MECAF!
Back from Portland. It was a pretty great trip! (Lengthy) point form recap:

- Flew in Saturday morning, and the day was filled with some really good food: lobster rolls at The Lobster Shack, Duckfat poutine, the obligatory clam chowder, and a pretty cleverly-made hot turkey sammich at the Inn on Peaks. That, and a neat cross-section of different beers throughout the weekend (although the concept of selling an amber beer as a "summer ale" still boggles my mind). I also had a blueberry beer on Sunday night that I didn't absolutely hate, which was a bit of a surprise for me (I ordinarily can't stand any of those fruity beers).

- I think my experience of MECAF might've been a little different from some of the other attendees: the day for me saw a constant stream of kids and parents that had read or heard about Jellaby. It never really let up -- I had time to get up to go to the bathroom once, and that was about it (this was a totally good thing, of course)! It was really great seeing so many kids there -- I think the ratio of kids to adults might actually have been equal to or higher than kid's day at TCAF, which is saying something.

- I had arranged for Casablanca Comics to sell copies of Jellaby at the show for me (and to be honest, when I was first invited to the show, I wasn't sure how many copies I would've sold if I did bring my own). They ended up selling 80 copies of book 1 and 2, which is the best show sales-wise I've done to date. And all in one day!

- Was also seated next to Becky Cloonan at a show for the very first time, and that was hella fun all in itself. The conversation constantly flip-flopped from things like Very Serious Comic Discussions for page layouts that she was working on, to the Eurovision finals. She blogged about the show, and includes mention of kids from my table wandering over and flipping through her copies of American Virgin. XD

- I might've also let slip on our panel discussion one of the other projects I've been kicking around for a little while. It got a good response from the audience though, so I'm taking that as a good sign that it's on the right track. :)

- Went exploring Peaks Island with Chris Giarrusso (after only meeting him 48 hours previously) the morning after the festival. We got yelled at by one of the homeowners there for accidentally walking across his lawn after we got a little lost (Chris said afterwards, "I feel like I'm 10 years old again"). On the advice of one of the wait staff at the inn, we picked up a couple of cheap flashlights to explore inside Battery Steele and one of the WWII observation towers, although we didn't make it all the way inside the latter, mostly because we were watching the clock to catch the ferry back to Portland for our flights home. Kind of regret that a little bit.

- Rick Lowell and his family were wonderful, amazing hosts. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome, and I was also super impressed that Rick so had his stuff together that he had set aside the time to take us around town only the day before the festival. Also got my first real taste of the New England accent, and I have to say, it certainly is charming. :)

- In conclusion: A+++ WOULD RECOMMEND

Man, I am so looking forward to catching up on all the sleep that I've missed out on these past two weeks.