Fantasticon 2014

The first convention that I ever attended was a high school graduation present from my mother. She bought me two tickets to a Star Trek convention by the airport because my hero, William Shatner, was going to be there. It was a lot of fun -- I bought a bootleg Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla VHS tape and an Ensign Ro action figure, and I was right up at the front for Bill Shatner. He was funny, he was charming, and he made a grown man cry. In short, he lived up to the hype. My friend said to me afterwards that I looked like I was staring into the face of God I looked so ecstatic. I didn't get his autograph then (or at all until many years later) because autographs seemed so far beyond my reach to me then -- sort of like something that people with a ton of money could do, but I would never be able to do.

Things have changed. Now I attend conventions pretty much exclusively for celebrity autographs or signed books. I have hundreds of autographs, and I would consider it my primary hobby. And so, more than 20 years later, I went to another convention by the airport -- the inaugural Fantasticon Milwaukee -- specifically to get an autograph.

Fantasticon is a brand new convention. It was exactly like you would expect a small local con to be. Small dealers room (where I bought a Doctor Who audio adventure from the only booth there that would take my credit card) and a small room with a few celebrities like WWF announcer Mean Gene Okerlund and the guy who played the villain in the pilot of "The Flash". The headliner was John Barrowman, although he was only there Saturday and Sunday and I was there on Friday, using up a floating holiday from work. The reason I was there was Caity Lotz.

I love the show "Arrow" and Caity **SPOILER** played the (now dead) Canary. She is gorgeous, her character on the show was great, and so I headed down at noon when the place opened. I was hoping to get in, get out, get home. One small problem with that: Caity didn't show up in the signing area until almost 3pm, so I had nothing to do. I sat in my car and listened to the Doctor Who audio. I went to Taco Bell. I wandered. At about 2:30, I was in the parking lot sending a text to my friend and Caity walks past me to the autograph area so I thought it would finally start (I was trying to make a 3pm showing of John Wick). I went inside and sat there, and finally she came out and started signing. The few people in front of me all decided to be super yakky, so as 3pm passed by, I finally got up there. She asked me if I wanted the pic personalized and what color ink I wanted. I chatted with her and her friend for a few minutes, and left with the first autograph in my "Arrow" collection.