The View from the Backseat

As my title says, howdy y'all!

Well, I'm back in the Buckeye State after spending a fantastic week in the Lone Star State, so I think in honor of the saying "everything's bigger in Texas" I'm going to just start writing everything I can remember that stands out from the convention. That may be a lot, but then, hey, this is a blog about a Texas convention, isn't it?

So here goes-

I'm going to go chronologically, because that's the best way for me to not forget anything. For starters, please read Panns' wonderful convention recap, because a lot of my little story popped up over in her blog.

Go ahead, pop over and read her blog first. I'll wait.

All done now? Okey dokey, now I'll pick up at my end.

I got to Dallas on Thursday and met up with Idaho and SJ, and we were up waaay too late having a blast catching up. So I was running really late Friday morning when Rap called to ask if she could crash in my room until hers was ready. Toady joined us, so I had my reunion with them with soaking wet hair racing around geting dressed to go out shopping with Idaho. *facepalm*

The big draw on Friday was Alona Tal, and she was wonderful. A very intelligent, well-spoken girl, I had no idea she grew up in Israel. She's obviously very proud of her heritage and was very engaging as she told stories about growing up there. The funniest moment was when her husband called her cell phone during the panel and we got to listen to her side of the conversation as she told him it wasn't a good time to chat. Hee! In the autograph line, she signed her name in both English and Hebrew, which I thought was very cool.

Friday evening brought all of us together, as Panns had come in Friday afternoon, and we had an absolutely GREAT TIME in the hotel bar. I honestly don't think I've ever laughed so hard- ever! Friday evening saw the start of Panns' candidacy to run for President of the CW, declaring her intention as she slammed her beer on the table to rename it "The Cougar Network" in honor of all the 30 and 40-something viewers of Supernatural. At some point I do believe she left in search of babies to kiss, but I might be a bit fuzzy on that...


Friday evening also saw the start of a weekend long tease-fest of Rap, who as we all know is the future Mrs. Steve Carlson. So we spent the whole weekend randomly saying "Hey, look! There's Steve!".

I think Rap set a world record for giving us the bird. But what was funny is that Gabriel Tigerman, Chad Lindberg and Steve really were wandering around the bar, so Rap could never be quite sure if we were lying about seeing Steve. *gigglesnort* We were bad, but it was so much fun!

At some point in the evening, Panns and I came up with a plan for our photo op with Jared, and if I do say so myself, it came out great- more on that in a bit.

Saturday highlights were most definitely Chad and Gabe. They were both the most engaging, funny people and they were having a great time hanging out onstage. There were several children there asking questions, and it was so sweet to see how they reacted to the kids.

Chad talked about a very interesting project he has in the works called "My Big Break" that sounds like it will be really good. It's about the whole process of what actors go through trying to carve out a career for themselves and everything that goes with it. I'm definitely going to keep my eye open for that.

Gabe got some of the biggest laughs talking about what would have happened if Andy had won the showdown and what kind of leader he would have been. His answer? That he wouldn't have been a very productive leader, but he would have made sure all the demons had snacks! God I miss Andy!!

He also wrote the sweetest thing on my photo op picture. Awwwww!! Aw, people- we have to get Andy back on the show! Ash, too. These guys are just way too much fun!

Both guys were doing their autographs at the same time, and that was the start of another fun weekend-long thing. Both guys had a Creation person handing them the pictures to be autographed. You had to give your picture to that person, and they handed it to the actors.

Well, Chad's handler was this wonderful guy named Dakota. If you've already read Panns' blog, you already know part of this story, so this is the rest of it. I'll be brutally honest- Creation's people tend not to be the most friendly, so I was pleasantly shocked to run into this guy who was so personable and outgoing. I made a mental note to let Gary or Adam know that they need to track down more people like Dakota and they should think about making sure to ask him to work more conventions.

During Chad's photo op, I said I'd love to have a picture with Dakota, since he was just so adorable. Idaho went over and asked him, he came over and we took this picture. SJ gave me the boa she had been using in her pictures and we took a silly one. Doesn't he remind you of Jared and that Padasloth move he does to Jensen? He was just the cutest thing ever.

Well, Saturday evening at the Dessert Party, he was coming around to the tables with Chad and I pulled him aside and told him he really needed to volunteer to work more conventions. To my surprise he told me he didn't work for Creation, but was Chad's booking agent. He was so sweet he asked to have a picture taken with me, and somewhere in the conversation I said I was old enough to be his mom, and he replied that was OK- he could call me Demi and I could call him Ashton! *giggle*. He called me wifey at some point, and from that point we just randomly walked up to each other asking what the wifey or the hubby was up to. It just made the weekend fun.

Sunday the big draw was obviously Jared. We had heard the rumors floating around Saturday, and sure enough, not 30 seconds into the breakfast, Jared confirmed it. It was obvious from the second he walked out that something was weighing on his mind, and he stumbled a bit over his words until Jim Beaver stepped up and broke the tension for him by saying they were engaged! Once Jim said that, and gave him a reassuring hand on his shoulder, it seemed to help Jared calm down and say his piece.

Guys, I can not- can not say how impressed I was with how Jared carried himself. It would have been so easy for him to just cancel totally and not deal with telling a room full of strangers something that personal.

But he didn't.

He gutted it out and made his announcement with grace and courage. He adamantly took the high road, saying nothing but positive things about both Sandy and the situation.

I can not tell you how much admiration I have for him. He is one gutsy guy, for sure... He should be incredibly proud of how he handled himself.

The only thing that gave away how nervous he was was the almost instant sweating that set in for him. He started fanning himself like crazy and even put ice down his shirt! Once he started laughing about that, the mood lightened and he was back to himself. Almost. The whole day he was making a valiant effort to act like his normal upbeat self, but you could definitely sense a "down" edge.

In the photo ops, the hallway and room where they took place picked that morning to have the A/C go on the fritz, so it was hotter than all heck as we waited in line. Believe me when I say Jared wasn't the only one who was dripping with sweat Sunday morning!

After meeting up with Julie, my Vancouver/Austin/LA convention buddy, we were waiting in line for the first photo op to start and I saw the most heartwarming thing:

Mr. and Mrs. Ackles along with Jensen's sister coming out of the photo op room. They just walked down the hall, cut through the lines and out to the elevator, nodding and smiling to people as they went.

Gang, seriously, what does this say about the Ackles'? And their relationship with the Padalecki's? Their own kid is nowhere to be had at that convention- he's working 1,200 miles away, and yet they show up and brave moving through hundreds upon hundreds of fans to have a few minutes with their kid's friend to support and encourage him.

I can't even begin to tell you what a case of the warm fuzzies I got seeing the friendship between those two families in action.

When it got to be time for Panns and my photo op, he saw us, stood up and said hi. Panns told him she was so sorry and gave him a big hug. You could tell from his body language that he truly, truly appreciated all the support and hugs everyone was giving him. After a couple of seconds he turned a bit to me and said something like "group hug!" I'm not sure exactly- I think I went into brainfreeze when I saw he had a hint of the scruffies going on! I gave him a napkin I saved from the breakfast figuring he'd probably be needing it, and sure enough he said "Thanks!" and immediately started to mop his face and neck down with it.

I told him not to worry about sweating, it was so hot in there we were all sweating in solidarity with him! We handed him a little sign we had made for our picture and he looked at it and chuckled a bit, and said he he was just going to stand there and look smug.

Check out the picture to see why he's so smug!

I have to explain that Panns, our beloved goat, is shy and retiring (or at least that's what she kept trying to tell us all weekend. Somehow we never quite believed her- funny that!) So she was a bit bashful in the picture. No, really... her family has a policy of not posting their pictures online, so if the kids can't, she figures Mom can't either!

For the group picture, quite a few people had been asking the guys to do all sorts of things and had all sorts of props for them to hold. When I walked up, I simply said I didn't have anything special, I just wanted to stand there and smile. That got me a chorus of "thank you's" and "awesome!" I think they were happy just to stand there and smile, too.

In Jared's panel, I actually got the nerve up to ask him a question. I wanted to ask something light to offset the slightly serious mood of the day, so I asked him why he doesn't think he's good at comedy. Here's the clip. I'm at about the half way mark. The vid starts with Jared being so sweet and charming answering a little boy's question about how Sam killed Gordon. He handled the kids great; you could tell he was having a blast with them.

Also-Kitty- Jared answering the girl who congratulated him is immediately after my question on this clip, so you can see how well he handled it.

OK, this is going really long, so I better wrap things up. As usual, the best part was hanging out with the gang. I can't tell all you girls how much fun I had hanging out with y'all! It's no lie that I'm counting down to Chicago and when I can hang out and have more fun with the gang again.

Here's the link to my Photobucket to see rest of my pictures. I apologize for the blurry problems on some of them- I was having camera issues- sorry!

Oh, yeah, before I forget...

Hey Rap- isn't that Steve over there??

For everyone else who was there...36...37...38!!

Don't ask.

Hi all,

Today is a rough day. Yesterday the office where I worked generously gave me and about 20 others the opportunity to seek employment elsewhere. Wasn't that thoughtful of them? So today instead of being at work, I'm calling unemployment and working on my resume.

Fun times.

On top of that, anyone who knows me out here knows I'm a foaming-at-the-mouth rabid fan of Supernatural and the season finale is tonight.

Tonight we find out if Dean goes to Hell as payment for his brother's life.

No heavy angst or worry there, either! *snort*

So...I'm thinking with all the doom and gloom currently in my life (both real and fictional!), I need to lighten up. Humor is the best medicine, and right now I'm one sick puppy.
I got to thinking, what is the funniest thing I've ever seen on TV? The first thing that popped in my head was an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati titled "Turkeys Away". In it, Arthur Carlson, the station manager, after a horribly botched promotion, uttered the immortal line... "as God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly". I have never laughed so hard in my life!

Watch the episode here if you want to laugh yourself silly, too.

What are your favorite funny moments on TV? I need all the funnies I can get while I wait for Supernatural's finale tonight!

...and oh, yeah, that finding a job thing, too.

Hi all!

Gabs is on vacation, so she asked me to post the Spotlight on Jared blog for her on tonight's episode. What did everyone think?

All I know is when I close my eyes tonight to go to sleep, I'm going to be seeing Sam's taped open with a horrible serrated scoop right there!

Hi all!

Yep, as usual I'm running late getting my blog up about the fantastic convention last week. Since so much has been said about it already, particularly by Panns and SJ (wonderful blogs, ladies!), I'm just going to hit the highlights of my convention memories. Here's the link to my pics, enjoy!

The convention officially started on Friday with a concert by Jason Manns. I've never really heard him before with the exception of the YouTube vid showing him singing with Jensen in London. To hear him in person was quite different. He has a wonderful singing voice and played some beautiful songs for us. He has a very stripped-down style of music- just him and his acoustic guitar. I absolutely loved him- I even bought all the CD's he had for sale. As I type this, I'm listening to one right now. Track his CD's down, folks, you won't be disappointed!

The first highlight on Saturday was our boy Ash hitting the stage. Have I ever mentioned how adorable Chad Lindberg is? There is something just so lovable about him, you can't help but just smile when you listen to him talk. I got a big laugh out of him in the autograph line when I put Pengy's infamous "Inclownito" picture in front of him to sign. You could see the "WTH" expression on his face, so I explained there's a girl named Ocean out on TVG who is Ash's biggest fan, along with being a big fan of clowns. Then another blogger got the brilliant idea to combine the two, and Inclownito was born. He got a kick out of that. I think he thinks we're nuts...but in a good way.

The big highlight of Saturday was of course, Eric Kripke. What can I say? The man did not disappoint! My overall impression of him was one of bounding enthusiasm. This is a man who loves his job inside and out, no doubt about it at all.

When a girl asked him what his favorite swear word was, he hesitated a little until he asked if anyone minded him saying it. When we all shouted that he could say whatever he wanted, he did, and with a gusto! He then excitedly laced almost every sentence with it, getting more enthusiastic and less guarded with every question until he was transformed into this excited kid talking about his favorite subject with hands flying everywhere to underscore what he was saying.

What an awesome guy! Did I mention that KRIPKE TOTALLY ROCKED?

He was so generous with his time that he made sure everyone got whatever autographs and pictures with him that they wanted. He seemed genuinely surprised by the blog that Panns presented to him. I would love to know what he thought when he read it!

Saturday came to a close with a concert by Steve Carlson, but this time he had his full band with him, and he rocked, too! He had the crowd up and moving in no time. I was waiting for the perfect shot to take for Rap, and I found it when Steve turned his back to the crowd. Hee! Enjoy, Rap!

Sunday- the Big Day.

The highlight of the whole day came within a minute of the guys walking into the breakfast. Jensen stood back and let Jared make his wonderful announcement. We've all been speculating about it for so long now, I was just so happy and thrilled for them!

From the breakfast we went right into the photo op with Jensen, and SJ and I were right behind Panns in the line (thanks for letting us cut in with you, Panns!) I watched Panns take her picture with Jensen, and she just had the most excited smile on her face- I'm really glad you didn't faint, too, Panny!

When I walked up to Jensen, the first thing that struck me was that the vibe coming off of him was totally different than Chicago- he was A LOT more relaxed, smiling a lot easier, and the most attention grabbing for me- he put his arm around me for the picture! That took me completely off guard and I had to fight the urge to just start giggling like a crazed schoolgirl. I told him that I really wanted the picture to make my sister pea green with envy, and he just grinned and said "I've got just the look- let's do it".

He wasn't kidding-
Here's the picture that did, indeed, make my sister pea green with envy.

Next up was the duo picture, and I confess I got a little silly. I had been laughing my head off over a volunteer in the hallway outside the room calling out to see if anyone still needed their photo op done with Jensen. What she was saying was, and I quote, "Anyone still need to do Jensen?...Who needs to do Jensen?" Well, of course, my mind living in the gutter as it does, took that in the tackiest way possible, and I was still giggling when I walked up to the guys.

Jared must have a photographic memory, because he said "Hey, nice to see you again!" That floored me! That boy's memory is scary-good. Then I turned to Jensen and repeated what the volunteer said. He just stopped, looked at me, and there was this split-second delay before he said "what??" I clarified it was for the photo op, and then there was split-second delay again before this grin spread across his face and he asked "Do I have any takers?" I started laughing and said "lots" and then we took the picture.

Now here's the embarrassing part- apparently Chris the photographer had tapped me on the shoulder to take the picture and I didn't even realize it! Afterwards I felt so bad about holding up the line that I apologized to Chris when I saw him later. He laughed and said it was no big deal, and that I was in good company. He asked me if I even remembered taking the picture, and when I said yes, he said I was doing better than most! So I didn't feel quite so bad after that.

For Jared's photo op, I walked up and said "I'll be quiet now!" and he just laughed and said "oh, sure, like I'm going to believe that!" So I think that makes it official- when Jared notices someone talking a lot, you know it's bad!

I got a laugh out of both guys in the autograph line- the picture I had Jensen sign explains it all. He just broke up laughing and then told me that "chipmunk" shot of him was the only time the LA office had asked him to autograph a picture and send it back down to them because they wanted to put it up. When I showed it to Jared, he just broke up laughing, too, joking that Jensen really looks like that all the time.

The final highlight of the day was when Sandy took the stage. OMG!!!! Kids, there are no words to describe how sweet this girl is- none! I dare anyone not to die of sugar shock when they're around her. It was her first time on stage at one of these cons, and she was visibly nervous, but all that did was make her all the more endearing.

It actually made me feel better about being goofy-nervous around the guys, because here she is, someone who just snagged one of the most genuinely nice guys on the planet and is the envy of gazillions of girls, and she's nervous to meet us! You can just see why she and Jared are such a good match. She mentioned that she may go back to school to get her advanced degree instead of pursuing acting. I truly wish her the best whatever course she decides on. With the bubbly personality that she has, I have no doubt she'll be a success whatever she chooses. I told her congratulations in the autograph line, and she seemed genuinely surprised and giggled away while she signed.

The whole weekend was just fantastic, but the best part of it all was renewing old friendships and making new ones. I met up with SJ and Schroan for dinner the first night, along with several girls SJ and Mary had just met there- Vickie, Melissa and Winter. Later in the evening we ran into Panns and her husband (who truly deserves the Husband of the Year Award by tolerating all of us crazed fangirls all weekend) by sheer accident by the elevators, and I think I saw just about every single person from the Vancouver convention last fall!

A big shout out has to go to Julie, Becky and Ingrid from the Vancouver gang for being my partners in crime for a couple days of sightseeing after the convention. Thanks for being my travel buddies, girls! I had a total blast. I have to thank Ghost and Mos bigtime for helping me out with sightseeing suggestions, too. Your tips were great!

Thank you to all my new friends that SN has brought together. Truly, that is the best part of this show and it's conventions. I love how virtual friendships are slowly but surely turning into real life ones.

See you all soon in Dallas, friends!

Hi all!

I was just sitting down to read my new issue of TV Guide when I flipped to the "You Tell Us" page. Imagine my delight when my eyes landed on a "Super Birthday" comment from our very own Mary aka Bardicvoice!!

I'll let you read the comment here.

And to any TV Guide powers that be that may be reading this?

I wholeheartedly second Mary's suggestion. I daresay I'd be buying multiple copies myself if you ever put this truly outstanding show on your cover!

Thanks, Mary, for telling TV Guide what we were all saying amongst ourselves this past March 1st. As always, YOU ROCK!!

Hello all,
Sorry I'm so late getting to this, but Real Life and computer frustrations got in the way. But better late than never, right? I've decided I'm going to break this into two blogs, and cover Sunday first, since most people are interested in the meet and greet with the guys more than anything else.

First and foremost I have to thank our Ms. Panns for her enormous help in giving me a crash course in setting up a Photobucket account, without which nobody would be seeing my pictures! I also have to give the biggest THANK YOU to Rap, for being the best company ever on a roadtrip! She was a great navigator in the snarls of downtown Chicago traffic. She made a terrific Sam to my Dean, and I appreciate it to no end.

So- I'm going to fast forward through Friday and Saturday right now, but I'll come back to them later. Here's the short version: Rap and I made it to the hotel in Schaumburg, with only one or two U-turns, we met up with SJ, met all kinds of other people Friday night (Hello Pentagram and Megavortex!!), and a great time was had by all as we pre-registered. Saturday was a great day, and an incredibly busy one, with the highlights being Q&A sessions with Fred Lane (or Lehne- I've seen it spelled both ways!) and Samantha Ferris, who play YED and Ellen respectively. Steve Carlson also played Saturday night. I've never heard him before, but I have to say, I really enjoyed myself- he was really good- more on him in the next blog.

Sunday morning came, and SJ, Rap and I had all agreed to meet around 7 downstairs to get in line early since the photo session with Jensen started at 8:20 AM. While we were waiting in the hall outside the photo op room, we heard this absolute wave of yelling/cheering/applauding coming from the convention room.

Yes, the boys had just entered the building.

They went first to the breakfast for the gold ticket holders, and that's what we were hearing. One of the girls in front of us in line had a friend who was in the breakfast, and had her on a cell phone- she relayed everything the guys said to us. Well, that went on for about a half hour or so, AND THEN IT WAS TIME......

One of the girls who worked for the convention started yelling down the line all the rules for the photo op, and with that we were off! When we went into the photo op room, they had a black curtain pulled across the room (I'm guessing to prevent anyone in the hallway from taking pictures) and the line went up alongside the one wall. Well, of course, we were all peeking around the edge of the curtain to see The Man, and then... there he was.

My first glimpse was him talking to someone as they walked up, and my first thought was something I'd never noticed before. Rap noticed it at the exact same time, so I know it wasn't just me. Rap turned to say "OMG look at his skin!" and I kid you not- that's what I was staring at too.

People, I don't know how to describe it. In that room, his skin was so porcelain, so clear that is was almost glowing, I swear. It was almost translucent. Rap and I were just staring, and it blew us away. That man has the most beautiful skin I've ever seen on anyone. Pictures and TV simply do not do it justice. SJ was behind me, and I'm guessing she was dumb-struck as well. The man truly is drop-dead good looking.

Anyway, Rap was right in front of me, and they had to take her picture twice (I think because she blinked) so she got a few extra seconds with him, lucky her!

When my turn came, I was just looking at his face, and it was all I could do to remember to put my hand out and say "Hi, pleasure to meet you- I'm Amy" I was SO a deer caught in the headlights! He shook my hand and said "Hi Amy, I'm Jensen". I am also very proud of myself that I remembered to say " I think you're an absolutely brilliant actor- thank you so much for the show" because honestly, I don't think I could feel my extremities at that point I was just so thunderstruck by... his skin. Again, I hate to belabor the point, but between that and that delicate bone structure of his face....wow. Just wow.

Anyway, he said thank you to my compliment, and right at that point Chris the photographer cleared his throat, and we both looked at the camera and click- Chris took the picture. That was it- I said "Thank you again" and he nodded a quick smile, and that was it- I walked out of the room.

It wasn't until I was out in the hallway with SJ and Rap that I realized I had no memory of what he was wearing- it was a total blank! That's how thunderstruck I had been. Rap had to tell me what he had been wearing! Am I a doof or what?

Anyway, we immediately got into line to have our picture taken with Jared, and it was the same deal- them rushing us though at an extremely brisk pace, but for this photo op, I had something special in mind, so I knew I was going to have to take a few extra seconds with our favorite Puppy.

The night before I had made a silly little sign for Jared to hold in the photo op. I have to give a shout out to Mary and Rap for giving me the idea for the sign. I knew Gabs wasn't going to be able to make it, and since she's the biggest SamGirl on the planet, I knew I had to do something for her in my picture with Jared. Mary had suggested in Vancouver that I do a little cartoon of Gabs, and that's what I was going to do. But then Rap refined the idea and suggested instead of a cartoon of Gabs, that I should do that little doodle Sam did in Bedtime Stories on his notepad. That just struck me as perfect, because it was a SamDoodle!

I knew Jared would look at that sign and think "WTH?" unless I explained it, so that was my game plan. So when it got to be my turn, I walked up to him, I handed him the sign first, and then reached out to shake his hand, so there was this little fumble that made me laugh, and I said sorry and then said "Nice to meet you, I'm Amy" and he said "nice to meet you, too, I'm Jared" which made me laugh again and then he just reached out and gave me a bear hug! He then looked at the sign and laughed a little. I said there was a little story behind the sign, but I didn't think she (and I pointed to the convention woman who was running the line, and shoving people through as fast as she could) would want me to take the extra 3 seconds to tell him what it was. He looked over at the girl and then said "well, nobody's going anywhere without me- go ahead- what's the story?" I just said "well, Gabs is your biggest fan over at TV Guide, and she's got this blog dedicated to you. She couldn't be here, so I decided to give her a little shout out with this sign. I thought the Sam doodle would be perfect for a SamGirl". And with that he pressed the picture to his chest and ran his hand all over the back and laughed "Now I've touched it all over for her!" and with that he flipped the card over in front of him, reached over and put his arm around my shoulder, pulled me in and click- Chris took the picture. I just said thanks so much and that was it- I walked away. The whole thing was probably 20 seconds, if that, but I was just so happy I got all that in. (By the by- he looks a lot younger in person than he does on TV- very boyish, and to see those dimples of his live and in action when he smiles? Oh, my...)

After that, we went and waited in the hall for the Q&A to start, and after some milling around, we went into the convention hall. I think most people have seen the videos of the session already, so I won't recap, I'll just say it was so much fun to see the guys having fun up there. You could actually feel their friendship bubble right off the stage- it was just a very relaxed, easy-going vibe between the two of them. They were having a great time telling funny stories, and we had a great time, too. My two favorites were Jensen telling the story about Jared messing with Jim Beaver during a serious take and the boys slipping into their Texas drawls. I tell ya, I don't know why, but between them and my boy Shane the IT guy in Garland, I'm getting a real liking for Texas accents!

The autograph session followed that, and the set up was both guys sitting next to each other with assistants handing them the pictures. Jared was first, and I just said "thanks for being so generous with your time this morning- you were just wonderful" and he said it was his pleasure, and he's happy to be here to thank the fans for watching the show.

I specifically said that because Pentagram said that later in the photo session, they told Jared he had to stop hugging people because it was slowing the line down, and from what I heard from other attendees, he kept right on hugging people anyway! Isn't he just all kinds of awesome or what?

Jensen was next, and there I told him I had seen TIH in Vancouver, and that it was very sweet, and the convenience store scene was the funniest thing in the movie. He laughed and said it was fun to film that scene, and that "the movie had a great ending, didn't it?" I agreed it sure did, and right there my heart stopped again.

The whole time, he had been looking down at the picture while he signed, and right as he mentioned the great ending, he looked up to hand me the picture and that's when I really saw his eyes. They were sparkling the most gorgeous hazel-green color, with eyelashes longer than my brother's (my brother's childhood nickname was "Bambi" if that tells you anything about the length of his eyelashes).

That man is the most handsome man on the face of the earth. Period.

Again, I found myself in another deer-caught-in-the-headlights moment, and it was all I could do to stammer out a "thank you again for your time today" and walk away.

As I was walking away from the autograph table, I noticed a VERY petite, VERY pretty girl sitting along the wall, and I thought "Holy crap- that's Sandy!!" I walked up and said "Sandy?" and she smiled and said yes, and I pulled out my pic Jared had just signed and said "I would just love it if you could sign Jared's picture, too" and she did. I told her "this is a creepy thing to say, but you died great!" and she laughed and said "Really? That's the part of the scene I'm not happy with- I didn't think it was very believable" and I said I disagreed and that she did a wonderful job. And that was it- I said "Thanks" and walked away.

I was all excited because they told us we would have our pictures by 6 that night instead of mailing them to us, as was the original plan. Rap and I had a hockey game to go to (alas, Rap's beloved Red Wings went down in flames to the Black Hawks)but the game was still a blast to go to. I've never been to an NHL game before, and the arena was brand new and well laid-out, and I had a great time watching the game and listening to Rap yell at the top of her lungs for the Black Hawks to do things to their bodies that I believe are anatomically impossible.... Anyway, because of that, SJ was nice enough to pick up our pictures for us.

I was SOOOO excited to get them back, and I took one look at my picture with Jensen.... and yelped "but he's not smiling!!!!!!"

Jensen's picture:
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc278/metalligirl2007/Chicago/Jensenandme.jpg
Jensen's autograph:
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc278/metalligirl2007/Chicago/Jensenautograph.jpg

Yep- nice big smiles in his pictures with SJ and Rap, and just a hint of a grin in mine. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bummed, but in Jensen's defense, when you're having your picture taken 300 times in 40 minutes, you're just not going to be throwing a megawatt smile in every picture. Oh, well, I guess this just means I'll have to go to another convention and try again, right? Darn...

Jared's, on the other hand, had me grinning like an idiot. It came out perfect- big smile on both of our faces and you can see the sign perfectly clear. I think I was more happy for Gabs than I was for me- I'm sooooo happy I was able to hit the jackpot for her- a trifecta, no less! Jared's picture, autograph, and Sandy's autograph to boot!

Jared's picture:
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc278/metalligirl2007/Chicago/Jaredandme.jpg
Jared and Sandy's autographs:
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc278/metalligirl2007/Chicago/JaredSandyautograph.jpg

I left that convention walking on air- even with the various snags of the weekend, I had finally bagged me some Supernatural boys- they are truly some of the most modest, unassuming people I have ever met. Jared is the one who seemed like he took to the whole meet and greet thing like a duck to water, just the most outgoing, gregarious guy- he truly is The Puppy. A freakin' tall puppy, but still...

Jensen for all the world struck me as the quintessential southern gentleman- quiet, gracious, and the first to deflect any compliment to him onto others- several times when people complimented him, he graciously accepted, but always said the credit also went to Jared, or Kim Manners, or whoever. A class act all the way. Both of them.

I've got a lot of pictures that I took in the Q&A that came out really dark because I was sitting pretty far back and my flash wasn't doing the trick from that distance; I'm in the process of trying to lighten them up, but here's a link to see the ones I've lightened so far:
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc278/metalligirl2007/Chicago%20QA/
As I get more corrected, I'll keep adding them to that album.

Hey, I'm going from this:
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc278/metalligirl2007/Chicago%20QA/ChicagoVancouver245.jpg to this, gang:
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc278/metalligirl2007/Chicago%20QA/c314cameracorrectedJaredsmilecc.jpg

I think that's pretty good, but they are a bit grainy. Sorry about that!

In my next blog, I'll cover Saturday- where we had Fred, Sam, and a very unexpected encounter with Anteka, The Plastic!Winchester Girl!

Here's a sneak preview until next time, kids!
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc278/metalligirl2007/Chicago/SJAndieRap.jpg