Tag Archives: photography

GalaxyCon Columbus 2025 Photos, Part 4 of 4: Con Stuff!

December 14, 2025 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Us doing jazz hands in a giant Funko Pop box. Anne is wearing a Santa hat and Christmas-themed Trek hoodie.

We’re Funko Pops! With extra points of articulation!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Anne and I enjoy attending entertainment and comic conventions together, whether in our hometown of Indianapolis or in adjacent states (or sometimes beyond). She’s been doing them since the early ’90s, and invited me to tag along as our relationship evolved from classmates to coworkers to neighbors to BFFs to married geeks twenty years and counting. We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

This weekend we attended the fourth annual Galaxycon Columbus in Ohio’s very own Greater Columbus Convention Center. The show returned with another lengthy guest list for fans of all media across the pop culture spectrum…

…most of which we’ve covered: the actors! The cosplay! The panels! Artists Alley! But wait! There’s more! Not much more, but slightly more! Sorry if you were wishing I’d have dumped everything into a single 3000-word non-epic as usual!

Continue reading →

GalaxyCon Columbus 2025 Photos, Part 3 of 4: Comics!

December 12, 2025 By in Movies/Films/Flicks Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Six graphic novels, an omnibus, a Godzilla T-shirt, a button and a flimsy cardstock con badge.

My reading haul this year, plus a little extra merch.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Anne and I enjoy attending entertainment and comic conventions together, whether in our hometown of Indianapolis or in adjacent states (or sometimes beyond). She’s been doing them since the early ’90s, and invited me to tag along as our relationship evolved from classmates to coworkers to neighbors to BFFs to married geeks twenty years and counting. We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

This weekend we attended the fourth annual Galaxycon Columbus in Ohio’s very own Greater Columbus Convention Center. The show returned with another lengthy guest list for fans of all media across the pop culture spectrum…

…which included comics at the comic con! As the easternmost show that we attend every year, GCC recruits quite a formidable lineup of creators for their Artist Alley, a boon for us longtime readers that includes some folks who haven’t traveled very west yet.

Continue reading →

GalaxyCon Columbus 2025 Photos, Part 2 of 4: Celebrities!

December 8, 2025 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Us doing jazz hands with Ben Schwartz, who's very into it.

Hey, kids! It’s Ben Schwartz, the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Anne and I enjoy attending entertainment and comic conventions together, whether in our hometown of Indianapolis or in adjacent states (or sometimes beyond). She’s been doing them since the early ’90s, and invited me to tag along as our relationship evolved from classmates to coworkers to neighbors to BFFs to married geeks twenty years and counting. We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

This weekend we attended the fourth annual Galaxycon Columbus in Ohio’s very own Greater Columbus Convention Center. The show returned with another lengthy guest list for fans of all media across the pop culture spectrum…

…though our own to-do list was actually pretty short. After a couple of unfortunate guest cancellations and some hard thinking about whether or not we really want to meet every single actor we’ve ever seen in anything ever, we whittled our checklist down to just three of ’em, two of whom we’d already met before. Quite a few of our photos ended up falling into the “celebrity” category anyway, including pics from a pair of crowded Q&As at the Main Stage.

Continue reading →

GalaxyCon Columbus 2025 Photos, Part 1 of 4: Cosplay!

December 7, 2025 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Two cosplayers as Dark Helmet's black-suited troops, carrying a giant comb between them.

Spaceballs: the Cosplay! Dark Helmet’s beach-combing troops.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: Anne and I enjoy attending entertainment and comic conventions together, whether in our hometown of Indianapolis or in adjacent states (or sometimes beyond). She’s been doing them since the early ’90s, and invited me to tag along as our relationship evolved from classmates to coworkers to neighbors to BFFs to married geeks twenty years and counting. We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

This weekend we attended the fourth annual Galaxycon Columbus in Ohio’s very own Greater Columbus Convention Center. The show returned with another lengthy guest list for fans of all media across the pop culture spectrum. One could argue the guest list was too lengthy — dozens of actors lured thousands upon thousands of fans into the back end of the exhibit hall, where most of them waited hours in lines that I’m not entirely sure ever moved and may in fact have to spend Christmas there. Hopefully some dealers stuck around so all those line-mates could buy each other gifts.

Before getting into who we met and what we did: it’s cosplay time! Per tradition we compiled an itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny gallery of the costumes we photographed during our two days in and around the halls whenever we weren’t trapped in long lines or traffic-jammed aisles. The humble duo here at MCC appreciates the makers and wearers who enliven every comic-con with their talents and their exaltation of various fandoms. We regret we can only represent a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the total cosplay wonderment that was on display this weekend. We’re just an aging couple doing what we can for happy sharing fun. Enjoy!

Continue reading →

The Indiana Historical Society’s Festival of Trees 2025: Indoor Christmas Forest Fun

November 21, 2025 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Pink and white Christmas tree with Ralphie ornaments and bunny ear topper. Next to it is a cardboard standee of Ralphie in bunny suit from "A Christmas Story".

I’d give it a major award if I could: Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre celebrates their upcoming performances of A Christmas Story: The Musical, December 5-27.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: each year the Indiana Historical Society in downtown Indianapolis hosts a special Christmas exhibit called the Festival of Trees, for which dozens of local businesses and charities festoon a tree (or sometimes alternative objects) with decorations befitting their interests, causes, products, and/or colors. For the fourth year in a row my coworkers and I took a lunchtime field trip to their museum and immersed ourselves in holiday spirit, local pride, and tree-trimming cuteness.

The participating companies and entities come and go. Some put up a tree each and every year without fail; newcomers will often join in the festivities alongside them. (Alas, this year saw no trees from past providers such as the Eiteljorg Museum, the Avon Chik-Fil-A, and our Indianapolis Colts despite going a strong 8-2 as of this writing.) Once again my wife Anne couldn’t tag along this day because she has her own employer and perks, so I took pics to share with her and with You, The Viewers at Home. Please enjoy this selection from this year’s assortment of 84 different displays.

Continue reading →

Our 2023 Road Trip #14: 82 Queen and Back to King Street

November 13, 2025 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments
Cup of she-crab soup topped with a few herbs, served in white cup on white saucer with white doily on hardwood table.

She-crab soup! That Charleston specialty was the best bite I had all week. Yes, even better than donuts.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Every year since 1999 Anne and I have taken one road trip to a different part of the United States and seen attractions, wonders, and events we didn’t have back home. From 1999 to 2003 we did so as best friends; from 2004 to the present, as husband and wife. After years of contenting ourselves with everyday life in Indianapolis and any nearby places that also had comics and toy shops, we overcame some of our self-imposed limitations and resolved as a team to leave the comforts of home for annual chances to see creative, exciting, breathtaking, outlandish, historical, and/or bewildering new sights in states beyond our own. We’re the Goldens. This is who we are and what we do.

For 2023 it was time at last to venture to the Carolinas, the only southern states we hadn’t yet visited, with a focus on the city of Charleston, South Carolina. Considering how many battlefields we’d toured over the preceding years, the home of Fort Sumter was an inevitable addition to our experiential collection…

By noon our long walk through downtown Charleston had taken us over a mile south of our car and into their version of the French Quarter — a mite smaller than New Orleans’ own that we’d visited a decade earlier, and nearly as sweltering, but 100% fewer drunkards bumping into us. We tried to focus on the sights all around despite having emptied our water bottles.

Continue reading →

Happy Belated Halloween from MCC!

November 1, 2025 By in Mundane Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment
Anne and me doing jazz hands in front of an arch made of inflatable jack-o'-lanterns.

Halloween joy on Friday night!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: each Halloween night my wife Anne and I are among the few holiday observers still handing out candy to trick-or-treaters in our suburban neighborhood. However, this year marks the first time since 2006 that we shirked the tradition, but it was for a very special, one-time reason: we were invited to a Halloween wedding.

Continue reading →

Cincinnati Comic Expo 2025 Photos: Cosplay and the Superman Family!

October 26, 2025 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Anne posing with Karen Allen at her table while holding an autographed 8x10, both smiling very sweetly.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Marion Ravenwood herself, Karen Allen!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: my wife Anne and I enjoy attending entertainment and comic conventions together, whether in our hometown of Indianapolis or in our neighboring states (and sometimes even farther). We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

This weekend we once again drove two hours southeast of Indianapolis to attend the fifteenth annual Cincinnati Comic Expo, which is normally held in the heart of their downtown that’s not so different from ours. However, while the Duke Energy Convention Center has been undergoing a two-year renovation project, CCE relocated to the Sharonville Convention Center, a smaller venue on the city’s north side that we previously visited for HorrorHound Cincinnati in 2018 and 2019. This was our fifth time at CCE, two years since our last one. This year’s event celebrated a unifying theme: Superman! Nearly the entire guest list had credits from various works featuring the Man of Steel — a proud commonality to celebrate here in the year that saw the release of The Greatest Superman Film of the 21st Century So Far.

Continue reading →

Our 2023 Road Trip #13: Calhoun and the Slave Mart

October 24, 2025 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Three pairs of 19th-century slave shackles hung in a single vitrine.

Shackles on display at Charleston’s Old Slave Mart Museum.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Every year since 1999 Anne and I have taken one road trip to a different part of the United States and seen attractions, wonders, and events we didn’t have back home. From 1999 to 2003 we did so as best friends; from 2004 to the present, as husband and wife. After years of contenting ourselves with everyday life in Indianapolis and any nearby places that also had comics and toy shops, we overcame some of our self-imposed limitations and resolved as a team to leave the comforts of home for annual chances to see creative, exciting, breathtaking, outlandish, historical, and/or bewildering new sights in states beyond our own. We’re the Goldens. This is who we are and what we do.

For 2023 it was time at last to venture to the Carolinas, the only southern states we hadn’t yet visited, with a focus on the city of Charleston, South Carolina. Considering how many battlefields we’d toured over the preceding years, the home of Fort Sumter was an inevitable addition to our experiential collection…

Our day-long walk through downtown Charleston continued beyond King Street’s south end as we digressed from browsing boutique windows to observing two commemorations of American history along our path — one a cemetery, the other a museum. Those functions are common stops for us in past trips, but rarely do we find one of each within close proximity to each other and yet representing opposite ends of the moral spectrum, insofar as the unavoidable topic of slavery.

Continue reading →

The Heartland International Film Festival 2025 Season Finale

October 20, 2025 By in Conventions & Events, Indiana, Movies/Films/Flicks Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
balcony view of a movie screen down below. Onscreen is a pic of Emily Deschanel and two producers, encouraging viewers to become a Heartland member. Walls around screen are glowing green and have large icons of film reels.

Our Sunday night view from the balcony of the Tobias Theater at Newfields. The slideshow still is from last year’s world premiere of ReEntry.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! Since 1992 my hometown of Indianapolis has presented the Heartland International Film Festival, a multi-day, multi-theater celebration of cinema held every October. Local moviegoers have the opportunity to see over a hundred new works in the realms of documentaries, narrative features, shorts, and animation made across multiple continents from myriad points of the human experience. Some participants stop in Indy on their grand tour of Hollywood’s festival circuit; some are local productions on shoestring budgets; and a wide spectrum of claims are staked in the innumerable niches between, projects with well-known actors screening alongside indies with enormous hearts.

This’ll be my third year diving in and seeing more than just a single entrant. Heartland’s 34th edition runs October 9-19, for which I’ve made plans to catch at least six films in all (Lord willing) — maybe more if time permits…

Once again I took a week’s vacation from my day job and posted for eight consecutive days about the six films I saw at three theaters in nine days, one virtual screening we’ll get to in a moment, plus a few other entries that included still another movie, albeit more of an anti-Heartland studio product that opened the same weekend. I doubt anyone out there read every single word, but I’m not even done yet!

Continue reading →