8am: Am I up already? Yep. Shower calls.
8:30am: I wake Sharon up, so we can meet Kim and Kathy at 8:55. Thank goodness she bathes at night and I shower in the mornings, because there is no space in our tiny bathroom for two people to do their hair and makeup.
9am: We arrive at the hotel restaurant for the Fan Club breakfast. Today, it’s all about the buffet. I’m in serious need of a bagel, or any carb, for that matter. Breakfast is about the only meal we can guarantee getting, so we all have eggs too, in hopes it will last well into the afternoon. I’ve seen my other friend Kim from California, as well as Deana from last year’s trip to the FIDM, but haven’t really had a chance to talk. While at the breakfast though, we make plans to meet between autograph sessions, since I’ll be done early and they are back in row F.
11am: Hit the convention as the doors enter to finally see the Art room and get my free raffle ticket from Weta/Sideshow collectibles, Ringers freebies, and see what’s new in the last 24 hours. I also discover Collen Doran receiving the new prints of her latest work, Hobbit Feet, and snag myself 4/250. At $15, these were bargain compared to other artists and vendors. She also had a Legolas print for $3 and she autographed and personalized both of them to me. You even got a certificate of authenticity. While I was paying, I even managed to finagle a free t-shirt which has a Tim Kirk drawing, with the saying “Not all who wander all lost.” Which advertised their booth, Flights of Imagination, on the back. I place a couple of bids on two art pieces I like in the art auction room. Sharon used “buy it now” to purchase a few things, one of which I also loved.
12:30pm: Mike Foster, the North American representative of the Tolkien Society, had a presentation. I thought it was great to give the original, academic fan base some time at the convention. He even mentioned Dick Plotz, who I recommended to the Ringers film crew in spring 2004. (Dick is a Harvard alum, who was a member of the first college Tolkien Society in the United States. He then went on to help found The Mythopoeic Society in 1967, focusing on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams, aka The Inklings. Just a little Bostonian pride going on at that moment, since most people think the last leaders we had were during the American Revolution.) Hopefully, they included him in the film, since he and his colleagues truly were the first Ringers. Another funny moment happened during the questions regarding fan fiction. A woman asked if the Tolkien Society had a stance on fan fiction and he basically shot her down. He indicated that Tolkien did such a great job creating Middle Earth that people should spend their time creating their own original works, rather than trying to expand Tolkien’s world, because they weren’t up to the task. He didn’t just mean amateurs either. He made some rather pointed remarks about certain published authors as well, saying most clones of Tolkien were junk, when compared to the master.
1:30pm: I misread the schedule and head back to the hotel to grab a banana and drop my bags off. Luckily, I recheck the schedule in the room and realize that the Electronics Arts presentation was NOT an hour, but 10 minutes. I rush back, but I missed the first 15 minutes of Billy Boyd.
1:55pm: I’m sneaking up the aisle and into my seat, which feels awfully conspicuous in the second row. Billy is a hoot, as expected. Frankly, a large part of that is the Scottish accent. He could just read the ingredients on a cereal box and people would probably sit and listen, because the lilt draws you in. I just love his expressive face. He closed out his time slot by singing the drinking song from FOTR with a fan, where we all joined in. Very fun.
2:20pm: Elijah and Sean present together, which is always a treat. Apparently they hadn’t seen each other in awhile, so they were catching up and didn’t get to the fan questions for about 15 minutes. Most of the questions were things I had read before, which was a bit frustrating. Towards, the end, a fan asked how acting together had influenced their performances, to which Elijah exclaimed “I don’t think anyone has ever asked us that!” I’m beginning to think that questions should have been pre-screened and presented by a moderator, so these guys can actually think of fresh responses. There were far too many people who yammered on about themselves before they got to their question, wanted to present gifts (which was against the rules, unless it was during your photo op. Threatened penalty was being thrown out of the convention), birthday requests- EW and SA must have sung “Happy Birthday” 3-4 times during their hour, which is a waste of time. Let me put it another way. I have little patience for fangirl behavior on a good day and even less when I’m paying hundreds for a convention.
3:20pm: We finally get an intermission! The next thing is an auction at 3:40, which, believe, we decide to skip in favor of that frivolous meal thing.
4:30pm: I catch the end of the costume parade before getting in line for Billy, Elijah and Sean’s autographs.
5pm: We are now line experts. I’m chatting with my seat mate, Sue, when apparently I mention Boston and the girl in front of me turns to say she’s from Boston. In fact, Laurie knows who I am from the MOS Moot. She had contacted me about coming with her friend Tail-Kinker, but then was too sick to join us. Small, small world moment. The three of us talk until we reach the guys, and actually are still bantering together during the signatures, since we are lined up next to each other.
6-7pm: Arrive back at the hotel and relax for a bit before getting ready for the next event. Formal dress required. Thank you very much.
8pm: Did we eat dinner that night? I don’t seem to remember it.
9pm: We are back at the convention and lined up all the way back to the vendors room. TORn’s Corvar is coming down the line telling people that we can’t go in yet, because Billy, Elijah and Sean are still signing!!!! Let me do the math for you. 4 hours with no dinner or scheduled bathroom breaks. Hmmmmm. Anyway, Corvar spots me, and despite the new glasses, recognizes me. I tell him we met in Boston, when he was out for TORn’s Barlibash 2004 event at the MOS. He tells me that he probably won’t be visiting us again, because he’s convinced his girlfriend to move in with him. She lives one street down from me and we all met each other at the bus stop.
9:15pm: We get inside for the Awards Celebration and find a table with some friends. Kathy and I decide to hit the bar again, since waiters are scarce with the appetizers. They finally circulate a vegetarian option, olive tapenade, while I’m in line and ruin the eggplant by adding caviar to it. So, I get one glass of wine and two crackers the entire evening. Only one or two people are there to accept their awards, and after presenting very early, Billy left (Can I take a wild guess that the hobbits were looking for a well-deserved meal?). The stars from the supporting panel stayed until the end, which was nice, and we wrapped up the night around 11 or 12, if memory serves me right.