Ok, gotta get there early, because the line for the picture with Allison Mack and Michael Rosenbaum starts early. So gotta get there early!
That's what I told myself Friday. Saturday morning, I overslept. By an hour. And a half.
So I got ready quick, and stopped by Walgreens to get some cash back. You see, my bank from central Illinois has no ATMs in Chicagoland, and my original $150 in cash was gone. I used to work at Walgreens and new I could get another $150 out easy. As a formality, I asked the cashier how much I could take out, and freaked when he said "$20." The machine confirmed this terrible news, and I realized I'd have to find an ATM at the con, wait in line, and hope it wouldn't be out of cash when it got to be my turn.
Somehow, I still got there half an hour early. But this was Saturday, the crazy day. The line was tremendously long already. I took my place and waited.
My "place" this time was at the very front of one of the rows of lines. Which was much nicer that being stuck in the middle, surrounded on all sides by fidgety con-goers.
Finally, we we let in. By thus time, I had learned how to get from floor to floor and from the convention floor to the seminar room. I was an old pro. So I headed to the photo area to wait for Allison and Michael.
On the way, I passed right by an ATM. Suspicious from the lack of line, I assumed it must already be empty. However, upon closer inspection, it was, in fact, stocked. So I took out another $140 (plus the $3.75 fee) and continued to the photo line.
Not super long, but still half an hour before the photos started, I waited in line. It was at this point, early on day 3, that I realized that, when in a non-moving line, it's perfectly possible to rest my bag on the floor rather than my shoulders. You see, I had my "con bag" with me at all times, with things like pop-tarts, granola bars, water, chargers, and lantern corps rings, as well as my binder for putting my photos in, my book for Stan Lee to sign, and my Smallville case for Allison and Michael. Fairly heavy, and I had carried it non-stop for two days, much to the regret of my shoulders and back. On day 3, i finally learned.
Made it into the booth, said hi to the celebs, shook Michael's hand, took the shot, and said goodbye, which Allison returned with her smile. Not just any smile - Allison Mack's smile. My favorite smile in the world of smiles, (sorry Jennifer Love Hewitt, you're second place), and I saw it in person, eight inches from my face. Took a while to recover from that one.
From then, got immediately into the line for Sara Underwood, known to me as Ninja Warrior contestant and host of Ridiculousness and Attack of the Show, but known to many as Playboy bunny and Playmate of the Year 2007, and known to still others as an actress in films such as Miss March and Epic Movie (both of which I own) and the house bunny (which I don't).
Sara was so nice, I walked up and she introduced herself, and put her arm around me, and we took the picture, and I thanked her and was leaving, and she stopped me and asked to read my shirt (I'm a Teacher what's your superpower?) and she said it was cool!
I stopped by Summer Glau's booth, my "I want a picture with you but I don't really want to pay that much and wait in that line for it" celebrity. And I saw the line.
From there, I went to have Michael sign my Smallville season 1 case. You wouldn't know it from watching him play Lex, but he is hilarious. Right next to his booth was Jon Heder's (Napoleon Dynamite) and next to that was Jason David Frank (the Green Power Ranger).
So Jason has thus huge mass of fans screaming and yelling, so Michael decides to have us start telling too, creating a fan-fight between these two celebrities. It was hilarious.
So they yelled. Then we yelled. Back and forth a few times. Then Michael said to yell "boo" at them instead, which we did, and they continued yelling.
Then Michael held up his photo celebrity pass, but it was actually Jon Heder's. And he looked over to Jon (the poor guy had no line) and showed him, and John looked down and realized he was wearing Michael's. So then, Michael starts impersonating Napoleon Dynamite, and Jon starts throwing paper at him, and they started fake fighting.
All the while, Jason's fans are still shouting, and Michael told us to yell "Shut Up!" Which we did. Finally, it was my turn, and after he signed it, he handed me a flyer for his directorial debut in a feature film. "Will you go see my new movie?" "Yeah, I'll see it." "Do you promise?" (laughs) "Yes, I promise." "Will you follow us on Twitter and Facebook and all that?" "I think I can handle that." "Ok" Then he stuck out his fist, and I fistbumped him, and was on my way.
Stopped back by Summer's booth. Saw the line again.
So it was off to Allison's booth! She was at lunch, so the line was pretty short. About a half hour went by, and the line started filling up, and finally she came in, and I didn't have to wait long. She was very friendly, and joined Michael in signing my case (though he didn't leave her much room). We said some things to each other (of the hi, bye variety), and she smiled again as I left. Oh that smile.
Summer? Nope.
On to Sara's booth.
Sara Underwood is ridiculously friendly. Go ahead, make a joke, a double entendre on the word "friendly" but the fact remains: she is nice. She was posing with people, doing whatever pose or face they wanted, just being great to her fans.
I got up to her, and she remembered my shirt, but I never told her my name, so she asked it and signed the photo to me. Then she asked what grade level I taught, and I told her what grades and what subject, and that I just graduated (to which she said "yeah, cuz you're young") and she congratulated me and gave me a high give. Just a very nice person.
Summer? Nope. Food.
I sat in an uncrowded hallway, plugged in my phone, and ate some pop tarts.
Impatiently getting up again with only 72% power, I went back to the Con floor, looking desperately for Ant-Man, the Maximoff twins, and Thanos.
I settled for getting, among others, Falcon and Mandarin, both of which I also really wanted, and an Ant-Man that, while not the familiar costume, came with Ant-Size and Normal-Size, which expanded to become Giant-Sized. I had a deal to get several more, but was short on cash.
Giving up on Summer for the day, I decided it was time to rest again before the costume contest. I went to my car, ate some poptarts, and charged my phone.
Got to the room way early, and ended up sitting in on a Firefly/Serenity panel, which was entertaining even though I've never seen it. But I learned that Summer Glau is really quiet, and Alan Tudyk doesn't shut up.
The room cleared, and I moved up to get a seat ready for the contest. Front row, near the stage, and near the large screen. I thought of everything except lighting.
From where I was sitting, the background was two drastically different levels of brightness, and my cell phone didn't cope well. Let's just say I wish I had had the forethought to bring an actual camera. I will probably post some of the photos I got, but I apologize for their poor quality. I did get a good live view of all the costumes, and there were lots of great ones.
Three hours later, the contest was over and I left. Only Sunday remained.
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