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Visions 1999 Part Seventeen I grabbed my painting and thanked them profusely for finding me, then took my place back in line. The painting was beautiful (well, okay, his hair was a little high – what we in MA call ‘Revere-hair'). I couldn't wait to show it to Nick and have him sign it. Nick and James were escorted out of the room and seated at their respective tables. I got in the line for Nick, and we started to move up. Nancy took her place near the table, and snapped off a couple of random shots. Suddenly I remembered – I was holding both a picture of Nick for Nancy and a painting, and only one autograph ticket! I called Nancy over and told her I needed her ticket, which she handed over without question. (This is the selfish side of me you're seeing here. It didn't occur to me until later that I'd just robbed my own sister of her chance to meet Nick – but she keeps telling me she didn't mind. *sniff* I so don't deserve her!) I got up to the table; my turn was next. Then I hear Nancy cry out, "Paula! Get out of line! You're out of film!" Ahhhh! Nick's guard – the guy who was taking the tickets – fortunately heard, and offered to let us step out of line to fix the problem. I moved over, dropped everything onto the floor, and grabbed the camera. I had to rewind it since Nancy didn't know how (Pentax K1000), but she had the replacement ready and waiting for me. I reloaded, gave her the camera, picked everything up and got back in line (thanks to the nice guy who let me get in front of him!). I put my painting and Nancy's photo on the table. The ticket guy looked at the painting as Nick was signing for the man in front of me. "Did you do this?" he asked, amazed. "Oh, no, I got it done in there," I pointed vaguely in the direction of the dealer room, "you know, the airbrush guy?" "Rob did this? That's pretty good," he said, showing it to Nicky, who had just signed Nancy's photo. Nick held it at arms length, checking it over. "Wow. Look at that. I am a handsome man." Then he started as I pulled out the Spiderman doll I'd bought earlier that day. "I'm gonna have to check that out," he said, referring to the Q&A references to the "Spiderman Movement". He started to say something else, then he stopped as Nancy interrupted, "Excuse me?" We both turned to her. (Nancy is very psyched that Nick looked right at her). "This guy" (the bouncer) "won't let me keep flashing pictures, so Paula, could you just turn a little this way?" Then – THEN – Nick stood up and leaned across the table with his cheek near mine (his hair brushed my face!!) so Nan could take our picture. Nancy thanked him, then he sat back down and signed the painting. I thanked him profusely, then stepped out of line with my prize. We headed back to the seats where the other Bronzers were waiting. While we waited for their rows to be called, I filled them in as much as I could remember (which wasn't much at the time) of our time backstage. When it was time for them to get in line, I got myself in position, and photographed as many of them as I could for their own big moments. Unfortunately Nicky was terribly rushed, and they pushed people through his line like a Japanese bullet train(a reference from my step-brother), giving him no time to even acknowledge the people in front of him. James, however, was as amazing as I'd come to know him to be. Whenever a Bronzer got to the table, I'd call out, "James! Another Bronzer!" Then he'd smile and pose for a picture, sometimes even hugging them. I really got the impression that he thought we were pretty special. And that, my friends, was pretty much the it. We said goodbye to the Expo Center, we went our separate ways, we fully expected to die in a fiery car crash, ‘cause that much good karma has got to be a bad sign. But we made it home okay. We'd met Chris. We'd met James. We'd met Nick. Actually, I'd say more than okay. NEW INFORMATION ABOUT WHY CHRIS GOLDEN CALLED JAMES MARSTERS INTO THE BACK ROOM: Today is August 22, 1999, and yesterday my family (my sister, actually) threw me a birthday party to celebrate my 30th (8/25). My friend Rebecca has been sick, and could only come to the party for a short time, but before she left, she gave me her gifts - a Buffy t-shirt, a Buffy incense burner, and..... a birthday card signed by Christopher Golden, James Marsters, Nicholas Brendon, and Robin Atkin Downes (Machida)! Rebecca decided sometime during the first half of the convention that this would be the perfect gift for me - she didn't know how she would do it, but she was gonna try. Chris and Robin were easy, they were very accessible, but James and Nick pretty much had her stumped. Then when I called Nancy over to join me at The Door, Rebecca had time to pass the card to her before we went in. While I was talking to James, Nancy whispered to Chris, "How the heck am I gonna do this?" Chris took the card from her and said, "Don't worry about it." When he followed Nick into the back room and called James to join him, it was just so (*sniff*) he could ask them to sign my birthday card! I am a terrible, terrible, selfish person who doesn't deserve friends like Rebecca and Chris, or sisters like Nancy. But, damn, I'm lucky that I have them. Thanks, guys.
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Visions 1999 Relevant Links |
