Gathering 5

A lot of people were surprised when I just upped and went (by Greyhound) to Denver. It was an attempt on my part to do something, to get out of the stagnant life I had suddenly found myself in and search for that which is missing. And besides,. . . .adventure is something to seek not shirk.

I arrived in Denver Friday morning,. . .early,. . . .4:05 to be exact,. . .but that is what happens when you travel by bus,. . .things are done in very little semblance of order. I spent the day at my sisters new house, working on job leads. At 4:00 I dawned my miniskirt and headed out to the bus station (public transportation is my friend).

Once at the Renaissance hotel I looked around for familiar faces and finally Kassandra stopped to chat with me. In the midst of talking Mistress Wanderer passed by and I had to call out to get her attention (I keep forgetting I've whacked all my hair off since the last convention).

We went up to her room to grab some things and chat until the St. Patrick's day party. The hotel was providing expensive little dinners,. . .and I bought something that resembled pizza (which Mistress Wanderer cringed at,. . .but it wasn't all to different than school lunch from my not to distant past). In the midst of eating I was suddenly besieged by a tall Indianan,. . .who's main difference in appearance is the growth of sideburns. Big John sat around to talk with Mistress Wanderer and I, and we watched as Braun McAsh started to come by. BJ joked about challenging him with a butter knife, but as McAsh came by BJ just spoke up to him about how excited he was to learn that McAsh was the swordmaster for the movie. McAsh said that he had been excited too,. . .and then it was Romania,. . .which apparently caused some problems. McAsh chatted with us briefly then moved on.

Shortly afterwards BJ thought he saw someone he had been waiting for (and I can't for the life of me remember her name). We started over and suddenly I heard "MANG?" and was distracted by Mac-a-ruin. Really, the party felt like a reunion of sorts. She and I talked about our lives, me moving out, her kids moving out. Familiar faces wandered by, like Astrochick and Angeleyes, and then I was suddenly introduced to Rottweiler. "So this is the legendary Mang, sweet and graceful?"
Me: "Legendary?"

I blushed and pushed the conversation on, and we talked about her husband finding the forum and how she had told her friend back home she was on a religious retreat (which she didn't completely lie in, as she spent a day or so after the convention working at a church nearby). In the midst of us talking a small group of familiar faces waltzed by singing 'matchmaker matchmaker' as BJ had found the girl he had been looking for,. . .it seemed a common thing to try and set him up this weekend,. . . but I doubt anyone had the least idea who he'd actually end up with.

The night of socializing moved on until I realized I had missed my bus and called my sister to be picked up. It added this odd air to the weekend to be whisked back and forth from reality to my fantasy world, but the contrast was perhaps needed,. . .to remind me that reality is truly what I make of it.

The rest of the weekend I'm dividing by events,. . .combining the Q/A's. I only attended the main events, so for the sword lessons or experience of autograph lines,. . . .check elsewhere. These Q/A's are a little different than the one's I wrote up in Anaheim. I tried to take down the new and unknown information,. . .so there's no duplication of the knowledge that Adrian started in showbiz by mistake when he won that contest, or other stuff like that. Also, most of it is paraphrasing, unless in quotes. Pictures are coming soon.

Stan Kirsh

Elizabeth Gracen

Adrian Paul

Other Events

Me and Mistress Wanderer

For other Convention Reports, check out Georgette Trollsters Convention Page

My Highlander Page

(created March 27, 2000)