Attitude Is Everything

 This "panel" provided as example only.

Image not indicative of The Unbelievables on stage.

(Actual panel would be more exciting ... but Unbelievables would be wearing suits.)

Clark had the right idea.

Jeff? He just had a temporary burr in his saddle.

Both Clark and I believed Unbelievacon will be a smashing success.

Jeff? Not so much. It's as if we had to drag him in by the short hairs in order to get him on board ...

... which is a bit unusual for Jeff.

Usually he's happy go lucky, a team player. He pops up with some pretty spiffy ideas. Contributes to causes and more with enthusiasm.

For example: Did you see some of those seminars he has planned for Unbelievacon?

"Hi-Fi Appreciation" ... ??? "Lights Of The Future ... Now!" ... ??? "Home Decor The Unbelieva-Way" ... ??? Heck ... I'd sign up for those if I didn't already live'em with the guys! Our fans are going to eat that stuff up!

And that's what I mean. With workshops like those, why the hesitation about Unbelievacon? Personally, I think he was in the midst of a rough patch at the time, a particular bad mood about some such. Luckily, he snapped out of it.

Anyway, he really got on board when I pulled my latest stunt on the guys. It was part effort to cheer Jeff up and get him over the hump, part mutual camaraderie for putting together the event to make certain it moved forward as a genuine "Unbelievasuccess" (as Clark put it) and part April Fool's joke. (I missed out on April 1st last week. I don't remember why.)

So ... last Saturday I left an anonymous note for the guys:

"Compadres, I think Jeff might be right. This Unbelievacon thing ... I'm not so certain about it. Maybe we should reconsider ..."

At the bottom of the note was an arrow indicating the pages should turned over as there was more written on the reverse.

Image provided as example only.

(Actual "Michaels" photo would not include men in the background.
And photo of me with some of our fans was, shall we say, a bit NSFW.)

There, a picture of me (sans pants) with half a dozen or so fans (female, of course) wearing some of the souvenir Lobster Rage Fist gloves we had ordered for Unbelievacon. I was in the middle of the beauties and all of us were waving in front of the world famous Las Vegas sign.

"APRIL FOOLS! Just out for the weekend drumming up a little pre-event business to get the word out. See you Monday!"

Clark rolled his eyes, tried to stifle a smirk and looked over at Jeff. Jeff's smile went wide and carefree.

"You know?" he confessed to Clark. "Maybe Unbelievacon won't be such a chore after all ..."

Actual unretouched photo of Las Vegas sign.

Some-time sourpusses

A big part of being an Unbelievable is maintaining an upbeat attitude. After all, we are on the side of Truth, Justice and the Good Guy way. Why in the world would we have the need to be dark and brooding? Still, we are human beings and subject to our occasional share of the gloomy doomies. That's when it's a good thing there are three of us. When one of us gets sulky, the other two can pin down the moper and hammer his legs with their knuckles until he snaps out of it. On those rare days when two are grumpy, we tend to find the third member's sunshine-iness so obnoxious that we cheer up just to spite him.
Then there are those incredibly rare situations when all three of us are grumpy.
Hoo boy.
When that happens, there's nothing to do but work through it.
That's what we were trying to do when we formed a band...

Me, Michael and Jeff

Yep, we came up with a name to reflect our terrible attitudes, went down to the Discount Softball Liquidators store at the mall for some band uniforms and proceeded to work out our angst in murky, turgid rock songs. Of course, in spite of our lack of formal musical training, we're just so naturally talented and good at everything we try that our songs were all hits and the resultant love and adoration

(L to R) Love and Adoration...or is it Adoration and Love? I never could remember...

snapped us right out of our malaise and we were fine.

Like I said, it doesn't happen often, but it does happen. My colleagues will fill you in...