Dragon*Con - Report (Part Two)

[kitsu84]

And here comes part two. Hold on to your hats, kids. This is where we get down and dirty. Gareth, I'm looking at you. Still, keep in mind that there are no hard feelings, and I'm as big of fan of him as I was before I went to the convention - if not bigger.

Now, before we get started, there are a few things that I would like to say:

First of all, thanks so much to all of you who posted comments on my previous entry. It really meant a lot to me. I would also like to send out a special heart-felt thanks to those of you who tried to reassure me with the notion that I hadn't insulted Gareth. I really thought that I had, and it ate at me quite a bit. So, once again thanks for your input.

Secondly, this was my first convention, and despite a few mishaps, I had a blast.

I had wanted above all to keep my composure and act like a mature fan -- even if I was squeeing on the inside a few times. I also wanted to make sure that I observed proper etiquette while I was around these people. However, there were times where I slipped up, but I decided to not worry about it because there were a few stars who made mistakes themselves, ultimately proving that they're just as human as the rest of us.

Thirdly, forgive any typos that you may find. I’m currently re-reading this, and I’ll fix them as I find them.

And finally, I would like to dedicate this report to a few people on my flist:

Abby, Anna, Wiana, Lucy... You guys are the best. ♥

Alright, here we go!

Day Three – Saturday, August 30th

I got up at 5:00 AM, but my mom told me to go back to bed. I do. I then wake up a little after 7:00 AM and immediately think: “OMFG! My panel!” I then yell at everyone to get up. My mother starts bitching at me, but I ignore her and get ready. We arrived at the Marriott at approx. 8:30 AM. While waiting in line, I met Wiana and we got to talking. I also took some glorious pictures of people in Torchwood costumes.

Aw, uber cuteness!

No. I was not one of the ones who asked for them to pose like this. However, I just couldn't resist taking a picture because you could tell that it was a very awkward situation, but they were good sports about the whole thing. It’s amazing what fans will do for their fandoms…

Way to go, guys! You deserve to be commended. Somebody give them a cyber cookie!

Best costumes EVAR!

Anyway, after taking my pictures, I sit back down. Then, a few moments later, some guy comes out and tells us to move. We do, and that's when I notice how LONG the line is behind me. I was shocked.  We then wait a few more minutes -- my mom comes up and tells me that she bought me a Firefly shirt featuring Jayne for my birthday (*insert squee here*). It wasn't long after that that we were allowed into the room.

My mom and I stumble around for a bit until I see the girl I had met in line, Wiana, and we sit down beside her (fourth row). I whip out my camera, and my mom does the same -- just so that we're, you know, prepared. I didn't want to miss any of that pretty that was going to be on the stage in just a bit.

Now, I am going to warn you guys right here and now -- I don't remember everything that happened. And, no, my blatant fangirl spazzing had nothing to do with it... really. I do remember this, however:

1. James was asked what it was like kissing John Barrowman, and he said that he shaves differently now. LOL.

2. James was asked what his favorite curse word was. He said: "Fuck. It's got a nice impact." That's when Anthony quipped: "You never forget a good fuck."

I'm starting to love this guy more and more...

3. Gareth talked about his band a bit; he said that we should be getting a BG CD by the end of September (yes!). He also talked about some of the bands that he gets inspiration from -- one of those bands being NIN.

And I thought that I loved Gareth before... He's a fan of NIN? Seriously? Win.

4. Gareth's favorite color is black. Orly? Mine too.

5. Anthony was talking about filming the episode To The Last Man at the same time that they were filming Adam. He then tells us about Bryan coming down to let him know that Naoko's all ready for him. That's when Gareth says: "She's all yours, brother. I've loosened her up for you." At this point the entire room roars, and that's when Gareth realizes exactly what he had said (the expression on his face was priceless). He tries to fix the situation, but ultimately fails. He then says: "You Americans are sick!" I cheer him on, and immediately think: Damn right, and we're proud of it.

6. There was a part during the panel where everyone was asked what they thought about the homosexuality in the series. James pretty much said that it was the reason why he loved the series so much. Gareth then says something to the effect of it doesn't bother him if a homosexual scene pops up in the script. He's like: Oh. Okay then. He then made a remark that went something like: "Homosexuality is part of the world, it isn't going anywhere, and people should just accept it." Once again, I cheer him on -- this time at the top of my lungs.

This is why Gareth is made of awesome, people.

7. Gareth talked about a scene they shot for the episode Meat where he's feeding John pizza while talking about the creature. John then puts Gareth's hand on his “knob,” and tells him how hard he is. This was, of course, John's idea (who else could come up with something like that, lol). However, someone -- I think it was one of the producers -- came up to Gareth, and blamed him for it saying it was a bit camp. ROFL. 

I demand that this scene be included with the blu-ray version of series two if it comes out.

8. Gareth rapped about coffee. No, really. I has video…

Pictures of the panel:

















Couple close-ups of James:

And a demonic Gareth:

Sorry... I just couldn't resist.

The panel concludes, and everyone gives the boys a nice send-off as they walk off-stage. Also, as I’m walking by, I steal a quick glance of Gareth’s grey boxers.

I’m perverted… Sue me. Plus, it wasn’t like he was trying to hide them or anything. He never does…

It's at this point in time that my mother and I decide to head over to the Hilton. We want to re-visit the Walk of Fame because there were still quite a few autographs that we wanted to collect, but were unable to on the previous day because a few of the actors had not arrived yet. We head over, sit down in a couple of chairs, and once again send my father off to get us some lunch (anybody sensing a pattern?). He comes back with a hamburger for her, and a hot dog for me.

Eureka, is this actual food?

I inhale the damn thing along with my can of Mountain Dew... I'm then forced to wait on my mother who actually 'chews' her food. While sitting there, I just happen to glance over at the stairs that were roughly seven feet right in front of us, and who do I see? Robert Picardo. I slap my mom's arm. She coughs, and says: "What?!" I tell her: "There went Robert." She immediately perks up, and says: "Where?!" We then head up to the Walk of Fame. This time around, I meet:

Robb Demarest - My mom’s looking around for Jason; I had told her that Grant had told me that he wouldn't be able to make it this year, but she just wouldn't listen. While we're navigating through the crowd, I see Robb sitting at his table, and the following conversation takes place between my mother and I:

Me: "There's Robb."
Mom: "Where?"
Me: "There."
Mom: "Where?!"
Me: "Right there!"

She finally sees him, and immediately bolts over to his table (I think she's got a thing for him, lol). I wait until she gets done talking to him -- grinning like a fiend the entire time. I step up, and she's still talking. I purse my lips, and wait... They're still talking. Alright, no problem... *pats foot* It's at this point that Dustin comes around the corner, and sits down. I say: "Hey! There he is!" He replies with: "Yep. Here I am." My mom then finally breaks-off her conversation with Robb, and moves down to Dustin's table. Bless her. I step up, and I ask if I can get a photo. He says: "You sure can." Aw, sweet. I ask him if he'll have it say ‘Happy Birthday’, and he says sure. He then looks at my badge and grabs it (watch the hands, dude). He then says: "Kitsu84? That's not your real name..." I say: "No, of course not… It’s my online name." all the while I’m thinking to myself: Thanks for stating the obvious, Robb. LOL. I then slide down to where Dustin's sitting.

Robb’s a sweet guy, but he needs to learn that you don’t just grab a fan’s badge like that – especially when the said fan is a girl, and the badge is hanging around her neck…

There was actually somebody else who did that to me, but I can’t for the life of me remember who it was...

Dustin Pari - Didn't talk for very long with Dustin. I just simply picked out my photo, and asked for what is now the usual. He says sure, and signs my photo. I then depart.

At this point, I'm getting anxious. It's time for me to finally collect autographs from the cast of Battlestar Galactica. I take a deep breath, and head over to their side of the room.

James Callis - Both my mother and I have got a thing for James, so we decide to get his autograph first. My mom is the first to make it up to the table, with me right beside her. She steps up, and picks out her photo. He then, out of the blue, asks who her favorite character is. She blurts out that Adama's her favorite. James then says: "Yeah, he's a great character." I then look at him, and say: "See? She's being honest with you." He says playfully: "I know!" I then reply in an unintentional smart-ass tone with: "Most people would be like ‘Uh, duh, you.’  when you ask them who their favorite character is." I know I know... I can't believe I said that either. My trademark snark hath claimed another victim (sorry, james!). He then tells her that he's going to write something special just for her on her autograph. She lets out a small whimper of joy, grabs her autograph, and runs off. I then step up, pick out my autograph, ask the usual, and I then say: "As for my favorite, number six all the way." He then replies in a deep voice with: "Oh, mine too."

Haha, this guy’s awesome.

Tahmoh Penikett - I wasn't at this guy's table for long -- I just couldn't handle it. He was so gorgeous! Especially in that hat he was wearing. I walk up, and I pick out the photo I want. He says that it's a personal favorite of his, and I say a little too enthusiastically: "Oh, I love it too!" Damn it... there goes my composure. I then ask the usual in what was quite possibly the lowest voice that I’ve ever spoken in my life; I could hardly speak. He says sure, and signs my photo for me. He then shakes my hand, I tell him that it was a pleasure meeting him, and he gives me this warm and wonderful smile. I take my photo, and wobble over to the closest table so that I may recover.

Jewel Staite - My mother and I then decide to get Jewel's autograph. We head outside, and buy tickets for her table (no, I'm not kidding). When come inside, and get in line -- we don't have to wait for very long. I make my way up to her table. Her handler takes my ticket, and I notice that she's wearing gloves. Um, okay… I then ask Jewel for the usual, and she signs my photo.

By this time, I was itching to get Edward James Olmos' autograph, but he wasn't back from his panel as of yet. I get in his autograph line, and decide to just wait because Aaron Douglas wasn't back yet either. So, I'm standing there waiting. All of a sudden, a woman comes up and tells all of us that it's going to be a while before he comes back because he's gone to lunch. Ok. No problem. I then start contemplating what other autographs I could get while I'm waiting. At this time, Aaron walks in. Bingo! I head over to his table...

Aaron Douglas - I'm the first one to arrive at Aaron's table. I walk up, and I'm just completely blown away -- I didn't realize just how physically attracted I was to this guy until I saw him in person. I was falling all over myself. But I kept it very well hidden. I pick a photo of him as Tyrol, and I ask for the usual. He then looks at me, and says: "It's your birthday? Well Happy frakkin' Birthday!" I smile and say: "Thank you very much." All the while I'm DYING on the inside. I then go to pay for my photo, and once again I don't have any change. I look over to him and say: "Oh, no... I don't have any change." He says: "No problem." He then looks over to woman sitting beside him, and says: "Have you got my bag?" She shakes her head. He then looks over to Michael Hogan's handler, and asks him the same question. The guy shakes his head. Aaron then says: "Hm. Give me a minute." He pulls out cash from his own pocket, and puts a ten dollar bill on the table, saying: "Shazam! There ya go." I say: "Aw, thank you." He says no problem, shakes my hand, and gives me this uber fantastic grin. I take my photo and my cash, and depart. I immediately put my photo in my binder along with the money. Yes, I'm that much of a dork.

By this time, Olmos still isn't back yet, so I decide to get Vic's autograph. I head around to where he's sitting -- stealing a quick glance of Gareth and James as I do -- and I ask one of the guys if this is the line for Vic. He says that it is, but the end of the line is outside the room. I look outside, and immediately think: Shit. So, I head outside the room, and get in line. They slowly let us in a few at the time. After waiting for roughly thirty minutes, my mom and I are standing right outside the door -- meaning that we’re standing right in front of it because we're next. So, I'm standing there just looking around, and BAM! Robert Picardo walks by again, this time sliding past us and into the room. Cool. So, I continue standing there, and here comes James Marsters. My face immediately brightens up. I wave at him, and say: "Hey!" He looks at me, smiles, and says: "Hi!" as he slides past me -- wearing a skin-tight sleeveless black shirt. I look over to mom, and I give her this dopey grin. I then look behind her, and notice that Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk are walking up. My eyes widen. She asks what's wrong, and I just simply point. She spins around just in time enough for Nathan and Alan to slide right past her. We both just look at one-another. She then looks into the room, and says: "Oh, no..." I look at her and say: "What? What is it?" She slowly looks over to me and says: "Here comes Gareth." All I could muster out was: "No." She just simply nods, and points. Sure enough Gareth comes out, and slides right past us. Then, Virginia Hey walks by us, and into the room. Then, Hayden Panettiere (damn, she's small), and James Kyson Lee.
 
At this point, I start thinking: You know we’re just fine out here… I could stand waiting a few more minutes. It was at this point that we were allowed back into the room. Figures…

Vic Mignogna - I get to Vic's table, and I choose one of the cards from his fanclub for him to sign. I ask the usual, and he complies. He then asks if I want to take a picture, and I say: "Sure. Hold on a sec..." I whip out my camera, and I ask Michelle if she'll pose with him. She says: "Absolutely! Because everytime I do, I get to hug this guy." I grin at her and quip: 'That must be so hard for you." She grins at me, and they strike a pose. I take the picture, and I ask Vic if I owe him anything because I've had to pay for every single autograph that I've collected thus far. He says: "Nope. Everything's free. All you gotta pay for is the CD." I look at him, and say: "You're kidding! I've gone to several tables and paid 20, 30 40…" He says: "I know. It's insane." I then thank him, shake his hand, and make my way back over to Olmos' table to see if he's returned.

Olmos STILL isn’t back yet… Grr. I then head over to Michael Hogan’s table.

Michael Hogan – I walk up and introduce myself. I then pick out my photo and ask the usual, telling him that my birthday is coming up on Wednesday. He then asks: “What date is your birthday on?” I tell him that it’s on the third. He then replies with: “Really? Cause mine’s on the second.” I look at him and say: “You’re kidding me!” He then grins at me and says: “Spooky… Isn’t it?” I reply with: “Yeah… Somewhat.”

No. Before you ask, Olmos hasn’t returned yet. Argh, dammit!

So, I decide to just stand in line with this other guy, and wait. He [Olmos] had a photo-op at 5:30 PM. It was 4:30, and we were told that he was planning to return so that he could sign a few more autographs before heading off to this said photo-op. Ok, fine. I’ll wait…

Finally, after about fifteen minutes, Adama himself finally returns…

Hurrayz!

Edward James Olmos – I don’t know about anyone else, but this man intimidated the hell out of me. I walk up to his table, and I hand him the photo I had bought of him and Hogan, and I ask if he’ll sign it and write ‘Happy Birthday’. He says of course, and starts writing – while I’m standing there wide-eyed… ready to run away at a moment’s notice. He then hands me my photo, wishes me a happy birthday, and shakes my hand. I say: “Thank you,” and immediately bolt off.

My mother and I decide to head downstairs, and just kill time until the dinner party. Once we sit down at the bar, I order a sprite, and that’s when I realize that I hadn’t gotten Anthony’s autograph. I grab my binder, along with my cash, and I head back upstairs.

Anthony Lewis – Words cannot express just how adorable this guy was. I wanted to shrink-wrap, and carry him home with me. He was just so cute. I walk up to his table, ask for the usual, and I tell him how much I adored Tommy. He says: “Well, thank you! Do you like my Tommy bear? Somebody gave it to me earlier.” I say: “Of course I do. He’s adorable.” He says thank you, and then asks if the convention is my big birthday celebration. I tell him that is, and that I’m planning to just chill on my actual birthday, while eating cake and watching a marathon of my favorite television series. He then asks where I’m from, and I tell him: “North Carolina. It’s just a couple states up. We had to drive for over 8 hours to get down here.” He then replies with: “That’s how long my flight back to the UK is.” He then hands me my photo, and wishes me a happy birthday.

I then head back down to the bar, and collapse… my feet were killing me. My mom and I just sit there for a few minutes, and at roughly 6:15 PM, we head over to the restaurant.

The Dinner Party –

We arrive at the restaurant at approx. 6:30 PM. While we’re waiting to go inside, I snap this picture:

 
 
These two even acted like Ten and Rose. They were great.

We head inside, and go upstairs. There, we meet up with Steve and the others. Everyone gets to talking – all the while thinking that the wonderful set-up behind us is our room. We’re then directed downstairs, and outside – in the heat. Ugh. Everybody then sits down at these small tables with 10 stools each – making things very cramped. Thankfully, I was on one the ends of the table. As we’re sitting there, James’ manager comes out, apologizes for the fact that we’re outside, and he tells us to go ahead and dive into the buffet. I immediately think to myself: You really expect me to eat? Dude, it’s too hot… That’s not including the fact that I’m also nervous.

So, I get up, head over to the buffet, and grab a small plate of BBQ. I start eating, and my eyes immediately fly open – the damn BBQ was spicy as hell. Argh, water! The waitress then replies: “Your server will be with you shortly.” Alright, fine. Ten minutes later, and still nothing. Then James comes out and I forget that I’m practically blowing out flames like a freakin’ dragon. He also apologizes for the fact that we’re stuck out in the heat, and he tells us to just enjoy ourselves. He then heads back inside, and I’m told that he sat down with Gareth and Froggy.

At this point in time, my mother runs off, comes back and hands me a cookie, and commands me to eat it. Alright, fine. *munch, munch*

Both James and Gareth then come out. After a bit of talking, James and Gareth then proceed to head to each table for the photos. Finally, James comes over to our table. I jump off my stool – I honestly thought that the picture was going to be on the other side of the table, and that I would be on the end, which I had no problem with. I was happy to just be there. Suddenly, out of the blue, James walks up, puts his arm around me, and starts rubbing my back. He then tells me and the rest of the table that things are a bit cramped and that we’re going to have to get “extra friendly.” All the while he’s still steadily rubbing my back… We then pose for the picture, and that’s when we notice that Gareth’s missing. Suddenly, he appears behind me and James, and slides between us and puts his arm around me instead.

At this point, my brain completely shuts-down…

We then pose for the pic. Froggy takes it, but he tells us to hold our positions because he wants to take another one. So for roughly a full minute, I’m standing there with Gareth and our arms are around one another – with me barely being able to form any coherent thoughts whatsoever.

Malfunction! Brain cannot compute!

We finally break apart once Froggy takes the second pic, and I am barely able to get back on my stool. I just sort of wobble over, grab it, and stand there for a second.

Breathe. Just breathe.

At this point in time, Gareth grabs a plate of food, and decides to eat at our table.



While the Welsh purdy-boi is eating, my mom snaps what is quite possibly the funniest picture of Gareth that I’ve ever seen -- and what's it so damn funny is the fact that it was purely accidental.


 
I love this woman.

At this point, the Marsters takes the stage.



That’s when my mom passes the camera over, and tells me to switch seats with her. For realz, yo.

So I go over to her side of the table, and I start taking pictures. In fact, I took so many that James looked directly at me and the camera several times, and grinned every time he did so. LOL. Camera-whore. Still, I wasn’t taking anymore than anyone else – so why did he look at me? I then put the camera away, and start grooving to the beats – all while stealing glances of Gareth who’s standing off to the side of the patio, smoking.

Hotness.

Picture of the Marsters performing:

Through the course of the concert, James started singing the same song twice, and he broke his base string (oh, noes!). After doing so, he asks us what we want him to do: Fix the string, and continue singing or spend more time at each table. My hand shoots up for the latter.

More time with James means more time with Gareth, no?

So, James departs and Gareth sits down at the first table to converse. I honestly thought he was going to sit on the far end of our table… I had no idea that approx. twenty minutes later, he was going to plop down right beside me (meep).



(My mom caught him with the 'lazy eyes'. LOL.)

Once he sits down, he makes a remark about his back hurting. That's when the “event” took place –

My mother and Dawn tell Gareth that they’re both nurses, and that they give superior back rubs. He replies with “Hmm?” because he didn’t quite hear them. That’s when I look at him and repeat what they had said. That’s when he replied – while looking directly at them -- with: “You do know that ‘nurse’ means ‘slut’ in Welsh, right?”

I just blink at him, and chuckle a bit. I’m the type of person who takes everything in stride, and I could tell that he was only joking. My mom and Dawn, on the other hand, were NOT amused. My mother just looked at him and said: “Huh… Well that’s different.” As for Dawn, she stayed silent for a bit, and finally told us that she was heading to the bar.

(It wasn’t until we got home that my mother finally confessed to me that Gareth had really hurt her feelings – which pissed me off something terrible.)

After a couple of minutes, the first thigh brushing took place. I immediately whimpered, and cut my eyes over to Gareth. He was apparently completely immersed in his conversation with someone… I can’t quite remember who because I was unable to think straight. So, I’m sure that it was due to the cramped conditions and the way we were sitting; I couldn’t move over any further because if I had, I would’ve been in Dawn’s lap. This happened roughly six or seven times through the course of his time at the table. In fact there was one instance where his leg rested against mine, and it stayed there...

As for what he actually talked about, there was a little bit of everything. He talked about working out at the gym, and he made a humorous remark about the heat saying: "I don't see how you people stand this."He also talked about the fact that he’s going to be moving over to California in a couple of months, and… I don’t remember much else. I was too pre-occupied with what was happening under the table. I did get to ask him two questions, however – one of which I didn’t quite hear the answer to, and one where the reply didn’t really answer the question.

First off, he started talking about Burn and Naoko, and how losing the two of them had affected the whole team. That’s when I asked: “But wasn’t Ianto supposed to die instead of Owen during this series?” I was intrigued with the fact that Ianto had averted death twice through the course of the series, and I had wanted to take advantage of this time to ask Gareth about it myself. His reply? He said: “Yeah, Ianto was supposed to die in the first couple of episodes of series one.” All the while, he’s looking at Steve while he answers the question…

I get this puzzled look on my face, and think: Yeah, I know that already… That wasn’t what I asked you.

I then ask him: “What do you think about the fact that Ianto has become a fan-favorite character?” He says nothing and just looks at me. I decide to continue on with saying: “In series one, he was a wall-shadow who didn’t do all that much. But now he’s quippy, assertive, and he goes out on mission regularly.” He then says something that I couldn’t quite make out because his voice got LOW… The only word I remember hearing was ‘flattering’. I then realize that I had called him a ‘wall-shadow’, and I mentally facepalm myself.

Way to go, genius. *rolls eyes*

I then decide to just shut the hell up, and listen to his beautiful accent as he talked with the others. After a few more minutes, he heads over to another table.

So, I’m sitting there mentally kicking myself, and then suddenly James plops down beside me.

Finally, someone, who doesn’t cause me to make a complete ass out of myself. I was actually somewhat relieved. He then starts talking about his music, and Obama. I’m not a political person, nor am I musically inclined. So, I just sit there and listen… All while noticing the ‘wonderful’ shirt he was wearing at the time.

The only thing really funny that happened while he was at our table was the incident with the wine glass (*points to the one in the photo*).

While James is talking with Steve, he accidently knocks his wine glass over. Now, do you guys notice how close it is to the flame? I sit there wide-eyed, as does Steve because he, James, and I would've been the first ones to go up in flames. James immediately catches the glass, and sets it back up -- there wasn't enough wine in it to spill over. It was at this point that Steve reaches over, and slowly moves the flame away. He then looks over and silently says to me: "We don't want anybody to catch on fire."  I just simply nod, and cut my eyes over to James.

Then, out of the blue, my mom looks at Steve and tells him to tell James that my birthday is coming up and to ask him if he would sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. I completely freeze up when she does this, and sure enough, Steve asks James if he’ll sing. James then turns around to face me, and starts singing the birthday song. I just smile at him sheepishly, and I actually hid my face at one time. Once he finishes, I immediately tell him: “Thank you so much.” That’s when he replies with: “No problem. Happy Birthday, sweetheart,” and he proceeds to hug me. He then gets up to leave, and that’s when I ask him if it’s alright to get our photos signed tomorrow [Sunday]. He places his hands on my shoulders saying: “Yeah, tomorrow.” He then leans in close to my right ear and says: “Cause I’m going to bed.”

God, I love this man...

After a few more minutes, James and Gareth head over to the stage, and that’s when James’ manager takes the mic. He tells us that Gareth is going to lead everyone in singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to James. He [James] then jumps up on a chair right next to me, and we all sing him the birthday song. He says thank you, and bows – giving me a bird’s eye view of his backside which almost causes me to fall off my stool.

He and Gareth then depart, but before they do James turns around and shouts to us: “You people are beautiful!” He and Gareth then leave, and it’s a good thing that they did… I honestly don’t think that I could’ve handled anything else. That’s when my mother and I decide to head back to the hotel. Day three complete.

Bloody hell…

Day Four – Sunday, August 31st

We don’t do much on Sunday. We just head down to the dealers, and I buy a beautiful Comic-Con exclusive portrait of Captain Jack Harkness which was hand-signed by John Barrowman. And, as it turns out, the woman that I bought it from was the one who got John to sign it. She tells me that John, believe it or not, is even more gorgeous in person. I ask her if that is even possible. She then tells me that the woman who runs this little stall with her is the one who actually drew the portrait, and that she received input from both John and Scott as she was working on it. All I could think to say was: “Wow…” I then pay for my beautiful little picture, and I head off to explore the other dealers.

While I’m doing this exploring, I come across a spectacular Naruto poster featuring: Sasuke, Kabuto, Itachi, and Orochimaru. I just couldn’t pass that up. I buy it, and I go in search of my mom. I find her at the Browncoats stall, and we decide to get some lunch.

As we're heading out, I snap this photo:

We make our way over to the Hilton, and we order ourselves some of the most delicious nachos that I’ve ever ate in my life. And I had time to sit there and actually taste my food.

Once I finish eating, I snag my binder and my copy of ‘Twilight Streets’, and I tell her that I’m heading to the Walk of Fame. I had wanted to personally thank James for what he had done, and I wanted to show Gareth the hilarious picture that my mother had taken of him.

So, I get upstairs and yet again there’s a line out of the door. I ask who’s it for, and they say ‘James Marsters’. Great. I then get in line. As I’m standing there, I notice a guy exiting the room. Turns out, upon closer inspection, this guy was Michael Rosenbaum.

Nice.

Then a few minutes later, both James and Gareth slide past us and into the room. That’s when the line finally starts moving.

After a few minutes, I’m allowed into the room. I make my way up to James’ table, pull out the original photo of him that I had bought Friday, and pay his manager. I then slide down to where James is. He looks up, his eyes widen, and he smiles. I say: “Hey you! The dinner last night was fantastic.” He sighs and says: “Good. I was worried about the acoustics and the heat. But I’m glad that you had a great time.” I just simply nod and say: “Last night was, out of twenty-four years, the greatest birthday I’ve ever had. Thank you so much.” He gives me this huge grin, and then replies with: “You’re welcome. Happy Birthday, sweetheart.” He signs my photo, I shake his hand one final time, and I bid him farewell. I then make my way over to Gareth’s line.

I get up to his table, and I hand my book over to his handler. She hands It over to him, and I then slide down to where he is. He looks up at me, and his eyes widen just as James’ had done. I smile at him, and I say: “I just want to say that what you and James did last night was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.” He grins at me, and that’s when I ask him if I can show him a picture. He says sure, and I pull out my camera. I show him the picture that my mom had taken, and he immediately bursts out laughing saying: “Oh, that’s great!” I grin at him and ask: “Is it okay if I post this on the internet? Or do you want me to just keep it in my personal collection?” He replies with: “Sure, go ahead!” He then made a joke about it, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was…

He then signs my book, and hands it over – all while giving me this gorgeous smile (gah!). I shake his hand for the last time, and I depart.

At this point, my mother and I decide to conclude our wonderful weekend and just head back to the hotel so that we may recover some of our strength before heading home on Monday. Day four complete.

My swag:

That’s it guys. I hope you enjoyed my report. Also, if any of you are planning on going next year, let me know and we’ll see if we can do a meet-up.

Lots of love, and I'll see you guys later. ♥