Epic 2010 Summer Recap

First off I am so sorry my nerd peeps, I know, I am the worst OCD blogger ever! 11 days 15 minutes, and 12 seconds since I have updated this blog with a new post, but alas I have just been so busy saving the world, editing comics, crocheting, and working two jobs that I haven't had any spare time to write. Now that the world is saved, that I am no longer at Goodburger home of the Goodburger, and will be wrapping up my Marvel internship tomorrow *tear* I just thought it would be nice to share with you all a recap of the most EPIC summer of my current life. So where to begin?

I guess I will just start with NYC. Growing up in West LA I have always loved the city life, and no city life is like NYC...especially if you don't have a license. Anydoodles, on the few days I had off time, it truly was never a dull moment. Even when I felt one ounce of boredom, just walking around became the most rewarding experience. One prime example was finding random ass farmers market in Lincoln Center and enjoying my favorite lunch of the summer. French bread + Comte Cheese + Blueberry honey + Apple = YUM! Another win was finding those random comic book stores, and meeting my own nerd kind while drooling at stuff I cannot afford. Literally the entire 45th and Lexington Midtown Comics location knows who I am. Hehehe...I be a comic shop "normie." Also upon walking around I found some kick-ass video game stores. Thousands upon thousands of games from when I was a wee lil pup. The end result is me using any spare money I have to purchase games of my past, and realizing I have an unhealthy Megaman obsession. Another amazing aspect of NYC are the people. Three incidents stick out the most to me, and are as follows. 1.) Crazy schizo lady that had a conversation with Adam and I without letting us speak at all, oh and pretty much scaring the shit out of us. 2.) Stinky old lady on subway whose smell still haunts my nasal cavities. Oh, and the bad thing is Chris and I made it a game to see how long unsuspecting subway victims last near Miss Stink-a-Lot. FYI...record was just around 1 minute. 3.) Rocking out to the original Pokemon theme song with two 9 year old boys on the 6 train. Yes, I know...EPIC! Now the most delicious experience of NYC is well...the food. Some of my fave dishes include: Double Cooked Sliced Pork Belly with Chili Leeks, Sweetbreads Satay with Chunk Peanut Sauce, Jellyfish with Scallions and Sesame Oil, German Strawberry Beer from DBGB, Zaitzef Kobe Burger on Portuguese Bun, Sweet Crispy Pork Belly with Mint, and of course a Goodburger cooked rare with the Works, No Tomato add Crispy Onions.

Now onto the beefy summer stuff. My two jobs. As most of you know I was C.B. Cebulski first ever intern at Marvel. Heck he made me his assistant. Talent Management Assistant...I like the ring to that. Anydoodles, before I go on with Marvel, I still needed a paying part time job, and found it at Goodburger. Yes, the home of the Goodburger. The job was any normal food service job, and I truly loved the regulars, and my co-workers, but the most rewarding experiencing is the one celebrity that came in when I was working. This man...
Chef Robert Irvine from Dinner Impossible or Food Network's resident Terminator.

First off, Chef Irvine was uber nice, polite, and reserved. He also ordered a double cheeseburger, fries, and rootbeer. The best part was that upon his departure he pulled me aside, asked my name, how old I was, and told me quote "Well Zack you have fantastic people skills, and will definitely be going places. Keep it up kid." Hands me a $50 dollar bill and leaves. Talk about a rewarding compliment. As for the rest of Goodburger it was simply take orders, serve, make beverages, clean, repeat.

Now onto my MARVELous experience at Marvel Entertainment. *roll snare drum* First things first...I WORK FOR MARVEL COMICS! *faints* I did this last year for the first, but what made this summer so epic all starts with my boss, who couldn't be the most EPIC boss in the world. C.B. Cebulski. Writer, editor, and talent scout for Marvel. You name it, C.B. has done it. Each week I find out something new he worked on that either was a huge apart of my childhood, huge event at Marvel, or him being responsible for the biggest names (Talent) in the bizz. Most importantly was C.B. being promoted to SVP (Senior Vice President) of Creator and Content Development. HUZZAH! It was so big that he was even crowned his new title...
Oooooh shiny.

As C.B's assistant I did numerous super seekrit projects, edited books, moved into an entire new bigger/better office, wrote recaps for "Powers," handled most of the submissions process, and occasionally did a Starbucks run for a Venti Iced Green Tea Lemonade Sweetend light on the ice. For all my efforts I was rewarded with dozens upon dozens of trades, free beverages, and tastings of some of the most interesting Kit-Kat flavors. Like really interesting. Like Mixed Juice, Milk Soda, Double Butter, Maple, Blueberry kind of interesting Kit-Kat flavors. Though one of my most rewarding aspect of the summer was my con experience working for C.B./Marvel at San Diego Comic Con (SDCC). I got to do so much cool stuff. From working the panels, giving swag at the booth, helping out with portfolio reviews, getting the artist alley scouting training, and finally meeting the talent and getting some artwork. Adam and I met the fantastical Terry Dodson...
Yes Adam and I got that typical couples sketch. Emma Frost and Scott Summers. I know we truly are nerd brothers.

Nerd digressing, my new favorite SDCC friend was Janet K Lee who is providing the beautiful artwork for Jim McCann's first OGN "The Dapper Men." I cannot emphasize how good this book will be folks. Make sure you buy it, and look for the blogpost on it once it is released in October. Oh, and check this photo of Janet, Me, and A Dapper-Man...
I also got some most bodacious artwork thanks to C.B. from Humberto Ramos, Skottie Young, Reilly Brown, and much more! I love mein job and mein boss

Another high point of SDCC was the "Scott Pilgrim Experience." On the first day of the con Adam and I by nerd fate met the Editor In Chief of UK's "Empire" magazine. Upon talking he provided us with VIP tickets to go see Scott Pilgrim early, and also VIP tickets to go to the exhibition shin-dig thing Universal was throwing for the movie. In the end, I got to see the movie with the cast in front of us (I made friends with Edgar Wright's mom!), meet the cast, make exclusive t-shirts, play the video game, and make a flip book. WOW WHAT AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME. Don't believe me? Check out my primo pass...
BE JEALOUS!

Most importantly, with all the EPIC things that happened this summer, I will never forget all the friends I made, my co-interns. You will always be my best buds/buddettes, and I truly love yah all. Adam, Chris, Andrew, Devin, Jackie, Jeff Jenny, Sam, Idette, Nicole, Jon, Toby, Wendy, any other persons I might have missed (sorry), and to everybody at Marvel..THANK YOU FOR THE BEST SUMMER OF MY CURRENT LIFE (awww...memories)!
Marvel's next behind the scenes young guns!

Oh, and lets not forget my nerd duplicate from the TV show "Reno 911" and especially from the movie "17 Again"
Its like I am the one ring and Tom Lennon is Golem....awwwwwwkward.

What's next you ask? Well I have a wedding in Syracuse (Mozel-Tov Bryan and Alice), RA Training, a full school year, graduation, and hopefully my return to Marvel with a full a time job. Maybe someday I just may be the next Editor In Chief. *cue Halluah Anu Anu music*