1. “Growing Pains theme song,” Alan Thicke. Because I made out with him. Yes, the dad — not the super-sexy hip-hop star son.

2. “I Poke Her Face,” Kid Cudi/Kanye/Common/Lady Gaga. Because I know every lyric.

3. “Trouble,” by Ray LaMontagne. This is my theme song. “Worry been doggin’ my soul since the day I was born.” I just knew they’d cancel BSG, and I still can’t get over it.

4. “You Can Run,” Bryan Greenberg/Kid Cudi. The live version. It’s a song about the people who didn’t believe in you, and then you get successful and they can’t escape your good fortune. There’s an awesome, laid-back version of it on YouTube. It’s a must listen.

5. “Death to Auto Tune,” Jay-Z. Finally someone puts an end to the agony of Auto Tune!

6. “On My Way,” Ben Kweller. I found this song at a karaoke bar in Japan and fell in love with it. Note to self: Never sing in public. Ever. Again.

7. “I Don’t Think I’m Ever Gonna Figure It Out,” Elliott Smith. It’s a rare song from one of his demos and it’s amazing. Sometimes all you need is one guitar and a mic and a sick songwriter.

8. “Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked,” Cage the Elephant. This is my other theme song.

9. “Auditorium,” Mos Def/Slick Rick. Great beat, plus Slick Rick is back with a vengeance on this track.

10. “Take a Minute,” K’nnan. Not many good positive hip-hop cats artists out there who have a message to their music. If Bob Marley could rap he would be K’nnan.

addCredit(“Alan Thicke: Francis Specker/Landov”)

There will be a lot of them roaming around, both on the convention floor and in the local bars. Time to man up, kid, and set your phasers on amour.

1. Offer her your extra convention pass.
2. Say you have an “in” to an exclusive Dungeons and Dragons campaign.
3. Ask her if she likes Marvel or DC.
4. Show her a big armload of indie comics.
5. “You are one of the few people here who can pull off that Black Cat costume.”
6. Mistake her for someone in Iron Man 2.
7. Identify which Battlestar Galactica tribe she’s from based solely on her accent
8. “Remember the Next Generation episode with Mark Twain? Oh man, was that crazy or what?”

addCredit(“Jen Lowery/Startraksphoto.com”)

1) The Panels
Almost all of the best things to see and hear each year at the San Diego Comic-Con take place in the non-stop panels over the course of the four-day event. Don't forget to escape the floor from time to time to take in panels on things that might interest you! The panels everyone will be talking about include Thursday's Avatar panel with James Cameron (Maybe he'll even show some footage instead of just talking for two hours!), Friday's The Guild panel with Felicia Day, and on Saturday, Lost's final Comic-Con panel, the panel for the new film Zombieland and Kevin Smith's annual profanity-driven rants about making films and comic books. I'd tell you to check out Friday's Star Wars panel, but in a Comic-Con first, G4 will be broadcasting it, so just set your DVRs and unwind with it when you get back home.

2) The Masquerade
The one thing that's different between Comic-Con and your local comic shop is nobody dresses up every Wednesday when new books hit the shelves — a fact I'd like you all to help me change! Your emotions will run the spectrum from amazed to scared to curious to dumbfounded at Comic-Con's annual Masquerade event Saturday night. Hundreds of people dress up as their favorite icons from comics, movies, TV, anime, video games, and more. And trust me, while the people who spend all year sweating over the perfect suits do amazing work, the bad costumes are even more divine.

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