Heh, thank you. It's about time someone said something! Well, some friends took me to HorrorHound, a horror convention in Indianapolis. I know next to nothing about horror, but since I'd never been to any con before, I figured it'd be fun, or at least a new experience.
So I was carted around the rooms, standing in line for and having my pictures taken with people I couldn't distinguish from Adam but did my best to look excited, so I wouldn't hurt their feelings. So as I was doing this, I happened to glance at the next table down, and I was quite shocked to see an 8x10 glossy of a Cardassian. Now, while I had earlier seen a vendor selling Star Trek combadges and assignment patches, a picture of a Star Trek alien at a celebrity's table was the last thing I expected at this place. I had to find out way. So I craned my head a bit to see the name scribbled on the edge of the table, and I jumped a foot in the air when I saw that it was Andrew Robinson, the one and only Elim Garak. I had no idea why he was there (after having done some research, I'm going to assume it was because of his role in Hellraiser... and maybe Dirty Harry? I haven't seen either), but I immediately jumped in line.
Unfortunately, it's possible that my nerd joy got the better of me. When I got to the front of the line, I immediately blurted out, "I'dneverevenseenDeepSpaceNineuntilrecentlybutitwasamazingandIspentthepastfourmonthswatchingeveryepisode!" He looked at me, puzzled, and asked, "Every episode?" I nodded eagerly. "In four months?" "All seven seasons," I beamed. He stared at me for just a moment, most likely thinking about what a piteous loser I was and wondering if he should call security before I started humping his leg. I came down to earth a little bit and added, "Well... I've been out of work for the past few months, so I've had a lot of free time, and it helped to lift my spirits..." So he agreed to pose for a picture, and my friend insisted on giving him $20 so he'd sign a photo of Garak for me.
Finally, knowing I could only stand there for so long, in a display of why I really should plan these things, I asked, not a helpful question about how he made a career out of acting, nor even a thoughtful question about what his most challenging role was. Instead, I went the cliched and nerdy route and asked him a question he had undoubtedly never heard before: "How long did it take to get into your Cardassian makeup?"
So while unexpectedly running into a Star Trek actor was an unexpected gem at this con, I might, in the future, make a better show of myself if I think of something meaningful to say and try to keep my nerdiness in check a bit.
