The First

This is my first blog post on this website, so you may be thinking: what made you decide to start blogging? The truth of the matter is that I love to write stories, lyrics, and fanfiction so I consider writing blogs as practice. Also, I enjoy hearing the opinions of others! I find that I have a certain fascination with what others have to say about certain topics. Therefore, from time to time I may discuss my thoughts on a debatable topic, and I would greatly appreciate your opinion on these subjects as well! However, today will be different in that I won't write about a debatable subject. Rather, I would like to talk about my experience at the 2009 Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia.

Okay, so it's been nearly two months since the Dragon*Con. It had been my first year going to a science fiction/fantasy convention, and I absolutely enjoyed it! I went to guest panels, had a few photo ops with some celebrities, went to an awesome Spider Lilies concert, and even got some autographs. And that's not really all. I was quite astonished by the cosplay costumes people wore as well!
Guest panels are truly great! It's so neat to hear the questions fans ask celebrities and to hear the response from the actors and actresses. The guest panels I went to were "Who the Frack is the Real Richard Hatch," "Stargate Megaverse," and the "Battlestar Galactica- Journey's End."

Who the Frack is the Real Richard Hatch? Panel

Stargate Megaverse Panel (left to right); Joe Flanigan, Rachel Luttrell, Claudia Black, Ben Browder, Paul McGillion, and Jason Momoa.

Battlestar Galactica-Journey's End Panel (left to right); Michael Hogan, Mary McDonnell, Kandyse McClure, Kate Vernon, Richard Hatch, Luciana Carro, Michael Trucco, and Alessandro Juliani.

Ah! Photo Ops! These are quite awesome! However, the flash was so bright and since I'm not used to getting my picture taken professionally, I kept blinking my eyes. So, I had one retake I had to do and that was with Joe Flanigan and Paul McGillion. All together, I had three photo op pictures, but one of which is not a professional picture. In any case, here they are:

Me with Joe Flanigan (left) and Paul McGillion (right)

Richard Hatch and I

Me and Jason Momoa. Jason's pretty tall! Or... maybe I'm just short. lol!

The Dragon*Con isn't just about the actors, actresses and authors you meet. Hell, no! There's so many great artists who attend and put on shows that kick ass! One example is the Spider Lilies concert I went to. Photos:
Getting autographs and meeting celebrities was one of the funnest things, I thought! Even though It was a little nerve-racking in the sense that all I could think of was, 'I can't believe I'm actually talking to this person! Oh, my God!" Also, I tried really hard not to make myself a fool and I can't recall anytime I did. I know that when I was talking to one celebrity I had been shaking just a little, but hopefully that person didn't notice. lol! In any case, here's just a few of the autographs I got. The rest you can view in the link to my photobucket account I will give later:

Paul McGillion

Rachel Luttrell

Dirk Benedict and Richard Hatch

Alessandro Juliani

Bruce Davison

Tom Felton

Thomas Dekker

The general atmosphere of the convention was hectic, but not in the bad way. A lot of people attend the Dragon*Con, and let me tell you: they are awesome, hardcore fans! I mean, there's such a variety of people in multiple fandoms who attend. You have those who love "Doctor Who", "Battlestar Galactica (old and new)", "Stargate SG1" and "Stargate: Atlantis," "Star Trek"... the list could seriously go on forever! And it's not just limited to television show fandoms either. Quite a few fans even attend the Dragon*Con because of game, film, and comic book fandoms. Here are some cosplay examples:

An awesome rendition of Teal'c from SG1

Two girls dressed up as the Fatal Frame 2 twins

Battlestar Galactica

In conclusion, if you are thinking about going to any big, scifi/fantasy convention, here's some advice:

1.) Probably the most important rule is to remember to eat food and drink lots of water. I can’t tell you the numerous times I would get so distracted to the point where I would be going to a panel or something like that and I had forgotten to eat breakfast. Also, I would advise you to bring along a thermos of water for hydration because there will be times when you will get thirsty, and yet you will not have the time to run back to a store to buy bottled water. After all, the lines can get pretty huge.

2.) Make sure to plan ahead! Most generally, the line for the bigger panels; like for SGA or BSG start getting really long an hour and a half before the actual event. So, I would get in line at least 2 ½ to 3 hours in advance.

3.) Try to get in line for the smaller celebs you want to meet before heading over to the bigger celeb’s booth. Believe me when I tell you: you will be saving a lot of time for yourself that way. For instance, I bought tickets this year to get an autograph from William Shatner. I waited in line at first, but the line was so huge and I was so short on time that I decided not to. I was going to go back and return my tickets; however, I didn’t return them when I left. Instead, I got autographs from other celebs with way shorter lines. By the time I was done, I was the only one in line to get an autograph from Shatner. So, I didn’t have to waste my time by standing in a horrendous line like that.

Now for the pictures! Click here if you wish to view them.