There is no place in the world quite like Calgary Expo. It is a place where it doesn’t matter who you
are or what you are geeky about, you can truly belong, even if it’s only for a
weekend. I know that I say this ever
year but this year’s Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo was the best
yet. I had a lot of amazing moments with
some wonderful media guests but I also had a lot of personal really cool
moments that were just about me.
Considering I thought this year really was going to be a quiet year –
because I didn’t feel like I needed three of me to do everything I wanted – it
brings me great pleasure to write this entry to say that it was far from
quiet. I may not have had as much on my
schedule as I did in prior years but this one is full of moments that I will
carry with me forever. I have more
written about this Expo in my notes than I have any other one I have gone to
before. I have never felt more special,
more confident and more thrilled than I was this year. As I get back to reality (and prepare to
start my scrapbook) sharing these memories is my chance to make the Expo
feeling last just a little bit longer.
This year was truly an amazing year.
There were so many great moments from meeting Neil Patrick Harris, to
getting a hug from Scott Wilson, to watching kids beat up on vikings with foam
swords. It is hard to pick a few
memories when so many stand out. I
managed to do seven photo ops, get nine autographs and still saw a bunch of
panels (thank god for my VIP pass). If I
was to share all the great moments this blog would be pages upon pages long so
I have decided to once again just pick out some of my favourites to share. Thank you for indulging me in my memories and
helping me stave off Expo withdrawal for a few more hours.
Favourite Weight Loss Journey
Moment (yep even at Expo my weight loss journey is still present)
I have to say that this year was a pretty eye opening year for me. Normally all the walking and standing of Expo
wear me right out after the first day, leaving me hunting for spots to sit and
rest. This year I found that my body
felt much stronger, less tired and until Sunday my feet didn’t even bother
me. At first I thought it was that I
didn’t walk around as much (having a less crazy schedule) but my average steps
in 2014 over the four days was 12,982 and this year it was only a fraction less
at 12,795. The crazy part about that is
my days were longer last year so I actually moved more in a shorter period of
time this year. Looking at these numbers
made me realize that it is proof that I am getting stronger and lighter. My body is better able to deal with walking,
stair climbing and lines this year that it has been before. Now all this being
said the very coolest moment for me though was walking back from the Olympic
Plaza to the Stampede Grounds. In past
years I always hopped on the c-train and took the quick ride back. This year I didn’t even consider that. I knew going down that I was going to walk
back. It was the balance to the fact
that I was going to miss some of my normally scheduled workouts. The walk is not long (probably about 1km) but
in past years there was no way I would have made it knowing I was going back to
spend hours upon hours walking around the Expo.
It made me feel pretty proud to make the choice to walk back and to
actually do it. I will never crowd onto
the c-train after the costume parade again.
Hehehe!
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| Amazing costumes and tonnes of people make for a very cool parade but a busy commute back to the Expo. |
Favourite Moment that Surprised
Me
It takes a lot to catch me off guard but Sunday morning as I entered
the Expo I had to say I was taken by surprise.
It is not every day that as you walk through a hallway people cheer,
clap and high five you. It was weirdly
cool. It put a huge smile on my face
that stuck with me all day. Sometimes it
really is the small things that can make big impacts. Starting the day with so much energy and
positivity set me up to have my best day of the Expo (even if it was also my
most tired day). To all the volunteers
that were there (and all over the Expo) thank you for being so positive,
helpful and great. I know you all have
to deal with a lot of crazy but you guys do an excellent job and help make the
Expo a great place to spend my time.
Favourite Panel
I don’t think I have ever gone to a panel that I didn’t love (even ones
that I just sit through just to kill time) but this year there are two that stand
out as my favourites. The first was the
Once Upon a Time – Queens of Darkness panel.
Lana Parrilla, Kristin Bauer Van Staten, Merrin Dungey, and Victoria
Smurfit were absolutely lovely ladies.
It was great to hear about their work on the show. I love the characters they play and there
were fascinating to listen to. I also
loved the fact before the left the stage they posed with the big pictures of
themselves that were on screens behind them.
As great as I found their panel though if I’m picking my favourite panel of the entire 2015 Expo there can only be one. It was legen…wait for it…dary! The one and only Neil Patrick Harris came to spend a day in Calgary and his panel Friday night was awesome. I have adored NPH since first seeing him forever ago on Doogie Howser. He is such a talented guy and it was an amazing opportunity to get to hear him speak. He was funny, charming, intelligent and sweet. I loved that he broke out with a little Dr. Horrible – Brand New Day. It was super cool to hear him sing in person even if it was only a few lines. He is such a fascinating person. I could have listened to him talk, joke and tell stories for days. I suspect it was a highlight for a lot of people.
Favourite Photo Op
I did 7 different photo ops this year – not a record number for me but
still a lot. I love all of my
photos. Each one of those photos was a
really cool, special moment captured.
The smile on my face is never bigger than when I’m hanging out during
Expo. When I look at my photos all the
memories come back along with the smile that is permanently glued to my face
one weekend a year. As much as I loved
each of my photos I always have one that I tend to be drawn to more and this
year that was my 90210 team up photo. It
is the perfect mix of nostalgia and good looking men…not to mention super
friendly and sweet. I was definitely the
giddiest in this photo and walked away shaking.
It was awesome! I will share more
about this later though.
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| The Gentlemen of Beverly Hills 90210 - Luke Perry, Ian Ziering and Jason Priestly |
Favourite Media Guest
Interaction
I have to say that over the last four years that I have been going to
Expo I have had a lot of great meetings with different guests. In fact with the exception of one, I would
say they have all been beyond anything I could imagine. I am not always the coolest person (although
I like to think as each year passes I am gaining the ability to keep the fan
girl giddiness inside while showing my calm collected self to the guests) and I
certainly more times than not have no clue what I’m going to say but I’m always
blown away at how well I am treated (This probably says more about the
expectations I generally carry about people than it does about how great Expo
guests are mind you.) This year there
were numerous moments that I loved but two stand out. One I will talk about later because it’s also
my top memory from the Expo but the other was meeting Ross Marquand which I
have chosen as my favourite interaction for this year. All the Walking Dead cast members were
amazing but Ross made me feel incredibly special. Judging by the comments I have been seeing on
Facebook and twitter I was not alone in this but it doesn’t matter. I love meeting genuinely nice people. It started when I went to do a photo op with
him on Saturday. He smiled and said hi
when I entered the photo. Once it was
taken he smiled again and told me he loved my hair. I was over the moon excited by this and it
made my day. It’s not all that common
for me to get compliments (although that is happening more these days) which is
probably why it stands out a bit more in my mind but none the less it made
Saturday wonderful. Then on Sunday
having heard a lot of people talking about how great he was I decided that he
would also be the very last autograph that I got. I had a good feeling that it would end my
expo on a high note. I wasn’t
wrong. He started once again by
complimenting me on my hair which got us talking about the colour and how it
makes me sad it comes out so quick.
Somehow that transitioned into talking about Expo and how he geeks out
at these things too. He said he was
super excited to have gotten to have lunch with Hayley Atwell and you could see
the excitement about it on his face. It
was pretty cool to hear. After all of
that I finally told him what I had planned to tell him which was that I was so
happy he has turned out to be good cause I really wanted to love his
character. At the end he came out from
behind the table and gave me a great big hug.
It was only a couple minutes of the whole weekend but it was so very
cool.
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| Ross Marquand - Super friendly and wonderful. |
Favourite Unexpected Coolness
After the epic day I had on Sunday I decided to send a tweet. I tagged Ross Marquand on it to thank him for
making my day perfect. I never actually
expect anyone to see the things I tweet but he did and he favourited it. There is something cool about knowing he saw
it. It was kind of like the cherry on
the top of the ice cream sundae that was Calgary Expo.
Favourite Overall Memory
Of all the very cool things I saw, experienced and did over the past
weekend one stands out above all of them and it totally took me by surprise. I still remember the morning I got a message
asking if I had seen the guest announcement of the day. I was home sick and hadn’t been playing on
my computer but very quickly had it on and open and saw that Luke Perry had
been announced. I was beyond excited by
this. I loved 90210 and was super
excited. You can imagine how much more
excited I was when they announced Ian Ziering and Jason Priestly. Of all the guests coming this year I think I
was probably the most excited about them (well until they announced NPH). On Saturday when I woke up I was stoked
because it was the day I was going to get to meet them. I had a photo op with all of them and also decided
to get an autograph from each. Luke
Perry’s was the last autograph I got.
When I walked up he smiled at me and I melted. I had always been a Brandon girl but Luke
Perry was instantly charming so I was starting to jump on the Dylan ship. He told me a story about how he once shaved
the head of a girl named Jill to raise money for cancer. He then told me he was going to sign my
autograph that I had lovely hair so I would remember him. It was the weirdest and coolest compliment I
have gotten on my hair (which seemed to be a hit with a lot of people at the
Expo). We chatted a little bit more and
I walked away feeling like the only person in the expo. Later on that afternoon it was time for my
photo op. All the guys were shaking
hands with the girls as they came into the photo area. Jason shook mine and before Ian could shake
my hand Luke was there. He was all ‘I
remember you. You stayed and chatted
with me. I loved that’ and he pulled me
in beside him. I don’t remember the
photographer telling me to look (which they always do) and I don’t remember
much of anything but the warmth of Luke Perry’s check next to mine. Jason and Ian could have been on another
planet…or maybe it was just that I was.
When you consider there was over 100,000 people that went through the
Expo over the weekend to have a moments where you truly feel like the only
person on the planet, even if it was just for a few seconds, it is pretty
special. It is not often that I get to
feel the way I did in that moment (special, pretty, wonderful) and that will
stick with me for a long time. I know
this because it echoes last year’s favourite moment with Mark Hadlow and I still remember that moment even a year later.
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| A cropped version of my 90210 photo and the wallpaper on my phone now. Hehehe! |
The only way I know how to explain how I felt this year as I walked to
my car for the last time leaving Expo behind was blissful. I was happy, relaxed and smiling from ear to
ear. When I look back at the last couple
Expos I have attended I have to say they have been really great for me and I
suspect some of it comes from the fact I’m finally accepting myself for who I
am. I can walk up to the guests with a
smile on my face and for the most part just be my normal self which inevitably
seems to win them over (for some crazy reason).
I feel comfortable and confident and I love Expo for helping create this
environment each year. There is really nowhere
else in the world that will let you completely be yourself and where you can
let whatever you love shine proudly through.
I have never once felt judged, never heard a bad word spoken behind my
back or felt anything but love and positive energy. I look forward to Expo every year because I
know that no matter what I love and no matter what I look like, it truly is the
one time of year I get to just be me – even if I’m fangirling and being 16 at
heart. There really are no better people
in the world than geeks. They are the
most accepting and wonderful group of people.
Thank you to all the staff, volunteers and guests of this year’s
Expo. I loved every minute of it and
will carry with me a lot of very strong, powerful and amazing memories that
will have me smiling and remembering just how cool it is to be a geek until
next year when we do it all over again.
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