River Road Expo - November 2014

River Road rocks!!! So, River Road happens twice a year - once in April and once in November - up at Tioga Downs Casino. Not only do you get to have fun with fellow geeks and cosplayers, there's also a bar and the most amazing buffet. Plus, gambling, if you're into that.

It's a great smaller convention. Perfect for a laid back day or a first timer. It's heavy on the comic book end, but there are also lots of local artists, authors, and artisans.

The past couple years we've gone as representatives of the Sirius, and that's what we did last year. I don't have a ton of recap, so here's the photos:

Trick or Treat on 14th Street

Okay, so this wasn't a convention, but it *was* an awesome time! Our local comic shop, Heroes Your Mom Threw Out, organized a trick-or-treating event! A bunch of local stores participated, and turn out was great!

That's Jared aka The Flash - the owner of Heroes. 

One of the shops involved was a pet store. The Boy made a friend!

STARFLEET International Region 7 Conference 2014 - The Photos

STARFLEET International Region 7 Conference 2014 - The Recap

So, every year, STARFLEET International has regional conferences. Last year, the Region 7 event was hosted by the USS Serling in Binghamton, NY.

Of course, the Sirius crew attended. Once again, I got to sit on a panel. We talked about the changes in the timeline, and also what we did and didn't like. For instance, my intense dislike of the Borg Queen.

I mean, really? Really?? REALLY?! A sentient queen who refers to herself in the first person and wants to have sex with Data and/or Picard? REALLY?

Don't even get me started.

The Binghamton Zoo's Zoo Mobile came by with animals, and Ann Serling, daughter of Rod Serling, did a presentation about her father.

Anyhow, the R7 Conference is a small STARFLEET affair, and it's a fun way to meet others from the region and swap ideas about ship's business.

We topped the event off with a dinner at Burger Mondays. Ever had a gourmet burger? And I don't mean Red Robin. I mean like a fancy-schmance burger. Well, I can now say I have. And. It. Was. AWESOME.

This year's is in Maryland. Dunno if I'm going to make it out for that one.

Robercon 2014 - The Photos

Robercon 2014 - The Recap

Robercon is a neat little convention held at the Roberson Museum in Binghamton, NY every September.

The cool thing about this con is that there are lots of panels to attend, as well as a vendors area and then there's the museum itself, which has a lot of awesome exhibits.

The downside to this event is that the parking is a nightmare, and handicap accessibility leaves a lot to be desired.

Otherwise, though, it's a great time. And it's another local event we can attend with our friends from the Serling!

The 2014 Robercon marked the first time I sat on a panel. I coanchored a discussion about bringing Star Trek back to television, with Captain Lisa and First Officer Doc from the Serling.

Twin Tier Comic Con 2014 - The Photos

Twin Tier Comic Con 2014 - The Recap

So, Twin Tier Comic Con used to be Hero Bot Con, and I never went to it when it was. But in 2014 they switched names and venues. It's a two day event.

It's now held at the First Arena in Elmira, NY. It's a smaller venue, no attached host hotel, but there's a good amount of room for vendors.

For this event, Hubby and I went as representatives of our Star Trek club, the USS Sirius. This was also Hubby's first time cosplaying.

He dressed up as a "druid from the forest moon of Endor." I dunno Star Wars, so I dunno if that's a thing, or something he made up. Either way, he looked awesome!

His cloak was the same one he wore to our wedding (we got married in a haunted house), and his mother actually made it for him. The rest were odds and ends he found around the house, or already had. He looked awesome!

And it lasted for about an hour. By the time we got our table set up, he had the eye patch and hat off. Then the cloak. And then he decided that cosplay just isn't for him. 

The convention was pretty awesome. We raffled off a basket of goodies, and we were both able to hit the vendor area a bunch of times. Several members of the USS Serling came to hang out with us both days. 

This is definitely something we're going to do every year! 

Shore Leave 2014 - The Photos

Shore Leave 2014 - The Recap

Shore Leave is an annual convention held in Maryland.

It's also the first convention I've ever attended with friends. I mean, I've been to smaller conventions with Hubby, but nothing like this.

My youngest son (heretofore and in real life called "The Boy") and I rode down with our friends from the USS Serling. You might think four hours in a packed-like-sardines minivan would be uncomfortable. And you'd be right. But we made up for it with singalong a, and generally being a pain in the ass to Captain Lisa, our driver. 

"Are we there yet?"

"Can we go to Hershey Park?"

"I have to pee!"

"I want to go home!"

"Sheets! Sheets! Sheets!"

You get the gist. 

I spent a lot of my time once again carousing in the vendors area in my Q costume. Many photos. Much fun. 

I attended another Skype with Leonard Nimoy. And this time? This time??? He *sang* to us. Sang. Leonard. Nimoy. Sang. To. Us. Chills, folks. I had chills.

I love Shore Leave. It's middle sized, but it has a far different vibe than any other convention I've been to. There's something homey about it. The atmosphere is very laid back. 

Case in point? Robert Picardo, Voyager's Emergency Medical Holigram, hung out with everyone in the bar, and sang during karaoke. One of the Serling crew won an award during the costume contest. 

The extra awesome thing is that Shore Leave is located in Region 7 of STARFLEET International, which is the umbrella of our clubs. So there's a Region 7 meeting, during which the annual awards are given out. It's a nice chance to meet other STARFLEET members. 

This one is a con I definitely want to keep going to! 

Chicago Star Trek 2014 - The Recap

Last June was Creation Entertainment's Chicago Star Trek Convention.

This was my first all Star Trek convention. The flight out was great, although, getting out of the airport was a little tricky. There's multiple floors, and the elevators have pictures of Chicago sports teams beside the buttons, which are related to the floors...and each floor has a different song playing on it... It's all geared to help you figure out where you are but... Yeah. No.

I have to say, this was a great convention. If you're a first timer, this is a good one. It's large enough to draw big names, but it's still on the small side for a Trek convention. And a lot of the same people come year after year, as far as attendees, so you get to know them. There's also a couple Facebook groups for attendees, which is nice. The hotel staff was really helpful and friendly, and there's a Starbucks right in the hotel.

I was originally going to be there from Friday and leave on Sunday, but Hubby talked me into leaving Monday. I'm really glad I did, because the schedule got behind on Sunday, and I'd have missed out on a bunch of stuff. Based on that, I'd suggest staying through the day after, if you can.

And let me pause right here to just say this: Chicago. Pizza. Just...OMG. We, in New York, know *nothing* about pizza. We are the Jon Snow of the pizza world.

Although, getting the pizza was sort of interesting. I went down to the lobby and asked the woman at the desk if she could recommend some really good Chicago pizza, and she gave me a menu. Up to my room I went. I picked out my pizza and called the place. This happened:

Pizza Place: Pizza Place. Can I help you?

Me: Yeah, I'd like to order (insert pizza order here).

Pizza Place: Pick up or delivery?

Me: Delivery.

Pizza Place: Address?

Me: (insert hotel name here)

Pizza Place: What's the address?

Me: I have no idea. I'm not from around here. 

Pizza Place: Is it (insert address here)?

Me: Yes? Maybe? I don't know. It's the (hotel name). (There's only one of them, if you're wondering.)

Pizza Place: I don't want to send the driver to the wrong place.

Me: I'm from New York. I haven't got a clue what the address of the hotel is.

Now, let me stop right here. Typically, when I travel, I know the hotel name, address, all the phone numbers, the hours of room service, and what's in a four block radius *months* before I go there. But this time I thought I'd try something different. Try not to be so OCD about the whole thing. And see what happened?

Anyhow, I eventually got my pizza, or, as I like to call it My Chicago Culinary Orgasm. 

But back to the convention...

The vendors area was larger than I'd expected, which was great! The best vendor was a lady who was selling off her father's collection, as he had passed away. She had a life-sized 7 of 9 for sale, which someone bought before the end of the convention. They ended up taking the statue base over and having Jeri Ryan sign it! I bought a lot of stuff from that vendor, and she actually gave me a few really cool pieces the day after the convention ended. She tracked me down through a couple other guests and figured out what floor I was on. 

I won Honorable Mention in the Gold Weekend Costume Contest with my Q Costume. Yeah, yeah, I know Q is TNG not TOS, but... ::sigh:: Here's the deal. I've been heavy most of my life. And most of my life, I've had low self esteem because of it. Actually, no. I haven't had low self esteem because I've been heavy. I've had low self esteem because people treat you differently when you're fat. 

I mean, it's not like I don't know why I'm fat. I'm fat because I like to eat. I like to eat because food is yummy. I don't eat when I'm sad or angry or whatever. I eat because I like the taste of food. I'm perfectly capable of not eating - I have really impressive willpower. Back in 2001 I changed up my whole diet, dropped a ton of weight. But the thing is, I didn't feel any better being skinny than I did being fat. And in high school? I was anorexic. I weighed 85 pounds when I graduated. The point of all of this is that, up until recently, the Q costume was the only one I had the guts to wear, because my body didn't "fit" the "acceptable look" for the other outfits, like Uhura's dress. Now? Pfft. Honey, if you can't judge me on who I am as a person, instead of what I look like, you can hit the bricks. Self hatred? 

But I digress...

Anyhow. I spent a lot of time wandering around the vendors area in my Q outfit, posing for pictures, talking to other Trekkers, and generally having a *blast*. I didn't, however, learn anything from Ottawa, and I wore sandals. Yeah. Don't wear sandals to this kind of event. I spent most of Sunday walking around barefoot because my shoes had actually rubbed the tops of my feet bloody.

The first night there, I met Anthony Montgomery. He played Ensign Travis Mayweather on Enterprise. He didn't realize he wasn't supposed to be at his table in the vendor room, so he was just hanging out, talking to people, signing autographs and whatnot. The next day, I was walking through the vendor area, and he came walking out of one of the doors. I immediately moved to give him a radius, cause, you know #celebrity and he reached out and put his arm around me and said "Uh-uh. Don't go runnin' off! I wanna walk with you." He's *such* a dollbaby. (Dollbaby is my word for people who are just too darn sweet for their own good.) He took time with all the fans, chatted with us, and was so friendly. At the Gold Weekend Party, he came around to each table and sat and talked with everyone. What a nice guy!

I purchased a photo op with William Shatner. OMG. Yeah. That...that was just... Wow. I mean, we didn't really interact, although he did say "That's a nice shirt." I had made a shirt that said Shatner > Fillion (it's a long story, involving Twitter). But I stood right next to him. Right. Next. To. Him. Right there...next to my idol. #worthit

I had a photo op with Nichelle Nichols, too. She's just the sweetest. I had changed into a fancy red shirt with all these sequins because, I dunno if you've seen much of her but...woman knows how to dress. There was no way I was going to look anything less than fabulous. I entered the photo op room, I was probably 10th in line, and this happened:

Nichelle Nichols: I hope you know you're not getting out of here with that shirt because I just love it.
Me: (grinning like a moron)
Nichelle Nichols: (as I finally approached) That shirt is just dynamite! (to the camera man) Isn't it beautiful?
Camera Man: It is!
Me: I wore this specifically for you because I wanted to look pretty for you.
Nichelle Nichols: (reaches up and cups my cheek in her hand) Oh, baby, you're already pretty.
Me: (some kind of unintelligible babble as she grabs me and pulls me in for a hug and I try not to bawl my eyes out).

OMG. Seriously?! Holy. Crap. Just... Wow.

So, I rambled back up to my room, whilst furiously dialing my husband's number to tell him what an OMG fabulous time I'd just had. Later that night, I realized I'd forgotten to go down and pick up my photo. So there I am, at like, 10 PM, running through the hotel, in my boxer shorts and a tank top, my hair dripping wet from my shower, barefoot.

I also had a photo op with Gowron and Martok, the Klingons. Well, Robert O'Reilly and J. G. J Hertzler, who played them, respectively, but... IN FULL KLINGON COSTUME. I wore my Q outfit for the photo, and when I was walking away, one of them - I'm not sure which one - was thumping on my hat like it was a drum.

All in all, I had a fabulous time, and I hope to be able to go back this year. It's been announced that Chicago will be one of the 50th anniversary sites in 2016, so if I can't make it this year, I'll be there next year for sure!!!  

Chicago Star Trek 2014 - The Photos