Into the Breach

So, I have now been to my first official convention. My descent into nerdiness is pretty much complete. After a bit of a false start, I went on the Saturday of the Wizard World Chicago Comic Con, which ran from Thursday afternoon through Sunday.

For the last couple years I had wanted to go, mostly of just wanting to and thinking that it would be fun, but it never worked out since I couldn't rationalized spending the money. This year, I saw that John Barrowman (one of my favorite Doctor Who actors) was going to be there, so I felt this would be a good time to go. Since my sister and I only had tentative plans for Friday, so I thought that if those fell through, we could go to the convention instead. However, she then didn't want to go. Since this would be my first convention, I wanted to go with someone who had been to one before, just to make me feel a little bit more comfortable. Therefore, I decided not to go. I said something to that effect on Facebook, and a friend from high school mentioned that she would be there all day Saturday and that I would be more than welcome to meet up with her there. After waffling a bit most of the day, I finally decided that evening that I was just going to do it and go.

I actually didn't sleep that well and kept waking up during the night, probably because I was so excited about the convention. However, I didn't have any trouble getting up when my alarm went off, and went to the gym for a quick workout. (Yes, I am quite committed, enough to get up at 7 on a Saturday.) After that, I ran over to a local church for their annual used book sale with my mom and sister, since on the last day you can get a bag of books for $10. I then dashed home to clean up and was on my way right on schedule. I got there without much trouble and got in line to pick up my wristband. Even though the line was long (it doubled up on itself a couple times) it did not feel like it took that long since it was almost always moving.

John Barrowman had a panel that day, but I got in just a few minutes before it was supposed to start and was still trying to orientate myself, so I didn't get in but it was okay. I met up with my friend Margaret and we walked around the vendor's room upstairs for a while before meeting up with some other friends of hers. She dressed up as Narcissa from Harry Potter, and her costume was just fantastic. She made her own Hogwarts robes (because she's awesome like that), and they were fantastic and totally unique. Since I don't really have any costuming stuff and I made a last-minute decision to go, I just wore my Adipose (Doctor Who) t-shirt, but actually got a number of nice compliments about it. We spent most of the day walking around the vendor's room and the artist alley/autograph/photo area downstairs. I managed to pick up Series 1 of Doctor Who (which I had been trying to get for a couple months now), my sister's Christmas present (I won't say what it is since she might be reading this), and a Hobbit poster for a really good price. There was a shirt from Tee Turtle that I was practically drooling over, but I didn't get it because I was trying not to spend too much money at my first convention – even though I could have totally bought all of the things. There was so much cool stuff!!

There was a Jaegercon (Pacific Rim) meet-up at 1:15 that my sister told me about, but I missed it since I didn't hear my phone go off and the next time I checked my watch it was almost 2. Also, there were a couple of panels that I would have liked to see, but I kept losing track of time. It's okay that I didn't see them, though, because I was having so much fun just walking around, taking in everything, and seeing all the cool costumes and cosplayers. There were so many that I can't even begin to talk about them, but I managed to get a number of good pictures. It got me thinking about what I might want to do when/if I go to C2E2 next year.

The autograph area was down on the bottom floor and was fairly open, so people walking by could usually catch a glimpse of the celebrities as they were doing signings. This made me really happy, since I decided not to buy the John Barrowman autograph or photo-op, but I was still able to see him and jump with glee and have my mini-fangirl moment. I also snuck a (technically not-allowed) photo. I also saw Wil Wheaton (another exciting moment) (Star Trek: TNG, Big Bang Theory), Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), Zachary Quinto (Heroes, Star Trek), Tara Strong (My Little Pony), Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), and Manu Bennett (Arrow, The Hobbit).

Earlier in the day, I visited the booth for a podcasting network that I listen to. They're fairly local, so it was really neat for me because I got to meet one of the guys that I listen to week in and week out during the regular television season. He co-hosts the Person of Interest podcast I listen to, which is one of my favorite shows. We talked a little about it, and he told me that they will still be recording Thursday night, even though the show is moving to Tuesdays, which will now allow them to include e-mails and such from listeners. I know none of this probably interests any of you, but it was definitely a highlight of the convention for me.

A couple of times I mentioned to people that this was my first convention and they were all really nice, saying that they hoped I was enjoying it (of course I was). I'm not really surprised, but everyone I met or interacted with that day was really nice. I was a little nervous at first, not really knowing what to expect, but that quickly went away as I just absorbed everything. Everyone there was like me because they too are passionate about things, and that's what we were all there to celebrate.

I ended up leaving a little before 6, but my friends were going to stay a while longer. There was a TARDIS in the courtyard outside the convention center (which I kind of spazzed over seeing when I was in line that morning), so on my way out I got a picture of it and a guy was nice enough to take a couple of pictures of me with it.

It had definitely been a long and excitement-filled day, and I feel like I saw and did a ton of stuff, and certainly got my money's worth. It was fun to go home and have a Mediterranean dinner with my sister and gush about all that I did. I'm already looking forward to C2E2 in Chicago next April, and am considering going in costume. Any guesses of what I might go as?