Today was a great day.
Not only is it the 5th annivesary of Florinda and my first date, but we went to a Comic book/Sci-fi convention in Anaheim. Florinda had never been to one, and I had not been since the early 80's. I met and got autographed photos from 4 of my heroes and/or crushes:
Yvonne Craig (crush). Back in 1967, she was the original Bat-girl on TV. I did not see her then, but rather in re-runs. She was one of my first adolecent crushes, and the first celebrity I got an autograph from at the convention. She was delightful and funny. We talked a little about Florinda's and my anniversary, and how her husband wanting to live to be 120 years old. Her advice to him? "Make younger friends." She also never misses The Big Bang Theory (I was wearing a BBT shirt).
Adam West (hero). You know him. He was the original Batman from the 60's TV show and movie. He is also (among many other roles) the Mayor on Family Guy. You can follow Mr. West on Twitter. He told me that he is on Twitter because his daughter told him he needed to be. The line was long, and we hurried along so that we did not take up any more time then it took for a quick exchange and autograph. He seemed like a very nice guy.
Erin Gray (MAJOR crush). She was Col. Wilma Deering on the 1979 TV show "Buck Rogers" By now, I was 17 and over my Batgirl crush (well, maybe not completely...). Having a tendency to admire strong female characters (I never cared for women who waited, helplessly, for a man to come save them), I found Erin Gray's Wilma Deering beautiful, smart, and able to take care of herself (and others). In person, Ms. Gray was all of those things, and was a pleasure to speak to. She told me about how she started Heroes for Hire. I donated $10 to Haven House (a shelter for battered women, of which Ms. Gray is a Board Member - you too can help) and had my picture taken with her. It took 30 years, but, as you can tell by the boyish smile on my face, it as totally worth the wait.
William Shatner (MAJOR hero). You may have heard of him. He played a character named James T. Kirk on a 60's TV show called "Star Trek." Unfortunately, Mr. Shatner draws quite a crowd, so I was not able to engage him in conversation as much as the others. We did speak briefly about his book "Up Till Now," which I had recently read, then I moved along to make way for the others autograph seekers. He seemed nice, but, distant. This is understandable. He's William Freakin' Shatner. I cannot imagine some of the encounters he must have with overly-friendly fans. You can follow Mr. Shatner on Twitter.
Meeting these four people was an exhilarating, yet odd, experience. I purposely tried to keep my conversations brief for a couple of reasons: Respect for their time, and to not come across as too familiar. Florinda and I spoke with Yvonne Craig and Erin Gray the longest and would have liked to have talked with them more, and not because of my boyhood crushes, but, because they both came across as nice, intelligent, caring, and funny people.
Not only is it the 5th annivesary of Florinda and my first date, but we went to a Comic book/Sci-fi convention in Anaheim. Florinda had never been to one, and I had not been since the early 80's. I met and got autographed photos from 4 of my heroes and/or crushes:
Yvonne Craig (crush). Back in 1967, she was the original Bat-girl on TV. I did not see her then, but rather in re-runs. She was one of my first adolecent crushes, and the first celebrity I got an autograph from at the convention. She was delightful and funny. We talked a little about Florinda's and my anniversary, and how her husband wanting to live to be 120 years old. Her advice to him? "Make younger friends." She also never misses The Big Bang Theory (I was wearing a BBT shirt).
Adam West (hero). You know him. He was the original Batman from the 60's TV show and movie. He is also (among many other roles) the Mayor on Family Guy. You can follow Mr. West on Twitter. He told me that he is on Twitter because his daughter told him he needed to be. The line was long, and we hurried along so that we did not take up any more time then it took for a quick exchange and autograph. He seemed like a very nice guy.
Erin Gray (MAJOR crush). She was Col. Wilma Deering on the 1979 TV show "Buck Rogers" By now, I was 17 and over my Batgirl crush (well, maybe not completely...). Having a tendency to admire strong female characters (I never cared for women who waited, helplessly, for a man to come save them), I found Erin Gray's Wilma Deering beautiful, smart, and able to take care of herself (and others). In person, Ms. Gray was all of those things, and was a pleasure to speak to. She told me about how she started Heroes for Hire. I donated $10 to Haven House (a shelter for battered women, of which Ms. Gray is a Board Member - you too can help) and had my picture taken with her. It took 30 years, but, as you can tell by the boyish smile on my face, it as totally worth the wait.
William Shatner (MAJOR hero). You may have heard of him. He played a character named James T. Kirk on a 60's TV show called "Star Trek." Unfortunately, Mr. Shatner draws quite a crowd, so I was not able to engage him in conversation as much as the others. We did speak briefly about his book "Up Till Now," which I had recently read, then I moved along to make way for the others autograph seekers. He seemed nice, but, distant. This is understandable. He's William Freakin' Shatner. I cannot imagine some of the encounters he must have with overly-friendly fans. You can follow Mr. Shatner on Twitter.
Meeting these four people was an exhilarating, yet odd, experience. I purposely tried to keep my conversations brief for a couple of reasons: Respect for their time, and to not come across as too familiar. Florinda and I spoke with Yvonne Craig and Erin Gray the longest and would have liked to have talked with them more, and not because of my boyhood crushes, but, because they both came across as nice, intelligent, caring, and funny people.
Sounds like a great time. How old is Yvonne Craig now? She has to be in her 60s at least. Right?
ReplyDeleteIt's a good thing you have such a nice wife who will go to these things with you. And let you meet your childhood crushes. :)
First, yes, I do have a nice wife (now she won't kill me).
ReplyDeleteSecond, Yvonne Craig will be 73 (according to IMDB.com) next month. Dude, she did not look 73. I thought she was in her early 60's.