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So it has now been 3 days since I've been back from Los Angeles--and I can tell you I've never been so sad to leave in my life. I miss everyone so very much and I can't wait to see them all again. Hopefully at least before next year's convention! ;) Anyways, I present to anyone who cares to read this: my final blog on the last days of convention!

Friday Night into Saturday, January 31st:

After my last post, I had mentioned that I was headed to grab Anne and GWAC from their rooms to drag them to Taco Bell with me. Unfortunately I couldn't convince Twinks and Shen to come along, but I got Anne and GWAC as well as Irish and Org to come on a trip with me instead to the subway down the street. Actually it was a really fun little trip. We walked about half a mile, and ironically passed a sex store on the way there, which of course roused a very hilarious comment from Irish probably, about ordering a foot-long ;). We made it to subway, got delicious sandwiches and made our way back to the hotel. Along the way there was a dash across the busy 6 lane street by Irish, GWAC and Anne, while Org and I stayed on the right side of the law and eventually crossed at the intersection. Then, as we were waiting to cross the last intersection back under the overpass to get back to the hotel, some guy stopped us and congratulated Org on his ability to have 4 beautiful women as his escorts. That was such a hoot--we all started walking in sync after that for kicks.

We all then went back to Irish and GWAC's room to enjoy some internet graciously paid for by Irish and had a great talk over skype and MSN with Meggers (aka PBODYMLI) being loud and crazy and basically having the time of our lives. Irish attempted to help Anne and I with bluetooth on our phones:



...which we never did figure out. Luckily, I ended up just texting her the picture she wanted for her background on her phone. Pretty much we just played around the rest of the night, and then went down to the lobby when it was time for everyone to get back from the Lucy concert. We met up with a couple people who explained the concert and showed us some rather erhm, raunchy pictures--and finally I was dead tired and I went off to bed.

I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning thanks to a text from Anne telling me to get my butt downstairs as she was holding a place in the Starbucks line for me. I managed to pull on some clothes and run down just as she was getting up to the counter. Yay coffee and bagel! We then went down into the con hall to meet up with GWAC, Twinks, Shen, Irish, and Elsie. We snapped some photos:


(Irish and myself)

then settled down to hear Tony Todd speak. He was actually really funny, and he talked a bunch about working on the set of Xena with 15 hour days that started at 5 in the morning. He also spoke a bit about his hair on "The Lost Mariner", which was amusing since now he's got a shaved head. He then noticed one of the strange guys in the back of the hall that had come dressed as Jack Sparrow and remarked "Oh! There's my hair!". It got a good laugh from the crowd. I can't remember much more about what he talked about except that he mentioned it was wonderful working with such a great group of actors on a set with no tension between anyone, as he'd been on sets before where he'd been brought in as a guest actor if only to break up the terrible behind the scenes tension of the lead actors. It was then time for the "Lightswitch" showing! I was so excited because it was Penny's film, so I got everyone in my row to agree to scream and cheer when Creation announced the film. I screamed early when the said "next is Lightswitch", but it worked out because Penny and her gang heard me backstage and they said it made them smile. When we finally all screamed--it was awesome. I hope it made Penny, Emma and Natalie happy that they were supported! The film was really awesome and I loved the music choices. Twinks was in love with the soundtrack and babbled on about getting it for hours after the film was over.

I was exhausted by this point, as I still didn't feel too hot because I'd been sick, but I stayed to watch the "Bitch Slap" panel because Anne wanted to stay, and we'd promised we'd meet GWAC and Irish afterwards (they'd gone to grab some food). The panel was actually really good, and I found myself enjoying listening to the actors talk about the scenes they'd done and I especially enjoyed Michael Hurst in his character from the movie. Halfway through talking about the movie, I heard a piercing scream from the back of the con hall. Thinking it was some crazed fan excited about Bitch Slap, I turned around slowly--not really knowing what was going on. What do you know! It was Renee dressed up as her cameo character from Bitch Slap! I was SO excited, as was everyone else. She was hilarious, and stayed completely in character for the rest of the panel--even as people came up to ask her questions. Next came Michael Hurst and Jennifer Ward-Leland talking about their recent gigs, and apparently I was the only Xenite in the world that didn't know they were married! Go figure. They are really cute though, and hilarious, too!

Finally it was time for my Hudson photo op! I was totally pumped and I motioned to Penny who was across the room to come and join me, because we were going to take it together. We walked out of the con room and down the hall to join the already long line waiting for the pictures to start. It took 20 minutes for them to start, and then Hudson herself came out and apologized that they were running terribly late so the photos were going to be fast and she didn't want people to feel like it was impersonal. It moved REALLY fast, actually. I took my picture with her so quickly I wasn't even sure that I smiled. Penny's smile makes her look like she's going to explode with glee, as Hudson had just called her "little". She's really short so it made sense, and it made her really happy, lol.

We then made our way to the sports bar for a quick lunch with Penny and the Canberra gang. It was really nice to hang out with them and have some delicious chicken strips. Anne finished mine off for me, which worked out well at the time, but I was hungry again an hour later! It was then about 2 o'clock, and Hudson started at 2:30. I ran to stick my camera in the charger so I'd have it for that night, and then rushed down to get a seat and wait for Hudson to start.

A short while after 2:30, Hudson came on the stage, and from the beginning I knew it wasn't going to go well. Her teeeeeny dress, hooker heels and flashy silver bra did not bode well for the topics to be discussed. I was pretty much right on the money with that one. I was so embarrassed by her choice of words and the constant referral to her girly parts that Anne and I zoned out and played hangman for the majority of the time she was speaking. What a let down. I was so excited to see her, and then I got disappointed. Oh, well. I guess you can't win them all. Regardless, it was now time to get ready to go out on the town!

The six of us (Irish, GWAC, Twinks, Shen, Anne, and myself) got ready and met in the lobby. It was time to catch a cab to the Hollywood walk of fame! We all piled into a van cab and grit our teeth during the rather frightening ride there. We all made it safely though, and stepped out onto the street in front of Graumman's chinese theater.



We crossed the street and spent a wonderful time putting our feet into Will Smith's humongous footprints and marveling at Julie Andrews' teeny feet. Irish made sweet love to Bette Midler's star on the walk of fame, and then Anne, Twinks and Irish all took a photo with Bumblebee from Transformers! That guy was totally awesome and his costume was WICKED!



Next we traversed the adjacent outdoor mall, and had a great dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. It was a wonderful night, and we all had a fantastic time! Next we caught a cab home, and it was a domino effect as everyone fell asleep on top of each other during the ride home. I wish I'd thought to take a picture of it, but I was too tired! The night ended early for me and Anne as we both were going to be up early for breakfast. Plus, I had Renee photo op in the morn!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST

The day began with me groggily rolling out of bed, doing my hair as quickly as possible while on the phone with my mother telling her about everything, and then sprinting down the hallway so as not to miss my photo op with Renee. I didn't miss it of course. Practically the whole hall downstairs was filled with people waiting. I got in line, and found Irish and GWAC and spoke to them for the majority of the time. Irish had a better spot in line than me, but I waited for GWAC to get into the hall and then sat next to her in line so we could be excited about Renee together. The line didn't move too fast, but that was a good sign that people were at least going to have a chance to say something to Renee. That's what I was excited about! Finally it was our turn to get up and go over to the line where the pictures were actually being taken. Poor GWAC was so hung over and excited at the same time. She was clutching me from behind in fear/excitment and the guy in charge of the line looked at us and said "now, now, there will be none of that! No..champagne room!". GWAC and I burst out laughing. Of all the people in that line, that poor guy managed to pick the two straight girls and comment. Poor chap! We got a good laugh out of it. Then it was my turn with Renee. I completely froze up. All I could manage to say was hi, and then thank you when I was finished. GWAC then took hers and pulled her sunglasses down as Renee commented on it: "rough night?". GWAC nodded, "aye".  We were finished then and the two of us grabbed our bags and squealed like crazy fangirls and made it out into the hallway. I was kicking myself for freezing and GWAC was attempting to stop crying. She's so cute, what a sap.

We all then went to Subway again for a cheap lunch, and while on the way there we all commented on how ridiculous each of us was during our photo op. It was decided that we would each front the cash for an autograph from Renee and come up with something to say that would make up for the photo ops. We made it back, bought the tickets and then went back to relax in our rooms. The con was going on, but we were all so tired, we couldn't muster up the energy to get back down there. Anyway, Anne was locked out of her room, so she ended up chilling in mine while I grabbed a cab to CVS for some cold medicine. I made it back in plenty of time for us to go down and get a good seat for Renee and Lucy. There was this girl walking around in the most authenic Xena costume I'd ever seen and I really wanted to get a picture with her, but for some reason I was too shy to go up and ask her. GWAC kept pushing me to go over, since she was standing right behind our chairs, so finally I was like "screw it", and walked up and excitedly asked if I could take a picture with her. She was the nicest person ever! She was like "oh, of course you can!", and obliged in actually taking a couple of photos with me. She even let me hold her limited edition chakram and 10th Anniversary Xena sword, which I thought was incredibly kind of her. That sword was heavy! I was like a kid at Christmas, seriously.



It was then time for Renee!! I was so totally excited and I screamed and cheered as she walked on the stage. She is so genuine, its easy to listen to her speak. She talked about her recent short film that she wrote, produced, and directed--and then we all got to watch it. It was really good, I liked the way it was filmed. She then went on to speak about her new internet TV series called "Arc" and we were shown a few clips from it. It looks totally awesome in a star wars/star trek kind of way. People then went on to ask questions about her directing her son, and what that was like and there were more questions, obviously, but I was so wrapped up in it-I don't remember them. Aftwards it was Lucy's turn to come on stage. People went nuts! I was one of the nutty ones.

Lucy was awesome! She's so charismatic and goofy--I was in stiches the whole time. She talked about raising an abandoned baby squirrel and some guy that told her he throws rocks at squirrels while she was waiting at karate class for her son. She made some comment about how she wasn't sure if the rock throwing thing was supposed to impress her or not? It was very funny. Next she asked if we'd like to see a friend of hers come on stage. I wasn't really paying attention again because I was glued to my camera trying to get some good shots, but then people started cheering and I looked up. I couldn't see who it was and Anne shouted at me "It's Alti!!!". My head snapped up and I shot out of my seat. I couldn't believe it! It was defintely Claire Stansfield! She wasn't on the program, it was a wonderful surprise! She and Lucy were so funny together, and she spoke about how her son enjoys watching youtube clips of her and how there's an amazon barbie that she has dressed like Alti whom likes to get into fights with Ironman; often ending in amazon barbie flying across the room. She works for Oprah now, apparently and she sold her clothing line.

Next it was time for Lucy AND Renee together on stage. I was beside myself with excitement, and for the life of me I don't know what they talked about. Mostly they just answered questions about how yes, they'd love to do a movie if there ever was one put together, and so forth. They were great and I cheered the whole time. Then of course...it was over. :( They walked off the stage and the only thing left was the autographs.

I grabbed my ticket and sat with GWAC, Twinks, Shen, Irish, Anne and Org waiting for our number group to be called. We were one of the last ones, but when it was finally my turn, I had my photo op picture from that morning and I mentioned that I'd been really nervous that morning, but could she please make it out to Regina? She nodded and said sure, and then blinked as she noticed I'd changed clothes. I had, and I said that it was specifically for her photo op, and now I was in my convention clothes. She smiled and said it looked good. After that I was totally on Cloud 9.

Finally it was off to the final meet of of the board in Aurora's room. We all ordered pizza and had a trivia contest and watched Xena. It was WONDERFUL! I had a fantastic time taking pictures and bouncing around and talking about Xena and all the other dorky things I do, only it was with about 20 other people who were talking about the same things!

Eventually, it was time for me to head to bed as I had a flight to catch in the morning, but I had to see Penny quickly before I went to bed, and stupidly I believed her that people were in their pajamas in the lobby, so I came down in a tshirt and yoga pants and was very emabrassed by my attire, but I got over it. I handed Penny her present of a "don't mess with Texas" shirt, and went back off to bed.

Monday, February 2nd:

It was a short night, interrupted at 6am by a text message from a coworker who obviously didn't remember the 2 hour time difference, but I made it out of there and onto my plane the next day. Waiting for that plane was one of the most depressing scenes I can ever remember experiencing. I was soooo sad to leave everyone whom I'd come to love so quickly. I felt as if I'd barely gotten time to know them all and now I had to go home and they all live on different continents. GWAC eloquently put it "you can't have that much of one personality type in one place. The world would implode upon itself. Each continent gets one!". Yeah sure, but it just means my friends live freaking far away.

I got kicked out of my seat by a mean woman with bratty kids and was stuck in b/w a fat guy and a smelly rastafarian for the whole way home. I was so upset anyway, and that just pushed me over the edge. I was crying the whole time we were taxing and when we lifted off the ground. People kept giving me sideways glances, but I didn't care. Eventually I calmed down, and the rastafarian guy must have felt bad for me, because he gave me his M&M's from the in-flight lunch.

I made it home safely and I'm back to work now--but things are forever changed now. I'm planning for my future yes, but I'm also planning my next big trip to see all my wonderful kindred spirits around the world.

I miss you all!

My first days in Los Angeles:

What can I say? This is FANTASTIC! First, I land at LAX with its gorgeous weather and I walk right off the plane to find the hotel shuttle. It's supposed to come every 30 minutes, but I walk out, call my brother, and within 2 minutes, there's the shuttle, ready to take me to the LAX Marriott. I hop on as the driver takes my luggage and I sit down in front of someone I don't know. That didn't last long. The quick 5 minute ride put me in front of the hotel, and as I watched the driver get my luggage, I noticed the passenger's jacket. Of course, it was an XOC jacket! I immediately ask "who are you?"! She laughs and says Ladyluck86! I smile and extend my hand. Sais08! We walk in, I check in with no issues, and I'm up to my room, taking in the gorgeous setting.

After a quick look around the room, I texted AmazonPenny and told her I was on my way down to the lobby. I ran down and turned on my camera, to make a short video of what it was like meeting someone for XOC, which turned into 2 minutes of me talking to the camera until she finally showed up. Needless to say, when she did walk in, there was some screaming and excited laughing. Afterwards we simply stood around chatting and talking, and catching other XOCers as they walked into the hotel. We caught up with xwpweb, unwiseocean, Moy Cullen, elsieaustin, and Bel Canto. We then heard that Shenanigan, twinkletoes, GirlWithAChakrem, faith102, warriorbard, orgami, were on their way down to the lobby! This was my first time meeting faith102 (forever after now called Irish) and so she saw me and literally launched herself into me. I'm amazed that I didn't simply collapse on the floor.

After that, there was some chilling in AmazonPenny's room, a bit of drinking, a tad bit of me trying to teach a line dance. I was completely unsuccessful, as I was too out of it to even figure out the correct steps. Then there was an attempt to order pizza for 12 people...but spending 90 dollars on pizza wasn't a good idea to anyone. We ended up going to the sports bar in the hotel for dinner and in retrospect, knowing the price of the sports bar food versus the pizza--we definitely should have gone with the pizza! Regardless, the restaurant was so much fun, and we had a BLAST. Couple of videos there too. I'll post them all eventually. The internet connection here SUCKS. For as much money as I'm paying for it you'd think it'd be better.

I then ran to register with Anne (Bel Canto) in the ballroom, and we took a quick walk through the vendors tables. That was fun, but I was so exhausted, after we ran into LavenderJane and Eniariom, they thought I was drunk off my ass because I kept stumbling and swaying. I wasn't drunk!

So I drug myself back to my room and collapsed. Really comfortable bed for my 11 hours of sleep! I like this time difference. I got up at 8 and it was really 10 in Houston. Fantastic!

So, the beginning of the Xena con! Friday morning began with a wonderful breakfast downstairs with Anne. LadyKate was supposed to join us, but wasn't able to make it. So we stuffed ourselves for her. Delicious bacon!

Then it was time for the con to begin! I did my hair, then walked down to meet everyone in the great ballroom. We sat down, socialized, and then everything began. Jennifer Sky Band was the only one I stayed to see as I was incredibly tired again (I've been sick!), but she was totally adorable. I wish I had brought a notepad to take notes on her speech, but I think I remember most of what happened. She talked about how she was 22 when she did Xena, and was a little astounded that it had already been 10 years since then. She apparently writes books for teens now, and she read a chapter of her latest to the audience. I wasn't paying attention too much, but it was kinda sappy and a very tween type book. I do remember her talking about memories of her stunts in Cleopatra 2525, and how she kept getting pushed off this platform and was always screaming or something. I was busy being a 12 year old since she kept calling the platform a shaft. I was dying, because yes-my mind is constantly in the gutter. Twinks and Shen were behind me and they were laughing.

I then decided I was finished, so I went upstairs to my room with the others and we got ready to go to Manhattan beach! The shuttle was $3 and it was a great ride. It was Irish, Anne, Twinks, Shen, GWAC, Orgami, and myself. We saw the beach and someone said "oh there's the water!". Twinks looked up in the sky and asked "where?". We all had a good laugh. We spent the next 3 hours on the beach and had our belongings attacked by seagulls, re-enacted a baywatch scene, and walked around the pier. Oh, we also had a delicious lunch at the Manhattan Brewing Company. Our shuttle ride back took us past a Taco Bell 3 blocks from the hotel, so that's where we're headed next! I'm off to find GWAC and grab Anne so we can all walk down there and have some wonderfully cheap food. Hooray!

I'll post some pictures up later! Thanks for stopping by--more updates tomorrow!

-Saisy (Regina!)

Ok then! Here's the start of my new LJ counting down to my wonderful weekend next January in Los Angeles! What's happening in LA? Well...

XENA CONVENTION 2009 LAX!!!

That's whats happening. Cannot contain excitement. *SQUEEEE*

I have bought my plane ticket, I'm purchasing my con ticket and my photo ops and reserving the hotel today. I'll be ready to go by next week!

Xena Online Community has led me to this wonderful thing, and I will be posting updates and pictures, and videos and blogging about my time there once I'm there.

My lil XOC sis, PBODYMLI is coming down to visit me, and she'll be assisting me once we get there in updating this LJ with pictures and accurate recalls of the happenings of XENA CONVENTION 2009!!

Countdown as of today: 59 DAYS TILL XENA CON!!!!