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My God, this year's Trek Expo was unbelievable, and yet totally true. Here's the low-down.

Friday: I had to skip Friday due to having to work, but on the way into Tulsa (I was going in early with the intention of picking up my paycheck before going to work), I came across a car driving a little slow with the gas cap flopping open. I flagged the lady over, and, lo and behold, it's my good friend Jill Marie from TE (who works at Wal-Mart)! I told her why I flagged her over, went ahead and closed her gas tank, then told her I wasn't going to be able to attend Friday. She was disappointed, but promised to pass the word along. We exchanged hugs, and went on our way.

Saturday: Sean (my hubby) was complaining of his upset tummy and was refusing to go with me to TE (he hadn't gone Friday, either, be cause he hadn't wanted to go without me sweatdrop ). I was upset, but I made sure to complain a lot and swore to convince him to come the next day.

I got stationed in a place that I thought was going to be super-boring and with practically no real view, but I would soon be proven wrong. I was next to the Sci-Fi Channel table, where Hygena from Who Wants to Be a Superhero and Andee Frizzell, the Wraith Queen from Stargate Atlantis, were set up. Now I don't have SFC, so I hadn't watched either show, so at first I wasn't too excited, but Hygena and Andee were incredibly nice and sweet and awesome. Andee has one pic that when I commented on it, she chuckled and said "Yep, that's my Uma Thurman knockoff pic. mrgreen "

From my standing place, I could see all of the side guests signing tables. Ethan Phillips (Neelix, Voyager), Robert Picardo (The Doctor, Voyager), Suzie Plakson (several Star Trek guest roles), Bonnie Piesse (Aunt Beru, Star Wars ep 2 and 3), Sean Kenney (the withered Captain Pike, original Star Trek), Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman, The Six Million Dollar Man), and Claudia Christian (Susan Ivanova, Babylon 5). I tell you, I wuickly realized that I had the best seat in the house. Every time a guest would go past for some reason, I got a nice little thrill (especially with Suzie, who is incredibly tall and was wearing tight jeans Saturday twisted ). When the signing line was operating for Kate Mulgrew, it hit me even more of the perfection of my position. By the way, Kate and I are exactly the same height. I had my cute boots on, and she was in flats, and we were dead-on even! surprised heart I finally got my break at 3pm, so I went upstairs to look at the K.I.T.T. car and buy some steak fries to eat, and who should come up asking about Starbucks but Andee Frizzell! 4laugh I hung with my friend Brooks (the first Borg put together by Radioshack! ; he didn't bring the suit this year due to now living in Dallas), then came down to talk with Jill Marie (she was stationed at the Green Room door) before drifting back to my area. I got the go-ahead to drift another little while, so I went and visited with Ethan, and I found that he's going to be on episode 6 or 7 of Cavemen as a caveman. He's particularly proud of the role. ^-^

When the main part of the day was over, I was informed that the only way to get in to the Supper With the Stars was by ticket, even as a volunteer, so I settled into the mindset of not getting to go. Here's where the good Joo-Joo kicks into high gear. I'd started the day with the development of a migraine. One of my friends brought me some Advil and another a whole bottle of aspirin early in the day. Another friend, in the evening, handed me two tickets. One for Supper, one for the Ethan and Bob play. I gave the play ticket to the wife of the friend who'd brought me the Advil and used the Supper ticket myself. Good food, the best TE's ever had, becuase the hotel supplied it. I ate some, then went to snap pics of the dancers. Bob Picardo sang, Andee and Richard Anderson danced with each other, and a few shots in general. While standing with the sign language interpreter (she was signing to the music with a lady; learned how to sign "Sha la la la" ^o^ ), I noticed there was a small and hushed commotion at the door beside me. A nicely dudded-up African-American man was talking to the head of the Volunteer staff, then he turned. It was Levar Burton! eek After I managed to get my jaw off the floor, I was introduced. I got to blame him for my love of reading and Star Trek, then he sent me to get him water, wheich I did most joyfully. 4laugh He stepped back out shortly after to do a meet-and-greet with the kids from the Tulsa Boy's Home, and I went to my table to tell of my experience. Later, I was standing at the railing overlooking the lower floor of the hotel to call Sean and tell him some of my day, when Levar and his entourage passed behind me on the way to his room.

The Bob and Ethan play was a riot! xd They picked fun at each other, and they sang a couple songs from Man of La Mancha. We had a gate crasher sneak through the dealer room to get in, but I think it was mere confusion on his part (thought I heard later that the people guarding the other door to that room had drifted away).

Sunday: I succeeded in convincing Sean to come with me, and it was a good thing. When we arrived, Jesse (a snaggle-toothed attendee who is one of my closest Trek Expo friends) had come to drop off his signing passes due to having to go to Amarillo, and boy was I grateful. Claudia, Alan Ritchman (Aquaman from Smallville, who had to cancel but had pre-signed a bunch of pics for the ones who had tickets), Ron Glass (Shepard Book, Firefly), and Levar! As a volunteer I could sign up for a free signing pass for one of the mainline stars, and since I'd already gotten one for myself for Kate (finally finished with the Flashback pic!), I signed for Levar, so now I had two. Both Sen and I got assigned to my same spot, and we rotated position frequently, so it didn't feel like work at all. I got Ethan to sign the Cavemen pic and Bob (who left early) signed another for me. While looking at Suzie's pics, I had another jaw-drop moment: she had played my favorite character from the Star Trek New Frontier books, who only appeared once on Next Generation: the Vulcan doctor Selar! heart I got that signed after chasing a guy who swiped my stick while I was talking to Suzie (same one that stole it last year, as well as the one who gave me the ticket to Supper and the play). I got a picture with a backstory signed by Sean Kenney. While waiting for Levar (who was getting the audience to sing to Oklahoma!) to come off stage for the line signing, I snapped a pic of Ron Glass (with permission). I mostly sat during the actual line, grinning like an idiot and crying a little because I fully realized that I really did have the best seat in the house. heart Levar, apparently, has only one kidney now, and by the time the line was nearly finished and I was over for my autograph, he complained "Can we wrap this up soon so I can get a bathroom break? I'm only operating on one kidney.", which got a chuckle from us (me, a couple of the staff, and the cops). Ron personalized the pic I had for my friend Heather. After Andee finished her stage time, Sean and I were freed from duty, though Sean managed to get into a conversation with a gentleman who spends part of the day as a very huge Darth Vader (he was dressed and Obi-Wan from ep 3 by then). We dropped in on Heather on the way home to deliver her autograph, which she was very grateful for, as she had been to exhausted from work to attend. She's going to develop the one-time use camera I used, as payment for the Ron autograph.

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