So it's finally been announced. The big Star Wars Celebration for 2019. It looks like we're finally headed to Chicago, April 11-15, 2019 at McCormick Place. Apparently McCormick is the largest convention center in the US. That sounds like a great opportunity for them to actually make use of the space and maybe make things a bit easier to get into. Maybe. We'll see.
Celebration is a mixed bag for our little group that's been going for quite a few years now. I personally still have fun, but I go in with very low expectations. What makes it fun for me is the people I get to interact with, the costumes I get to create and wear, and the moments I get to spend with old and new friends. What makes is frustrating for me is hanging my hopes on getting into a panel, but not being able to get into it because I didn't camp out all night just to get a ticket. Or when they accidentally let in a group of people that didn't have wrist bands before they let in the wrist banded people. Or when they only have ONE entrance open for security for thousands of people who need to all go through a metal detector which results in a line that wraps around the building for hours and hours just to get in.
I feel like every convention has hiccups along the way, and Celebration has been no exception over the years. I remember the "this line is capped" signs from Celebration III (my first convention experience ever). Too many people. Too small a space. What are you going to do? Plan better.
But they never quite seem to make it to the "plan better" stage.
One year, they did. They got it right - or so it felt like they did. That was when we were in Los Angeles for Celebration IV. The worst part about that was that none of the hotels were within walking distance of the convention center. You had to rely on transportation. However, the convention center felt big, roomy, and there were things to do at all hours of the day and night. It was easier to get tickets to see what you wanted (like Carrie Fisher's after-hours comedy show; buy your tickets separately on the internet before the event). The store was a simple walk-in, find what you want, and walk-out. Plus there were additional mini-store kiosks all over the exhibit hall! Talk about making it easy to shop (and easy to spend more money).
But I haven't really seen these things return to a Celebration yet. We seem to be back to the Celebration III ways of "you either stand in line for 5 hours to see George Lucas or you stand in line for 5 hours to go to exclusive store". If you don't camp out over night, you don't get in to see anything. What makes this all worse is that - honestly - you really don't even have to pay money to be there. Everything is live-streamed on the internet now, so you can "attend" Celebration without travel or ticket expenses if you so wish. I realize that's both a good and a bad thing. I personally wish there'd be at least a slight delay from the panels to the internet stream. Let us feel like we have some exclusivity since we - you know - kind of paid to be here.
None of these things though keep me from going. That's probably lack of good sense when I think about it, but I honestly think it's because there's something bigger that I get out of attending an event like this. I like to look at things. I like to watch people. I like to wear my costumes, take pictures of other people's costumes, swap stories, encourage others. I feel a sense of community at a convention like this. I don't know if that's normal or not, but it is what it is. So while some of our group are only thinking about attending a day or two at Celebration Chicago (which I respect and understand given the write-up of insanity that I posted above), I'm still planning on all 5 days. I never know what this one will be like. If that day doesn't seem like it'll work out, I'll leave early. If that day ends up being amazing, then I'll take it home with me, along with a big smile spread across my face and a skip in my step like a five-year-old kid.
Even through all of the crap that we've dealt with, I'm ready to Celebrate.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Friday, May 4, 2018
May the Fourth be with You!
Happy Star Wars Day! That's what they're saying today, right? It's on the news - newscasters breaking out the lightsabers and having a battle. Companies are having sales. The internet is talking about a new movie, where will Celebration be, the new Star Wars half marathon races in Walt Disney World next year...everything. If you can name it and it's name is Star Wars, it's being talked about today. May the Fourth.
This is an interesting day, I have to admit. Because I remember a day when I had to hide my Star Wars novel spine inside my binder so no one could see a title. I remember that "nerd shirts" were not a thing to be worn in public. Things like that opened you up to ridicule and regret. I had one nerdy friend growing up as a child (and even that wasn't close enough to how nerdy I really felt). I met another nerdy friend toward the end of my high school years, but even then, we were both so busy hiding that aspect of who we were that we only really realized the true depth of our own nerdiness once it was time to go off to college.
Ah. College. The most formative years of my life.
The worst four years of my very existence on this planet earth. And I do not exaggerate.
The loss of friends. The loss of family. The lack of guidance within a sports-driven university. Sickness. Loneliness. Despair. Severe depression. Suicidal ideation.
And in the middle of it all: www.starwars.com/forums
The Star Wars message boards. Back in the day, see, the interwebs had these things called "message boards". Back then, we thought it was better to keep our real selves anonymous online, so we had fake screen names and avatars of anything other than ourselves. And while the names and the avatars were fake, the personalities and the people were real (for the most part - but that's another post lol). In those four years of hell, I found my solace and refuge in a little corner of the internet with people going through similar issues, trials, and thoughts. I found people who liked the same things I did and did some of the same things I liked to do. And here they all were - ripe for the friend-picking!
And picked them I did. And then I was crazy and even met some of them in person (omgoodness this was scandalacious back in the day, people. Lemme tell ya...)
And lemme also tell ya that it's one of the best things this little depressed, introverted, scared little soul ever did in her entire life. Those four years of hell made me into who I am today - a tenacious little fighter who will not go softly into that good night. I refused. And I still refuse. Because I have hope. Hope doesn't have to me this idealistic image of what things will be - and unrealistic view of the world. I hate false optimism. Hate it. Try to tell someone who is in hospice and dying of cancer to "have hope and think positive and you'll get better". The world doesn't work that way, usually, and it's cruel to offer that kind of false hope.
But I do believe that you can have hope in any sort of situation you're in. Personally - in the darkest of situations - my faith offers me hope beyond this world when there are no other options. In most of the everyday cases, my heart gives me hope that I (and others) can overcome our situations or work within them to the best of our abilities. I have hope that - while we might not be able to change things entirely - we can make them as good as we can in the given moment. To some people, that's a frustrating point of view, I'm sure. "If I can't fix it, what good is it, really?"
It's because - honestly - by doing one action filled with hope, you have no idea what you're actually affecting in the long-run. Every tiny little action you take might not have a reaction now, but no one really knows what it will do years from now. Decades. Centuries. To you, it's one moment. To someone else, it will shape their lifetime.
Do I have hope that me making a copy for someone at work will change their life? No. C'mon. Get real. But do I have hope that me making a copy for someone at work and then dropping it off with a smile and a kind word might make their day a little better? Yeah, I do. Because an action that small can have that kind of power. And when you empower others, there's no stopping them once they build up that strength. That's amazing. That's just astounding to me to think that we can affect that sort of change in someone through such a tiny little action.
But it's what life is about, I think. Having hope. Creating hope. Living hope.
So happy Star Wars day. May the Force be with you all.
This is an interesting day, I have to admit. Because I remember a day when I had to hide my Star Wars novel spine inside my binder so no one could see a title. I remember that "nerd shirts" were not a thing to be worn in public. Things like that opened you up to ridicule and regret. I had one nerdy friend growing up as a child (and even that wasn't close enough to how nerdy I really felt). I met another nerdy friend toward the end of my high school years, but even then, we were both so busy hiding that aspect of who we were that we only really realized the true depth of our own nerdiness once it was time to go off to college.
Ah. College. The most formative years of my life.
The worst four years of my very existence on this planet earth. And I do not exaggerate.
The loss of friends. The loss of family. The lack of guidance within a sports-driven university. Sickness. Loneliness. Despair. Severe depression. Suicidal ideation.
And in the middle of it all: www.starwars.com/forums
The Star Wars message boards. Back in the day, see, the interwebs had these things called "message boards". Back then, we thought it was better to keep our real selves anonymous online, so we had fake screen names and avatars of anything other than ourselves. And while the names and the avatars were fake, the personalities and the people were real (for the most part - but that's another post lol). In those four years of hell, I found my solace and refuge in a little corner of the internet with people going through similar issues, trials, and thoughts. I found people who liked the same things I did and did some of the same things I liked to do. And here they all were - ripe for the friend-picking!
And picked them I did. And then I was crazy and even met some of them in person (omgoodness this was scandalacious back in the day, people. Lemme tell ya...)
And lemme also tell ya that it's one of the best things this little depressed, introverted, scared little soul ever did in her entire life. Those four years of hell made me into who I am today - a tenacious little fighter who will not go softly into that good night. I refused. And I still refuse. Because I have hope. Hope doesn't have to me this idealistic image of what things will be - and unrealistic view of the world. I hate false optimism. Hate it. Try to tell someone who is in hospice and dying of cancer to "have hope and think positive and you'll get better". The world doesn't work that way, usually, and it's cruel to offer that kind of false hope.
But I do believe that you can have hope in any sort of situation you're in. Personally - in the darkest of situations - my faith offers me hope beyond this world when there are no other options. In most of the everyday cases, my heart gives me hope that I (and others) can overcome our situations or work within them to the best of our abilities. I have hope that - while we might not be able to change things entirely - we can make them as good as we can in the given moment. To some people, that's a frustrating point of view, I'm sure. "If I can't fix it, what good is it, really?"
It's because - honestly - by doing one action filled with hope, you have no idea what you're actually affecting in the long-run. Every tiny little action you take might not have a reaction now, but no one really knows what it will do years from now. Decades. Centuries. To you, it's one moment. To someone else, it will shape their lifetime.
Do I have hope that me making a copy for someone at work will change their life? No. C'mon. Get real. But do I have hope that me making a copy for someone at work and then dropping it off with a smile and a kind word might make their day a little better? Yeah, I do. Because an action that small can have that kind of power. And when you empower others, there's no stopping them once they build up that strength. That's amazing. That's just astounding to me to think that we can affect that sort of change in someone through such a tiny little action.
But it's what life is about, I think. Having hope. Creating hope. Living hope.
So happy Star Wars day. May the Force be with you all.
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