You can’t even imagine how excited I am for it to be a week from now. In the words of Darth Vader, “It will be a day long remembered.” Or days, plural, to be more exact. See, next week I’m taking one of those things called a day off (well, a day and a half), and it’s basically going to be a long, nerdy weekend of fun, frivolity, and Fillion.

Not sure how all these things came to be on the same weekend, but this kind of celestial alignment usually signals the end of civilization or the coming of some kind of deity. Whatever the case, however this happened, a week from now is a collection of days commemorating and celebrating geek culture in my neck of the woods like none I’ll have experienced before. Not all of these things will be a huge event for me, but the fact that they’re happening at once is Marvel-ous.

First up is the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in the United States. Some pesky foreigners have already been allowed to see this flick but for us here in America, next Friday is the day. Of course I’ll be going to one of those fun Thursday 8 p.m. shows (glad they do those instead of Midnight, because I’m getting too old for that). Hence the half a day off from work so my normal Thursday evening activities can be shoved aside with plenty of time before the projector goes.

I really enjoyed the first installment, even excusing the Goomba-looking Lizard. Andrew Garfield is a better Spidey (Tobey Maguire’s facial expressions always looked like he was pooping), Emma Stone is a waaay better female lead, and the villains look crazy fun. The plus side to these new movies compared to the Raimi ones is I don’t have to look at Kirsten Dunst, and people don’t just start crying for no damn reason.

I do like the fact that Sony seems to be trying to build a whole multi-film franchise with this property, but who isn’t after the success of Marvel Studios. I am a little worried about overload of bad guys in AS2, though I’m thinking some of it could just be planting seeds for larger roles in movies to come. Doesn’t really matter. In the end I’ll see it a few times, probably the first weekend.

Next on the nerd itinerary is Free Comic Book Day. This is a day meant to get non-nerds into reading comic books by giving them away for nothing, along with other fun prizes and gifts. I’m pretty sure most of the people consuming these periodicals are the same people who buy them on a weekly basis. I know I might have some fun with it as I don’t read too many comics anymore, though I’ll be at the first ever Minnespolis Wizard World Convention, surrounded by comics.

That’s right, you can read me gush in more detail about it a few weeks back, but this will be my first comic con, and it will be spent with some good friends, and I hope some good strangers. There have been some guests who have cancelled, but there have also been some additions. I’m planning on getting my supplies in the next couple of days. Some granola bars, bottled water, Ninja Turtles fruit snacks, and maybe some Depends. After all, who can afford a bathroom break when you’re trying to meet Bill Shatner?

Ending the weekend is Star Wars Day on Sunday. It’s a holiday that’s really taken hold since about the time they were promoting those Prequels. Again, not really going to celebrate it, it’s not like I bought a cake for it or anything. But it’s nice to know that a day like this exists, and it falls on such a fun weekend. I do, however, plan on ending my dealings with other people with, “May the Force be with you.” Or, the Fourth, I guess.

This is going to be my shortest column yet. There isn’t much to say, because I’m sure there will be enough in a recap of next weekend’s events. I’m not going to write anything next week, either, because I’m on mini vacation dammit. Also, since apparently nobody likes free shit, I’m going to just discontinue the use of my lame signature sign off without the help of a giveaway. If anyone decides to answer the trivia question, you losers know where to find me. See ya in two weeks! May the Fourth be with you!