T Campbell's Blog

So many changes have hit the town since I moved out for good. The new convention center is going up, and the old Pavilion is coming down. We go in for the official "ribbon-cutting ceremony." I have mixed feelings at first-- the Pavilion was a huge eyesore that Virginia Beach had somehow tricked itself into thinking was "iconic," but it was also the place where I attended my very first comic-book conventions. (No famous guests; those conventions were entirely dealer-driven. Good times.)

We meet up with a friend of the family, Robbie Goodman, who had more than a hand in putting all this together, and he is as excited as a kid at Christmas as he walks us through it all. He uses the phrase "on the punch list" at least four times to describe what still needs doin', but the new Center really is very impressive, physically and architecturally. Its slanted glass-and-steel side recalls a sail, and there are repetitions and variations on the shape throughout the building, which has an overall nautical feel. It also has a magnificent fourth-floor view. Many will meet here. Things will happen.

Daddy shows me the Virginia Beach Gallery, which has a collection of his artwork (though the link won't show you any samples-- yet). It occurs to me that I don't mention nearly often enough that my dad has shamelessly hogged all the painting genes in the family, and there are a lot of them. I'll see if I can't have him send me an image or two to show you.

Home again, and Daddy asks me to teach him how to download podcasts, and he patiently listens to one of our more accessible "Meanwhiles." I don't think I can adequately convey how it feels to have my family take an interest like this. They've always made it clear that they loved me, but in the years just after college my career aspirations met with lots of awkward pauses. Maybe it has to do with my finally making it on my own-- I don't know. I just know that I won't forget this feeling.