My first Dragon*Con Experience

To sum up my first Dragon*Con in one word....WOW! From the moment I walked into the main hotels I was overwhelmed. I asked some friends that had been multiple times how does one not get overwhelmed. They simply replied “You don’t”. I don’t think it is possible to not get overwhelmed by everything going on.

Day one was Thursday. I wanted to be there for the Girls of the Con calendar release party so I made sure I was there early. I stood in line for a couple of hours to get my pass but I heard that it soon turned into a 5-6 hour ordeal. Standing in line with someone I was familiar with made time go by easier but I found that many of us soon stuck up many conversations about all of our fandoms. I then got cleaned up & went walking around to try to get familiar with where everything was going to be. Everywhere I went people were friendly & all interested in what other peoples fandoms were & how many times other people had attended the event.

That night the party for Girls of the Con happened with the Con Sluts & the CON-tourage event & it seemed complete madness. I met so many new wonderful people & from time to time started seeing some old familiar faces. Parties continued into the night but I had already been awake for about 30 hours as I had worked the night before. I knew that sleep was going to be needed in order to make it to everything I wanted on Friday. I managed to get about 6 hours before I was up again, eager to see & do everything possible.

Dressed in my Bellatrix Lestrange costume I found very few Potter fans through the day but I was able to make it to many panels. I got to meet Frazer Hines & he told some of the best stories about back stage on set of Doctor Who. We got to hear about other actors from the set as well as about Patrick Troughton. Frazier was such an animated speaker, full of life & laughter & gave us many laughs. It was difficult to get a clear picture of him though while he was talking. I wanted to capture the expressions on his face while he spoke but he couldn’t stand still long enough for that to happen.

With some friends that I had met at TimeGate I walked around the walk of fame room. I was amazed at some of the stars there. Paul McGillion is more good looking in person than he was on Stargate Atlantis. It took me back a second when he reached across the table to shake my hand how really good looking he is. The “Weasley Twins” James & Oliver Phelps are just the cutest things but I must confess I think they were cuter as gingers. Saul Rubinek was there with other members of the Warehouse 13 cast but he was the only one that I really cared about.

I walked around & saw other stars, looked at many of the vendors & saw a lot of fun costumes. I went on a constant ‘go’. I got lost multiple times trying to find my way from one place to another. Sometimes I would start walking in one direction & have to stop for a picture & after a few dozen flashes I’d start walking again only to realize I had no idea which way I was originally walking. I found the Girls of the Con table once on Friday & that was by accident & wasn’t sure how to get back to it again. I rested about an hour early Saturday morning before I started getting ready for the next costume.

I marched with Girls of the Con in The Parade even though the Brit-track people kept asking me to march with them. I was proud to represent the calendar so I was going to be with the girls. If I had been with the British Track people they would have only been 4 people behind the 501st in number. So I think next year Doctor Who might just beat Star Wars in the parade & I think the 501st always have the most people when it comes to the parade. Right after the parade the Doctor Who costumers all did a photo session with a few videos. We did the biggest group hug & we had a HUGE group shot of everyone in costume. The entire convention I tried to get photos of every Doctor I found. There were all sorts of Doctors, companions, & villains in this group that I couldn’t keep track of how many Doctors there were.

I have decided that if I go back to Dragon*Con & wear the Miss Hartigan costume again, I am going to have a “handler”. I’ll get a friend help me get from one place to another because I couldn’t maneuver from one place to another. I was late to everything that I attended & couldn’t even think about going to the Doctor Who panels that day because they were located too far away from the main hotels. I was afraid I was going to miss getting to meet one of my favorite authors Jim Butcher. I did miss his signings but I was fortunate enough to get to one of the panels he was in. I was late but I only missed the first few minutes & I thought once it was done I could get him to sign my book.

The Dresden Files has become one of my favorite series of books. I was determined that I had to get him to sign at least one of the hard backs that I had taken with me. I had carried his latest book Changes around with me as well as one that his wife had written. I walked into the room where the panel was being held & tried as best as I could to slip into a seat where I could see everything but not be too conspicuous in that big red dress. I took up 2-3 chairs with that dress but it seemed as though everyone was trying hard to see yet make room for everyone else. It was a very interesting panel discussing gender verses sexuality of characters. I had only heard of a couple of the other authors but I enjoyed their views.

After the panel people were very quick to get to moving. A few people went up to the front & were having their books signed but Jim Butcher disappeared very quickly from sight. I was feeling a little disappointed & decided to quickly slip out the side door & see what other panels there were that I could enjoy. I then see Jim sitting in a corner with his handler. He had set his stuff down & a line of about 20 people had formed & he was signing anything people handed him. I was so tickled that I was going to get him to sign my book after all. While standing in line I saw some friends I had made Thursday & they noticed I was grinning like a maniac from ear to ear. They asked me what had me so happy & I had to giggle. I pointed at Jim Butcher & then at my book & said “Yes I know I’m being all sad little fan girl but I’m more excited about meeting one of my favorite authors than I am about most actors.” Then when it came my turn I had to apologize to Jim for being such a pathetic fan girl. I then told him I made a City Of Heroes character named Pathetic Fangirl who’s dream is to some day work for UNIT or to help “A certain wizard from the phone book solve a mystery.” He then asked me about the newest expansion of going Rogue & I got to tell him about how it plays. He said he is going to have to log on to play it & said that I will have to look him up so Harry can run missions with my character. I had to look at him odd & ask seriously?!?! We talked about the servers we play on & he liked my little nod to his character so he said he would team with me. I got my picture taken with him & I let him move onto other fans. Before he left the hallway many of us fans got into discussions about the last book & how we screamed at the ending. Jim laughed & said his mission had been accomplished because if that didn’t have us screaming then nothing would. I told him I almost threw the book across the room & that I cursed him once it was done. He laughed quite hard & said that we couldn’t do anything to him or we wouldn’t get to find out what happened.

Finally finding the Girls of the Con table again I periodically stopped by just to sit for a bit but kept getting pulled from one place to another by friends I had made there or from other conventions. I even found a wooden paneled K-9, which I had to pet & talk to of course. Any & every time there were more Doctor Who people I had to take pictures of or with them. Sometimes I didn’t get a picture myself because so many other people were taken pictures of us, yet another reason why I need a handler.

I went to one of the parties that the CON-tourage was throwing since they were partnered with Girls of the Con. It was hot & muggy but people still didn’t understand why I didn’t want to partake in the consumption of alcohol while I was in that dress. I thought it was a no brainer but drunks can’t be reasoned with. It was when night time came that my headache began because of all the football guys. It is something that I am told happens every year. Big football games happen at the same time as Dragon*Con & a bunch of drunk football fans tried to bully their way into the party as I was leaving. I wanted to throw one of the guys over the banister as he called out for me to show him my “titties”. I had to wait on an elevator empty enough for me to fit in & had to put up with the stupid football guys attempting to act cool by making fun of all the nerds.

Once the hotel staff began to ask for Dragon*Con badges in order to enter, I had a much easier time getting around with out being hassled. I ran into more friends that I had met at other conventions & just enjoyed the night talking with them. Time passed so quickly that before I knew it, Sunday morning was upon us. I made myself lay down for a couple of hours but I couldn’t sleep much because I was afraid I was going to miss something. I made it to more panels, mainly Doctor Who & talked with more friends. I didn’t wear a costume, just regular pants & a Doctor Who t-shirt. I ran into people I met when I was dressed as Bellatrix & they almost didn’t recognize me with out the crazy hair & make-up.

Being in regular clothes & no longer taking up the space of 3 people, I was able to check out the vendors & see all the neato stuff that people were selling. Some of the sales people at their booths were a bit too pushy. One man tried to sell me comic books that I wasn’t remotely interested in but was still willing to sell them at half price. I had a woman try to convince me that her necklaces would look great on me. I almost told her that I can make my own for less than what she was trying to sell them to me for. Still it was fun getting to look at all the fun, pretty, spiffy, funny, & cool stuff. I had fun just walking around with friends & getting to talk with everyone in between panels.

I did see things that I wish I could unsee. There were some disturbing costumes, there were the most awesome costumes. Some were sexy, some were well done. Then there were the ones who wanted to be sexy but missed greatly & were just a bit sad. Some people had spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on their costumes. Some were bought, some were hand made. Some were clever & well thought out & I think some were thrown together last minute.

All in all I had a blast. I loved almost every minute I spent there. I believe I would like to go again but next time I know what I would do differently. I still think I prefer the smaller conventions like ConNooga & TimeGate but the wow factor of Dragon*Con makes me feel like I must return at least once.

Costuming & Conventions

As a child I always loved costuming. When I was 5 my mom made me the Little Orphan Annie dress & it was my absolute favorite thing in the world to wear. Then she made me the blue dress with the white pinafore apron from Alice In Wonderland. I would do a few Halloween costumes but we didn't celebrate it much as a kid. One costume that really sticks out in my mind was when I dressed up as Jeannie from I Dream Of Jeannie.

Then I grew up & as The Doctor says...You never want to do that. As a teenager I was a closet geek & wished for the guts to dress up again. I had very few friends & I was afraid of what people would think it they knew. (Yes I say that a lot.)

Once I was in my 20s I started dressing up again but just for Halloween. It started out mild as Wednesday Addams, then Morticia. I had fun making costumes & had to work really hard to make Ariel, The Little Mermaid costume. I wanted to do more complex costumes so I turned to the best & most talented seamstress I have ever met, my Mom.

She would sew the really hard items while explaining to me what she was doing while I watched her every move. Or she would stand over my shoulder & tell me what to do step by step teaching me as I went. It makes me nervous when she does that but it really does teach me a lot.

Together we made Bat Girl one year then we did Harley Quinn. Mys sister & I got the idea to dress up together & our mom agreed to help us make the costumes if we would make special appearances in them for the kids at church. It was such a small price to pay that we readily agreed. My sister is blond so she went as Rainbow Bright & I was original Strawberry Shortcake with my lovely red hair. We had a blast & had professional pictures done just for our mom.

I got very ill for a few years & was unable to do much of anything. When God healed me I came back full force stronger than ever. I wanted to do everything & finally sat down to make a costume I had thought about for years but had not yet done. I made my own Poison Ivy costume. It was one of those tedious projects that was made fun by knowing how awesome it would look in the end. I walked around with various friends on Halloween & discovered that not many non-geeks really understood who I was dressed as. Too many people thought I was Eve with out my Adam or just some tree/plant lady. I had the same experience with the Harley Quinn costume being called a jester or just a Harlequin. Silly me thought that since Poison Ivy had been around longer & had greater exposure to the normals out there that she would be a little more popular. Once again the normals of the world disappointed me. That is part of what made me decide to try out going to a convention.

I had heard that the local fandom conventions were just drunk fests for geeks to gather & grope one another. I had even been told my those close to me that I wouldn't like conventions, but I wanted to give them a try for myself. I did a bit of research & got word that a newer multi-fandom con in the area was better than the others. I went in with fairly low expectations but I wore my Poison Ivy costume anyways & barely in the door when people were wanting my picture.

We walked all over & saw multiple vendors with lots of cool toys & collectible stuff. Which is great but even better, I found a group of people that I can call MY people. One guy ran 3 panel discussions all relating to my unhealthy obsession Doctor Who. There was really a place for me here! People didn't judge me & I met those that knew even more about The Doctor than I did.
My best friend & I went to many other panels but the ones that I remember the most were the Harry Potter discussions & the Whoniverse related talks. Oh & there was a great B movie Fistful of Brains- A western zombie film. I met so many wonderful people & for once, didn't feel like an outsider. There were room parties but for most people, that was where the drinking stayed & wasn't excessive.

All of us dressed in various costumes, you never knew what you were going to see next from The Cult of Snuggie to a group of Stormtroopers marching through the parking lot. Some costumes were store bought but many were hand made. Some were cheap & simple & some had spent hundreds of dollars & so complex that I had to wonder how much time it had taken to make them.

One year later I'm helping run the Doctor Who panels & volunteering to work the convention. We told the man who put ConNooga together how a small group of us had formed into a Doctor Who "fan club" because of the 2009 con. We had a fan table to help promote the love of all things T.A.R.D.I.S. related in the Tennessee Who Authority. For 2010I didn't have a Doctor Who costume so I wore my older costumes. One day I was Strawberry Shortcake & the next Bellatrix Lestrange costume that I do for the Harry Potter movies. I enjoyed being polar opposites from one day to the next.

My enjoyment of the convention grew so much that I decided to branch out & go with friends to TimeGate 2010. I felt as though someone had made a convention just for me. It was Doctor Who, Stargate, with a splash of Joss Whedon thrown in. Lets take my favorite sci-fi shows & spend a weekend of talking about just those shows. I was such a happy little fangirl!

It felt surreal meeting Carmen Argenziano who played Jacob Carter on Stargate SG-1. He just sat across the table & chilling out with us. At one point in time I actually thought to myself "Holy crap Jacob Carter is joking around with us". At that time I thought I was going to cry because when I was sick watched a lot of SG-1 & I would joke that a Tok'ra symbiote would blend with me to heal me or that The Doctor would pick me up in his TARDIS & take me into the future where they could cure my disease. I told Carmen about my time of watching him while I was in the hospital & how we would joke about the cures. The man stood up & hugged me, thanked me for sharing my story with him. He then complimented me on how healthy I look today & my excellent costume. Which by the way is my newest, & most awesome costume of them all. My mom & I spent well over 50 hours making it but she made me the red Miss Hartigan dress. I am hoping to make the Cyber Kind head piece by Dragon*Con but we shall see how that turns out.

This will be my first year at Dragon*Con. Once again I am being told I will hate it but I want to experience it for myself at least once. I know I love small conventions but at least once I want to attend a large one. There are only a handful of stars or famous people that I would want to meet. Anyone with a hand in anything Doctor Who related of course so I'll try to get in to see some of the Torchwood people. Mainly I just want to have the experience of being in that large of a group. I will be with a group called Girls of the Con since I have a small picture in their calendar.

I love costuming & having been found by GOTC I have finally made it into a calendar! I have those model friends that are gorgeous with their store bought boobs, fancy clothes, & never have a moment when they're imperfect in any way & always cool. Now I can finally tell them that I made it into a calendar & all I had to do was be nerdy self.

Ranting about my nerdisms

I'm turning into a little kid. Excited about going to a convention that's mainly Doctor Who & Stargate, which is called TimeGate. As everyone knows, Doctor Who is my favorite show in the universe & Stargate series are apart of my top 5 shows. I think my favorites rank as 1)Doctor Who 2)Torchwood 3)Firefly 4)Angel 5)Stargate. The only thing that would make this convention more suited to me would be to add some Joss Whedon & I'd be in my own personal geek heaven.

The guests at TimeGate make me absolutely giddy, especially Paul Kasey. He is the one who dressed up as the monsters in Doctor Who & Torchwood & in another British show I enjoy Being Human. To make things even more fun for myself, I will be dressed as Miss Hartigan from The Next Doctor. My mom & I have been working hard to make the dress as close as possible to all the screen shots that we have. I have dressed up in various costumes over the years from Ariel-The Little Mermaid, to Poison Ivy, to Bellatrix Lestrange. I believe this will be my favorite costume of all time & though all of my costumes get worn at least 2-3 times. I believe this one will get even more wear out of it because it will be too awesome to just pack away after a few times of being worn.

One thing that just puts the icing on the cake for myself is that, with this dress, I will have a little picture in a calendar. The photo shoot is going to be during TimeGate, making me a tad bit nervous. I really love groups that celebrate nerd girls & how we are awesome & show off that we can be sexy. I met someone from Girls of the Con at ConNooga & absolutely adored the group. I was thrilled to be asked to have my picture taken for the calendar. I spend so much energy trying to convince people that being a nerd or geeks is not a bad thing & groups like Girls of the Con or Geekchickgirls help the world see us in a different light.

I am a gamer, LARPer, a Whovian, a costumer, a comic book collector, a devout follower of the Whedonverse. I don't look the part, but then I don't look the part for any of the stereotypes that I supposedly fit in. I don't look like a mechanic but I went to school to work on cars & have received certifications. I love working on cars, it's just not a feasible line of work for me at this time. It has become more of a hobby than a job now. I believe we can be sexy & still be thrilled that our new comics are in, or yell at our team mates while playing our favorite MMORPG after taking off our corset & skirts.

I adore my friends from Tennessee Who Authority, I am proud to think that I helped get the group going. They're such great people that I was privileged to meet at ConNooga 2009. We decided then to form a group to gather once a month just to watch & discuss anything & everything of the Doctor Who universe. I always look forward to our monthly meetings & have formed some wonderful friendships. At ConNooga 2010 we decided to share our group with more people & we have exploded in numbers. We had to find a larger facility to hold our meetings & I couldn't be happier with the group. It's fun to be able to be myself & know that everyone in the room is going to "get" all of my odd sayings & quotes. Getting to spend a weekend with them at TimeGate is going to make it even more fun. Conventions are a blast, but they're even more fun when you have friends with you. I know it's a time to form more friendships with commonality of our certain nerdisms but I am one who is more comfortable when I have at least one or two people with me in which the friendships are already formed. Besides it's always easier to get costumes on when you have a friend to help.

http://www.timegatecon.org/index.htm

http://www.girlsofthecon.com/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=116710498349357#!/group.php?gid=116710498349357&ref=ts

A New Doctor

Contains spoilers for those of you that have not yet seen The Eleventh Hour.

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about Matt Smith as The Doctor. I adore David Tennant as My Doctor still but I think Matt is working brilliantly. I watched with bated breath for fear that it would be ruined forever but excited because I enjoy Steven Moffat's stories. Matt exceeded my expectations of him & I think I'll greatly enjoy him because he has such a flaw that I loved in My Doctor as a kid. He's goofy looking, his head is a weird shape & looks too big for his body. As I have said before my biggest problem with Tennant being The Doctor was that he is too sexy & my inner child has issues with The Doctor being sexy. Only time will tell if Matt will take David's place in my heart as My Doctor. Matt is proving he can do the job of being a Time Lord. He is portraying a completely different Doctor, which is how it should be but I miss David, I miss Ten.

The Eleventh Hour was a fun episode & was very kid friendly but also appealed to adults with the intelligent writing as Doctor Who has been known for doing. It had a scary bad alien that The Doctor had to outsmart in order to save the planet because other aliens were going to burn the planet in order to kill the scary bad alien. The Doctor found his companion & built a friendship while still trying to figure out who he was & what he liked to eat. He puts together his 'costume' & scolds the aliens that were going to burn the planet & basically tells them he had better not see them around his favorite planet again.

Once again he proved that he can't "drive" the TARDIS, which is something that always made me laugh. The Doctor has always had a bad habit of landing in the wrong place or time & this time was no exception. Still he shows his love for the TARDIS, petting her & talking to her like she's an old lover.

This episode made me laugh a lot & it also showed the power that The Doctor has by simply talking. It was a very quotable episode & it gave hints of a story arch that will continue through out the series. I like to have a few stand alone episodes but I personally like story archs a bit more. I like to see how something small from one episode will come back & affect something that's happening 6 episodes down the line. I am excited to see what is to come & I am very happy to see that The Doctor continues to be brilliant, fantastic, molto bene.

Matt Smith is a fantastic guide throughout the Doctor Who universe of amazing adventures that Moffat has in store for us. So far my biggest complaint is the opening sequence felt blah & the theme song sounded like a generic remix of the Doctor Who theme. I like the new look of the TARDIS, inside & out. Over all I give it 2 thumbs up & I can't wait until the next episode. I think I'm going to watch this one again another half dozen times.

Not Ashamed of Being Nerdy Anymore

I am a nerd & I am proud of it!

When I tell people I am a nerd they look at my sympathetically & say "but that's not necessarily a bad thing". I know it's not a bad thing. I didn't say it like it is a bad thing but when people hear the terms "nerd" or "geek" they associate negative meanings to them. I used to try & hide the fact that I was a nerd. I loved reading odd books & when I was 13 I fell in love with comic books because I was stuck in my grandmothers house in a small town where I was viewed as an outsider so therefore I must be picked on constantly. Staying sick most of my life on top of being an outcast turned me into a bit of a loner so when I found a lost & forgotten stack of Spiderman & X-Men comics I found that they helped me escape my life. I guess my stay with my grandparents that year helped cultivate the person I am today. I didn't tell anyone of my enjoyment of comics for many many years. I knew I was different but I tried my best to blend in, though it didn't work very well. My first love at 16 didn't even realize how much of a closet nerd I was because I knew that people were supposed to outgrow their childish toys & I was struggling to let go of them. I even went as far as trying to make fun of the other nerds for liking stupid things, that I secretly liked.


I know that the time for growing up should have happened a long time ago but I came to a serious conclusion. I am never going to grow up! I will continue collecting comic books & action figures. I love that my husband has an entire room of nothing but Star Wars items. I still love Disney & Pixar movies. I look over & see my Harley Quinn & Bat Girl dolls on top of my bookshelves & want to put up more shelves so I have a place to put my Doctor Who figures. When I hate my job I remind myself that I am saving up for some new toy or costume. Yes I dress up in costumes as well. When I was a teenager & into my early twenties I longed for the guts to go out in some crazy costume. One day I realized that no matter what I do, someone is going to think ill of me in some way, so I quit caring & started doing what made me happy. Costuming is one of those little things that makes me smile. I have been Bat Girl, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy (noticing a trend there?), Strawberry Shortcake, & Bellatrix Lestrange. I don't have a Doctor Who related costume....yet.

Bit by little bit I came out of the nerd closet & began to embrace what it really meant to be a nerd, a geek, a dork. Now that I am in my thirties I look back & wish I had done it sooner.