There are about a dozen or so of us Ron Perlman fans who follow Ron on Twitter and talk to each other all the time. He tweets us back sometimes, and it's fun for all of us.
Three of us girls met up in Dallas for the Dallas Comic Con Fan Days. Ron was appearing at the con. It was so much fun to meet in person and get to put voices with the faces and words we see on the screen. (I mean, we all know what Ron sounds like, but now he knows how we sound and we know each other's voices now.) Not that we had much time to talk to Ron, but he made what time he could for us.
Anyway, for us girls there was lots of laughter, staying up late and talking, wandering the Dealer's Room and getting separated and either DMing or calling each other to get back together. There were little happenings that became jokes, and it was just like being a teenager again for three days.
My poor, long suffering spouse was our "handler", keeping us from walking into people, Daleks, Hulks, and zombies. Unfortunately, he couldn't protect Mary from Kelly's Damn You Autocorrect moment involving a certain penguin. (You don't want to know, trust me.)
There was pizza, and a hash tag game, and way too much silliness. It was a blast. I laughed so hard my sides hurt, and my cheeks hurt, and my abs got a real workout. Kelly and Mary had never been to a con before, and Matt and I hadn't been in about 30 years. My, how technology has improved things! The last time we went to a con, there were only a few PCs, and they were dumber than the average microwave is these days. There were no cell phones, no tablets, and certainly no Internet. This con was a lot bigger than the last Creation Con we went to in L.A. It was also less hectic and crowded, which is odd, since there were a LOT of people there.
In the Dealer's room, I primarily focused on acquiring buttons for my library lanyard. (Gotta keep my Geek Girl cred current, you know?) I got several and some to share. I also got some movie posters. I even found an insulated cup for coffee that is cobalt blue and has the Star Trek TOS command insignia on it. It's really neat! Matt got a couple of really nice books and had a large Pacific Rim poster sent home. (We didn't want it to get ruined.)
Of course all of us girls got Ron to sign our photos. I got one signed for a young man who works with me who is in Basic Training for the Oklahoma National Guard as I write this. I told him I would get it for him and frame it for him so it would be safe until he got back from Basic. He is really excited about it. I scanned the picture and posted it to his Face Book page. I got lots of DMs from him, and he tweeted his thanks to Ron, also. Hope it cheers him up when he gets bogged down in PT and training and being away from home. He won't have Internet access while he's there. Guess I'll have to write him actual letters once they tell us where we can send them. (It's OK, when I was really into Fandom, the U.S. Mail was the only way we had to communicate and share "text files". These letters and stories often required extra postage, which on a typical fan's restricted budget was a bit of a burden. This spawned many buttons and stickers that said "The Post Office is a Klingon Plot!")
The main thing I take away from this weekend is how interconnected this world has become. Never before would it have been possible for fans and their favorites to be able to communicate like we can now. Not all celebrities are going to be comfortable with social media, but for those that are, they can really get a sense of who their fans are, and why they are fans. Good things to know.
I also had my good judgement confirmed. I just knew Kelly and Mary were great people, just from conversing online. I was right, they are great people, even more fun to talk with in person. It's also good to have it confirmed yet again that Ron Perlman is every bit as warm, witty and charming in reality as we always suspected he was. I cannot find the words, which for me is a bit unusual, to say how much it meant just to spend a few minutes chatting with him, and being able to tell him in person how much his online presence has cheered me up in the midst of all the stuff that has gone on this year. Because of Ron, I have a group of friends all over the world, which means when I'm up late worried about something, SOMEBODY will be online to talk to, somebody who cares. I have a pretty good support group here locally, but I hate to bug people with my random midnight anxieties. Online, there's usually someone already there who won't mind chatting, and these gals usually cheer me up. Would be great to meet all the "Perlgirls" in person. Maybe someday. It would be one HELL of a party!
In other news, my cell phone was in the process of dying during the con. (REALLY not a good time to have a cranky cell phone!) It was upgrade time anyway, and so the last two days have been consumed by a learning curve for a new device. I also have to get ready to go to my Mom's for a week. Leaving on Saturday. A whole week with no WiFi. No fun. At least my phone package is good enough that I can check my Face Book and Twitter and email regularly. I plan to hit the library for the free WiFi when I can. We are primarily going to do Mom's heavy yard work and to visit with her and Aunt Margaret, of course. Geez, I may lose even more weight while on this trip. Sure hope we can find stuff to eat that's healthy. I can't do a bunch of fast food again. I just bought a bunch of size 8 Levis. I want to still fit them.
Some pictures from the weekend follow.
Thanks again, Ron, just for being your fabulous self! We all love ya, big guy.
Me and Mr. P.
Three very happy ladies and one really awesome guy.
The Penguin Picture.
(And that's all I'll say about that.)
Yeah, we're cool.
Waiting for the fun to start.
The fabulous Star Trek coffee cup, buttons, and earrings.
The picture that was signed for my coworker.
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