AM~Erica's Dream Trek

So anyway...

If you weren't already aware...I'm kind of a GEEKY KIND OF GIRL. Sometimes...I scare myself. Especially when it comes to STAR TREK STUFF and STAR WARS STUFF.

There's also superhero stuff in there, too...but it's the sci-fi stuffs that I got stuck on.

Well, a few nights ago, I had a couple of dreams in the same sleep cycle. They both involved Star Trek in very different ways...

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TREK DREAM: PART I:

I was seated at a table in a restaurant. I don't know if I worked there & was just overzealous in my approach or if I was some kind of interviewer/reporter type person...but I took a seat at a table with Christopher Lloyd.

I was talking to him about his career...and then I almost came out of my seat as I got super excited talking to him about being a Klingon...and how he was part of the Star Trek family...and how I needed my picture with him because of that...and that I needed my picture with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy & George Takei! It had to happen!

Lloyd as Kruge

Ummm...I think I must've been an overzealous food service employee. And I think Mr. Lloyd was terrified of me.

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TREK DREAM: PART 2:

I was getting ready for some kind of dance thing. Not sure if it was a show, audition or rehearsal...but I was all done up! I was in this amazing white pinstriped, double-breasted suit with black stripes, matching fedora...very gangster like. And, in a very artistic fashion, I had on white face paint (almost mask-like) and a painted black handlebar MOUSTACHE. And all I know is that I was planning on dancing to some Rihanna song.

And then, after doing some last minute warmups & primping, I headed to the hardwood studio floor. But there was a door open between wall mirrors that looked like it lead to a small bathroom or dressing room...and primping in the mirror was a younger William Shatner...in a white gangster pinstriped suit, matching fedora, sporting a white painted face & a painted black handlebar moustache! *GASP*

However, he was not going to be performing to Rihanna...but something else. I decided it was fate, scrapped my Rihanna song, and somehow picked up on the dance moves to what The Shat had choreographed.

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Now that I am in full Trek mode, and after my geeky summer of with the family VISIT TO WICHITA & the GEEKY MOMENT IN SEATTLE, imagine how worked up I have gotten lately when I learned what is coming to town:

PLANET COMICON KC!

We couldn't go last year. I think we had too much stuff happening, but we had planned to go the following year. Well...it's the following year. And I was getting information about when & where to figure out the how!

I also heard that George Takei would be there! GEORGE TAKEI, PEOPLE!!!

*SQUEEEEEEEEEE...*

I also found out that Wil Wheaton would be there, people! WIL WHEATON!!!!!

*SQUEEEEEEE...*

And Peter Mayhew, folks....I said...PETER MAYHEW!!!!!

*GARGHHHARRRRRRHAHHHH...*

Oh...and Lou Ferrigno! That's right...I said LOU FERRIGNO!!!

Uhhh...Lou Ferrigno WITH Stan Lee?? *EPIC*

*RAWWWWWARRRRR...*

Oh...how do I work this out? Because I have an issue...
That weekend is way too busy. *sigh*
Teen Girl has a choir competition. Figures.
Lil Guy's first 2 games of the season happen then, too. But, of course.
Oh...and it's happening right around my birthday...

How? How am I going to try to work in?
I'm trying to figure out timing of appearances so I know how to elbow my way to the front & force (haha...I said "force"...*snort*) pictures with George, Wil & Peter, for sure.

This will happen, right? Amm-i-rite??

People...here's what we must do so this will come to be:

"Make it so..."

MAKE IT SO, PEOPLE!!!

Not much to ask, amm-i-rite? And why are my children looking at me funny & suggesting I should be a mental patient? Weird.

Oh...and while we are securing my photo opps...someone should totally make me a tshirt that says...

"Oh Myyy..." 

...and totally in Star Trek font. Thank you.

Me "posing" with George Takei's autograph on a mural is not good enough this time!!

Stay tuned...& LLAP...

God Bless, AM~Erica

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UPDATE: 

Well, since the above posting, there have been additions to Planet Comicon. Like Ray Park & Lindsay Wagner! Sweeeeeeeeeeet!!!

But now I am also a bit crushed. Remember when I said it was my birthday weekend? Well...things are too busy. Looks like I won't make it here to get the photos I was so hoping to get. *sigh* So I will have to keep up with the pics my friends post on social media to make do.

Was so close...but still so far...

Maybe next year...*sigh*

~~~ OR ~~~

Someone heading that way could "gently invite" the people I mentioned to come to my place for antioxidant-fortified Jesus water for some really great geek-speak...and some serious fan-girling on my part. That's all. Since the folks I am hoping to meet are all doing their thing while I am already booked elsewhere...be a sweety & just bring them to me. K? Thanks.

AM~Erica Has Been Geekily Looking Forward to This

So anyway...

We now have full bellies of yummylicious pizza...we are now headed to the one place hubby & I have been counting down for WEEKS to get to...

Wanna know where?

Well...do you wanna?

DO YOU?????

I got to get my geek girl on again. How you ask? My going to the EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum! It's a place that showcases Seattle-based musicians & some interactive exhibits, too.

And...

AND????

AND...they just acquired an ongoing exhibit of of Icons of Science Fiction!! *happy dance*

Part of this exhibit includes a holy grail of much of the science fiction world...well part of mine anyway...

This, my friends, is what I geek-girl squealed & cried over when I saw it...Captain Kirk's chair from Star Trek The Original Series! It was pretty glassed off...so we couldn't sit in it...*sigh*

Hubby in his best James T. Kirk pose & I giving LLAP sign...

that I've been trained to do since childhood.)

And around Kirk's chair just happened to be something else iconic from ST-TOS:

...TRIBBLES!!!!!!! Loved it!!

And...I about left a puddle when I saw THIS displayed right next to The Chair and Tribbles:

That excitement on my face is not a pose...that's the real deal. I almost peed my pants when I came this close to Lt. Uhurah's dress & earpiece!!!! My heart really did skip a beat, I think.

And to keep up the Trek Geek Girl in me...

...in a showcase of Sci-Fi weapons, there was a Klingon bat'leth used in The Next Generation! I prefer to believe Worf used it. Don't try to tell me otherwise!

And here is Data's uniform, also from TNG (in case you're aren't familiar with the canons). I was so excited, I wanted to hug it the best I could...but it was in a glass case, too. And, according to the picture, I became Tasha Yar for just a moment. And I would like for you to note that hubby took the pic. So we were unaware of how exactly the pic turned out until WAY later. D'oh!

We saw things from the Matrix movies (like Neo's coat from :Reloaded), Independence Day (aka ID4), and Men in Black...

And...AND???
I got to get my Star Wars Geekiness on again!!

From Star Wars, this is. Belonging to Yoda, this necklace & cane did.

Darth Vader's light saber used during the, "NO! I am your father!" fight scene with Luke.

Demasked Vader-back-to-Anakin headpiece from death scene.

And this moving on...was...SUPERMAN!!! One worn by Christopher Reeves in the 4th of the series:

The boys were inspired to stand in their best kimbo pose...
and Lil Guy unintentionally wearing a very appropriate shirt

And we ran into...The Tew-mah-nay-tah:

We also came across something that Teen Girl burst into her fan-girl tears & squeals:

Teen Girl posed with a dalek used in Dr. Who. So this is for all of you Whovians out there! And remember that bowtie she bought at Pike Place? Yep...she's wearing it. And, no, the dalek did not exclaim, "Exterminate!"

Then, on the outer part of the museum, I saw this...and had to take pause...uh...to pose...

OK...realized I could see my reflection...so still needed to give the LLAP sign...DUH!

And off we stumbled to the Horror Exhibit nearly connected...

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Points Finger at the Father Figure

So anyway...

Well, today is one of those holiday-thingys. It's Father's Day. And I have the same feelings about today as I do about Mother's Day. But that's beside the point.

Because of the day being forced to celebrate, we went to hang out for the afternoon at my grandmother's place to eat & kick back for & with my dad & my hubby.

Before I get to what I want to get into, much like my point about mother's on Mother's Day...the dad's tend to want something grilled/barbequed to enjoy. That generally means the dads are the ones to have to do it. Even though not all dads want or eat that food, nor do all dads grill...it is a general consensus. Trust me...it's very true in these parts for sure. So the dads end up cooking on "their day." Go figure. (refer to my Mom's Day post)

What I really want to talk about on this Father's Day is....me. I wish I were kidding, but I'm not. Not out of ego, I promise...more about why I am the way I am. You'll see where some of the blame lies.

My brain sometimes works differently than others. It just does. I can't always explain it, but it happens. I get in a weird zone & can't stop it. It's like one of those wind up toys that just keeps going until things wind down. No stopping it until then. Yep...that's what happens to me & my brain.

One of my dad's phases he's gone thru is word-working. We kind of joked that he needed to make Teen Boy a loft bed since we have been on the look out for a decent one for him. Eventually that joke became reality & my dad is on the last few stages of making Teen Boy's loft bed! WOOT! But my dad tries to go into detail with me that I don't care to hear. Probably because I'm not into the wood-working thing. And we have been in no hurry, so we haven't been pushing it...it's just whenever it gets done. Somewhere in there, my dad thinks we need to know every step. Just tell us what is needed from our part & when it's done. But my dad can't always help himself either.

Well, now that the bed is close to done, my dad was trying to bring up that I needed to bring hubby's truck out for hauling & blah-blah-blah. I told him to talk to hubby about the truck since I won't drive it. My dad thinks I am being ridiculous...but I'm not kidding. So, as he's trying to give me more details about this bed...it happened...my brain kicked into high gear...

I pretended I was driving a really loud truck. I was even making the sounds. I informed my dad that I couldn't hear him over my loud pretend truck. He rolled his eyes. Eventually, I stopped my truck to hear my dad, but as he was talking, I realized I couldn't hear him because my window was up. So I had to roll down my pretend manual window so I could hear him. I think he about gave up on me.

He had the gall to basically ask who's fault it was I was like this. I pointed directly to him, started up my loud pretend truck, and broke into a verse of a song that he made me listen to many years ago...

"Take me for ride in your Mack truck.
Take me for a ride in your truck, Mack.
Take me for a ride; take me for a ride;
Take me for a ride in your Mack truck,
...Mack."

All he could do was laugh. He, then knew that this particular deal was his doing. He made us listen to a lot of Peter, Paul & Mary. So "Car, Car" was the appropriate song to break into to prove it.

So I can also blame him, and I do, for Star Trek imbedded into my DNA. Along with Star Wars & much more Sci-Fi. And an array of Tom Lehrer songs.

As you can tell, I can totally blame my father-figure dude for my warped-drive sense of humor. Well, my mom's side, too...but it's so much more fitting to blame my dad for today. It's the gift that keeps on giving...

And this is what my loving hubby has to put up with. Bless his heart, right? I know...

Stay tuned...and...live long and prosper. (thanks, Dad)

God Bless, AM~Erica

Bittersweet Moment for AM~Erica

So anyway...

Yesterday marked something important in [American] history. After 30 years, the NASA space shuttle program launched it's last shuttle mission with the Atlantis. Only with a slight hiccup at T-minus 31 seconds, it lifted off majestically & beautifully.

I remember (vaguely) being awakened early in the morning to watch the very first of the shuttle program take off, back in 1981. I remembered I was in 1st grade. This NASA program has been a part of so many lives...and childhoods, for those 30 years.

I remember, as a kid, going on family vacations (usually tied into one of my dance competitions) & my parents planning trips around that. As I got thinking, we visited the space museum in Hutchinson, KS, space camp in Huntsville, AL...and even the Kennedy Space Center in FL (twice in the same week, I might add). So this program has pretty much been ingrained into my brain from nearly the get-go. Since so many astronauts & engineers that work for NASA say they wanted to be a part of that because of Star Trek...and the fact my dad's a Trekkie...I guess this all makes sense.

With that said, my family made sure to tune in yesterday morning to make sure to watch that last liftoff. And, I will admit, I got choked up. As I was making sure my 13-year-old son was up for it, I was trying to build the excitement of it...and literally got choked up instead. This was a moment where another portion of many of our childhoods are coming to a close. This is a difficult thing to face considering so many of my generation swear we will never grow up...and then we face a moment like this.

However, was our society pretty desensitized to the space program in the last several years? Back in the day, a shuttle launch was a HUGE deal! As of late, we were hearing that a mission was already completed, or they were showing a landing...or we would hear about yet another delay in take off. I feel like so many of us took this amazing program for granted. Not sure how much of it was people, but society & media instead. Now we have so many other channels to watch; too many other websites to check out; schedules are too jam-packed. So sad that the end of it all completely crept up on us. I mean...WHERE has 30 years gone?

Now, going back to when I said I remember watching the 1st lift off of Columbia when I was in 1st grade, I realized I recently said this in a previous post about the Royal Wedding. So, out of curiosity, I Googled when the 1st launch took place. I made an interesting statistical discovery that has a slight Lincoln-Kennedy-type thing going:

In 1981, the 1st NASA space shuttle launch happened in April & the Royal Wedding of Charles & Diana happened in July; in 2011, the Royal Wedding of William & Catherine (Kate) happened in April & the final NASA space shuttle launch happened in July. Oh, along the Lincoln-Kennedy tie-in even? The shuttles are launched from Kennedy Space Center! Talk about a bookend set of events...

You know...I watched the final liftoff yesterday and cried. It's so bittersweet. So amazing what the shuttle portion of the program has done for 30 years, yet heartbreaking that the toys & keepsakes of space though the childhood of Gen X & beyond surrounded the space shuttles.

But...we moved from the rockets/capsules of early space exploration, to the shuttles, now NASA is looking to travel beyond. Yesterday it was brought up that going back to the moon & trying for Mars exploration are in their sights. They did use the term "Deep Space" and they were quoting Gene Roddenberry about finding new frontiers. So cool hearing from astronauts! Maybe we need to work on our Vulcan greetings - looks like some sort of "First Contact" may happen sometime in the future.

For all those kids out there who are looking to be a part of the NASA program...I am so excited for where you all will be able to help take this program! And it is a great partnership that can be kept internationally as Russia is still sending flights into space. So, learn Russian & a few other languages to be able to increase the horizons of human space exploration together!

And to NASA, I say, "Live Long & Prosper."

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

Trek AM~Erica

So anyway...

This weekend is a busy weekend in our house: my older son left with his church choir, the Music Makers, this morning with several other 4th & 5th graders to visit the Heifer International ranch in Arkansas. This is to see where the money they raised goes to. Their choir put on an amazing musical called "Technicolor Promise". It's a fresh & fun retelling of Noah's ark while set to music. Fifty-three (or so) 4th & 5th graders created a 60 ft. ark in the sanctuary & became animals upon the ark. Truly amazing. In the process, they were trying to raise money for Heifer International & wanted to raise $5,000 to fill an ark. The kids were shocked & excited to find out that they raised enough to fill THREE arks! That's $15,000, folks! Heifer International was so amazed by this feat, they invited the choir to the ranch for a chance to see what their efforts helped go toward. Unbelievable experience.

Then, my daughter is set to be confirmed at church tomorrow afternoon! YEA!! This is a really big deal to her & us. This is the point where she decides that she fully accepts her responsibility in her part of the relationship into this marriage with the church she attends. A very big deal, indeed!

Oh, yeah...and Mother's Day comes in there somewhere, too...

But...I would like to talk about another event this weekend: the release of "Star Trek".

I want to preface this by saying that I am not necessarily a fan, but more or less grew up in a Trekkie home, so therefore having Star Trek knowledge & trivia ingrained into my brain. My father owns blueprints to all of the Enterprise ships, a Technical Manual, toy phasers from 1970-something, and the infamous Klingon dictionary. Ah, the dictionary - the book my father purchased for the "sole purpose" of the family learning the language in case we ever needed to have a private family conversation in public. Seriously. Ummm...we never learned the language, it's officially a piece in a Trekkie/Trekker's collection. Does it count that I apparently peed on Leonard Nimoy's leg when I was very young at an appearance? I don't remember that at all, but it apparently happened...

It's because of this stuff & being taken on opening weekends to almost everyone of those movies, that it did have an award-winning impact on my life.

1. During a computer conversion we were going through at a bank I was working at, the management thought it would be fun, for anyone who wanted to participate, to have employees write either a poem or short story about the conversion & then let the people of the conversion company pick the winner. I, of course, had join in...but what style would I write; what take would I have? Then, it hit me - Star Trek. And knowing how some fans would probe whatever is being said, I had to do some research. It was called "Receptionist Log" (since I was the receptionist at the main branch), and gave it a stardate. I said that our bank (which was really a starship, of course) was going to be signing a treaty with the new aliens & considered the previous "aliens" a threat & we were working to defeat them since they tried to corrupt our systems.

Between 4 branches, mine won & got me a paid day off of work. WOO HOO!

2. At a separate place of business that I was employed at, some of the other employees were raising suspicion as to what I would try to pull off for Halloween. I thought they were crazy & trying to convince me to go over the top with something when no one else would dress up, or something (like a hazing). Well, I did research & found that Halloween was a HUGE deal at this place - they gave prizes & all! Oh, man...what would I possibly do that would, or could I do, that would be different than any of the costumes anyone there had done before? A Vulcan was a logical choice.

Of course I did research for the crazy trek fans in case they bombarded this Vulcan with questions for authenticity sake. A back story had to be done & an appropriate name...so T'Rek was born (name was thanks to the Vulcan Naming System). I still have a pic of the infamous T'Rek...who, btw, took 1st place that year (2001) in the costume contest. I would, also, like to note that my father was furious that he didn't know about the Vulcan Naming System...ah-ha! I had him on one. he he he...

OK, does this qualify me to attempt to cover some of the things I've heard about in the new movie even if I have not yet seen it, but would really like to? Good! Here goes:

I have heard that some Trek fans have major issues with the new movie - why wouldn't they? JJ Abrams is a self-proclaimed Star Wars guy. He would rather have the force be with him than go warp speed or be beamed up. But he took this on...a prequel of all things "Trek".

1. I have heard complaints about the ages of some of the cast members in comparison to what they should be at the Academy. Seriously? I think that's mostly relative & should see the performances in action before making these leaps...they may actually work.

2. That James T. Kirk would NEVER be that rebellious. WHAT?? Chris Pine had already stated that there was no way he would touch the Shat's Kirk - dialect & otherwise. Maybe Jim was that rebellious & calmed down when he settled in as a captain...

* Just a note here that my daughter overheard this conversation between my hubby & me, and announced that she didn't know that William Shatner (aka - the Priceline guy) was in Star Trek...yes from the mouth of grandchild of a Trekkie...and that only Star Trek fans would know that. Imagine our shock at this point*

3. Spock was never that soft-spoken. YIKES...seriously? Zachary Quinto is in the same position as Chris Pine. Deal with it.

4. The Enterprise was built in San Francisco, not Iowa. OK - this is one thing you HAVE to get right. This would be that basic Star Trek fan knowledge - which is deeper, MUCH deeper, than basic pop culture knowledge (refer to note on #2.)

However, I have seen where people did get to catch the early screening, yes trekkies/trekkers, and loved it...some even going back to watch again. So glad to hear it! Now I wonder if I'll get my turn to see it at theaters, or just wait 'til Netflix will send it to us...

Plus, maybe this resurgence of Trek will encourage our young people to research big-time pop culture...like maybe my daughter will see who really was in Star Trek TOS...

AM~Erica, out.

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica