Fan Days Dallas

Today I went to my first convention. Along with it being my first convention, it was also my first time to road trip without my family. I went across the ocean before I drove two hours south alone. I went to Dallas with Mickey and Patricia to meet John Barrowman at Fan Days. A family from the theatre went too, and I regret not getting a picture because their baby was dressed at 11.

The main reason we went was for John Barrowman. We bought pictures with him that were at noon, so we had to be there before that. We decided to leave at 9. Everything went swell until we got to the DFW area. All the construction got us lost twice AND we got pulled over. There was a faulty brake light.

We ended up pulling into the Irving Convention Center garage at 11:30ish. Then, there was the walk of shame. That was the half mile trek from the garage to the center alongside the cars in line to get into the garage. We laughed at the cosplayers we passed and I'm sure they laughed at us.

The best part was the following exchange:
"Oh look! A Star Trek family!" -Mickey
"Aww, oooh, that kid just ran into traffic. Those parents need to watch him." -Me
"He's a red shirt." -Mickey

The Walk of Shame. Those cars went the whole way to the center.

Once we got in, we got our bands, programs, and schedules. Barrowman photos were almost up, so we rushed to the location. We ended up getting pretty good spots in line, so that was exciting. We weren't in the first group inside, but we were second.

Our sweet programs!

WE MADE IT!

On an escalator

We were last in line for a while, so I got to hold the sign. At least, that is, until someone else became last in line.

While we were in line for John Barrowman, this awesome family was posing for pictures!  They're unfortunately the only cosplayers I took a picture of. My phone was on it's death bed all day. I was the GPS and I didn't have a charger. At 1:00 I was on 40%. I sparingly used it and ended up plugging it in at home at a whopping 12%.

IT'S HIM. OMG I CAN'T EVEN.

We waited in line for about a half hour until it was our turn. It was over before I knew what was happening. He said "Let's cuddle," hugged me, and it was over. BUT STILL OMG.

After taking the pictures, we headed to the Q&A that was a floor above us. When we got there, we ran into our friends Craig and Rachel and got in line with them. I was afraid we wouldn't get seats because it was full, but we did! We got pretty good seats.

It's almost time!

 There he is!

A lot of people asked him about his musical theatre career, so that was exciting. He's a Sondheim guy, so I like that. He also has a lot of funny stories and now I have to watch Torchwood.

This was his reply to being asked to sing Springtime for Hitler.

We were going to get his autograph after, but the line was out the door. Instead, we headed down to the exhibit hall where all the comic book artists had set up shop. I figured I was at my first comic convention, so I had to get a book. It was $1. I thought it was a comic book, but it's just an index of a series. I just picked based on the cover.

My new comic book

After looking around downstairs, we headed back upstairs to get our pictures signed. We picked them up and went and got in line. It was terrible. It was a Disney World moment. You're about to meet the princess and then they say "Sorry, you guys. The princess has to leave so we're stopping the line right here." It happened. John Barrowman had a flight to catch so his line was capped the people right in front of us. It was devastating.

Another goal of mine there was to get my sister Steven Yeun's autograph. I looked. Then I looked again. And again. He was seriously nowhere to be found. I asked people and no one knew where he was. Sorry sis. I tried.

Here's a sign of him.

We decided we'd done enough, so around 3ish, we headed to food. We settled on Cheesecake Factory, so out we went.

I really liked the convention center. Minus the missing Welsh, it reminded me of Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff.

Dinner was good. I had chicken and ice cream. The sweet potato fries had gluten in them. I really need to stop letting them tempt me. The gluten is worse than the fries are good...

On the way back, we tried to play some road trip games, but it just didn't happen.

I'm sure by now you all are dying to see the picture of John Barrowman and I. It's a terrible angle, but here it is.

Now, for those of you who read all the way through and still don't know who John Barrowman is, here are some videos.

This is a clip from The Producers (2006)

He told us this story in his panel.

He told us this story as well.