hey guys!

well, i went to C4.
and it was awsome! being my first star wars convention (and realy anything star wars with other people) i was a little nervous. i didnt know what to expect. i was overwelmed with the mass of events going on and how close together they all were, yaknow?
well, i was worrying over nothing, realy. i had a blast. i missed a few cool things but in place of those i saw stuff that was probably even cooler. (except that one thing i heard about. some meet and greet thing. like you met people from the website? i forgot all about it. i was reeealy disappointed.)
but the main thing that realy amazed me was how much of a family the whole environment was. everyone was so nice and, well, familiar. get what i'm saying?
one thing that realy surprised me and my mom was the fan club lounge. we wanted to go see Lorne Peterson. we got there a few minutes late, and when we looked around we couldnt figure out where he was. we figured he'd be on a little stage thing with a bunch of people in chairs. well, we finaly found him. he was just sitting at one of the round tables and there was a group of about 15 people, tops, standing and sitting in chairs around the table. i was blown away. the whole thing was so personal. he was just over in a corner talking to these people like he had known them for years. going into detail about his career and some of the interesting things that happened over the years in the modelmaking department at Lucasfilm.
the whole thing was so.....cool (for lack of a better word).

we saw fun shows and interveiws. we marveled at all the woderful costumes (and cussed like sailors for remebering my jedi robe right when we got off the plane in L.A.) we bought a bunch of stuff. i got autographs from a few of my favorite actors....

thank goodness, this brings me to the hight of my trip. the best story i think i'll ever have the privlege of being able to tell. the most [insert synonym for "cool"] experience of my life. even though its only been 15 years, im not sure anything can top it. now that i've made it up to be much bigger than it probably is, i will tell you my story. and belive me, i tell long stories. so, sit back and be prepared to wait a while.


well, sunday started off with my mother and i deciding that i absolutly had to see the interview with Ray Park. so, we headed to the concourse stage the minute we got to the convention center. of course, by the time we got there there was already a line. but we got there within the first 100 people.
we were sitting there and noticed that we had approximately 2 hours until the show started. the other thing i wanted to do was to redeem our Anthony Daniels authograph coupon. so, my mom waited in the Ray Park line while i walked off to see if by any chance i could get in and out of the autograph line in 2 hours or less. i got there and they said they couldnt tell how long it would take and i didnt want to risk seeing Ray Park so i decided to wait until later in the day.
while i was walking past the other stars to leave the Exibit Hall i remebered that i would have liked to get Temera Morrison's autograph. i wanted to get it obviously because he is such a wonderful actor but also because earlier in the weekend i walked by him, not fully knowing if it was him. so, i looked back to do a double take, he looked at me and said, "I like your jacket.". i blushed, reconizing him instantly, especially from his distinctive accent, and said thank you. then he turned to walk to the bathrooms in the back corner of the autograph hall.
so anyways, i looked for him on sunday, but for some odd reason couldnt find him. so, i gave up on him. i then remebered that my mom had said that she would have liked it if she could have gotten an autograph from Ken Colley and Richard LeParmentier. so, i searched my pockets and found just enough money to buy 2 picture and autograph coupons. all the lines were short so i breazed in and out with only about 20 minutes used.
feeling quite good about myself for getting a surprise and personalized present for my dear mother i started walking out of the Hall again. this time, though, i saw in the corner of my eye, none other than Temera Morrison sitting at his autograph table talking with fans in line to see him.
my first thought was, "crap! why didnt i see him??!!". my second thought was, "dang. why did i have to be so nice and buy those autographs for my mom?". so, i walked back to where my mother was, still feeling good for doing the right thing, but a little bit lack luster. i found my mom in line and presented my little gifts to her. she was extremely thankful and surprised. that made me feel even better. but after sitting in line for a little bit she noticed the time asked if i wanted to do anything else while we waited. of course i very quickly inquired if we had enough money to go get Jango Fett's autograph. she said sure, and again i was off to go meet Mr. Morrison.
the lines were all still pretty short so by the time i got to him i still had an hour and a half. they asked me if i wanted it personalized and i said yes. i stood there with my little "emily" sticky note and picture for what seemed like 15 minutes....it was realy only 2, but still. im not as patient as the rest of you guys. anyway, it was finally my turn and i walked up to him. the first words were, "hey, how are you doing today, sweetheart?" "i'm good, thanks, how are you?" "im wonderful.". and then there was a kinda quiet while he was signing the picture. then when he looked up he said "thats a cool lookin jacket, emily. where'd you get it?" "oh, thanks! i got it from the celebration store" "oh realy? well, you do me a favor and tell them to hold one for Jango Fett, okay?" "yeah, sure!" "how much are they?" "well, i think it was $45. or was it 50. no,no, it was $45." "oh realy? well, they still got some down there right?" "yeah, im pretty sure. i mean, stuff has been selling out..." "well, you know what emily? im gonna make a bargain with you." then he starts signing another picture, gives it to me and says, "can you do me a favor emily? i have no idea where this place is. you're going to help me go get one okay?" i started freaking."ohmygod, no way. OHMYGOD, NO WAY! OHMYGOD!!!" but i answered quickly and calmly, "um, yeah, sure, of course!" "great! great! ok, just give me a second. go ahead, sit down i've just got to finish a few people here." so the volunteer at his table had me sit down in an extra chair behind the table. before i sat down he took off the folded shirt that was on it and handed it to me to hold while i waited, "this is his other shirt. hold on to it for now. take care of it.".
at this point i was sitting there, in my head, going, "AAAAHHH!!!OHMYGOD!!!!THIS IS SO AWSOME!!!!AAAHHH!!!". and then i looked at my watch. oh crap. i had about an hour and 15 minutes left. thats alot of time, but i didnt know how long this would take. oh, heck with Ray Park. i wanted to see him but, hey, this wasnt an interview with Temura Morrison. this was a freakin shopping spree with Temura Morrison!! and then i remembered my poor mother. what if i didnt make it there in time? what if she refused to go in unless i was with her?(she would do that, too). so, its safe to say i was a tad jumbled inside at the moment. i was riding on pure adrenaline, excitement, wonder, fear, and that feeling you get when you are seriously doubting if this is accualy happening.
okay, *long, deep, exhale*.
so, then after the line died down, about 5 minutes later, he picked up about 4 of his pictures on the table, along with sharpie. then he put on his snazzy sunglasses. "okay, emily! tell me where to go. i'm following you." "oh [beep]. OH [BEEP]!! where in the world is the celebration store? how do i get there??!!" i obviously didnt have my map on me. i knew where i was and i knew how to get to my mom....i just couldnt place where the store was. i mean, i could picture it, and the stuff around it. just not where it was in comparison to where i was. but thankgod, i remembered. i just wasnt sure if my path was the shortest one. i later found out that, indeed, it was. it just didnt feel like it because of all the akwardness.
but anyways,we were walking along. and he was making comments every once and a while like, "woah. this place is huge! i didnt even know any of this stuff was out here. they keep me locked in there all day, you know." and "hey, i didnt know they had food out here. i think im going to get a burger when i come back." the whole time, even though it was akward, it was awsome. like, every once and a while someone would reconize him. but they kinda looked like they werent sure because he had his sunglasses on. i was all shakie but i had this feeling of walking on clouds. and i felt realy tall, yaknow? like "i was picked.". that kind of a feeling. but what it realy came down to was, this guy is just human. yeah, alot of people know him, but hey, he just wants a jacket. he's a fan too. maybe a realy awsome fan, but still, he's just human. so, thats what made me kinda cool down so i could match my calm exterior. so i could enjoy the moment and not constantly be like, "ohmygod! ohmygod! ohmygod!" inside
but, enough with that.
when we got near the sign that said Celebration store, he had to go to the atm. so, i stood there for a while. and when he was done he was like, "okay emily! lets go!" so, we walked down to the entrance of the store and we walked in and the first thing he said was, "holy [beep]. this is huge! what do they need all this space for?" i thought that was funny. especialy with his accent. the place was pretty cleared up. there wasnt even a line. but there were 2 people that we got stuck behind that were going kinda slow. so, he turned and made a sarcastic looking face at me like, "ohmygod, this is going to take forever! these people are so slow." when we finally got into the store part we started walking over to the jackets. and then all of a sudden, he starts smiling and says, "okay, i've got an idea. i'm going to make a bargain. i'll pretend like i cant speak any english." he starts pointing to his pictures "me Jango, sign pictures, me jacket......pictures, jacket.....okay, emily? you do the talking for me...". he's still smiling and i laugh and say okay. he wasnt serious about it but it was still funny for him to say that.
we got to the jacket table and he figured out what size he needed and then got one for his son. and before we left the table the woman behind it said, "i reconize you..." and he said, "yeah. im jango fett." and by that time he was ready to check out so he took out his pictures and signed them for the woman, and a couple other people that worked back there. so, they were estatic.
then, we checked out and left the store. and i checked my watch and i had about 5 minutes left. he saw me look at my watch and said, "so, were are you off too?" i said my mom was waiting for me in line to see Ray Park. "oh, Ray? Ray's my buddy. he's cool. well, thanks for helping me get my jacket emily! it was fun." "well, thanks for asking me!" so, he shook my hand and kinda pat me on the shoulder and then said "im going to go to the atm again so i can get one of those burgers, okay? i'll see you later emily!" "okay, see you later! bye!"
so, he walked off to go get some more money and after i was out of view i kinda skipped / jumped / ran to the concourse stage. i got there while everyone was walking in so i just got at the end of the line. my mom, though, had already gone in and saved us seats and was out looking in the lines for me. i saw her and caught up to her and she was like, "where were you?!"
"mom, you are not going to belive what i just did!!...."




so, the Ray Park interview was pretty fun. afterwards though, we went over to the autograph hall so i could get a picture with him because i didnt have a camera before. when we got there we saw him, but there was kinda a big line. oh well, it didnt matter. the best part was that he was wearing his jacket. my mom squealed at that. "ohmygod, emmie! he's wearing it!!" that kinda made her belive me. anyways, before we got into the line we had to kinda walk passed his table, because his was on the end. when we passed by though, he saw me. "hey! emily! my friend emily!" so i looked over and he was standing up and telling me to come over. so, while i was like, butting in front of all these people he was saying, "yeah, this is my friend emily! come on emily! lets get a picture of us!" so, my mom was all giggly and messing with the little disposeable camera but finally got one of us both wearing the awsome jackets, him with his arm around me and his other arm kinda pointing at me. "okay! great! thanks emily! have a good time today, okay?" "okay! thanks! bye!"


so, that was the end of it pretty much. every once and a while it would all come back to me and i'd have to do a little "ohmygod! that was awsome!!". i definetly think this is going to be one of those stories i never stop telling.
anyways, the rest of sunday we did a few more things and then packed up and went to the airport for our long plane ride to maryland.

today, my mom brought back our little disposeable camera from the drug store. she had looked at them before i got home from school. when i got home she said to me, "you know, i think that if we're going to go to these star wars conventions that we should have better cameras..." she picked up the sleeve that had the C4 pictures in it "....you know, cameras that take good pictures.." and i said "oh, did the pictures suck?" i was thinking, blurry, bleached faces, too dark. something like that. "...cameras that take good pictures...cameras that keep your mother's fat fingers out of the way...." she had a pitiful look on her face. "oh, mom. its ok....are they that bad?" she handed me the sleeve of pictures. i looked through them. they were all pretty good for a disposeable. then i got to the last few pictures. and i got to the one of me and Jango.
there was a big fleshy blob over his entire face. you cant even tell its him. you can see me perfectly. the top of my head is covered but you can tell its me. i could care less if my entire body was covered! but you cant even tell its Temura Morrison standing next to me!
well, my mom is determined to find out when he's going to be making an appearance somewhere. because we are going to hunt him down and beg him to stop for just a second to say cheese. my mom said she'll fly us anywhere in the u.s. to do it.

as long as she doesnt have to take the picture.



p.s. now, check out the actual awsome picture of me and him....