(no subject)
So, I've been thinking (a dangerous pasttime, I know) and I think I might shut off my cable after the networks have run out of new episodes to air and keep it turned off until the studios cave and give the writers what they want. I want the strike to end as soon as possible and I figure that if consumers start cutting into the studios profits and stop watching any of their products then it might help things move faster. Maybe my one little gesture would be relatively empty but I feel like I need to do something to show my support to people who have given me so much over the years.
And look whose shenanigans have gone and erased any guilt I might have felt for my grr argh-ing ways. Forward ho, my little pirates, let's go and cut into those profit margins even more.
Ahem. Anyway. Only thinking. I have to think about things that aren't entirely con-related because if I don't my brain'll get caught in this loop and I'll be an incoherent, flaily blob and that never ends well. ;-)
Speaking of the con:
Skipped class on Friday so that we could get going relatively early. It was a nice drive until we hit Chicago when the action turned bumper-to-bumper and it took us over an hour to get from one side of town to the other. I'm actually glad I was driving for that part. It was stressful, yeah, but baylorsr made a great navigator and we got where we were going eventually. I didn't start to get really fed up until we got off the highway in Schaumberg.
This is where Maquest failed us for real. It gave shoddy directions so the first thing we did after getting off the highway was turn the wrong way. And then we couldn't find the hotel. We literally drove in circles up and down one road for nearly an hour as night was falling trying to find the damn place, the peanut gallery in the back seat tossing out suggestions the entire time. baylorsr finally had the brilliant idea to call the hotel and we got there no problem after that.
In between then and a little while after we made it to the fan gathering I was definitely not the life of the party. I had rage issues, it wasn't pretty. But the fan gathering was terrific and I met some very nice people who I could pretty much converse with over the roar in the restaurant and I think a good time was had by all. After that went back to the hotel room, took a shower, and came out to find hiyacynth had rescued kroki_refur and buffyaddict13 and brought them back to our room. We were up for hours talking and laughing and not making much sense. It was awesome!
Saturday eventually came. For the record, the Mulder/Scully fic I read back in the day totally lied to me because even though hiyacynth and I shared a bed we didn't wake up in the morning wrapped around each other. We woke up on our own sides with a big empty space between us. Wow, fanfic doesn't actually happen in real life, who knew? Anyway, we all made it to the panels in the afternoon and they were great.
I was a bit of a dork on Saturday. Before the con I had this whole actor-fan phobia where I wasn't really sure about the whole thing and was positive that some fan somewhere would ask an unforgiveable question that would make me run screaming from the room. I was kinda stressed. So twice during the day I disappeared and watched football on the big screen TVs in the lobby. I saw UMich make a touchdown against WI (even though we later lost to the bastards) and saw the Illini kick some Ohio State ass. Unfortunately, watching the later victory caused me to miss Nicky Brendan's panel and I really regret that now. One day I will learn to not be a neurotic freak, really I will.
That said, Sam Ferris's and Frederic Lehne's panels were fantastic. I can't remember very many details and since there are transcripts and vids out there I won't try. Sam Ferris was enthusiastic and approachable. She had lots of stories to tell about all sorts of things and obviously enjoys interacting with fannish types. Fred Lehne was very charming. The first thing he did on stage was play 'Sympathy for the Devil' which I thought was a genius touch. I think a good time was had by everyone involved, on the stage or off, and it was just a lot of fun.
I didn't go to the concert that evening. I was just done with all of the crowds and the screaming and everything. My one suggestion for future cons would be to schedule fewer events. There was just too much going on and I think it interfered with my number one purpose for going: the chance to meet other fans. But, because I didn't go to the concert I got to hang out in the lobby and read, during which time an older gentleman came up to me and asked, probably because he'd seen all of the fans wandering around the hotel all day,"Are you reading a book about UFOs?" I wasn't and said so and it was a cute little moment. When I got up to stretch my legs I met up with kroki_refur and buffyaddict13 who were coming back from grabbing some dinner and we went up to their room to gab. After a little while we all tramped back down to the modified FGC and played some Supernatural Fangirl Jeopardy. hiyacynth stole my crown but she won fair and square and blah blah blah I can be a graceful loser, absolutely. ;-)
Sunday was the big day, as you all know. I finally really understand what the term 'star struck' means because I was hit, oh yes I was. There were some fairly stupid questions asked by the fans but both Jared and Jensen were so wonderful I totally forgive everyone involved. The boys were just ... It was just ... I can't even describe how terrific everything was. Go watch all of the vids and things that are linked over at SuperWiki and see for yourself. I can say that as good as all of those are it was even better to be there in person.
The autograph signing went as well as could be expected. Unfortunately the chick in front of me totally disregarded the 5 second rule so I didn't get a Jared moment at all. I did get a Jensen moment and, let me tell you what, I can't remember if he was tired or awake or what. All I could do was stand there with this frozen rictus of a smile on my face and whisper a thank you. Literally all I remember is how green his eyes were.
You guys, I can't believe I had the ridiculous, 'It's like looking into the sun' reaction! I mean I can believe it because, yeah, but really? Really? I am such a girl. Maybe it's a good thing that I didn't get a Jared moment because after both of them combined I probably would've had a heart attack and died right there on the spot or at the very least passed out and how freaking embarrassing would that have been?
Afterwards all I wanted to do was flap my hands and talk really fast but we had to leave really sone there after. I did get a couple minutes to say goodbye to the fantabulous kroki_refur and buffyaddict13 and meet, briefly, the charming quellefromage which helped dampen the enthusiasm but I was a conversation void for the first leg of the return trip because the con was all I could think about.
The real world has been particularly dim after the bacchanalian delights of the weekend past. I've done a complete Con 360, I want to back to one as soon as humanly possible. I wish I'd been able to get signatures from everyone and meet every single fan who was there. I wish we'd never had to leave.
But now I'm back with my nose to the proverbial grindstone. My final research paper is due in two weeks and finals are two weeks after that. I have dishes to do and clothes to wash and normal-type things to do. But even with it all I keep getting random flashes of things that happened this weekend and I can't help but smile.
Maybe next time the boys'll bring Kim Manners with them. That would be awesome. =D
And look whose shenanigans have gone and erased any guilt I might have felt for my grr argh-ing ways. Forward ho, my little pirates, let's go and cut into those profit margins even more.
Ahem. Anyway. Only thinking. I have to think about things that aren't entirely con-related because if I don't my brain'll get caught in this loop and I'll be an incoherent, flaily blob and that never ends well. ;-)
Speaking of the con:
Skipped class on Friday so that we could get going relatively early. It was a nice drive until we hit Chicago when the action turned bumper-to-bumper and it took us over an hour to get from one side of town to the other. I'm actually glad I was driving for that part. It was stressful, yeah, but baylorsr made a great navigator and we got where we were going eventually. I didn't start to get really fed up until we got off the highway in Schaumberg.
This is where Maquest failed us for real. It gave shoddy directions so the first thing we did after getting off the highway was turn the wrong way. And then we couldn't find the hotel. We literally drove in circles up and down one road for nearly an hour as night was falling trying to find the damn place, the peanut gallery in the back seat tossing out suggestions the entire time. baylorsr finally had the brilliant idea to call the hotel and we got there no problem after that.
In between then and a little while after we made it to the fan gathering I was definitely not the life of the party. I had rage issues, it wasn't pretty. But the fan gathering was terrific and I met some very nice people who I could pretty much converse with over the roar in the restaurant and I think a good time was had by all. After that went back to the hotel room, took a shower, and came out to find hiyacynth had rescued kroki_refur and buffyaddict13 and brought them back to our room. We were up for hours talking and laughing and not making much sense. It was awesome!
Saturday eventually came. For the record, the Mulder/Scully fic I read back in the day totally lied to me because even though hiyacynth and I shared a bed we didn't wake up in the morning wrapped around each other. We woke up on our own sides with a big empty space between us. Wow, fanfic doesn't actually happen in real life, who knew? Anyway, we all made it to the panels in the afternoon and they were great.
I was a bit of a dork on Saturday. Before the con I had this whole actor-fan phobia where I wasn't really sure about the whole thing and was positive that some fan somewhere would ask an unforgiveable question that would make me run screaming from the room. I was kinda stressed. So twice during the day I disappeared and watched football on the big screen TVs in the lobby. I saw UMich make a touchdown against WI (even though we later lost to the bastards) and saw the Illini kick some Ohio State ass. Unfortunately, watching the later victory caused me to miss Nicky Brendan's panel and I really regret that now. One day I will learn to not be a neurotic freak, really I will.
That said, Sam Ferris's and Frederic Lehne's panels were fantastic. I can't remember very many details and since there are transcripts and vids out there I won't try. Sam Ferris was enthusiastic and approachable. She had lots of stories to tell about all sorts of things and obviously enjoys interacting with fannish types. Fred Lehne was very charming. The first thing he did on stage was play 'Sympathy for the Devil' which I thought was a genius touch. I think a good time was had by everyone involved, on the stage or off, and it was just a lot of fun.
I didn't go to the concert that evening. I was just done with all of the crowds and the screaming and everything. My one suggestion for future cons would be to schedule fewer events. There was just too much going on and I think it interfered with my number one purpose for going: the chance to meet other fans. But, because I didn't go to the concert I got to hang out in the lobby and read, during which time an older gentleman came up to me and asked, probably because he'd seen all of the fans wandering around the hotel all day,"Are you reading a book about UFOs?" I wasn't and said so and it was a cute little moment. When I got up to stretch my legs I met up with kroki_refur and buffyaddict13 who were coming back from grabbing some dinner and we went up to their room to gab. After a little while we all tramped back down to the modified FGC and played some Supernatural Fangirl Jeopardy. hiyacynth stole my crown but she won fair and square and blah blah blah I can be a graceful loser, absolutely. ;-)
Sunday was the big day, as you all know. I finally really understand what the term 'star struck' means because I was hit, oh yes I was. There were some fairly stupid questions asked by the fans but both Jared and Jensen were so wonderful I totally forgive everyone involved. The boys were just ... It was just ... I can't even describe how terrific everything was. Go watch all of the vids and things that are linked over at SuperWiki and see for yourself. I can say that as good as all of those are it was even better to be there in person.
The autograph signing went as well as could be expected. Unfortunately the chick in front of me totally disregarded the 5 second rule so I didn't get a Jared moment at all. I did get a Jensen moment and, let me tell you what, I can't remember if he was tired or awake or what. All I could do was stand there with this frozen rictus of a smile on my face and whisper a thank you. Literally all I remember is how green his eyes were.
You guys, I can't believe I had the ridiculous, 'It's like looking into the sun' reaction! I mean I can believe it because, yeah, but really? Really? I am such a girl. Maybe it's a good thing that I didn't get a Jared moment because after both of them combined I probably would've had a heart attack and died right there on the spot or at the very least passed out and how freaking embarrassing would that have been?
Afterwards all I wanted to do was flap my hands and talk really fast but we had to leave really sone there after. I did get a couple minutes to say goodbye to the fantabulous kroki_refur and buffyaddict13 and meet, briefly, the charming quellefromage which helped dampen the enthusiasm but I was a conversation void for the first leg of the return trip because the con was all I could think about.
The real world has been particularly dim after the bacchanalian delights of the weekend past. I've done a complete Con 360, I want to back to one as soon as humanly possible. I wish I'd been able to get signatures from everyone and meet every single fan who was there. I wish we'd never had to leave.
But now I'm back with my nose to the proverbial grindstone. My final research paper is due in two weeks and finals are two weeks after that. I have dishes to do and clothes to wash and normal-type things to do. But even with it all I keep getting random flashes of things that happened this weekend and I can't help but smile.
Maybe next time the boys'll bring Kim Manners with them. That would be awesome. =D