen] years ago, almost to the day, during a drive from San Diego to Thousand Oaks to go and be there as Winter McCloud was born (we didn’t know that was what we were going to Thousand Oaks for. I thought I was just going to be taking Scott and a very-pregnant Ivy out to dinner, and it wasn’t until the point of the dinner where she grabbed my arm and had me start timing contractions that the evening got unusual).”

As of this morning, “almost to the day” has become to the day exactly. The night of July 31st was the legendary dinner that led to the birth of daughter #2. Ivy’s wonderful retelling of the story can be found here.

BUT, hold any birthday wishes another day because our girl was born after midnight.

Tomorrow, August 1st is Winter’s official birthday.

Sadly, both girls seem to have the post-Con flu right now, so this weekend’s celebration may be a bit muted, but sick or not, another family milestone is about to pass.

In other news, Maira Kalman has posted another delightful webcomic to the New York Times website; this time a giddy little homage to Ben Franklin and inventors everywhere. (Thanks to Jonny Goldstein and Dean Meyers for the heads-up).

Winter and her friend Amanda on their way to cosplaying Ty Lee and Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender. More pictures here, here and here. (Note: The family and I are big fans of the cartoon, though like others, we’re concerned about the lack of Asian actors in the upcoming film.)

Con is done for another year. Saw lots of friends, made a few new ones, and got a ton of cool new graphic novels that I may write about later, but overall, it was a pretty ordinary year.

Comic-Con itself, though, is at a high water mark of sorts. With a Jim Lee Google Logo commemorating the event around the world and major news outlets like USA Today treating Con like a national holiday, “Nerd Prom” has never seemed more central to American culture.

As usual, comics pros and fans were grumbling that Movies and TV seem to overshadow Comics more and more as Con grows. I’ve never been quite as invested in that battle myself since there are excellent comics-centric shows like MoCCA, SPX, APE and TCAF out there to offset Comic-Con’s media obsessions, but it’s been an interesting balancing act to watch over the years. As Sky’s friend Kendra so eloquently put it yesterday: “Either the nerds are trying to take over the world or the world is trying to take over the nerds.”

Final image:

On the first day in town, we got an early dinner at Spaghetti Factory. While waiting for our seats, the late afternoon sunlight fell in small pockets on the floor and walls. I got a picture of Winter with my iPhone that looked like a Vermeer painting. Someday, all of our Con moments will probably look like this in our memories, bathed in the late afternoon glow of nostalgia, but for now the sun is still high over the world of comics.

We’re off to San Diego early tomorrow morning for Comic-Con International. They’ve been at it for 40 years, and the family and I have been going for the last 22 of those years (with one exception I’ll probably mention a week from Friday). I’m between books this year so I’ll mostly be relaxing with the family. But be sure to check out one very important panel [description below from the guidebook]:

Thursday 12:00-1:00
Spotlight on Bryan Lee O’Malley — Comic-Con special guest Bryan Lee O’Malley (winner of the Doug Wright, Joe Shuster, and Harvey Awards) talks with legendary comics scholar Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics, Zot!) about Bryan’s groundbreaking slice-of-life graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim. From its genesis to the production of the upcoming film version, O’Malley speaks frankly about where Scott Pilgrim came from and where the series is going from here. With a fan Q&A to close the discussion, this is the must attend event of Comic-Con 2009! Room 5AB

Also be sure to visit Ivy’s guide to Comic-Con on Livejournal. Check out her own excellent advice, and maybe add a few tips of your own. Ivy is a master of navigating the floor and getting the best out of Con. (Also Disneyland, but she hasn’t posted that guide yet).

And finally, for important updates on happenings involving me, keep an eye on my Twitter updates (and Ivy’s too).

Patrick Farley makes it visible.

I took the pictures, but Ivy has all the details.

Thank you to all who responded to Neil‘s Twitter shout-out for postcards to help Winter’s class win their competition!

Winter was very touched, excited and grateful to all of the writers from around the globe. It would take her all summer vacation to respond personally to each, so we’re going to have to opt for the less personal forum of the Web to convey her thoughts, but know that she enjoyed each one. Thank you from the whole class and the whole family.

Ivy just posted a gargantuan LJ entry about our Toronto/TCAF experience, so if you’d like a spouse-eye’s view of our whirlwind weekend, be sure to check it out.

Ivy and I just saw Star Trek. Good cast and fun character moments, big sloppy self-indulgent fanfic plot, typical action film directing (ADHD camera work). Whatever. We had fun.

And since I missed my chance Sunday, belated Mother’s Day wishes to my own Mom and to Ivy. Wouldn’t exist and/or wouldn’t want to without you.

Since we’re celebrating Sky’s 16th, it should also be noted that 13 year-old Winter is having some fun via a class assignment, Twitter, LiveJournal and her “fairy godfather,” the esteemed Mr. Gaiman. Details here on her Livejournal page which, surprisingly I was able to view here at Shanghai International Community School, even though it was blocked elsewhere in the city.