Salt Lake Comic Con Fan Xperience 2015

When Salt Lake Comic Con announced that the Fan Xperience would take place only 5 months after the September Con, I groaned. I understand they wanted to take advantage of celebrities already being in town for the Sundance Festival, but for me it was too close to Christmas to spend a lot of money again. So, I determined to skip it this time.

And then my beloved Stephanie J told me she had been given free Gold passes and asked if I wanted to go. I said yes. Go with Steph? And for free? Duh!

This is what I posted on Facebook:

And in a crazy, random, happy happenstance and invitation from Stephanie, I find that I'm going to Salt Lake Comic Con on Saturday after all.
Let the I told you so's commence.
(Also, tell me if you'll be there so I can look for you!)

Thursday

When you get the Gold pass, you have admission for all three days. I would not have gone on Thursday, but I pulled a Monica and accidentally bought a photo op for the wrong day. They only did exchanges in person. Whoops! So, I walked over to the Salt Palace, checked in and picked up my swag (a t-shirt, Comic Con cash, and a lanyard), and headed to the photo op area as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, they only had one person working as customer service, the machine was down, and they didn't tell anyone ahead of time that since Morena Baccarin had cancelled they would automatically be refunded for her photo op. So, I was in line for an hour and a half. Fortunately, I struck up a conversation with the girl behind me, Ashleigh (perfectly dressed as a female Mal Reynolds from Firefly) and pretty soon my Comic Con BFF Theresa joined us. In a crazy twist of fate, turns out Ashleigh is the cousin of one of Theresa's good friends. Our minds blew. Turned out that Ashleigh was not a Doctor Who fan, and kindly gave me the VIP Doctor Who poster. I squealed so loudly that people turned to look at us. I love it the poster, and I love that a random encounter turned into a new friendship. That's my favorite thing about Comic Con.

Theresa as Scully from The X-Files, and new friend Ashleigh

I need to start putting these things up in my spare bedroom.
Proudly display my badges of nerdom.

On my way out, I spotted these Velociraptors. I had to take a photo to share with Larissa.
"Ran into a friend of yours. He asked me to say Hi to Rob for him ;) Love you!"

Friday

I thought I might slip away from work for an hour or so to see Harry Potter's Tom Felton panel. I even wore my adorable hybrid Doctor Who/Up! t-shirt just in case. However, since I'd spent so much time there on Thursday, I decided to be responsible for once and stay at work. Theresa was kind enough to send me this photo and a few comments about the panel. I appreciated it, and I hope someone posts a video somewhere soon!

Theresa: "For you."
Theresa: "He just admitted to being Gryffindor!"
Me: "Had you not heard about that? It's so funny!"
Theresa: "No, I had. He was just really cute about it."
Theresa: "He keeps greeting the ladies that are asking questions 'hey lovely'.
It makes my heart happy. Shall I leave you alone now?"
Me: "Nope! Text as much as you like, I just don't want you to feel like you have to."

Saturday

Steph and I arrived early so that we would be sure to get into the Billie Piper panel, since I was worried a lot of people might crash Billie's panel so they'd be sure to be there for the Carrie Fisher panel right after (a lot of people did that).

Billie Piper is most famous as Rose from Doctor Who and was adorable and down-to-earth in her British former-pop-star way (she wore spats and a leather jacket -- whaaa?). As always, I couldn't help taking a few notes, and as always they're not nearly as funny or charming out of context.

When asked about her audition for Rose, and advice she may have: "I was high on sugar, pretending I was not well... so maybe try that for an audition?"

How she manages being an actress and a mom: "Badly."

Whether she's still friends with other Doctor Who stars: "You know, just hanging around with Matt Smith, like you do... I know, I'm being really blase about it."

Which of her songs she likes the most: "The rave-y versions of my sweet little pop songs were always such a treat!"

Why Britain has so many successful shows: "It's a small island and everyone's quite grumpy quite consistently. We have a very dry sense of humor."

Most people stayed for the next panel, but I managed to find closer seats anyway. Seventh row, baby! Couldn't resist taking a photo of this unicorn -- I had to share it with my Jekyll and Hyde cast :)

While waiting, the man in charge of keeping people entertained asked "Who has been to every Comic Con here in Salt Lake?" A bunch of us cheered.

Then he asked: "who is here for the first time?" Steph "Woo-hooed" so loudly the guy looked at her and said, "First time? Today? Just thought 'Hey I have nothing else to do?"

Steph responded, "I'm here to find a date!"

He didn't quite hear, "Blind date?"

The audience shouted back, "She's here to find date!"

And he said back, "This is the place to go!"

It was a beautiful, beautiful moment.

Producers Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg announce Carrie Fisher

Star Wars' Carrie Fisher's panel was hilarious, mostly because you didn't know what she was going to do or say next. Almost as soon as she got onstage, she asked the audience if anyone had a Coke. One guy did, and when he gave it to her, she grabbed him and kissed him, and it was not just a peck! He wrapped his arms around her and the crowd died! She said, "You give me what I want, I give you what you want!" Sadly, the moderator decided to ignore the dozens of people lined up for questions and just asked his own. It wasn't a very long panel, but it still seemed a jerk move.

Quotes from Carrie:

Which Star Wars film was your favorite? "Empire." The crowd cheers, 'cause we all agree. 

Moderator: "It has an epic, Gone with the Wind feeling."

Carrie: "Which one was Mammy? Chewy? That makes a lot of sense!"

Apparently, if you had a photo with or met Carrie, she doused you in glitter.

Moderator: "They've got glitter all over them and they say, 'I just met Carrie Fisher.'"

Carrie: "Everyone needs to glitter at some point! It's the law! Come see me!"

After the panels, we spent some time walking around and visiting friends working there.
First, we stopped for photos with the TARDIS.

This little girl was dressed as Maid Marian from Disney's Robin Hood, complete with a fox tail!

"MUCH bigger on the inside!"

When we realized that the photo op lines were crazy long, we decided to jump in for our Tom Felton photo (his was the one I had to exchange because I'd accidentally bought the Friday one). The line stretched most of the way down the main floor, in spite of the photo ops being on the far side of the building. It was crazy. And worth it. 

When we finally got into the room with Tom, suddenly Back to the Future's Christopher Lloyd popped in and asked for a photo with Tom. I love that Christopher dresses like an aging rock star. We all freaked out and wished the workers had let us keep our phones (a big no-no in the photo op area). Christopher said he'd want a signature later and Tom was cool and yet excited about that. When Steph and I walked up for our turn, Tom walked over to his girlfriend to check in for a minute. They'd been hurrying us through, but I got up the courage to ask him to wear my Gryffindor scarf. Obviously, he agreed.

New Gryffindor Tom Felton wears the scarf my mom made for me. Doesn't he look handsome?

Then we jumped into the line for Billie Piper's photo. While in line, Steph mentioned that she had watched Evita and realized that Billie had a small, uncredited role in the movie. When we reached Billie, Steph said, "I loved you in Evita." We all cracked up, and the photographer took this photo:

Seriously perfect.

You've probably noticed that I didn't cosplay this time. Since it was Steph's very first Comic Con, she wasn't planning to, and I know what it's like to hold your friend's purse while everyone takes photos with or of them. Steph insisted she wouldn't mind, but I opted for a nerdy shirt and my Gryffindor scarf. It made for a nice change, actually! Obviously, since our photo ops were with Billie Piper and Tom Felton I wore the Doctor Who/Harry Potter shirt Kristen gave me. It felt right.

Since I only had a few days left of the current round of Personal Trainer Food, I took snacks with me: meat sticks, pistachios, sunflower seeds, cauliflower and carrots, an apple, and a water bottle. I shared with Steph and a few people around us in the many lines. By the end of the day, I had eaten all but the pistachios and some of the carrots. It pays to plan ahead.

We walked around a bit more and found a lot of friends (most of whom were waiting in lines for photo ops).

Patti R in steampunk attire

Theresa as steampunk Cinderella

I don't know these people dressed as Harry Potter's Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, but I needed a photo with them.
The lady made the costumes from scratch and they were gorgeous.
I was thrilled to get to hold the Elder Wand!

Kristen (far right) and some of her friends from This is the Place, dressed up to advertise for The Witches' Ball

The DeLorean from Back to the Future

We even met a few celebrities at their tables. Steph declared that she wanted Billie to sign her photo, but Billie had already left. Then we saw that Karate Kid's Ralph Macchio had almost no line, so we had a little conversation about Utah's weather and grabbed a photo. He was extremely nice.

The man doesn't age

I decided not to resist getting Chuck/Arrow/Superman Returns star Brandon Routh's signature. I really wanted a photo but he wasn't doing selfies. I became that fangirl who stars in awe and has nothing to say. It was a little awkward but he was very nice. His manager asked if I wanted it personalized, so I squeaked out my name. Then Steph told me to ask for a hug, and I did. Then she gestured at Brandon like, "You know you want to hug me" and we laughed and he hugged her, too. (Steph is pretty much the coolest.) As I walked away I finally found a voice and told him I hope he lasts on Arrow for a long time. Then I ran away to die.

Fun fact: I have now been hugged by TWO actors who have played Superman!
(I hugged Dean Cain at the first Salt Lake Comic Con.)
And yes, he is gorgeous in real life. Hence the fangirling.

By the time Steph decided she needed to be glitter-bombed by Carrie Fisher, they told us she wasn't allowing any more people in line. I knew the guy holding the "End of Line" sign, and he would have let us in but he thought they wouldn't allow free meet-and-greets when she was so tired. Actually we were the "just-missed-it" girls a lot that afternoon. It became something of a joke for us. Oh well.

We finally left at about 6:30, hungry, sore-footed*, and happy. It was an awesome day. I'm grateful that Steph invited me and she wanted to be so involved. She made the day what it was.

Note to self: Don't plan any events for at least two days after a Con. It takes my feet and my energy levels that long to recover, especially if I'm dieting and the next day is Fast Sunday. Still worth it!

*We may not have logged as many steps as we would have liked (fitbit buddies), but we both hit 10,000 while walking back to the car. Turns out, standing in line doesn't yield much stepping!

Mmm...chocolate

(No, I have not cheated on my diet.)

Non-sequiters

Just some random thoughts I need to get out of my head.

• I read an article about how Great Britain is no longer shipping chocolate to the United States. I'm a little depressed this might mean no Cadbury eggs this Easter (not the cream eggs, just the chocolate and shell). I was terrified enough to run to the grocery store yesterday to buy up all the eggs they have... but there is no Valentine's Day equivalent!

• I'm burned out on exclamation points. I read a missionary letter where every sentence ended in one or more (usually more). So, I've been making a conscious effort to use exclamation points sparingly. I hope people don't think I hate them without that extra oomph at the end of every sentence.

• I wonder what it says about me that I'm more worried about breaking my diet than I am about a blind date I've set up for next week. Or maybe I'm just trying to relieve the stress I and the setter-upper might otherwise put on myself.

• In a meeting at work yesterday, we spent 15 minutes shooting the breeze, and then seven people gave status updates in a 15 minute period. The rest of the hour was used up by one person. This happens often with this guy. I'm not sure he is assigned the most difficult and conversation-needed assignments, or if it's his way of presenting things. Either way, it drives me nuts.

• I dreamed the other night that I was eating some amazing chocolate cookies. I dream these sort of things often in the second half of the Personal Trainer Food diet. I think it's my body's way of tricking itself into thinking it's still consuming the sugary treats that I love. Most of the time I am horrified and feel guilty about breaking the diet -- I only ever catch myself after it's happened. However, on this night, I became lucid and realized I was dreaming, so I indulged as much as I wanted! I was still relieved when I woke up and confirmed it had been a dream, but that might also be because I dreamed some of my closest friends were treating me terribly.

• It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who thought the Serial podcast was frustrating. It helps to know it's a real case and it ended on a fairly positive note... but I'm not sure that I'm interested in listening to season 2 if there is one.

• And sometimes you get a company-wide e-mail about an award that you aren't eligible for. No, it's for people who already get bonuses and free trips but apparently deserve more. Meanwhile, those of us who actually create the product quietly take our paychecks and go home (and wonder why Christmas parties were done away with). Welcome to the middle class.

And now for some that I found in an unpublished draft from May 2013. They're out of date, and yet I see no reason not to share 'cause they were relevant at the time (some still are):

• I'm a pretty good driver. Not terrific, but not terrible. Just pretty good. But I haven't been in an accident, or even gotten any kind of ticket in at least 6 years. So it really irritates me when I give someone a ride and they immediately start "backseat driving." Then I just get jumpy and nervous and make more mistakes that prompt them to police me even more... ending in my not wanting to drive them around anymore. Please, just trust that I care as much about your life as I do my own.

• I don't think Project Manager B understands that every time she gives me a new "do this additional thing ASAP" project, it delays the ongoing writing I'm also trying to complete. Since she's also seemingly concerned about me finishing up the writing, I would think she'd ease up on the frantic ASAP e-mails. I would also appreciate if she'd stop consulting with the person who previously did the writing for her team (I already feel like I'm not doing well enough). Then again, she's just doing her job the best way she knows how. It's not her fault I don't like feeling stressed and micromanaged.

• Sinus infections: How long to they take to heal for normal people? I'm on antibiotics, a decongestant, and neti pot, and stayed in bed for the better part of eight days, but I don't seem to be making much progress. I've decided to return to real life again and hope that my body catches up quickly, because I'm not missing another week of beautiful Spring weather. What's that you say? It's supposed to be coldish and rainy this week? *Puts fingers in ears* La, la, laaaaaaaaaaa! I can't hear you!

• I've been getting shots to help immunize me against my allergies. I have to get a shot in each arm each time, because I'm allergic to so many things (thankfully not pets or dust -- phew!). I'm at the point where I only need to go about once a month (it was twice weekly for awhile there -- my pocketbook said "Ouch" far more than my arm did). Even so, every time I go, my arms swell painfully AND itch for about two days. Still, I've had a couple of testimonials that these shots will help me out. Someday soon, I'll be able to enjoy Spring, and not be sick on my birthday in the Fall. Can't wait!

• Anyone else object to automated toilets? I don't mind almost any other automated thing: faucets, doors, soap dispensers, traffic lights, regular lights. But the toilets are so iffy. The only thing worse than it flushing while I'm sitting on the seat is having the thing flush MULTIPLE TIMES while I'm just trying to put a toilet seat cover down. I feel so very wasteful! (Ew, no pun intended). Side note: I think toilet seat covers are brilliant.

• There are few things worse than knowing a secret, and not being able to tell anyone. Most of the time, I'd simply rather not know and be surprised along with the recipient. If you MUST tell me the secret, wait as long as possible. I like to think I'm good at keeping them, but sometimes I lose track of who I can say something to and who I can't. I'm convinced I outed my brother to our grandma, but to be fair he had, like, three years to tell her (he also wasn't at all concerned when I called to tell him -- he figured she already knew). 
• HOWEVER, if the secret is about me... well... I don't much care for most surprises, especially life-changing ones. I need some kind of hint that it's coming, if not a full-on conversation. I don't deal well with change that affects me personally.

C'est tout!

Quotes from The Infinite Atonement

As I said in my review for the book The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister, it gave me a lot to think about. Since I borrowed the book from the library, I didn't feel right about highlighting the snippets that called out to me. Instead, I took some photos.

Here are my favorites:

"Mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety."

"Faith precedes miracles, asking precipitates revelation, and pleading prompts pardons."

"Some may contend that the Savior cannot empathize with those who succumb to temptation because he never yielded and, therefore, he could not understand the apparently unique circumstances of those who did. The fallacy of such an argument is exposed by C.S. Lewis: 'No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means -- the only complete realist.'"

Megan reads The Infinite Atonement

The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Infinite Atonement is a very thorough and respectful examination of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I appreciated the many quotes from not only LDS General Authorities, but non-LDS writers and scholars, too. I also appreciated the many real-world examples that helped make the atonement more understandable. I would have struggled reading this book a lot more without those examples.

What struck me the most is just how much the Savior went through to atone for my sins. Maybe that's a simple statement. Callister makes points about how the human body has failsafes when the pain gets too much -- fainting and death -- but the Savior didn't choose either of those. There are many, many wonderful tidbits that I had never before considered regarding His mission, His birth, His nature, and His sacrifice. My gratitude and testimony of my Savior grew a lot in the weeks during which I read this book.

Unfortunately, the book is structured like a law argument and was written with unnecessarily flowery and pretentious language. It flowed well, but was really dry. I do not recommend that you try to read it casually cover to cover. It's more of a resource book. One that should be studied over time.

I'm glad that I read it. I learned a lot about the whys, whats, and hows of the atonement. I only wish there was more advice on applying it to my own life. No one book can possibly explain everything about the atonement, but this felt like a good start for me.


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Fitbit fanatic

It didn't take me long to become obsessed with my new fitbit (and I was so worried I wouldn't do anything with it)!

Several of my friends each own one, and I'd been thinking about it for a while, so when Lindsey suggested that all of us Smyth siblings purchase one (or something like it) and participate in fitness challenges for 2015, I decided to take a chance. My generous parents gave it to me as a Christmas gift (fortunately, I found a great online deal at 1 a.m. on Black Friday).

In the two weeks since I've started wearing my fitbit, I've been a little crazy about trying to get my 10,000 steps a day. I walk in place during phone meetings at work. I walk or jog in place while watching t.v. I take long, circuitous routes from my parking spot to my apartment, and also from my desk to the bathroom at work.

Most of my coworkers got used to my latest weird habit pretty quickly. Some looked at me oddly the first time I marched in place during a conversation and walked down hallways I don't normally frequent, but all I had to say is "I got a fitbit for Christmas" and they replied, "Oh, just getting your steps in." They understand!*

Looks like I've joined quite the community. Goodness knows I'm not the first fitbit fanatic.

Actually, I might have started a fitness trend for my team. I mentioned to one of my East Coast coworkers that I got a fitbit and have been getting up for about five minutes each hour to walk around. She said she had a "sitbit" because it didn't become a fitbit until she stood up, and she kept forgetting to do it. So, she asked me to IM her every time I get up. I felt bossy for the first couple of days, but apparently she appreciates it, because she mentioned it to my manager and another co-worker, and now they are both doing it, too! I'm glad to have a workout buddy (of sorts). It's so easy to get engrossed in our projects and forget to move. I guess we don't have to do 5 minutes every hour, but I like that I'm moving around more during the day and not trying to catch up at night as much as I otherwise would be.

Best of all, I don't necessarily have to carve out a huge chunk of my day to dedicate to exercise (though I still do yoga as often as I can). I don't have to wait for a special time or get up early. I can do it throughout the day and I love that! I can be consistent about 10,000 steps a day. I've succeeded with the goal far more than I've failed.** When I get in the groove, I have a hard time making myself end the walk, and have been pushing myself to walk for longer periods of time.

Feeling pretty good :D

I'm enjoying this so much!


*One guy started laughing after about five minutes because he said my walking in place made it look like I needed to go to the bathroom. Funny enough, I did need to go to the bathroom; he'd interrupted me on my way there. I had wondered if it looked in grocery stores and the post office like I was doing a potty dance. Guess it does. I'm ok with it!

**The fitbit tracks steps and quality of sleep, and also tracks how many miles I've walked and calories I've burned (the measurements are based on my height and weight). I find it very frustrating that I have to walk about 12,000 steps to reach the goal 5 miles. I can't figure out the key to burning the goal number of calories -- the number of steps hasn't been the same any time I've managed to do it. I walked 14,165 steps to achieve everything the other day!