James in Orlando!
 On Saturday, November 13,1999...I MET JAMES MARSTERS!! After weeks and weeks of preparation and a very bumpy journey...my dream came true. Not only did I get to meet James..I got a hug and got to sit on his lap!! :) My arrival in Florida on Friday culminated in my driver's license and Social Security card being stolen at Sea World and THEN rushing my boyfriend to the hospital that night for severe dehydration and suspected food poisoning. By Satuday morning I was convinced that the entire trip would be ruined. Boy was I wrong! We arrived at the Vulkon Saturday afternoon and saw Dare, Dezi, Rebecca and several other amazing people. Dare recognized me on sight because of the dress I was wearing and welcomed me with a nice big hug that immediately made up for the previous day. What an amazing person! Introductions were made and I was treated to the greatest bunch of people I've ever met. Mary Ann Rebecca, Dezi and Rachel and Plum and every other person there was above and beyond wonderful. I also got to meet the elusive Saber Shadowkitten but she hid from my camera. I did get the top of her head once though. :) The entire group just oozed cool. Before the convention, we all went to lunch at Fudruckers. A word of advice...never, ever walk almost a mile in the Florida heat when you're fully made-up and wearing heels! No matter how bad Friday was...Saturday made up for it. James was candid on stage, funny and gracious of his fans. I was brazen enough to stand up and ask for a hug and he was kind enough to give it to me. I thought he would say no but he didn't and he noticed my vanilla perfume as he hugged me and called me "darlin'". I don't remember walking back to my seat but the shaky camera techniques after the hug attest to the fact that he shook me up very well. :) In the autograph line I thanked him again for the hug and asked if I could step onstage long enough to have my photo made with him. The Vulkon people were being very adamant about no personal photos and as I leaned down beside him, one of the guards asked me what I thought I was doing and James turned and said, 'I said she can have her picture made with me.' Then he signed a plastic spoon, a card and a photo! Later that night, he came to the dance and that was when I got the chance to sit on his lap. I made a move to kneel beside his chair and he caught my hips and pulled me onto his lap. I did take a moment to grope his forearms and decided that he was as muscular as he looked without his shirt on Buffy. When the photo was about to be taken, he ran his fingertips through my hair to push it back and commented about how thick it was and then left his fingers there as the camera went off. I turned and hugged him again, very tight, and thanked him and HE THANKED ME!!! SWOON! Not long after that, James asked to go back to his room because the flash was way too bright and he was "seeing spots". He was absolutely wonderful. He took time to listen to everything and answer several questions TWICE!! AND HE HUGS SO WELL!!! I already adored him before this. Now he has my respect as well as my adoration. During the convention while James was onstage, several people from lovesbitch got to go up and give James presents they had brought. Plum took him a stake and a poster about the Spike Girls and he danced across the stage saying, "I'm a Spike Girl! I'm a Spike Girl!" When she gave him the stake, he jumped back and said, "Get that thing away from me!" Then she told him if he stakes Angel to use that stake and he laughed and shook her hand twice. He LOVED her punk outfit and said, "You look like me!" Way to go, Plum! Mary Ann cross-stitched his name into a coffee cup and stood and asked if she could bring it up to him and he said, "Sure, baby!" She floated to the stage on cloud nine and gave it to him and he thanked her and gave her a big hand shake. She told him he was talented and he told us that being told he was talented was a major compliment. YAY, Mary Ann! You go! Dare was amazing! I didn't get this in a photo but I did get it on videotape. She asked if she could go up and give him a shirt that Zero had sent him and some other stuff and he was like, "Sure, baby!" Well, she went up and he LOVED the stuff she gave him and then he KISSED HER (look at the photo and tell me who wouldn't) and she GROPED HIS ASS! As she stepped off the stage, he got a little pink in the face and watched her as she walked back to her seat and kept saying, "Oh, you are bad, baby! You're bad!" Dare, I wish I had the nerve!
Rachel and I spent so much time laughing and cutting up while we waited for James to sign our photos. All of us from lovesbitch had gathered in the corner next to him and had the BEST time waiting. Unfortunately though, some weirdos decided to join us. The Vulkon people literally had to remove one of the men who kept walking around with a piece of syrofoam saying it was a nuclear reactor. He honestly thought that the Star Trek people were there to beam him home or something. THEN there was another guy who stood and stared at breasts the whole time. He didn't even try to disquise the fact that he was doing it either and he stayed and stayed and stayed. We all really honed our ignoring skills. Dare and Plum spent some time on the laptop while a bunch of us posed for candid shots. Like this one where I feel even shorter than usual. This photo shows Rebecca, Dare, Mary Ann and Me all swooning over James but trying to concentrate long enough to smile for the camera.
I had a really, really good time posing with Darth Maul and couldn't help but wonder what he had on under his robe. What a sweetheart! Plus I got several shots of James in the autographline. Afterwards, we all went to dinner and then to the dance. We spent some time sitting together at the table inside the "Bronze" plotting how we could get James on the dancefloor but he was instantly surrounded when he joined the dance party. All wasn't lost though...we flocked to his table and almost everyone got a personal photo. He was so sweet about it. Our group did a good job of asking great questions, getting gropes, hugs, and having fun. Next time though...the more the merrier! It's time we all meet!  |
