I still hold out hope that one day she'll be the one to come and reap him, and then... reap him. If you know what I mean, and I think that you do.

I THINK THAT I DO, TOO. Heh.

I have more stories - but I wanted to talk a little bit about my feelings about going to the con. I'm like lots of Buffistas: have dread of giant social situations. So, my friend Sandy goes to the con every year. She asked me a long time ago if I wanted to go to the con and she was getting a ticket for her niece and if she bought them together we could sit together. (She bought tix for Sunday.) I took a while but finally said yes. I recognize the giant dread in me and I'm trying to do the thing that I'm reluctant to do. I thought I'd be paying her back: but no! The ticket was my birthday present from her - isn't that sweet?

Anyway, because I don't drive we didn't really have a plan as to how I would get there and very last minute (on Friday) I decided to take the airplane limo there. The con is at the Ohare Westin so right by the airport. At the con, Jenna and I bought last row priority seats for Saturday (so we wouldn't have to stay in the seats ALL day.) Sandy asked me if I wanted any photo ops and at first I said no. The only ops that were sold out were individuals with Jensen and Jared. So, there were the Mark and Misha ops. And Mark and Misha are two of my favorite actors on the show. I was getting that reluctant feeling again so I decided to go for it and got that one. And all day, coming in and out of the Ballroom, I looked at the sign and the Js duo photo ops were still available. Sandy had bought one for her and Jenna and was considering getting one just for herself. Finally, post-Misha- I decided to go for it. I decided that I had a little extra money and that is a rare occuraance and the main thing that was holding me back was my strong feeling of reluctance and my dislike of my own pictures. So, I did. And really - just signing up for it was a huge step for me.

There really isn't more of a big crowd feeling than being at a movie theatre. And you aren't expected to small talk with everyone.

I had alot of fun, I finally met the Brits - they were a blast. And I have pictures of Mark and Misha, Jared and Jensen. My friends say that they are good - but, you know, I hate pictures of myself.

Sadly, don't have the jpgs yet. Will try to take pictures of my pictures and put up on flckrr later.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I completely understand why people don't want to go to this sort of thing. But I would say, that if you have a reserved or priority seat and are doing to a small dedicated con like this one there is hardly any resemblance to shopping at the mall the day after Thanksgiving.

And you can manage to find time to chill and read if/when you need it.

So, this time I had a really good experience - not like the first time when I just didn't want to be there.

Photo-ops:

Waiting in line - is fun once you get to the room because you can see what other folks are asking the guests (actors) to do. I really didn't have any requests and was so barely there that I have only the faintest of impressions. (I'm so sad - but these things do overwhelm me.) I believe that I thanked them and they thanked me - Jensen . . .such a sweet smile. And RIGHT there.

Jared: so tall. h t Mark - really substantial - and big. Misha - adorable.

Sandy is much more outgoing. She got a picture of Misha hugging her and Mark hugging them both - and she got Mark to actually smile. Kind of a rare event.

She told Jensen that he was her niece's birthday present and he told Jenna, "Happy Birthday" and asked how old she was and she said, "17" and he told Sandy, "You better watch this one."

For their duo - she had Jenna pose in between them because she was the best Aunt ever and then she went and stood next to Jensen "because she's not that nice." Afterwards, Jared asked Jenna, "best aunt ever?" and she said, "yes" and he gave her a high five. (You know, going to an event like this with a teenager is a blast. She's totally into Matt. Can't blame her - he is adorable and his ARMS.)

Best picture: Sandy and Jenna's picture with Jared. They wanted to do something that would play off of Jenna's little sister's fear of soulless Sam. They told him that she was afraid of soulless Sam. (He thanked her for that.) So they had Jared pose with his (very large) hands around Jenna's neck with Sandy reacting in horror (mouth open, hands raised.) Jared has the most maniacal look: the picture is just perfect.

On the other hand, when one of the Brits went for her Jared picture something happened that pulled him away from the spot - meanwhile the photo ops line wrangler sent her to pose and she stood there without J, looked at the photographer and shrugged. He took the shot. And then, when Jared was all, "Hey!" - they said, well you weren't here. (They did another one.) One of the mysteries of the day was whether or not she'd get her solo shot. And she did! And it was excellent.

We had had a little conversation with the photographer (Chris) before and he says that he figures the guests know what to do so he concentrates on the fans. When they're good - he shoots. Not that he doesn't go back over them. (Apparently, the reason that Matt and Richard were there during Mark and Misha's photo ops was to do a reshoot.)

I've got to go. I had a very long post with another story but I lost it and will have to repost later.

It's a fun one - you know just to tease.

Hee, taunter!

I love reading this! It's from a perspective I can relate to, which is cool. Those boys... all of them... sound positively charming.

Well, I missed my bus so I'm back. The story I tried to post earlier was this:

Last night at dinner there were 3 people who'd been to the Jensen meet and greet and one person who'd been to the Jared meet and greet. Jared was apparently all about the pregnancy talking about how Gen wanted the baby to be born in the US (rather than Canada) and she wants a natural birth and how they're searching for a midwife and doula.

One of the people at the Jensen meet and greet was a woman on 2 weeks leave from the military. She mentioned how much she and the other SPN fans in the military appreciated how well they handled their weapons - for example, that they clear a room properly. And Jensen said that he's got a friend in Washington with a shooting range and they all like to go down there to shoot stuff. And then he produces his iphone - he's got a video of him on the range. He brings it over, asks everyone to "gather round" (twist my arm) and shows them video of him at the shooting range firing a handgun (of some sort) and then of him firing an m4. He's wearing a single layer - yes, a tight tee shirt and one of the ladies present can't help herself and said (outloud): he's so pretty! And then immediately realized that "he" was standing right there!

Mortifying.

Someone asked him when would they ever use an m4 on the show and he said that they wouldn't.

BTW, I got in touch with my bank and yes, the charges from the con drew the attention of the fraud squad. They froze my account. They claim that the fraudsters left me a message or tried to contact me but there were no messages on my voicemail from any such people.

At least I can access my funds now.

Love your stories, sumi. Glad you had such a good time!

Weapons related:

At the Js q&a, somebody asked them if there were any weapons that they wished that they could use on the show. (M4s were brought up again.) But the first thing was the grenade launcher that's been sitting in the Impala's trunk since season 1. Jensen got a little grumpy about it. (Very Deanesque.)

He also mentioned that he once spent weeks practicing with throwing knives in his trailer only to have the scene cut.

Back at Amy's panel, someone had asked her about her big fight scene with Julia McNiven. She talked about the training and how she took the prop knife everywhere to practice her knife handling. She said that at night at her hotel she'd be reading facebook and twirling that knife. When she was done shooting it was the one prop that she was really sad to have to leave behind.