What was the personal highpoint/highlight for you at the Poe Party evening?
Monday, November 7th, 2016I have a specific answer that leads to a more general, overarching answer. Hopefully you won’t mind. It’s long (of course), so here’s a cut.
Specific answer: It was the point after I’d arrived, and circled the block to try to find parking, and ended up at the Vons across the street, and done the long crosswalk one way, and then while waiting to cross the second long crosswalk to the theater had a group of young women walk up behind me, including some doing cosplay, and in particular @suchspiritedwords, with whom I’d messaged earlier in the day about the event, and who I immediately recognized from her awesome HG goggles, but they were having their own conversation, and I was dealing with the big scary crosswalk, and the even scarier prospect of all those people on the far side of it, and since I was there by myself and feeling even more awkward and out of place than usual I didn’t say anything or introduce myself, but just did my best impression of a normal-dude-not-at-all-awkward-just-standing-here-all-calm-and-normal, and the light changed, and I crossed, and there was a short line to buy tickets at the ticket table, and ohmygod MK was behind the table selling tickets and Sean was standing there in an adorable bowtie and there was Sarah and there was Sinead and oh look there’s Joey and there’s David Cater (with whom I’d also corresponded earlier in the day about coming to the event) and just be cool it’s no big deal and then David came over and went up to the group of cosplayers who were standing behind me and said, “I just wanted to tell you how much I love your HG!” and @suchspiritedwords said to him “Oh! Are you Lies?”
There was a lot more after that. But in playing it back in my head that’s the moment that stands out.
More general, overarching answer: It was how the evening reminded me of my mom. Which needs some explanation.
Later in her life she got really into Star Trek (in particular Captain Picard). It was a neat thing to be able to share that with her. One time we had a family get-together to go to an early showing of one of the movies, and I think it was during the trailers, with the geeky and enthusiastic crowd really getting into it and laughing and shouting at the screen, when my mom turned to my brother and said, “Oh, Davey. These are my people.”
We still talk about that moment. I think it was my sister who mentioned it at the memorial, and then just a few months ago we had a reunion in honor of her birthday when we all went to see Star Trek Beyond together, so it was on my mind. And it’s this thing about how a fandom can feel sometimes. I had some negative experiences around the issue of family growing up; nowhere near as bad as many people, I realize, but there were a lot of divorces and disruptions and just a general feeling of being shunted around, of being a kid waiting alone in bus stations. And some of that (maybe a lot of it) is just me, how I am, but it’s connected to those memories.
So I knew I was going to feel awkward and out of place at the Poe Party screening. But I really wanted to be there anyway, to be part of it. And at least for me it’s more the anticipation of the awkwardness that’s scary. It’s like when you’re standing on the edge of a pool and you know you should just jump in but you need to screw up your courage to do it.
So when David Cater came up and spoke to @suchspiritedwords behind me, and she said, “Oh! Are you Lies?”, that was my moment. Because it felt like the universe was conspiring to help me screw up my courage and take the plunge.
“Um, no,” I said. “He’s David Cater. I’m Lies.”
And she said, “Oh, Lies! Hi!” and David spun toward me and said, “Lies! Hi!” And as it happened that exact moment was when it was my turn to buy my ticket, so I sort of just blushed and waved and turned toward the table, and MK was already grinning at me, and she said, “Lies! You’re real!” and Sean shook my hand and it was the best thing ever. And the rest of the evening was the same; a little awkward, sure, but exciting and surreal, seeing all these people, creators and fans alike, people I’ve followed for years who are legitimate celebrities to me, even if the larger world hasn’t necessarily figured out how awesome they are yet. And sitting in the theater, chatting excitedly with the woman next to me (who it turns out is part of @betwixtproductions, working on a webseries called Horizons that I hadn’t heard of before but totally will be checking out now), watching Poe Party together with everyone, laughing at the jokes and holding our collective breath when Wells and Lenore looked at each other in the attic and applauding like crazy at the end, it made me think about my mom, and about family. Because these were my people.
Reposted from http://ift.tt/2fwLSOw.
