Dragon Con 2013

I can't say it enough. Dragon Con is my very favorite Con. It's like coming home to family you love.

Wednesday

I wanted to get there as soon as I could so I decided to take the red-eye from LAX to ATL. I had to work that Wednesday and then finish packing. I finally had my ride take me an drop me off at 10:30pm. The flight took off without a hitch,  it was Wednesday night so getting through security was easy peasy.

Thursday

Landed in Atlanta full of excitement and a strong feeling of homecoming.

Everything is familiar and comfortable and easy. I decided to walk from my concourse to baggage claim instead of taking the train.They have these wonderful displays in the walkway that you miss by taking the train. The history of Atlanta from the beginning to today; art from Africa, beautiful sculptures and wonderful photographs of Africa. I texted me friends I had arrived and they were already checking in at 6:30am. They drove all night to arrive early. We were able to get 2 connecting rooms. It was nice since there were 8 of us total. Tygie, Keleos, Cavie and I in one room and Apida, Quillismightier, Theresa & Larissa (T & L were Dragon Con first timers!)

The really neat thing about going to Dragon Con is that transportation is not an issue. The train MARTA is at the end of the terminal just past baggage claim. One way is $2.50 so I went ahead and bought a round trip ticket. The train ride takes about 30 minutes. Dragon Con stop is at the Peachtree Station, once you exit and go up the long escalator you can go out into the street and walk over to your hotel or go back in to the Peachtree Mall and use the habit trails that connect from the food court to the Marriott or the Hyatt. I was staying at the Marriott.

The whole journey from the airplane to the room is familiar and feels like I am coming home, my home away from home. I was looking forward to seeing my friends that I only see once a year at this Con. After the initial yay so happy to see you again, Tygie, Keleos and I decided that it was naptime. It was 9am and we were up all night to get here. It was a mighty fine nap. Cavie was still in Tallahassee packing. After our nap we decided to go get lunch and then our badges. They put in a CVS in the Peachtree Mall. That was nice because it saved me a trip walking into Downtown Atlanta to go to CVS. It was not nice because I no longer had a reason to go walking through Downtown Atlanta. I decided to order Shwarma in honor of the Avengers, with a side of cooked vegetables, MMMmmmmmm delicious. I had to go back to the room to put away the rest of my meal. I have learned to eat less at one sitting so I just ate half the Shwarma. It was really delicious. Then I made my way to the Sheraton to go get my badge. The Pre-reg line was long and people had to wait outside before getting inside. I was doing onsite registration with cash. It took a total of 12 minutes from standing outside to getting my badge.

I went back to the room and waited for Cavie. She arrived about an hour later. I walked her over to the Sheraton to get her badge. She had only 2 people in front of her. You pay more for onsite but it is so much faster. I love it. Afterwards we walked around the Marriott International Level to see how much photo ops would be. There was a line already and they were barely setting up. I really wanted a pic with Billy Dee Williams aka Lando Calrissian. I also wanted Ed Asner as I have been a long time fan of his. It turns out that Froggy was going to have 2 locations. The other photographer was not going to be here so it was Froggy Photos at both locations. We walked over to the Hilton to see who they had over there. I found Billy Dee at the Marriott but not Ed Asner. It turns out Ed was going to be at the Hilton. Cavie wanted a photo with Ioan Gruffudd and Doug Jones. So those are the one we purchased. Once that was taken care of we decided that food was next on the agenda. I still had my other half of my shwarma. Cavie bought something from the food court from Moe's Southwest Grill and we headed to the room. After we ate we decided to keep exploring and seeing where they moved the Exhibit Hall and Dealer Room to the Americas Mart across the street from Peachtree Center. They put special Guests for autographs where the Dealer Room used to be. The Walk of Fame was moved to the Marquis Level Ballroom. Everything was topsy turvy. There were lots of changes and it felt like someone new was in charge this year.

What I missed the most this year was the lack of Firefly Panels. I did still see plenty and I mean a plethora of Firefly t-shirts and costumes. There were Buffy and Dollhouse Panels but I wanted Firefly. The abundance of Browncoat shirts made me feel like I was not alone and Firefly is still in fan's hearts. We finally made our way back to our room and crashed. We watched some Dragon Con TV. That is one of the main reasons to stay at the Con hotels. I really enjoy Dragon Con TV. Finally we were joined by Tygie and Keleos and more fun stories were shared.

Friday

Picture Day- We had to be ready at Froggy's by 9:30am to see if there were any schedule changes. Since I was getting my pic taken with Billy Dee Williams I decided I needed to curl my hair and wear a dress. I love Lando Calrissian and Billy Dee Williams has always been handsome and super suave. As we made our way to the Hilton I recognized Peter, a former security guard at the Hyatt who has since been promoted. He used to be in charge of the lines for the Hyatt Centennial Ballrooms where they place the biggest draws. He was always a friend to Browncoats and it was really nice running into him again.

We made our way to the Hilton, the first people Cavie and I were going to take pictures with is Fantastic Four Silver Surfer Doug Jones and Mr. Fantastic Ioan Gruffudd. Keleos told me that Doug was a sweetheart and that he hugged her head. Cavie wanted to stand next to Ioan in the pic. When it was our turn Doug was walking over to Cavie, so I started to speak to him so he came to me instead. I had tweeted that I'd be taking pics with them and he favorited my tweet. He was well dress and had a great smile and he was genuinely happy to be there. I've taken enough pictures to be able to tell what the actors are thinking. Some are excited. Some are just where do I stand, where do I look, not much interaction. So I was very happy with Doug's enthusiasm and Ioan was sweet and shook my hand as I was leaving. They were such dolls.

Then we made our way across the street to see Billy Dee Williams. Mark was the main line organizer and announcer for the chaos at the Marriott. There were too many people in a very small and limited space. He was doing his best to get things to run smoothly but sometimes that is not easy. I was able to tell Froggy thanks for all he does. I love that he gives us this opportunity. It helps create lots of wonderful memories. He said he would be at Comikaze so that is a reason for me to go.

On our way from the Hilton to the Marriott I had my random encounter with Brian Wiser. It has become this wonderful phenomenon that we will randomly run into each other without planning it.We could have gone to the first floor and gone across the street but we chose to use the Habit Trail connecting the 2 hotels. It was very nice and we took a pic.the thing about Dragon Con is that there is so much to do and everyone goes to what is important to them. So running into Brian is a treat since we didn't have to plan on it.

Finally it was our turn. I saw Billy Dee Williams sitting off to the side. He was definitely older but still has a regal presence about him. He walked right past us on his way to his spot. He didn't say much and all I can say is "Thank you for coming". He said, "Your welcome.", kind of surprised me that he responded. He is a gentleman.

After we took our pics we went up to the room to change into shorts and a t-shirt to be more comfortable. Billy Dee Williams had a panel at 1pm and I really wanted to go hear him and see how he did. He was fabulous he had a guy with him who helped him tell the stories and hear the questions. Mainly all the guys wanted to know how to be cool and suave like him. He said just to be silly, not take yourself too serious. None of the guys found this helpful. At another point Billy Dee said that he always tried being bigger than life in his acting. I think he carries himself that way. He has a really strong presence and confidence about him and that smooth voice he has helps a lot. I asked him about his Grandkids and if they watched him as Lando and he said one of them refers to him as Grandpa Calrissian. We also started a Twitter campaign to #BringBackLando for Episode 7. Billy Dee said he would love to see Lando with a daughter who is a Jedi. It was truly an thrill and an honor hearing him speak and share his thoughts. The man is very gracious and full of charm. He still got it.

At Dragon Con they clear the rooms so off we went to see the Art Show and Comic Artist Alley. My favorite Jason Palmer was not there but I received a lot of compliments on his buttons. You can order online at www.jasonpalmer.net I was able to find the Firefly Plush lady aka www.handmadestuffs.com She creates all kinds of plushes and recently started on My Little Pony. Last year Cavie bought me Mal. I saw Jayne and I had to have him. She said she had made a Kaylee too but she didn't bring her. I hope I can get her in the future. I requested a Wash for next year. I plan on completing my collection. If she makes everyone. I've always wanted a plush Serenity. QMx made a plush Enterprise but I want Serenity. We made our way through Comic Artist Alley without further purchase. We crossed over to the Art Show but did not have enough time to see all of it. We made a lap around the outside.I saw some lovely Malachite jewelery and some very nice dragon art one in particular had a dragon reading a book to a bunch of toddler dragons.

The next panel was Ed Asner so we had to leave and make our way back up. Ed Asner came out using a cane and walking in wearing his character costume from UP, red suspenders and all. He looked great. He needed a bit of help climbing the stairs and then he was left on stage without a handler. So he took charge and started talking and taking questions from the audience. I decided to go and start the line at the microphone and let folks know that is where they should stand. I asked about future projects and he said he was just in Argentina working on a new movie. He had a long answer and I can't remember what all he said but it was articulate. I told him I would see him later at the photo op.  He said looking forward to it. Then people lined up behind me so that it was easier for Ed to take questions. Someone asked about him making a Christmas movie and he said he already did Elf and that is all you get. He talked about the rocky start to Mary Tyler Moore Show. Some people had their concerns since they thought Ed can't do comedy. They tweaked some stuff and when he tell Mary she has spunk and then shouts, "I HATE SPUNK!" That line and his delivery made everyone laugh and take notice.

After Ed Asner's panel we had to rush back to the room to change and make our way to the Hilton for our Photo Ops. The tricky part about rushing is not the moving from Hyatt to the Marriott to the Hilton. The hardest part is getting an elevator that has enough space to get on. It doesn't matter which way its going. If the elevator has space you get on. Eventually it will go your way, so sometimes you just need to get on and go the wrong way. We were able to make it there on time. We arrived at 4:30pm. Ed Asner was not scheduled until 4:50pm but they went ahead and started early so that he was done by 4:50pm. I trust Froggy as a photographer and know the way his pics always come out well. This second location had a different photographer Matt and I don't know why but every time I felt like I blinked. The photos take 30 - 35 minutes to be printed and put out. So we decided to go get some food and come back later. 

We ended up splitting a Corn Beef Reuben from one of the sandwich shops in the food court. After dinner we went to Americas Mart to see what was there and see how it was laid out. It was on 2 floors. 1 floor had the Dealer Room and the Exhibit Hall. The second floor had the Exhibit Hall divided into 2 locations. It was really huge, massive and had too many good things to buy, unfortunately they take Credit Cards so it was hard to not buy. I bought a Browncoat lanyard from the Southeastern Browncoats Booth plus some Convention Panel DVDs. The we continued on and I bought a Castle 3 Ring Binder with a Costume Card included and I bought the Castle Trading Card Season 1-2 to put in the binder. It's hard to say no to something with Nathan Fillion's face on it. My last purchase was at another Browncoat Booth. They had these neat tiny button with lots of Nathan Fillion faces. There was an Enver Gjojak from Dollhouse pin in there and since I loved him in Dollhouse and Vegas I decided to include him as well. There were some shiny Official Fillionaire earrings as well, definitely a must have. I bought the Serenity Firefly paperback graphic novels and that was it for me. We walked by the Vamplets booth and I knew Tygie was looking for a Ghost Pony so we bought one for her along with the hardcover graphic novel. Fortunately it was 7pm and the Exhibit Hall was now closed. That meant that the photo ops were also closed so we decided to go Saturday to pick up our Ed Asner picture.

Saturday

This is my very favorite day of the Con. The Dragon Con Parade is Saturday morning and everyone that is in costume is invited to walk with their group of fans. Cavie decided to have breakfast with me and then to go check out the remainder of the Art Show. She also wanted to walk through the Exhibit Hall when there would be less people. So Saturday we made our way to Willy's a Mexican Restaurant. It was funny to me seeing the long line at Dairy Queen and then no line at Willy's. I told Cavie they are all choosing wrong. I love breakfast burritos and it has become a part of my routine to grab a burrito and then walk across the street to get my Starbucks coffee and then line up for the parade. Once I got in line for Starbucks Cavie decided to go ahead and get in line for the Exhibit Hall. Yes that's right there was a line to get in since they did not open until 10am and it was still 9:30am. The guy in line in front of me asked about my Firefly shirt and buttons so I explained briefly. Then I asked him why he was here. Turns out he is a great Dad. His daughter is into Anime and he had custody this weekend so they hopped on a train and came in. Myself and the girl behind me jumped into a quick tutoring session for the first timers. I explained they needed to buy a badge to get into the various events. It was fortunate for them we were able to give them a heads up. Once Dad realized that the line outside the Americas Mart was to buy stuff he knew that going in there would be a mistake.

The great thing about going alone to the parade is that I can squeeze into an open spot. So that is just what I did. There was a spot behind a planter so I had no tall people in front. That is until a child decided to climb onto the planter and instead of sitting on it decided to stand. Once the parade started a tapped him on the back and asked if he could sit so I could take pictures. He was about 9 or 10 and wearing a very nice Robin costume. The mom appeared not happy with me but did not say anything. If I let the kid stand a lot of other people behind me would have had their view blocked as well. The Parade was really really really looooonnnnnggggg, it was nice; lots of great costumes and many returning favorites as well as new ones. My favorite this year is the Steampunk Tigger he was awesome. The Red StormTrooper with the red boombox was funny as well. I saw Ricard Hatch walking along with the fans. When the Marvel group came up a little over half way through the parade the child stood back up again. He was so good up until then and it was his fandom. He received a lot of high fives from Batman and Robin Characters. After that it felt like we were almost done. The parade was about an hour and fifteen minutes long. So I did the best I could taking pics. Just aiming and shooting. Some came out great others had the back of the child's head as he moved around. He kept bending over the railing to see what was coming up, that's why he needed to stand. Finally the parade was done and we all dispersed. It can be a mad house. I saw a Mom with a stroller and Dad with the other child on his shoulders so I started to clear a path and lead the way. I was waving my arm to tell her to go this way and the little guy in the stroller reached up and held my finger. I helped them cross Peachtree and they were on their way to the Sheraton. I led them down the hill and the parade apparently wrapped around and was coming back. I explained what to do and where to go and waved good bye. I made my way back to the room.

I was going to meet Tygie today and help her get over to the Hilton. She is in a wheelchair and needs help moving around. Keleos was helping her Friday but she was in the parade so I volunteered to help Tygie get back and forth. I joined her at the Marriott International Level and we made our way to Lucy Lawless. William Shatner was not there but he was scheduled to be there. I did spot Richard Dean Anderson but did not get close. Then we made it to Lucy Lawless. The wheel chair people waited on the side and there was  person standing in their place in line. I wanted to take a picture of Lucy since we as so friendly and seemed to be enjoying herself a lot. I discovered that I had removed my battery to charge it. Ooops I had to leave Tygie and run upstairs to get the battery. I made it back after Tygie had her turn, it took me that long.

We then made our way over to the Hilton and waited until both Doctor's showed up. I decided I really wanted to take a pic with Eddie McClintock in order to get his autograph. While we were waiting Mitch Pileggi was taking pics. I have seen him pop up time and again but he is always Skinner from the X-Files for me. He doesn't really play the nice guy. He is usually doing something not so good. But watching Mitch taking pics with such a friendly easy going stance I decided I need a pic with Mitch. When the guy came out to see if anyone else had a pic with Mitch I asked him if I had time to buy one. He looked at me and said let me get someone. So I made an impulse buy and got a pic with Mitch Pileggi. When it was my turn I told him this was an impulse buy and that I had been a fan of his for a long time. He has a great smile and absolutely beautiful eyes. Mitch Pileggi is charming and truly sexy. I sent my sister a text since she is a huge X-files fan and she was excited for me.

Eddie McClintock clearly loves his fans he has lots of fun and is very sweet and kind. Eddie is a genuine person enjoys coming to Dragon Con and meeting the fans. When it was my turn I told him my friend Suzi says hi. She chats with him on Facebook. We took our pic then he said her last name. He knows his fans.

After Tygie took a pic with the 2 doctors and I took mine with Eddie we waited awhile to pick up our pics. That way we would not have to return the next day. by the time we had our pics it was 7pm and the Walk of Fame was closed. I was unable to get any autographs. We headed back to the room. 

I had not seen Cavie since breakfast so we went out to dinner.

She wanted to repeat last year's experience and have drinks and see if there were any stars we could claim to have drinks with; so we decided to dine at Sear, one of the fine dining restaurants in the Marriott Hotel. We saw someone she recognized but couldn't place. We spotted Lou Ferrigno as he went to his table. After a final look around I spotted Edward James Olmos having dinner with a bunch of peeps. I had a lemon drop in honor of Lux Lucre a fallen Browncoat. Cavie had a margarita on the rocks. After dinner we decided to walk around a bit to see everyone in their costumes. That was a lot of fun. My favorite were Maleficent, The Evil Queen and Ursula they looked wicked good. I took a pic with a stormtrooper. We did three laps around, one for the Marquis Level, the Lobby Level and the Atrium Level. There were so many great costumes, lots of Mals, Jaynes and Kaylees, plenty of Dr. Who's and the Police Box as dresses. I love the Dalek dresses as well. There were a lot of Victorian clothing as well as Steampunk. Oh the characters from Star Trek The Next Generation were posing together. So were men in drag as the Disney Princesses; that was something they looked very nice. Finally I got tired and we made our way back up to our room. Cavie got tired from walking all of the Americas Mart and the Art Show. So much fun but so very tiring as well. She did buy some nice art pieces as well as a Malachite pendant for me. She is such a generous soul and still thinks she could do more. We watched more Dragon Con TV.

Sunday

First thing for me is to go to church. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart is just down the next block from the Marriott and Mass starts at 8:30am. It was nice and the priest opened with a little joke that he would not be able to speak in Klingon today. That threw me but made me laugh. He recognized that there are many here for Dragon Con. After Mass I went back to the room to change and I decided not to buy breakfast but eat what was in the room. We had plenty of food. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as well as an apple and some coffee. I made my way over to the Walk of Fame. I had not stepped in there all weekend. I walked a lap around to see who was there and how much everything was. William Shatner's autograph was $75. I had spent $50 on Stan Lee's autograph and that was my cap. I did not think some people deserved as much as they were asking and others deserved more. I asked earlier what people thought Billy Dee Williams was going for and the guess was $100-$125 since he is a movie star. Turns out he was only charging $40 Woo Hoo! Well within my price range. It was 10:30am and the sign said he would arrive at 11:05am so I decided to be the first in line. As I was waiting I looked around and then I heard the voice of Squidward from Spongebob Square Pants, Rodger Bumpass. I was very excited and he was only charging $20 but I still needed to see who else's autograph I got. Then I saw Doug Jones arrive once again very well dressed. I asked the guy behind me if I could step out to get Doug's autograph and he said sure. So off I went. I stepped up and pulled out my pic. He was once again sweet and fun. He gave my head a hug. He's tall and I am short and my friend mentioned that he does this so I was happy to be receiving a head hug from Doug. I just wish I got a picture of it but the memory lives. Getting Doug's autograph meant I needed to get Ioan Gruffudd since the picture is with both of them and it would bug me a lot.

Finally Billy Dee Williams came and he was nice and attentive and gave his autograph. I didn't want to hold him up or those behind me so I moved on. I continued walking around and I saw Mitch Pileggi with no line. That just seemed all manner of wrong so I decided to get his autograph, oops another impulse buy but he was a dear, still sweet and charming and fun to talk with. He seems to be a man of good humour, a pleasant disposition. Did I mention super sexy? Mitch Pileggi definitely has a sort of magnetism about him. Ed Asner was just arriving so I was able to get his autograph. He asked about Cavie and I told him she was in the Art Show. I came out great in the pic but Cavie had her eyes closed. So we were going to get another pic with Ed at the end of the day. I walked over to where Lindsay Wagner and Lee Majors were sitting. I was a fan of both of their shows and I had met and taken a pic with Richard Anderson aka Oscar Goldman. I wanted to show them the picture and hopefully take a pic with them. Richard and Lindsay's charged me $20 for a pic at the table. Lee Majors was charging $40 for a pic at the table. I showed him the picture but he was not caring about me as a fan since I had no money for him. He was charging $50 for his autograph and he had 0 charm and did not look good at all. he looked like he did not want to be bothered. That of course was disappointing but I was very happy I did not spend any money on him. Lee Majors was unpleasant. So I moved on and got in line for Ioan Gruffudd's autograph. I didn't have much to say to Ioan but he smiled graciously and played off what Doug Jones wrote in my autograph. It was very thoughtful and sweet. So with the $20 that I did not spend on Lee Majors I decided to spend it on Rodger Bumpass since he seemed to be a pleasant man having fun speaking as Squidward for the fans. He was lovely and I happily gave him my money.

Now it was time to head to the final Warehouse 13 Panel. Brent Spiner joined them since he was a part of Warehouse 13 as a guest star. They finished filming the final season. Eddie McClintock was really sad and he ended his panel saying that coming to Dragon Con has been the highlight of each year for him. It seems like he is not sure of being invited back and that made him sad. I was not going to get Eddie's autograph since I spent my money already and I was over budget. But with that final statement I could not go without getting my picture with Eddie autographed. Eddie was also selling his t-shirts. He designed one for every season of Warehouse 13. Eddie McClintock is also an artist. He is very creative and a sweetheart of a guy. He has been chatting on Facebook with a friend of mine, Saxon and when I mentioned her he knew her last name. I had pictures of her and showed him us together. Now I had enough cash for his autograph but not both shirts so I tried to pay with my visa card. Unfortunately the signal strength was weak and it did not go through. Eddie even got up and walked around trying to get a signal. I was short $20 in cash. So I told the girl if I can leave the 2 shirts and I can go get the $20. Eddie said no, take the shirts and just come back with the money. He said I trust her she's good people. The girl asked for my name so she could keep track. So I went back up to my room and then I texted the girl I bought the shirt for that I owed Eddie $20 and she Tygie and Keleos all thought it was hilarious. They were at the Hilton so I made my way over to the Hilton got my cash and then made my way back to Eddie. I just walked up to the edge of the table and waited. When the girl handling the cash saw me she was so relieved I returned she said, "Thank you!" and I said to her, "I knew you were anxious about it." Then I turn to Eddie and said, "I knew you were cool about it." Eddie smiles and blows me a kiss. That right there was the absolute highlight for me. Eddie McClintock is such a beautiful soul and I hope he finds his next job soon. He is a talented man and deserves to keep working.

I went back up to the room for some lunch. Some box noodles, popcorn, apple and a little rest. Cavie and I needed to head back to the Hilton for our pic with Ed Asner. She made plans to go out with her Atlanta friends so I waited around until my pic came out. Unfortunately the Hilton crew was short staffed. apparently the volunteers that were supposed to sell the photo ops disappeared after lunch. Luke was the guy who was selling the photo ops instead so he was not able to process the printing of the photos. That created a huge backlog and people waited hours since it was not supposed to take more than 30 minutes. It was not pretty but I had nowhere else to be so I waited for our pic. They took 2 just in case. Finally I got both and made my way back. I was starving at this point so I grabbed a slice of pizza and a beer and drank at the bar before heading up to the room.

Once there we all talked about our day and what was the best part of Dragon Con. We all had a blast and were happy to have spent this time together. I packed my stuff since I needed to leave at 7am to go to the airport. We watched the PBA Special: Four Days at Dragon Con and saw everything that we don't do. Robotics, Sword Fighting, Live Action Role Playing, Card games and Cosplay Modeling. So much fun for so many varied individuals who all share a love of fantasy and scifi. Dragon Con is a place that feels like home because here you and your interests are accepted and shared by many. Here we feel the most like our true selves. No explanations required and no looks for liking that kind of stuff. Here at DragonCon we are all awesome. The fact that it is so fan driven is what makes it special. After the special we watched the Masquerade.

I woke up early and Cavie woke up and walked me to the MARTA. Last year she left early and this year she wanted to make the most of our time together. I enjoy this time with these ladies and I look forward to coming back next year. This was my 9th Dragon Con.

Dragon Con is my very favorite Con.