So I guess I'll started adding stuff here A La Blog. Random thoughts about cons in general...

July 5th, 2009

What the heck is going on with conventions? Used to be you would go up to an actors table, pay $20, get an autographed 8x10, and take a picture with them using your own camera. Now everything is a la carte, and the prices are ridiculous. Most recently I've seen Nimoy for $75, Ben Browder for $70 (whatever!). And now some actors will only allow photos via "photo ops" with a professional photographer. Hold on to your seats for this one...Patrick Stewart's at Dragoncon are $200! Yes, that's two zeros! So what used to cost me $20 bucks just 4 years ago, now costs me, on average, $40 + $40. Which on most occasions I skip the autographs do the photo op, & split it with a friend. And people are more than willing to pay these prices, even in today's economy! Someone call CNN.

May 16, 2009

How did I become addicted to Twilight? Or is it who "turned" me? (you know who you are). The girl who "doesn't do vampires" was convinced to "just read the first book". Yeah right! Two weeks later I was running down the street to borrow the fourth book from a neighbor. Another soul caugth up in the Twilight obsession. To tell the truth, being the visual person I am, I saw the movie first. Helped me envision the characters I was reading about. And now this girl has gone from Twilight to Moonlight to Angel...

And lucky for me, there's a con for that.

March 10, 2009

Here's a story worth mentioning. If you've seen the photos on my convention pages, you can see that I'm a fan of many scifi shows. One of those is the new Battlestar Galactica. Last year I decided to go back to school to become a teacher; there were 6 exams I had to take for certification in my state. I had taken and passed 5, leaving the essay exam for last, since writing makes me nervous. I showed up at the exam site on a Saturday morning; of course I had watched BSG the night before and I had dressed comfortably for the exam in a track suit and BSG tshirt. Now the writing prompt is unknown until the exam begins and you open the test booklet. Well of all possible scenarios, my prompt was (to the best of my memory something like this) "talk about a tv show or movie that mirrors society". Didn't take me long to figure that one out! I wish I had a copy of my essay. I remember mentioning politics, war, religion, relationships...I figured I would pass with flying colors and/or the evaluator would have one heck of a laugh. The  teaching position I wanted was available and it all was dependent on an essay I wrote about Battlestar Galactica...

The Lords of Kobol must have been looking over me. I passed the essay, got the teaching job, and just spent the most wonderful first year any teacher could ask for!

March 1, 2009

Convention survival kit:

Bottle of water (standing in line for hours dehydrates you)

Hand sanitizer (the thought of all those bazillions of germs!)

Body spray-to mask the smell of others & yours

Extra camera battery-don't stand in line for 2 hours to NOT get the photo

Cereal or snack bar-how embarrasing to faint from low blood sugar when it's your turn

Cash-the ATMs always run out

Observation: it's funny to see the change in actors when you meet them in the first season of their show, and then after a successful few seasons...I've seen some actors go from humble to diva. A certain young actor from BSG, and another from SG1. Don't let the spotlight go to your heads, guys. 

Sometime two years ago...

This is a work in progress. I have to let you know how difficult writing is for me, I have a hard time getting my ideas and thoughts out of my head and onto paper (or a computer, for that matter!). It’s like being in a constant state of writer’s block. My attention tends to jump around a lot too, so I will start writing something, think of something else, and I find myself going back and forth!

I have to thank all of those fan writers I’ve met at cons that inspired me to write. Oh and I have to thank my husband and kids for putting up with this crazy con obsession of mine.

I Love sci-fi. Call me what you will, a Trekkie, Trekker, Scaper, Fargater, whatever. I’m all of those.

Sci-Fi Enthusiast, maybe. More like Sci-Fi Obsessionist (I think I just made up a new word!). I remember my first favorite show to be Land of the Lost. Not space related, but kinda falls into the category Science Fiction. As far as space shows go, Star Trek-The Next Generation was my first Love. I’ve seen every episode. However, I started watching it after the series had ended! Then there were other shows in between, but I have never been so obsessed with a show as I have been with Stargate. I am so blessed to have had 10 seasons of a sci-fi show that I Love!  It's tough to be a sci-fi fan. Just when we get a great show, it goes away.

Then one day I saw a commercial for a Sci-Fi convention featuring Michael Shanks. I didn’t even know Sci-Fi conventions existed. I had heard about those Star Trek ones (who hasn’t!) but thought those were a thing of the past; never mind conventions with actors from all sorts of sci-fi shows. So I dragged my oldest son along (he was only 7 at the time). I became completely OBSESSED. Since November 2003, at the time of this writing, I have been to 13 cons. I could have bought a Harley…

What amazes me about meeting a new actor, you have all this anticipation before the con, you watch their show and think “oh my gosh, I’m going to meet that person”. Then you get anxious “what am I going to say? What if I say something stupid?” Then when you actually meet them, especially in an intimate setting like a banquet or dessert party, all of a sudden they’re a regular person like you and that has an interesting job. And they’re all so tiny; tiny people that look so big on tv. Then when you see them on tv after meeting them, it’s like it’s not the same person. You’re really able to separate them from their character.

Another thing that I’ve found surprising is that every actor I’ve met is really humble. None (at least the one’s I’ve met) are divas or arrogant. They all completely realize that we are the ones that provide their paycheck, and are completely appreciative.

It also blows me away how many wonderful, truly great friends I’ve made at these conventions. Some are acquaintances that you look forward to seeing at the next con, and others are truly sisters at heart. (you know who you are!).

I absolutely love the Q&A Panels. I especially love (and I’m obviously not alone) stories of behind-the-scenes pranks and bloopers. And how the actor got the part. 

Some girls watch soaps, I watch sci-fi. Some girls go to the spa for the weekend, I go to the sci-fi conventions. What can I say.

Hope you enjoy the site and my adventures at cons. Hope it’s not to boring or just drags on. We take our memories for granted, so if nothing else I can go back and say “oh, I forgot about that time!”

Gatefan
Aka Gatefan810
       Gatefan67