This weekend, I went to visit my mom in College Station, Tx. I was just going for an overnight visit on Friday and to take care of a couple of things there.

While I was driving there, my mom called me and said, "Do you know that this weekend is AggieCon?" I about jumped out of my seat!! AggieCon is my hometown (Texas A&M University) annual sci-fi convention that I have been going to almost every year since I was 3! I missed the last couple of years because of life, but hey... So I told her that I'd really love to go if even only for a couple of hours. She said she'd watch my youngest for me while I went, but my mom had to go out of town at 3pm on Saturday. It would give me limited time there as we also had some errand that HAD to be done on Saturday morning, but that was better than nothing!

So, at almost 1:30 on Saturday, I arrived at the University to go to the convention (actually just to the Dealer's Room since I had so little time) and my oldest daughter and I went straight on up! My daughter has become a great sci-fi fan as well, but had never been to AggieCon.

Since I hadn't purchased a convention badge, I was able to pay for us (a whole dollar!) just to get into the Dealer's Room. We went in, started looking around (I bought a couple of Star Wars items right off the bat!) and then looked over to see that the Guest of Honor this year had a table set up to do autographs and he was none other than Battlestar Galactica's Richard Hatch (orignal series' Capt. Apollo and new series' Tom Zarek)!!!!! SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I about came unglued as I was always an original series fan (BIG TIME) and have, this season, become a new BSG fan!!!

He wasn't at his table at that moment (he had a sign that said he'd gone to lunch), so I was hoping he'd get back in time for me to get his autograph before I had to leave to get back to my mom's and get my youngest. A woman running the next table over mentioned that he really loves natural redheads, so I should have fun when he returned!! Hee hee! My daughter and I began scouring the Dealer's Room and bought some more great SW stuff!! Sure enough, he got back about 10 minutes before I had to leave, so my daughter and I went straight over to his table to get in the (thank goodness) short line there!!

So, I was listening to him talk to other fans there as they would get up to him for their turn and found that he was an extremely pleasant (and SO funny) person as he was interacting with everyone! Wow! It was finally my turn and I asked him a question and chatted for a few during which time he had fun with both me and my daughter and then purchased my autographed picture. I couldn't decide between a pic of him as Capt Apollo from the original series or as Tom Zarek from the current as I only had enough cash for one pic! I finally decided upon Tom Zarek since that's who he is now and got the autograph and thanked him before we departed.

As we were leaving, I kept thinking that I was going to regret not getting a Capt Apollo pic, too, since that was how I identify with him the most. So, my daughter and I ran downstairs to the ATM and got more cash so I could go back and get another picture! Paying to get back into the Dealer's Room again, we went back to his table and I said, "I decided not to make myself have to choose between the pics!" and bought an original series pic, too! Enjoy!!!

What a gracious person he is! I was just blown away by that!

So, my daughter and I started leaving, got in the car and called my mom to tell her we were on the way. Earlier, while we were shopping, I had called my hubby to tell him about some of the fun we were having and he suggested to me that we just stay another night and continue having fun there! So, I asked Mom if she minded that (she didn't, of course) and I continued on the way to her home to pick up my youngest. Now, I was not thrilled about having my youngest as she is a real handful and it would be hard to deal with her at the Con, but that's the way it needed to be...or so I thought... Right then, my sister called me (she and her daughter live at my mom's temporarily) and told me that she had no problem keeping my youngest so she and my niece could keep playing while my oldest and I contined to enhoy the Con! What an offer!!!!! Love my sister!

So, we turned right around to head back over and I was hoping we could get there and get actual Convention badges in time to get to Richard Hatch's panel that he was doing beginning at 3pm! We made it only about 10 minutes late and I am so glad we got there!

Richard Hatch is an absolutely wonderful speaker! He is calm (yet exciting and excited), humorous, extremely positive, truly pulls the audience in and makes his talk just as interesting as it could be! You could tell that he truly enjoys speaking with the fans and interacting. Once I found out that he gives seminars and training sessions all over the nation, I was not surprised! He also said that he has loved sci-fi since he was a kid and is just a geek himself! People asked some great questions of him and we got to find out that he truly enjoys working with the BSG cast and crew, thinks that Katee Sackhoff is an amazing actress and is also very gracious and that the whole cast and crew are just a big family and has a great time doing the show. He wouldn't give us any actual "spoliers" about the series coming up, but he did hint, when asked, that Starbuck could certainly be coming again! (Of course, if you watched last night's episode, you already know the answer to that!!!) *tee hee* He also said that the Season Finale (which was last night) was "going to be painful". Boy, was he ever right (but so exciting, naturally)! When asked about what might be coming on the show, he said he honestly doesn't know! Ron Moore and the writers, etc do not let anything out, even to the actors. Richard said that was because what they want to happen could change at any time and they want the flexibility to do so without having given any plot points away.

We were treated to some videos including a viewing of his "Second Coming" trailer that he had done about 7 years ago in an attempt to spark interest in reviving Galactica! Very cool!!! Also, we got to see a fantastic video surrounding the music of BSG and the talents of the amazing BSG composer, Bear McCreery! Wow!!! What a neat show! I love music of sci-fi shows anyway, but it was quite something to have it broken down like he did! He was going to show a gag reel, but just ran out of time. We were ok with that as we had all had such fun in the panel anyway.

We were all then waiting outside the room to get on the elevators to go down, and it was quite a wait. Richard was toward the back, as was I with a friend I ran into that I hadn't seen in years, and he finally said, "Are there any stairs around here?" My friend and I both spoke up and said there certainly were! She knew exactly where they were and led the pack as several other people still waiting decided to join us in walking down instead. I led the way down the stairs and then out to get him back to the Dealer's Room and when Richard saw the sunlight through the doors, he just ran straight out (which wasn't the direction we were actually taking him, but whatev... He wanted SUNLIGHT!! He'd been cooped up all day indoors and just enjoyed the outdoors and the sunlight for a couple of minutes. Then he decided it was time to go on back and we all started heading on to the Dealer's Room. I must brag here that TWICE during the walk back, he approached me to chat as we were walking! SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! During the walk, while we were talking, I told him that it was very interesting to me that he is a trainer as I am as well! So, he asked what I train and we got to chat for all of 30 seconds before someone else came up to show him something else. What fun, though!!!

We got him back to the Dealer's Room and as we were all entering (with our badges on), the person at the door asked Richard if he had a badge (Richard wasn't wearing it) and we made sure the guy knew that was Richard Hatch! Poor guy was so embarrased, but Richard handled it with an admirable grace. We finally showed him to his table and went on our way.

My daughter and I finally left that evening to head back to my mom's and upon arrival told my sister all about everything. She about went nuts hearing about Richard Hatch as she is a BSG fan, too!! I didn't know that about her. So, she wanted to go back with us the next day and get his autograph, too. When my mom got home, although she had planned to go with my daughter and I the next day to the Dealer's Room, she said she would watch the young kids and let my sister go with my daughter and I. Gotta love Mom's!!!!

Next day, we got up to go, and what FUNNNN we had!! Richard was back at his table chatting and giving autographs again. We approached and I told him that I'd brought my sister with me this time and she bought pics for herself and another person. We had so much more fun chatting. Then, we were walking around the Dealer's Room for more shopping and a little later walked by this one table and I stopped and squeaked just as my sister stopped, too, because we had both seen this fantastic Apollo mid-size action figure (mint in packaging). I grabbed it and asked how much it was and said, "it's mine!" My sister and I argued (all in fun) about who had actually seen it first, but I won out!! Hee hee!! I said that I just had to get him to sign the card back and we all ran over to do so! I showed him what I'd (ok, we'd) found and he grabbed it and started playing with it! Then, I asked him to sign it, which he graciously did!!!

Finally, we asked if we could take pictures with him to which he agreed and more fun commenced!! We took one with him and me, my sister and him, and one with all four of us!! Actually, we took more than those as we kept trying for great shots with no eyes closed, etc! Then, we talked for awhile longer. Again, what an amazing speaker he is. He made certain to make eye contact with everyone while he spoke, which is one sign of a great speaker/trainer! Fantastic!

We finally bade him farewell (ok, after my sister bought a Battlestar t-shirt and got him to sign that, too) and went on our way!

*sigh* What a weekend!!! So much fun with Richard Hatch plus some great deals on some excellent Star Wars collectibles (Firefly, too ) to top it off!!!

In case anyone is interested, Richard Hatch is also promoting a cruise for BSG fans to join him on (he has apparently done this for a couple of years) and has a website just for information about it and to sign up! Go to www.richardhatchcruise.com for information and if you would be interested in going on a fun-filled cruise with Richard Hatch in a more intimate setting and a chance to really get to know him! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I'm thinking about it myself (and am working on talking my dear friend, Mina, into joining me)!