I Confuddled Gaius Baltar

I don't make as big a deal out of attending Farpoint as I do Shore Leave. For one, Farpoint is a smaller con. There is less programming, fewer attendees, and usually ice or snow on the ground. We tried a full weekend, but decided it wasn't worth the money. So now we try and just go up on Saturday (we = me, Melissa aka Serenity, and my sister Dawn). We've been the Three Musketeers of Hunt Valley Cons for about eight years, give or take.

I was almost sad we didn't have Sunday membership. There were a couple of panels I'd have liked to attend (one on Paranormal and Fantasy Romance novels!). And listening to James Callis (Battlestar Galactica) was a hoot. He is a great public speaker, and I'd have loved to hear him again. One hour of that voice just wasn't enough.

He spoke last, after Marina Sirtis. This is my second con in which Marina has appeared (she was at Shore Leave two summers ago), and my third time listening to her. She is brilliant, funny, vulgar, outspoken, and refreshing. She told a particularly funny story about her guest appearance on Stargate SG-1, right around the time Michael Shanks was trying to get off the show (season five?). She, he and Amanda Tapping were filming in an enclosed space (the submarine set) and it was pretty hot. Apparently Michael got angry, pitched a fit, and said, "Who do I have have to f**k to get off this show?" To which Marine promptly replied, "The same person you f**ked to get on it." Said Amanda fell out of her chair.

I love stories like this. It's one of the reasons I love attending cons and listening to actors talk about their jobs. That one so many of them (James Callis, Jamie Bamber) have sexy accents, or are just plain easy on the eyes (Connor Trinneer, James Marsters). I don't mind staring at them for an hour.

And once in a while, as my post title suggests, I have a sincere moment that just makes my day.

We were at the end of the autograph line (high badge numbers), and it was the end of the day, so James was pretty tired by the time we got to his table. He was still (bless him) personalizing the autographs, and asked my name. I said, "Kelly." Cuz that's my name. He starts writing "Kell..." and then stops to look up at my badge (to check for the correct ending). I said "two l's, one y."

He paused, sort of stared at the photo, and then laughed about completely losing track of what he was doing. I laughed, too, because he was so adorable about it. He said it had been a long day and apologized. I agreed and thanked him. So sweet.

The final inscription on the photo is: "Dear Kelly, It's been a long day. Lots of love, James Callis."

*happy sigh*

I also have a photo of the three of us with Marina Sirtis. She ran down the line to take photos with anyone who wanted them, so she didn't have to keep getting up and down at the table. It was really generous of her to stand for those photos anyway, since the con usually frowns on it (holds up the line).

I'd upload photos, but I'm one of those folks still in love with her film camera. So I need to get them developed first, and then scanned in. All in all, it was a good day.