Jul 23 2012 2:30pm     Like a lot of people, I spent most of
Friday feeling pretty fragile. Also, apparently, a little
melodramatic. It being human nature to look for patterns in
events, even where no true pattern actually exists—apophenia, as
William Gibson would say—SDCC 2012 was suddenly bookended in my
mind by death.             But in a way, this vast
confederation, this community, is like a blood family; I will
tell you all the things that are wrong with my second cousins
and half-siblings until the cows come home. But the minute you
raise a hand—or a gun—to them—it’s on, you bastard. You hurt my
people, and I won’t stand for it.  So we pull together, ducking
our heads under the news cycle crossfire to donate blood and
funds to help the victims and their families, and we mourn.
Amidst all this we need to remember the best qualities of these
stories we love: the generosity, compassion, heroism, loyalty,
love—“intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism”, to
quote Craig Ferguson.    1. Tumas-Musca