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My Glamorcon 24 experience started actuatually several weeks before the show happened on the weekend on October 21 and 22.
I was expecting a rather bitter sweet weekend when Petra announced on her web site that due to circumstances beyond her control she wouldn’t be to attend.
Several of the Alphas canceled out on the show due to that. Ed and I talked about the situation on the phone for several days on if he should eat his ticket or fly out and hang with me over the weekend.
The weekend that turned out was completely 180 degrees the other direction.
Friday evening a left my apartment in the quiet community of Monrovia Ca to drive the 35 some odd miles south on the 605 freeway to catch the 105 West to meet my friends Ed and Craig for dinner at the Windham Hotel. We were going to have dinner at T. H. Brewster's at Four Points Sheraton Hotel just a quarter mile from the Windham.
The place features a dinner menu with recommended Beer choices for every entry.
I arrived sometime around 8:20 pm Friday at the lounge to meet Ed and Craig already having a round of Becks Dark. I joined them for another round and caught up on all that happened since we last saw each other Chicago back in August.
Dinner was fresh on our minds, and our stomachs were rumbling so we departed the hotel to walk down the street to find T.H. Brewster and enjoy more excellent ales and stouts.
The dinner its self didn’t quite measure up to the quality of the beer.
(I’m really not an alcoholic - just a proud beer snob) I enjoyed an “Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, while Ed and Craig when for more traditional ales.
I had a busy week and the beer definitely had an effect on me. The Imperial stout is the first beer in several years that kicked my ass. Ed and Craig are very much experts on the production and perperation of home brew, and such discussion were high on our lists for the evening.
Needless to say I’m always impressed to be in such educated company.
Saturday morning, The First day
We I slepted off Friday nights beer, and by morning Ed and rose to go and have breakfast in the hotel cafe. We both had traditional eggs, fruit, sausage or bacon, and juice. It would be the last that either would eat for many hours.
The convention open at 10 am or a little before, Brother Alpha Dennis joined us in the line waiting for the doors to open.
Many of the girls hadn’t arrive just yet so when the doors opened there were quiet a plenitude of empty tables. We all filtered in to check out the layout of who was where.
I was very interested in locating Laura Richmond (Miss September 1988) I had chatted with her two nights on Petra Verkaik's excellent web site and discussed aviation and our various backgrounds.
She had been roommate with Petra for several years and were quite close.
I was standing in front of her table, when she returned (she had already placed her wares on display) As she was walking up, she saw me for the last fifteen feet of her walk to her table. I just beamed at her as I watched her with the “who the hell are you?’” expression on her face. I introduced myself to her and told here that we had chatted two nights before on Petra’s chat page. That quickly broke the ice and a delightful repour developed. Laura has tones on the ball, she really is fun to talk to . She is a rated pilot and I have a love for aviation so we found our self talking frequently over the weekend about aviation.
During this time I got to meet fellow alpha Jeff Jones for the first time. Jeff hails from the warm city of Phoenix Arizona. We had chatted for about a year online, but this was first time meeting face to face. It was another killer Alpha first.
We both share a passion for music (not to mention Petra, Suzi, Laura, ect...) and really got to know each other with the assorated pictures that we had brought along to show small windows of our own worlds to our friends in attendance.
Hanging out with Suzi
And then there was
Suzi Simpson..... It was my first time meeting Suzi in person. I’ve been corresponding with the amazing brilliant and warm gall for about a year now, but this was our first time meeting face to face. Fellow Alpha Jeff Jones and I walked up at the same time to her, and she gave a Jeff a huge hug, and then started to step away before she realized that it was me. Suzi melted into my arms like an old friend that we haven’t seen each other for years, the entire weekend felt like that. I was hard pressed to leave her side for most of the time, only Laura Richmond had the power to pull me away from Suzi’s side to watch Laura’s table or when I would check to see if Laura needed coffee (cream and two sugars)
Laura is such a babe and a good person, I felt much like a big brother to her
(granted I just might be!) We bonded on so many levels. She has her pilot license and is working on her instrument rating as we speak.
The day was filled with photo opportunities, surprise appearances and generally a ton of cool people having fun. I had an absoule blast.
During the time that I got to help out and be there as an support for Suzi, it struck me that it seem completely natural for me to be in this enviorment.
I’ve come a long way since middle school, when I was such and outcast and shy around girls. I bonded pretty quickly with Suzi, she felt like an extension of my own family pretty quickly.
At the end of the afternoon, We (Dennis, Jeff, Ed, and myself) escorted Suzi and Alison down to the lobby with all the stuff they needed to carry just in case that demonic hordes of Lucifer's one headed step children tried to harass our galls, fortunately heavy smiting wasn’t necessary and we were able to see our galls off safe and sound in Suzi’s magnificent black Delmer Benz sedan worth of our babelishous California blonde. We returned to the hotel’s bar for drinks and the evenings festivities.
Bonus Night, Saturday evening in the bar with Kerri Kendall
I had sat down with Craig to have a Henikinen, and I had brought pictures down from my room to show to Laura, and Craig informed me that
Kerri Kendall had arrived in the lounge, I idmandly jumped to seek her out. It had been since June since I saw her last. Craig lead me back out to the larger part of the lounge, to look for her. Ed had already found her and talked briefly. I saw Kerri from the back, and I walked up behind her on her left side, I stoped at about her 7 o'clock position and quietly waited for her to turn and notice me, and she turned to her left to see me standing like “Oh Hi how are you” kind of a pose, she looked at me for a quarter of a second, for it to realize that it was me and she jumped into my arms for a hug, and jumped into my arms beaming with her glowing smile.
Personal NOTE; Kerri has one of the most radiant smiles that I’ve ever seen. You have to witness it to appreciate just how spectular and glamorous she is. Believe me, in person Kerri glows with radiance. Even in the plain Levis 501s she was wearing on Sunday, with a simple white top she was sexy as hell.
It had been since the beginning of June since I saw Kerri in Dallas and I was very interested in picking up my friendship with her again.
Kerri has had a difficult summer, and I’ve been worried about her for sometime.
We all have time where our batteries run low, from too much work and not enough fun.
Anyway, I Ed told me that Kerri had arrive in the hotel, she wasn’t up for the Glamorcon its self but to work with her web master and her crew to get the final touches on her web site complete. Her web master Mike showed me some of the material, and believe me its killer.
her site is gonna rock. The wait will be worth it. Anyway.
I walk up to her from behind, and was talking to someone else, I stood there for about a half minute, personal note-- when woman that looks like Kerri jumps into your arms for affection, its always good!!)
Needless to say I took her off her feet for a few seconds and sung her around gorgeousness in my warm embrace.
It was a great moment to be me;-)
We chatted for a few minutes but later we would sit down with Ed, Craig, Dennis and a wonderful guy who we met back in June name Mark and caught each other lives.
I floated around bonding with both Kerri, and Laura both of which I wanted to talk with and discuss all sorts of fun stuff.
My surprise of the weekend was to find out that Laura and might be related. Only in the south can your trace your family heritage several centuries and my family is no different.
Laura and might be of the same family line from Virginia, we both agreed that we must find out.
When I told her that My Mom was born in Natural Bridge Va, and my family name her, her jaw dropped.
Kerri has been nose to the grind stone all summer working on her web site. Much later in the evening Ed and I talked to Mike, KK’s web master and got to see a preview of the stuff for Kerri's’ web site, believe me its killer! One of the reasons that her site is taking a while is for Kerri get the quality up to her standards, and she doesn’t want to disappoint her fans. She has had problems with the business aspect of running e-bussiness and she needs to keep the reigns in her own hands.
She really needed the break of the weekend, and I was delighted to see my friend again. I gave her many hugs during the weekend to recharger her batteries. and for emotional support.
That evening in the lounge, it felt completely natural for me for me to walk up and hug Kerri Kendall, like she is a long lost friend retuning to my embrace after far too long a period of time. It just “felt wright” to me. So long ago, in my developing years I painfully remember being such an outcast, where no one would talk to me. It took much of my twenties to realize that we are all who we are. Embrace our on good character, and don’t dwell on negativity, for there is too much of that in the world. I could never stand the ribbing that people would so cold heartily do to each other far too often in life.
I want be a positive force of good in peoples lives, and touch those hearts who need encouragement, or compassion where ever I find my self.
I had a great time over the weekend,both in the company of old friends, and a few need ones that I’ve felt that I’ve already known for years.
Sunday, the game and the aftermath
Ed and I started the day by watching the Kansas Chiefs crushed the Rams (54 to 34) The game started at the same time the show did, so I stayed long enough to watch Kansas scored all over the Rams like Ann Nicole Smith does all over nearly dead Texas Oil men.
Ed monitored the game as KS smited the Rams from Arrowhead stadium. (the ultimate tailgate party in the country)
Once again, I spend double duty between Laura and Suzi’s tables. Laura floored me at one point when she asked me to watch her table and proceeded to hand me her money bag to guard.
( I was SO humbled that level of trust she placed in me) I even sold one of her trading cards while she was away.
Sunday afternoon after the con closed, Suzi, Alison and the bunch of us when down to the bar for a round of drinks and hang out before Alison had to depart to go to a call back for a casting job she was looking at.
We all sat down and discuss all sort of important things like the relations and dynamics of the town folk on Fox’s King of the Hill and the beloved Simpsons.
Jeff Jones and I threw around our voices for entertainment, Alison died laughing when we gave our “Apu” impress from the Quickie Mart.
“Mr Simpson, thank you for shopping Quickie Mart, please come again....”
Brother Craig enjoyed a great moment when he remarked to Alison as she was bending over to hand us our order of drinks, that a playmate was bring him beer! “Ummmm, its good to be me!” He remarked.
Even Alison enjoyed that moment. We laughed and enjoy the company until Suzi and Alison had to depart. They hugged everyone in attendance, and I walked them down to the lobby as I had done on the previous day. I saw the girls off
On Sunday I escorted the girls down to the lobby to wait for the Va lay parking to bring up her magnificent chariot, I loaded the car and placed Alison in the drivers side and Suzi, sat in the passenger side.
As I stood on the corner, I gave Suzi and Alison a martial arts bow of respect and devotion, and to my delight Suzi beaming bowed back to me from within her black chariot.
That moment really made a special impact on me.
The weekend also served once again as a mile stone in my own life of how far I’ve come, especially since high school
Sunday evening, the con closed, the girls gone home.... and then their were three...
The second day of a glamourcon is always a rather downer of a day, for you know it will be months before you see some of your friends again, and the reality that you have to go back your normal work life after such a light and fun weekends kind of stings. We had to bid fairwell to Ed around 4pm or so, due to his early flight back to Kansis City. As people departed, I saw the energy of the weekend start to dindell, a little at first, then more quickly as more and more people left.
Craig and I had decided to have dinner that Sunday night sence his flight back to New York was for the next morning. I’m not sure what time it was but to my delight, Ed came back into the bar at the hotel. His flight had been canclled, and the replacment flight was hours later so the three of us went over to T. H. Brewster again for dinner and beer. The three of us had a better dinner this time then when we gathered on Friday evening. It made a good closing to the weekend. We all missed Petra and felt the void of her abaence had on all of us at the con, but we thankful for the quality of the folks we were with.
-See you at the cons!
-Wrighteous 2000A.D.