My first Comic-Con!

I love conventions. I love my people. I will go ahead and start with the usual: the beginning.
Thursday: I get my badge and get down onto the floor. I just follow the crowd since I am overwhelmed by how large the room is. I have never been in a floor room this large before. There are soooo many people. The word is something like 126,000 people. Crazy. I go to a panel called "Masters of the Web" which I thought was going to be about movies and how it interacts with the Internet. It was more about blogging about movies and online journalism. And then it turned into a plug about a film based off the comic series about Dylan the Dog. Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington are in the film. I got my picture with Brandon Routh. SO AWESOME! Then I missed the next two panels I wanted to see because I didn't know the lines were going to be so bad and that people could sit through other panels before the one they really wanted. The last panel I tried to attend was a disaster. It wasn't my fault I missed it. I was in line in plenty of time and was one of the first fifty people in line. I waited for almost two hours, and about half of that was spent outside in the afternoon sun. The second half we got to wait indoors. They opened the doors to let us in and they let the end of the line in before the front of the line. I was soooo pissed off because it was one of the panels I really wanted to see. I did get into the Seeker panel, so I was happy about that. Even though my future husband wasn't there. I went home and met Kristin's new boy for the first time.
Friday: I sat in Ballroom 20 all day waiting for some panels I wanted to see, and sitting through panels I didn't care about at first. Luckily I met some people in line for the panel that had attended the psych panel that didn't really care about the show. They gave me an extra swag ticket. I was thrilled. The first one was for the new Stargate show which I didn't care about before. Now I'm into it. Then the BSG/Caprica panel. AWESOME! Then there was the Big Bang Theory and Bones. I left after that because I knew there would be other people who would be more interested in the Dollhouse and Joss Whedon panel than I would. I love Joss Whedon and what he has done for the industry, but someone else would enjoy it more than I would. Plus, I had dinner plans with Kristin and David. So I went to the fulfillment room to pick up Psych swag and then I went and met up with Kristin and David. We ate at some sea side bar.
Saturday: I waited in line outside for Hall H for over 2 hours. I met some nice people in line who are part of the industry and learned some interesting facts. Sorry, I'm not going to blog about that. The panels were amazing in Hall H. First there was Lost - which I haven't watched since season 2, but I learned that the rest is going to be AMAZING! Then there was the Solomon Kane panel. I didn't know anything about it - it was just something to sit through. Then I saw James Purefoy was in it and I was in. Plus the trailer and the scenes we saw were amazing. Even though they had a pretty small budget. Next was Zombieland. Who doesn't want to watch a funny zombie movie??? It's going to be hilarious. And the girl from the House Bunny and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is in it along with Abagail Breslin and Woody Harrelson. 2012 is another disaster movie from Roland Emmerich. The story looks good. And of course Iron Man 2... I really don't need to say anything about this one - you already know it's going to be great.
Sunday: I sat through the Doctor Who panel and got to see David Tennant which was the highlight of my week. I went to the floor right after that because I thought about staying for the Torchwood panel. I went to the BBCA booth immediately, but they were all out of bags. I walked around trying to get some kid to sell me his Doctor Who bag for 3 bucks, but he was lame and didn't want to give it up. When I was waiting for swag in the WB line, I saw this guy with an empty bag, I asked him if I could buy it off him for 3 bucks, and when we crossed each other in the queue again, he just gave me an extra one! Geeks make me so happy. There really is an honor code among us. Anyway, I walked the hall around for a while. Stopped at this artist Katie Cook's booth and she drew me a little picture for 5 bucks! Really awesome. Collected more swag, entered some contests, and stopped by Jason Palmer's booth again. He remembers who I am because I'm "Ashley with the peaches and cream complexion". Around 1pm I called Kristin because I was ready to come home. It's just been an exhausting weekend, and the crowds were unbelievable. I saw what I wanted to, and I am happy with how things turned out.
Here's what I wrote the other day about my experiences:
It really isn't very smart to go by yourself when you're sitting in panels all day - you don't have anyone to trade off to watch your stuff. i trusted the girl I sat next to. I'm lucky that geeks are so trustworthy. We seem to have a certain code of conduct. The con is a little overwhelming. I've tried not to buy too much stuff. Parking has been my biggest cost. I got an independent tradeback, and Empire subscription, and two posters - one for me and the other for my dad. Jason Palmer signed them too! I love just sitting here watching my people. I got a lot of free swag too. I've been trying to save the moolah, so I should be okay with what I have left. Especially since Kristin is driving me so I don't have to pay for parking anymore.

I leave Tuesday morning to come back to Florida. Saturday I get to move into my new place. It has been an amazing experience so far, and I look forward to doing it again some year soon. Hopefully I'll have someone to come out here with me. I don't have any pictures to add to this right now since I left my cable back in Orlando. But if you have any questions or anything about the Con let me know and I'll try to answer them. Also, I have a ton of extra swag, so I'll post a list of things that I'd be happy to give away.

Post-Belly Update

The glorious Summer of Promise is starting to come to an end. While I'm ready for my final semester to start, I'm very happy with how this summer has turned out. It has been even better than I thought it would be. I had hoped for some awesome experiences and some lessons learned on set. I did learn lessons, but even more importantly I made friends that I'll keep in contact with for a very long time.
I had an amazing experience on the "A Beautiful Belly" set and I truly believe it is going to be an amazing film when it is all done. From what I've seen and done, I have great expectations for it.
We wrapped Monday night and had a post-wrap, pre-wrap party party. Here is the summary of what happened:

Christopher & the Walkins is a super group formed from members of Jeff & the Goldblums and James & the Spaders. Eventually most of the original members disbanded, and the remaining members later regrouped as Crispin & the Glovers. At the height of their popularity they included piano, three guitars, bongos, djembe, digeridoo, trumpet, trombone, accordion, harmonica, melodica, marroccas, and five tamborines.

I played two tamborines and sang backup. It was amazingly fun. It went late into the night and then some hanging out after.
The next night was our wrap party at Collin's house. There was drinking, Rockband, and clips from the film. It was hard ending something we had all gotten used to in the last month. I still haven't gotten back to real life since I've been in San Diego since the film ended. I go back in a few days, and after I move into my new place (finally!), it should feel more like normal.
I get back on Tuesday and I get to move in on Saturday the 1st. I'm ready for the next year to start, which is does on August 1st. Short term and long term goals are in place. This next year should be amazing. I'm not close to finishing with this summer's blog yet. I will continue this until the semester begins. That last bit on this blog will cover the official end of summer which is my Birthday Extravaganza at the end of August - the weekend before fall semester.

"Sir. I'm going to have to ask you to exit the donut." Ironman 2 is going to ROCK!

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Sigh. My future husband is in New Zealand. Why isn't he here for me to stalk?

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First of Comic-Con: Brandon Routh.

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Tour de France

Who knew cycling could be so intense??? Will write more when I'm coherent.

Shooting Day 14

We're more than half way through shooting and I'm having so much of a blast. Tuesday i was an extra in the art gallery. I stood around in my pink dress and heels for about ten hours or so. My toes are still numb. It's not good. I will never take extras for granted. Next time I stand in I'm wearing flats. I did have a good time coming up with a dance with Peyton for "Don't Stop Believing." Peyton is so much fun to hang out with. I love hanging out with Worley and Lauren, but it's different hanging out with Peyton. We just continually joke around and stuff. Plus, he's Spidey! haha. I'm sure there's more for me to say, but at 1am, my brain stops functioning properly.

Shooting Day 10

I am so happy right now. After a stressful morning I just got the best compliment. DLV was saying he was waiting on First Team this morning, and we held them up like 30 minutes, but they should catch up before lunch. Anyway, when they were setting up shots, Andrew came in and said to me "Has Mike talked to you yet?" And my eyes went wide in what Worley calls my panicked look and after I did that he asked if I was going to cry. When i responded in the negative, Andrew continued to tell me that he and DLV were talking about each department and what about people. Andrews said "DLV said the only person he would hire for a big show right now is you." It's because I'm always super prepared and organized for everything. And that I'm always on top of my game. I was so happy to hear that. Because, let's face it, DLV knows what he's doing. I kind of wish he would tell me himself, but then again, some of the best compliment are not the ones said to your face.
Back to the other day - after talking to Collin I talked to DLV about Louisiana. I'm thinking that will be my first step. I'm kind of really excited about things. I had a great time the last few days. Anyway, I talked to DLV and then Collin was driving me to my car - he said "It looked like you were trying to flirt." "Well there's nothing wrong with that." There has also been so much awesome stuff going on.

After notes (7/4/09 10:40pm): We actually finished shooting almost an hour ahead of schedule. I was complimented by DLV about dressing men very well. I had a flat tire when I got back to my car.