Comic Con Day 1

We flew down to San Diego on Friday morning (after my 7am doctor's appointment). Marc and I each packed a backpack and a small overnight bag, which we were able to check at the convention center. Of course, right after we picked up our registration badges, they handed us these ginormous bags for carrying freebies and stuff. And when I say, ginormous, I mean GINORMOUS. If I set the bag down, it came up to above my waist. I should've taken a picture. Needless to say, they are so big, that people in the past have cut the bags up and made outfits out of them.

So we walked the exhibit floor first, and it was crazy crowded. The San Diego Convention Center has a huge exhibit floor, but it was still impossible to walk around without constantly bumping into people and occasionally resorting to shuffling through like cattle. I think the convention definitely needs to move to a bigger facility.

WB (the studio) had a huge booth, and they were holding autograph sessions with casts of various TV shows and movies all day. The first was "True Blood," and I had hoped to get in the signing line for that, but the crowd was insane. There were literally hundreds of people crowded around, waiting for the line to open. At this point I think there were about 4 unofficial "lines" and it was complete chaos. I could tell Marc's patience was wearing thin, fast, so I said, the hell with it, I didn't need the autographs that badly. I like the show, but I'm not a fanatic.

So we walked around the convention floor instead, checking out the different booths, which was still not an easy feat with all the people there. I totally struck out on getting swag - it was just too hard to figure out what was where. We went back to the WB booth while the "True Blood" signing was going on and checked out the actors while they were doing the signing. I wanted to get pictures, but it was still too packed to get a clear shot.

Around 3:30 we got in one of the unofficial lines that was forming around the booth for the signing I was really interested in, which was for "V." Elizabeth Mitchell and Morena Baccarin were signing that day at 5:15. We were close to the front of one of the unofficial lines when one of the security people there told us that they basically weren't pulling people from the unofficial line into the official line, and suggested that we pretty much just wanted to be close by when they opened the official line. In other words, complete disorganization.

So we moved to another "line" that was just as close by. We stood there for a while (and ended up in the front of this line, when some people left), when I observed a bunch of the security people standing around the line we had been in earlier, and I decided to go and find out what was going on.

One of the guards I spoke to told me that they had now made that line the official unofficial line, and that it was already closed and capped off at 42 people. I about died. I told him that we were just in that line, and that another security person had told us to move (not entirely the truth, I know, but close enough) to the other side. He told me to talk to this other guy, who was one of the security managers.

So I went to this guy and explained my situation, and apparently another girl was there with the same problem, pleading her case. At first it seemed dire, but then he said, "okay, let me see what I can do." He then took myself, Marc, the girl and another guy who was also in our line and said, "Okay, you guys are 43, 44, 45, and 46. That's it, you're the end of the line. Don't let anyone else in behind you." I almost melted in a puddle of relief.

In the end, it actually didn't matter as much, because they ended up opening the line to more people, I think for a total of 80 or so.

I'd brought my "Lost" DVD's in hope of getting Elizabeth Mitchell to sign them for me. Originally she was supposed to be doing the signing alone, but now with Morena Baccarin there, I didn't know if it would be rude to bring my DVDs from a show she wasn't on. So I ended up just having them both autograph the poster they provided. I didn't get a picture either, as they didn't allow us to use cameras. I think they were trying to make sure they kept the lines going.

I totally had a spaz moment, because when it was my turn and I was standing in front of the two ladies, I just stood there and smiled for a second before I realized they were waiting for me to tell them my name. I dumbly said, "Oh!" and held up my badge for them to see. Both looked at my badge and said, "Oh, Bonnie!" I think they were both thinking I was going to have a complicated name, since I held up my badge instead of just telling them my name like a normal person, lol.

I told them I loved the show (creative, I know), and they both thanked me, and when they finished I told Elizabeth Mitchell congrats on her Emmy nomination. She looked at me and said, "Thank you, Bonnie! Thank you!" She seemed super nice and genuine. Both ladies were stunning in person too, maybe even more so than on TV, which is just not fair.

After I got my treasured autograph (although I didn't care about the autograph so much as getting the chance to meet my favorite "Lost" actress in person), we went to get in line for one of the last panels of the day. I didn't even think we were going to get in, the line was so long, but we did.

We then met up with my cousin Mark and his partner Chris for dinner. We ate at this Cajun restaurant that was pretty good - my pasta was super spicy though! They dropped us off at our hotel afterwards, and Marc and I both showered and crashed for the night. We were exhausted!

Will re-cap Day 2 in another post tomorrow, as this is way too long.