Michelle Kwan

(Image from - http://www.thesportscorp.org/html/sportsCorp/sga/opening_ceremony.html)

I was 12 years old when Michelle Kwan first stepped onto the ice at the 1998 Nagano Olympic games. Having already been a fan of ice skating since I was little, I was already familiar with the her name, her skating and her drive to win Olympic gold. At 12, I felt like I wanted her to win as much as she did. When she did not when that year, when Tara Lipinski stood and received her gold medal, I nearly cried.

After that, I followed Michelle Kwan's skating career more than I ever had for any athlete. I read all the biographies the library had on her, read skating magazines, and watched every skating event that was televised in which she participated.

And again 2002, I watched as she skated in Salt Lake City, again wanting her to win, and again having to watch as someone else received the gold medal.

I didn't follow skating as much after 2002. At 16, I was finding other things to occupy my time rather than skating. But still Michelle Kwan remained a favorite and anytime I came across skating on TV, or a mention of her name, I always paid attention. I had the opportunity to see her skate twice during the "Champions on Ice" tour. Both times, when she appeared it was obvious that she was the crowds favorite. Even after the 2002 Olympics when Sarah Hughes toured with "Champions" after winning Olympic gold, there was no doubt that it was Kwan the audience loved.

When the 2006 Olympic games were beginning, I didn't recognize the names of many of the skaters. I hadn't watched the World Championships in several years, I had not kept up with the world of skating like I once had. But I still recognized the name of Michelle Kwan, and I hoped that maybe this year, she would finally win. But then came the devastating news that she would not be competing due to injury. As I watched her announce the news, I cried. I did not realize that I still wanted to see her win so much. But having once followed her career so closely, I knew how much it meant for her to give up this chance. At the same time I respected her for making the decision to step down knowing that she had to do what was right for herself.

After that, there was not much news about Michelle Kwan and what she was doing. At least not in the circles I was following. Until I read this mornings announcement that she would not be participating 2010 Olympics as she would be pursing a graduate degree for International Relations at Tufts University.

The article on Yahoo Sports commented on what an amazing skater she was, and how even though she is no longer skating, she is still living her life. She really is America's Sweetheart. Her talent was amazing, and though she never received the Olympic gold medal, does not make her any less of a skater. Her career shone brightly, and hopefully it still will, just in a different arena. I respect her and her choice. And I hope that she will long be remembered for her grace and elegance on ice, as well what ever may come next for her.

Good luck Michelle!

Dragon*Con was awesome. I was dead tired by the end of Monday, but amazingly enough, I'm not sick! I really tried to take care of myself this Con, and I did! I ate all my meals, got rest, never had a sugar crash. It was awesome. Last year I got to feeling so bad with lack of sleep and food, that there is an entire panel I lead and can't remember it hardly... that's bad! So after that I knew that this year I had to do better.



So I went downtown on Thursday after work. Due to being later at work than I wanted, eating dinner and last minute rushing around I didn't get to the Marriott till 8. Which was later than I wanted, but I made it!

The shock when I got there was discovering we were on the 21st floor... for some one with bad acrophobia, this was not good. Beth gave me her room key and told me to call her if I had problems.
Well, by the time I stepped out of the elevator on the 21st floor I really don't think I was any state of mind to remember that.

See the way the Marriott is built, the elevator comes up the center of the hotel, and you get to your room by crossing a "bridge". Picture evidence here -


This is a small, narrow type thing and at 21 floors up, I started panicking. I mean seriously. Thankfully, there was a guy waiting on the elevator and heard my distress (I was breathing heavy and talking to myself trying to convince myself to go over) and as soon as he asked what was wrong, I started crying. It was awful. Then, he had a hard time understaning what I was saying... (sounded German). But he finally figured out that if he pulled my suitcase across, I would be greatful. See I had a ton of stuff and didn't think I could make it.

But I made it. And I made it the rest of the weekend without another panic attack. But it was still freakin' scary y'all!!! I had to have my hand/arm on the wall at all times.

Any way... after that drama I made my way to the YA Track room which was in the Marriott again this year. Thank heavens! It was in a great location and a nice room. There I met up with the other YA staffers, Bev, Mary, Karen and Heather. Mary had some Sangria and passed it over to me as I was still shaking all over from above experience. Yeah, that helped. ;-)

We spent the rest of that night setting up the room etc and went up to bed around 11:30ish.

Since we'd gotten so much done the night before, I was able sleep in Friday morning and not be rushed.
Here is our track room Monday morn -

Mary setting up -




Bev setting up the staff area with HP posters -


Our first panel that day was a Matt Lewis panel. (Neville from Harry Potter) Here is Mary doing the moderating -




Matt Lewis is so sweet. I didn't see his panel on Saturday, but on Friday and Sunday he was great. Plus one of my friends as him to talk to her two girls on the phone, and he did! (This was at the Walk of Fame) So again, great guy.

Then I ran around and did various things I don't remember (though I think I had lunch with Mary andh her cousin Nick)
Then was on the panel for Law in Fandom which was an awesome panel. And Charity, YouTube had no right to pull down your old channel. For other fandom writers/vidders check out fandom_laywers here on LiveJournal. The panel was awesome. I didn't say much because we had a really great lawyer who knew her stuff!
Even though I didn't say much for that panel, I did have a name thing... so I had to have a pic (I'm wearing our staff shirt for this year... says "got books?" on the front with schedule on the back)- (thanks Brandy!)


After that I rushed over to the Dr. Horrible Sing-A-Long with Tara who had finally arrived. It was totally awesome. Dr. Horrible is awesome to begin with, then you get to see it performed, watch it, and sing a long, totally worth it.

Then because it started late, I had to RUN back to the Marriott (I was in the Sheraton which is the furthest hotel from the other three) because I was leading the next panel. I was sooo out of breath by the time I got there! But I did the panel and it went really well. Though it got hard trying to keep up with everyone who was raising their hand to talk!

Then it was a gen Fan Fic panel. Then a favorite of mine, the Buffy Horror Picture show. However since there had already been two before that, it was a much smaller crowd than usual and I don't think it was as well done as last or as well done as the Dr. Horrible sing a long. But it was still fun. Because how can you not love Once More With Feeling?

SATURDAY

Parade! It was FREAKIN' HOT Y'ALL!!! Oh. My. Word. Seriously. It was the worst year ever for me in terms of heat. But it was still fun. The weird moment was when we finally started off and I saw one of the families I babysit for along the parade route... also got to see Shana and Revie. The only time I got to. Which was sad. :-(

My mum and friend Melody came and it was fun to see them for a little bit. As soon as I met up with them after the parade, it was a rush up to my room to change into my Doctor Who costume for the photo shoot. I made it just in time. But had to find some one to tie my tie! I'm hoping for some pics of that because it was some guy who was cos-playing one of the old series Doctors.

Any way... lots o' pics from shoot -
I loved the Rose in the pink costume -


Girl in the Fireplace!!! (this is she is an amazing)


Torchwood -


Evil!


Some group shots -




All the 10's (I got several compliments on my costume)


LOL! This one is just weird...


I've never been to a costume photo shoot, and that was a ton of fun. I wanted to stay longer, but I needed to help Mary finish HP Jeopardy so I was off. Once we got that done it was a rush off to the Jeopardy room. That was a lot of fun. Despite some minor problems which were bad planning on my part. *facepalm* But it was still fun and I got complimented on my hard questions! So yay! And thanks also to Mel who helped write some of the categories!

Then our big author guest of the year was Tamora Pierce. She wrote the Lioness series, Trickster's sereis, etc. She's really prolific but not as well known at the moment. I highly recommend her Tricksters books.

Here is Suzanne and Tamora -


Later that night Mary, Tara and a couple others went to check out the Shindig. The big party on Saturday night hosted by the Whedonverse track. It was kind of a bust. Not all that exciting. But there was a Doctor from "The Girl in the Fireplace" episode. He spotted me from across the room and it was a really funny moment. Him poiting and me, me pointing back... it was great. I got my picture with him, but I dunno who has that pic...
The guy was totally playing the part. It was awesome. He had the accent and everything. He said he liked my pinstripes. Heh.


Tara was cos-playing Rose the same day I was Doctor Donna. I love this pic because it's almost as if Tara/Rose is none to happy about Purple*Rose.


More of the Doctor Donna and Rose pics ... the two companions face off!


At the Shindig... a little crazy...(credit to Tara for photo)


This was probably one of the most creative costumes of the Con - Jayne hat!


Sunday morning was my panel with Matt Lewis (credit Tara for pic) -


Afterwards I got my pic with him... can I just say again... he is so adorkable! Lurve him forever! Some one asked where he saw himself in 10 years, he said "10 years from today I want to be right here talking to all you guys" Love!!!


Tara was Doctor Horrible -


Then Tara, here friend Melissa and I ran off to the walk of Fame before the Twilight panel. That was fun as usual. Got to meet Nathan Fillion. Another great guy. Really nice. Talked to Gareth David Lloyd a minute, Anthony Lewis (Matt Lewis's big bro who was in Torchwood). Or maybe that was Saturday... I went twice to the walk of Fame and can't remember when I met who...
I do know on Saturday I met Michael Rosenbaum. Oh. my. gosh. so sweet! Though I felt like a total nerd because that was the day I was dressed as Doctor Who. But he was still really nice. And so much better looking in person! He's grown his hair out and looks like he's gotten a bit of tan. Tara asked for a hug and got one... *jealous!!*

Sunday was also the big Twiligt panel. It ended up being a lot more about Breaking Dawn. Overall I think it went really, really well. No one got to angry and each side could say what they thought. It was fun.

Then it was Yule Ball prep time! That was all and adventure in itself that I'm not going to get into. But we had lots of volunteers and it all went really well. We danced into the wee hours, partied hard and had a generally fun time. We had a bigger room this year, the costumes in the costume contest were great... over all, a great year for Yule Ball.
Here are some random pics -

Track staff -


Tara, Me and Melissa (Tara's friend)


Me and my friend Melody. Who didn't stay long because another friend of ours bailed at the last minute. :-(
You can really tell in this pic I don't have on makeup!


Nadine and Berg as Dead Quidditch player and the Joker. Both awesome, awesome, costumes!


Mel and Chris as old Harry and Draco! Too funny!


And if you didn't know... Tara and I are insane!


Matt Lewis and his bro showed up to the Yule Ball. Cause they are totally awesome. They couldn't stay long though because the were going to hang out with Michael Rosenbaum... lucky them! What was funny is when Matt told me, he seemed almost as geekily excited about it as I would be. Did I mention I love him?
Any way... his brother is hot! so I had to have my pic with him. I think you can tell in this pic I was about to die of excitment...


The only full length pic of my dress I believe... taken by someone else. Sadly it is the side I have my badge on.


In this pic I'm wearing heels... these did not last long. But they looked awesome while I did! I love that dress. On the walk back to the hotel at almost 1am... I was wearing my Converse with the dress. Heehee.

After that Mary, her cousin Nick and I peopled watched for about an hour. We were too tired to do anything, but to wired to go to bed! But I finally head up at 2. Thankfully I had no panels the next day so I could sleep in till Christy woke me up. ;-)



So that's that. Not a lot happened on Monday and I have no pictures from that day. But it was good last day, we had a good "Post-mortem" panel as well call it. One open to the public one staff only. Then I waited awhile with Mary, Mel, Chris and Maddy while Dad closed down his track etc. Got home about 7:30ish. I was a zombie! So tired.

Over all, it was a great Con. I didn't get sick, I was too tired or stressed out. Got to meet some great people.

Forgot to mention, I briefly met Sean Astin! So nice. He shook my hand, but I have wrist problems and if you shake my hand to hard it hurts and I go limp... sadly he grabbed mine really hard and I about died. But hey, it was Sean Astin! He was in a rush to a panel though so I didn't get to talk to him much.

I'm sure I'll think of more to say in the way of funny stories etc. But for now, that is it.

Thanks to Rebecca, Beth and Christy for being such awesome room-mates

A million and two thanks to our track director Bev who ROX!!! She knows how to do what she's doing and how to encourage everyone to be the best they can be. Love you bunches Bev!!

And thanks of course to Mary and Karen who did so much this year at Con. Especially before-hand. You guys help out so much. Even when you don't have to! So thanks. *hugs* to you both!

Comic Con 2008

In a word: overwhelming

When I stepped into the Convention center on Friday... part of me wanted to run away from the huge masses that engulfed me. It was crazy. Seriously. A convention of 125,000 people is insane. However, this isn't to say that I didn't have fun. Cause I did. I'm just glad that Dragon*Con isn't as big and personlly, I hope it stays kinda small.

After 6 hours of travel I arrived at the convention center and met up with Christy (shuya) and Rebecca (Deej) who were in a panel for the Hobbit movie. Which I had hoped to make, but didn't. We discussed the plans for today and I decide to venture out to the exhibt floor. Where you find all the major movie/TV networks, and all the dealers. It's huge.

My main reason for heading there was rumors that John Barrowman was supposed to be signing sometime that day. So I set out to discover him...


And I did!




Sadly, I couldn't get my picture with him. Oh, and in that second picture, the dude in the background with the fairy wings is Gareth David-Lloyd. They both had them on originally, but I couldn't dig my camera out fast enough for that... It was awesome.

After that it was time for the Joss Whedon panel which ended up being a Doctor Horrible panel. Which worked out fine because not only did I get to see Joss, but Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion as well. After waiting in line for an hour or more I think. Christy came with me to this panel. (a room of 2,000 people I think!!) I wish I could remember everything that was said. It was a really great panel. With most people asking questions directly of Joss.
Plus, NPH and Nathan were hysterical together. Especially Nathan. He was great.

Joss looking totally nerdy -


I was actually quite far away, so sometimes I took pictures of the large screens -


When they first sat down, Nathan pulled out the chair for NPH and he "fell" off. It was great! Then later NPH did the same to Nathan -



Then more wandering around and back for the Bones panel. Emily D. was supposed to be there, but wasn't. I wish she had been because I would have loved to see the interaction between her and David in real life as opposed to on screen. David was hilarious. I lurve him so much!! It is so funny to think back on Angel and realize that's the same person!!





Sweets and Angela


Then I went back to the hotel to get some rest for the next couple of hours before dinner. I didn't actually fall asleep, but it was good to be away from the crowds and I took a nice hot shower. I seemed to take two showers a day while I was there. It wasn't really hot (in fact it felt very nice) but sometimes I'd end up walking a lot more than I expected too!

Veiws from hotel room - we were on the 19th floor.




The Pacific!


Monday morning I was up bright and early for the Heores panel. Though I was barely early enough. A large number of people spent the night and another large number had gotten there around 6am or so. The line was HUGE! I think it neared a mile long because it took me 10 mins to walk to the end. It was crazy. I didn't get a pic because I was to hot and tired.

But amazingly enough, I got it! Yay for a room that holds 6,500 people! Yeah.

The cast -


Tim Kring with a special surprise -


The first episode for season 3 of Heroes!!! (it was so totally, totally awesome!!!)


Sylar Love -


Cast -



After the Heroes panel I stayed in Hall H for the Lost panel with the creators and surprise guest Matthew Fox -


That was a fun panel. Didn't get a whole lot of info...but it was interesting. What bit (for you Losties) - rember Daniel Faraday and his journal? Turns out not only does it have stuff from the past...but the future as well. From things seen at the panel, it seems possible that Daniel might have been on the Island 30 years ago with that Asian dude from all the Dharma videos.

The rest of the day was spent in missing the Pushing Daises panel, wandering around the exhibt floor and going back to the hotel room about 5ish.
Crowds on the way back -


Rebecca and I were meeting up with different TheOneRing.Net (TORn) for dinner and left the hotel about 7. (after a rest, swim, and shower for me)

On our way there is when I saw Ron Perlman. Total shock.

Pub we had dinner at was nice, but REALLY loud. I think we all went deaf that night. It was good food, but it was nearly impossible to hear each other and it was a large group. Another bad thing was the fact that a band was also playing that night. Not so good... but it was still fun!



Our surprise guest that evening was Richard Taylor. The brilliant mind behind Weta Workshop. He's won 5 Academy Awards for his work for LOTR. And he did a bunch of Narnia stuff. It was such a shock to see him! But so totally cool. And he was really nice too! Although we saw him the next morning and he'd lost his voice due to having to talk so loudly in the pub!

We were at the pub for awhile then Rebecca (deej), Alex (CAhobbit), Larry (MrCere) and myself went back to the hotel and talked awhile. But then everyone was practically falling asleep while talking and Alex and Larry headed out.

Sunday morning was not as early of a start as Saturday, but close. Rebecca and I had been debating what to do about the Supernatural panel as there was a free signing with Jensen Ackles right after the panel. So we were trying to figure out if we'd rather do panel or singing because it would be impossible to do both.
In the end we decided to try fot the signing since Rebecca hadn't seen most of season 3 and didn't want to be spoiled.

So the singing wasn't till 12:30 or 1 and the line wasn't going to start till 12 so we decided to walk around the Con floor for awhile. And I pulled out my camera to finally take pics of everything.

We discoverd a Dalek -


And lots and lots of people...




Joelle was at the convention at this point but had decided to try for the Supernatural panel so we just kept sending text messages back and forth... heehee

So finally we decided to try and see what was going on at the WB booth and what to do about the signing. There was still no line allowed (about 11 or 11:30) but we hoped we could still find the righ place despite the vast amounts of people surrounding the ever popular area.

Looking toward the WB booth (but not there yet) -


Lots 'o people


And in the end, we didn't make it. The line opened on the opposite side of the booth we were on and close seemingly 5 seconds later. So that was a bust. The WB people seemed to have no idea what they were doing. Rebecca and I agree they should have made that a ticketed event.


After that it was more walking around while waiting for Joelle to make her way through the vast amounts of people to us. Rebecca and I went over to the Sideshow booth which was where Alex was working to say hey and make it hopefully easier for Joelle to find us.
She finally did! Yay! It was funny because she remarked on how tall I was and later on so did her sister. It's funny because ever so many years ago when I first meet Bethany, she did too! (though she was more along the lines of "oh good! you're tall!) where are Joelle and her sister are shorter. (I'm a little over 5'8 BTW - almost 5'9 in my shoes)

So then it was discuss what to do next. Rebecca and I were hungry by this point so we went for lunch and Joelle and her friend went to some panels.

The rest of Sunday was rather un-eventful. Sunday isn't a big day for the convention (like Monday for D*Con). Rebecca and I did want to catch the Buffy Musical that was closing out the day so in order to not miss it as well as have a chance to take a break, we went and sat down in the large ballroom that was hosting it and listened to the panel before it. Okay, I didn't. I had part two of the Buffy season 8 comic book collection and was reading those. I think the lady who runs the Stargate track at Dragon*Con was sitting behind us.

It was so nice to sit in a comfortable cool room! I could have fallen asleep! Then the panel wrapped up and Buffy started.

We had good seats -


Then of course we all sang along, clapped, cheered, and booed togheter. (shut up Dawn!)

And that was that. The Convention was over and it was time for everyone to go home. Here are some parting shots I took -




The letters here go all the way to H. So it was really long...



Rebecca and I then met up again with Joelle and her friend Amber and set off to find dinner. We finally decided on a nice Italian pizza place. It was fun talking with everyone and enjoying the Convention atmosphere what we saw etc. And of course finally getting to meet Joelle after... 4 years of knowing her I think... Crazy! We got along really well I believe. :-D

I should have taken a picture of our dessert at the restaurant because it was amazing. A huge ice cream sunday! So so good. Then it was time to part ways with Rebecca. I was heading home with Joelle and Amber for the night.

The trip back was long, and I fell asleep. I was so worn out from the long weekend and I tried very much to stay apart of the conversation, but after awhile, I gave up. Though I did hang on for a lot longer than I expected. But finally I began nodding off sitting up and just laid down on top of my stuff in the back. I was out cold for a solid hour. And by that time we were almost at Joelle's. (which took us about 3 or 4 hours!)

Joelle's family was really nice and very welcoming. Her little sister Nikki attacked me with a hug. :-) She also commented on my height. Which I found amusing. I wish I could have spent more time with both of them, but it was midnight when we got to the house and we had an early morning because we had to drive back to San Diego for my flight. I did get to meet Joelle's cat who evidently is a pshyco cat but liked me. So yays! She let me pet her and everything. Joelle was stunned.

The next morning we set off for the airport but not before stopping by Joelle's favorite coffee shop, The Coffee Bean -


Sadly, that is the only pic we have together! We were both so tired that pics really weren't the first things on our mind!

It took about 3 hours to get to back to the airport. But it was nice visiting with Joelle and her Mum on the way down. We got to the airport, I got my ticket and we had lunch and visited some more before I got in the line for security.

And as it turned out we could have stayed together even longer because my flight was delayed by an hour. Oh well. That's the way it goes sometimes.
So my flight was delayed but thankfully, unlike 90% of the other people I did not have a connecting flight in Dallas. The plane I was on was going to Atlanta from Dallas. It sounded like a lot of people around me either missed there flights or where very close to it. Not good!

I got back to Atlanta and home around midnight. So it had been a very long day. And it was so good to finally get home! Then of course I got sick. I had a sore throat on Tuesday and it got worse. Though it never got as bad as it usually does. Possibly due to the Emergen-C vitamen supplement I was taking.
I worked early Wed then had to study that day and had a final on Thursday. No idea how that went as I was still sick and not feeling so great. Stupid Con crud!

And then for a final picture... this is most of the stuff I brought back. The Supernatural bag is as big as the Pushing Daisies one. It has Sam and Dean on one side and Smallville on the other. Those were give aways from WB. They had different bags for each day. They are HUGE but actually pretty neat.
FOX was giving away the poster tubes. I was really glad to have that on the way home. I brought home a TON of Twilight mini posters and two HUGE posters that I wasn't sure how I would have gotten home otherwise!
The Entertainment Weekly mags were freebies. One for Watchmen the other for Twilight. I've tagged a bunch of stuff in the pic at Flickr -




And that's that folks! I know it is really long. But there was so much to do!

Sorry it took so long to post!!