Mountains

I'm sitting at my desk, almost quitting time, looking out of the window at the cold rain. On my wall is a "mountain" calender with photographs of various mountains. It reminds me of the first time I saw a real mountain.

It was in 1978. We were driving to Idaho to visit my brother. Up until then, the only mountains I had seen were the Arkansas foothills and another small hill in Santa Anna, Texas called "Santa Anna Mountain". I doubt seriously if I had seen anything over a thousand feet high. Where I grew up, Louisiana, was as flat as could be. The highest point was only a little over five hundred feet high. I read internet sites that help guide people who want to reach the highest point in all fifty states. For Louisiana's entry, there isn't ever really a high point. The site just says walk around a bit at these GPS coordinates and you've probably laid foot on the highest point in Louisiana.

Anyway, on the way to Idaho, we crossed Texas and spent the night near the Texas - New Mexico border. The next day, we crossed the "corner" of New Mexico on our way to Colorado. Besides mountains, another earth feature that I find incredibly beautiful is the desert. The sight of vast earth and sky with no trees or buildings blocking the incredible vastness of our world is an awesome and wonderful sight. I just watched out of the window at the desert and sky. As we approached the Colorado border, I saw a feature interrupting the desert and sky. It was a mountain peak, rising out of the desert. Even though we were dozens of miles away, I could see it was incredibly huge, with the snowcapped top that I'd only seen in pictures. It sort of reminded me of the time that, at my summer job one night, somebody brought a telescope and trained it on Saturn. He invited me to take a look and what I saw was like every picture of Saturn I'd seen in science magazines - the beautiful ringed gas giant. There's something about seeing something in a book or magazine or on television then seeing it in person. It's like the fact that mountains or Saturn actually exists could be a lie or some massive deception, but seeing it with your own eyes, well, you realize that it is real. I looked at our map and learned that the mountain was Cuelebra Peak. As we drove, we passed it by, and soon entered Colorado with its dozens, if not hundreds of high mountains lived.

I've been to Idaho many times since, and always loved the mountains. If I am fortunate enough to retire, I will go to live in the mountains. It's possible they'll lose their awe and wonder, living in them every day - sort of like how New Yorkers never notice the Statue of Liberty. Somehow, I doubt it. Even, so the first mountain I ever saw will always have a special place in my heart.

It's Geek Time!

Time for another installment in the life of a geek. This is a late report on BayouCon '11, the science fiction convention in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The best thing about these conventions is not only seeing old friends, but making new ones. My Klingon friend, Shane (Ri'par) was there and he introduced me to some of his friends in the 501st, which is the Star Wars costuming group. I'm not sure if there is a more instant bonding among those of us who are into science fiction/Star Trek/Star Wars. Awesome folks! Now, to the meat of the convention. This was a good one for us Trek folks. Vaughn Armstrong, who played Admiral Forrest in Enterprise, as well as many other characters, including the first Klingon on Next Generation, and Max Grodenchik, who played Rom in Deep Space Nine were there, as well as a voice-over/video game actor, Dino Andrade.

We also met again Larry Nemecek who is a Star Trek authority and author who is also very funny and cool to spend time with. Here he is with me and Shane:

We spent time Friday night with Larry and some of the other con folks. I also got to meet Chris and Charity Wood, who run one of my favorite Trek websites, Subspace Communique. They are also such super folks and I am so glad to meet and spend time with them.

The first night, we were invited to dinner with Dino and Vaughn, which was awesome. They were such nice folks and we talked for hours and had a great meal. Shane mentioned to Vaughn that he had bloodwine, and he was only too eager to join us in a drink. The drink turned into several more hours in the parking lot, and several glasses of bloodwine. We talked about many things and it was so awesome to hear so many stories and tell so many stories to someone I consider as much of a celebrity as Brad Pitt. It was a great night.

The next day Shane and I went as Klingons and had a great time, talking to Max, who was equally as awesome as well, and meeting other friends and having our picture taken. Dino is also a great and funny guy. That's another great thing about science fiction conventions - meeting great people that I'd never really heard of. Dino is pretty in demand as the video game/animation voice actors go, but I'd never heard of him. Now I see why. He's funny and personable and BayouCon was fortunate to have him.

That evening, Max and Vaughn did a nightclub-type show - songs Max and Vaughn had written, which were really good and both were great entertainers. They do a full Rat Pack type show with Casey Biggs, Arman Shimmerman and Jeff Combs. That's a have-to see.

The next day was slow, as I had to get back to Baton Rouge. All in all it was a super con and I look forward to going next year.

In the country

When May comes, one of the things I really look forward to is going to see my Mother's family in central Arkansas, twenty miles from anywhere. A consequence of getting older, I guess, is that what used to be a dreaded experience, the family reunion, is now something that I love. It happened after many years of not going to the reunions. One year, maybe because our Mother is getting older, my brother and I decided to go with Mother to the reunion. The relatives are, for the most part, the same, and I guess I am, too. The closest I can come to what it feels like is lifting a burden off my shoulders. The burden, in this case, is one of an ungrateful child who didn't appreciate the simply joys of being with aunts, uncles and cousins I've known for many ears. Seeing them and telling them in so many words, how much I cherish this time together and please forgive me for being such a ungrateful child is something I needed to do. This was something I didn't tell my aunts, uncles and cousins outright, but I would like to think that this was something unspoken among us, something to be said, understood, and forgotten. How pointless it is to dwell on things I did in the past that, in this case, I had a chance to make right. The effect of this is, for me, the years and years of good memories that came flooding back. The days exploring the thickets and forests, relishing the clean air and experiences of being a child again. We talk, eat and drink and remember those times, tell stories and wish the weekend would never end. The first thing I did when I got back to work was to mark off the week around Memorial Day 2012, the simply joy of looking forward to this again.

New Orleans Comic-Con

I am an unapologetic geek. I love all things geekish and nerdy. Comic-Con is the mecca for us geeks, so, when it came to New Orleans, attendance was mandatory. It didn't hurt that the media guests were pretty impressive: Louis Gossett, Jr., Adam West and Burt Ward from Batman, Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters, Nick Brendon, Kelly Donovan, Clare Kramer, James Marsters, Julie Benz and James Leary from Buffy, and, the one I was most looking forward to meeting, Walter Koenig from the original Star Trek.

Even though there wasn't a lot of Trek subject matter here, I went in uniform. I made a new headpiece, which I think turned out pretty good. Here's a picture:



Big crowd there, in the hundreds if not thousands. Lots of comic book artists and science fiction themed vendor booths. One could spend lots o' money for a lot of neat stuff. Also lots of folks in costume, with everything from Japanese anime to Star Wars characters. I think the attendees got a kick out of seeing a Klingon, too. I must have posed for at least a hundred pictures. Here's one of them, me with the eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who:

All of the celebrities I met were super nice. I had a cool chat with James Marsters about New Orleans music and how unique the city is.

There was a costume contest that evening with many great and original costumes. When I was called to the front, one of the judges asked me if I knew any Klingon poetry. I told her I knew Klingon songs, so, she asked me to sing. I sang the Klingon Battle Song in Klingon, which was enjoyed by the judges and others attending. I didn't win anything, but it was a blast.

I have to give props to the folks that ran the convention. It was very well run and I heard no complaints. I'm sure they will be back next year and I'm sure I will be.