In just a few short days, the family heads to San Diego for the 2007 San Diego Comic Con -- 4 days (3 for us) of comic books, pop culture, cosplayers, jpop, anime and more, along with a critical mass of nerds.

Pictures will be taken to document the madness, which will likely include a picture of me as this guy from Final Fantasy VII . . .



Not my cup of tea, but I'm a dad who wants to share something with his daughter -- and this is her thing. I told her this will be the first and last time . . . and besides, it's not much of a stretch from my typical office wear.

For no particular reason, my Top Ten Amusing Words:

10. Riboflavin. Who knows what it does? I'm sure it's full of vitaminy goodness.

9. Defenestrate. I know it means to toss something/someone out the window. I like it because it sounds dirty ("What? He defenestrated her right there in front of the whole class?").

8. Credenza. That's what's wrong with our country -- we've lost all the best words. When is the last time you looked for something, and had someone reply "I think it's on top of the credenza"?

7. Uvula. Yes, that dangly-down thingy at the back of your throat, made famous by a distraught Charlie Brown and also the Gilda Radner/Chevy Chase era of SNL.

6. Panini. What's not to love? It tastes great and sounds funny, especially when quickly repeated. Let's just hope the panini doesn't repeat on you.

5. Pectin. Another one of those "it ought to be a dirty word but it isn't" words.

4. Sheboygan. The city from the Land of Cheese. I don't know why, but when I hear this word, I picture it being spoken by Borscht-belt comics.

3. Frenulum. Yeah, another body-related word (mouth or naughty bits -- the choice is yours). Weird.

2. Schmetterling. The German word for butterfly. For me, it's the perfect name for a new army recruit being berated by his gruff boot camp instructor: "Schmetterling! Front and center!"

And, my top favorite amusing word of all time is . . .

1. Craisins®. I don't need a reason. I just like it.

Craisins.

It's 114 degrees Fahrenheit in the desert today. I'm going to liberate some Tecate beer from the refrigerator.