Today I want to talk about one of the best nights of my life and it's pretty lame so...yea...
Last year I went to Emerald City Comic Con and had a total blast. When I was there I picked up a copy of the Clerks graphic novel for about 4 bucks and I was more than happy. When I got back to my hotel room that night I pulled it out and snapped a very blurry picture of the cover and tweeted it at Kevin Smith.
Last year I went to Emerald City Comic Con and had a total blast. When I was there I picked up a copy of the Clerks graphic novel for about 4 bucks and I was more than happy. When I got back to my hotel room that night I pulled it out and snapped a very blurry picture of the cover and tweeted it at Kevin Smith.
So I guess I should tell you about my love for Kevin Smith. I can remember the first time I was introduced to Clerks. Some dude in high school was talking about a couple of other dudes called Jay and Silent Bob. He was talking about them all animatedly and with such passion that I asked about what kind of movies they were. He told me they were super hilarious and I should start with Clerks and he let me borrow it.
I went home and watched it in my bedroom like I was doing something bad. I had seen many rated R movies before but nothing so vulgar or entertaining. Within the first ten minutes of the movie Kevin Smith had made me a fan. I then went on from there scouring my small town for his other movies and I think at the time the only movies he had out were; Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy. I loved Mallrats just as much as Clerks but was so put off by Chasing Amy. I liked some of it but I hated Joey Lauren Adam's voice so much that it was hard to get through and for some reason the scene where they are talking about her having sex with two guys at once really put me off. Now that I am an adult I get the joke better and can understand the nuances of relationships and the hardships that come along with jealousy. Soon after Dogma came out and my cousin and I ordered it from Direct TV, without my dad's permission, and we watched it four time that day. We had the VCR hooked up and recorded it and I watched that tape until it literally caught fire.
After myself working in a video store and a comic book store I felt that I had a kinship with Kevin's universe. I wanted to talk like his characters and just adapt to the innate coolness he exudes. I wrote a short story in the vain of Clerks but it never went anywhere and was lost at some point. A lot of my last novel comes from the themes that Clerks lays down. Now many years later I am still a super fan and I listen to many of his various Podcasts and laugh just as hard as I did back when I first watched Clerks.
Now back to that hotel room. So I tweet him the picture and go to sleep. When I wake up in the morning I look at my phone and see Twitter yelling at me. I look and Kevin had favorited my tweet. I lit up like a fucking jack-o-lantern on Halloween. It was like my birthday came early. It was the first time in my life that I had really felt that this world really wasn't as big as I thought it was. I could send a message out into the darkness that is the internet and got a response. I hadn't even done it for that I just wanted him to maybe get a chuckle out of it but man did he change my life.
I hope someday to make something that inspires someone like me to do something outside of themselves who will then inspire others. Thanks again Kevin Smith for just being you.
I went home and watched it in my bedroom like I was doing something bad. I had seen many rated R movies before but nothing so vulgar or entertaining. Within the first ten minutes of the movie Kevin Smith had made me a fan. I then went on from there scouring my small town for his other movies and I think at the time the only movies he had out were; Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy. I loved Mallrats just as much as Clerks but was so put off by Chasing Amy. I liked some of it but I hated Joey Lauren Adam's voice so much that it was hard to get through and for some reason the scene where they are talking about her having sex with two guys at once really put me off. Now that I am an adult I get the joke better and can understand the nuances of relationships and the hardships that come along with jealousy. Soon after Dogma came out and my cousin and I ordered it from Direct TV, without my dad's permission, and we watched it four time that day. We had the VCR hooked up and recorded it and I watched that tape until it literally caught fire.
After myself working in a video store and a comic book store I felt that I had a kinship with Kevin's universe. I wanted to talk like his characters and just adapt to the innate coolness he exudes. I wrote a short story in the vain of Clerks but it never went anywhere and was lost at some point. A lot of my last novel comes from the themes that Clerks lays down. Now many years later I am still a super fan and I listen to many of his various Podcasts and laugh just as hard as I did back when I first watched Clerks.
Now back to that hotel room. So I tweet him the picture and go to sleep. When I wake up in the morning I look at my phone and see Twitter yelling at me. I look and Kevin had favorited my tweet. I lit up like a fucking jack-o-lantern on Halloween. It was like my birthday came early. It was the first time in my life that I had really felt that this world really wasn't as big as I thought it was. I could send a message out into the darkness that is the internet and got a response. I hadn't even done it for that I just wanted him to maybe get a chuckle out of it but man did he change my life.
I hope someday to make something that inspires someone like me to do something outside of themselves who will then inspire others. Thanks again Kevin Smith for just being you.