Star Trek convention - Pasadena!

Ok. This one REALLY makes me smile. I mean really, really, really makes me smile. And not just because I just made myself a grilled peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich with toasted almonds that was OFF the HOOK and tasted like childhood if someone loved you a lot....this one just makes me smile ANYWAY.

It doesn't SEEM like it was that long ago. But I'm not so good with time.

I was still going out with Gideon, and despite his jealous tendencies, was falling more and more in love with him. He lived in this crazy apartment out in Highland Park - which sounds kind of nice if you don't know LA, but which, in fact is a bit barrio. Low rent. But not dangerous. It's a VERY hispanic neighborhood that is in a corner of LA that's ....just hard to describe. But it's right next door to South Pasadena. You cross the LA 'river' from Highland Park, and all of a sudden you are in Norman Rockwell territory. One block west is Highland Park - full of wild parrots, smells of Central America, and cars on cement blocks in the driveways, and odd little lime green colored businesses - and then if you go 1 block east, crossing the Arroyo Seco, you are in a primarily white, affluent conclave of liberal democrats in Craftsman style houses who also have wild parrots screeching from their trees.

I was accustomed to waking up in Gideon's apartment - a piece of a chopped up house with a music studio that he had built in the front living room - to hear parrots yammering, babies crying , and the smell of corn frying - even early in the morning. It felt like I was waking up in El Salvador or something. And I loved it. And in this apartment, I got the call about the Sci/Fi convention.

This time, it would be in Pasadena, not far from Gideon's place at all. I had made fairly good money doing the Vegas convention, and I did need the dough....plus it was in PASADENA. No need for a babysitter, or anything! And this time, the organizer assured me that I would be on the ...what IS it called? not a MENU...not a flier....uh...PROGRAM!!!! I would BE on the program! The last time, I wasn't, because it had all happened too quickly. This time I would appear on said PROGRAM - Jennifer Nash - who played Meribor.
"Ok, I'm in." I said to the guy on the phone. "But I'll need an extra ticket to the convention, in case I want to bring someone."

The weekend before the convention, Gideon pulled me aside to tell me something serious.
"I can't come with you." he said.
"Ok, Well, it's only Pasadena. Maybe Mark will come with me."
"Well, I need you to understand that I am recording all that weekend." he said.
"Ok. That's not a problem. I'll be busy anyway."
"But, you understand by now, Jennifer, that when I'm working with people in my studio, like this - recording new stuff - it could go all night. I mean, I don't know when we'll be done."
"Ok." I said, thinking it over. He was so SERIOUS. "Well, I guess it's a good weekend for that, then - because I'm busy anyway. I'll just sleep at my house."
"Well,I wasn't saying THAT." Gideon replied testily. I was starting to get confused.
"I'm not saying I don't want to see you ALL WEEKEND...!" he declared angrily. I was even more confused. I thought he wanted his space. You know, to work.
"Ok." said I. "What exactly DO you want?"
"Jesus, Jennifer!" Gideon exclaimed in a completely exasperated manner. He acted like I was an infant - incapable of understanding the most SIMPLE ideas. "I'd like to see you SOME of the time - I just wanted you to KNOW how it's GOING TO BE."
"Ok. Whatever you want." I said. I was completely in the dark...and starting to FEEL like an idiot, too. I didn't care. I could sleep there, or at my place. We saw each other all the time - it didn't matter. I respected that he had to work and he had this new musician he was excited about working with.I just wanted him to be happy, and I didn't quite know WHAT the hell he wanted.

So, I rang up Mark, my faithful gay husband, who was and is a BIG Star Wars geek. And THIS time, it was a Sci/Fi convention - less centered just on Star Trek, much more Star WARS action going on. I thought he'd be happy to come and keep me company. He was.

We got there bright and early Saturday morning, and made our way to my table. Mark helped me get everything set up (not much to set in my case - some of the other tables were REALLY elaborate)and we got comfy. At one point in the morning some guy came up, super excited to see me, and asked if i'd sign some plates.
"Plates?" I asked, looking at Mark.
"Oh my gosh, YES! ", the man drooled. "I own a shop in Florida, and these plates will quadruple in value if you sign them!"
Mark looked at me with suspision, "I didn't know you were on any PLATES." he said.
"Neither did I." I replied. "Maybe he thinks I'm someone else..?"
But, sure enough, the man came back a few minute later with PLATES.....with MY face on them! Not only my face - they were of my episode. It was pretty weird.

I sent Mark to get us some lunch from one of my favorite Thai places. A place that Gideon had introduced me to.As we were sitting behind my table, eating this amazing Thai food and watching all the weirdness go down, a very well dressed Japanese man came up to me looking as though he were scared to speak.
"Hi there!" Mark blurted out. He was already getting extremely high on all of the bizzaro fun, I could tell.
"Excuse me." the man said. He had a heavy accent. "Jennifer? Jennifer Nash?" he asked. Only it sounded like 'Jeneefur'
"Yes. That's me." I said.
"AHHHH - Meribor!" said the small and tidy man.
"YES!" said Mark in his big voice, "She played 'Meribor!"
"AHHH." said the man again. "I am so happy. So happy you here. I came for you."
I gave Mark a withering look so he'd be quiet. The man was very shy.I didn't want Mark to scare him.
"You came for ME? You mean for Star Trek, Next Generation?" I asked him.
"I TEACH you!" said the sweet little man.
I shook my head to let him know that I didn't understand.
"I TEACH college class - all about YOU! I teach college in Japan!" he explained eagerly. It still didn't make any sense.
"I teach class on 'Inner Light' - global warming, and love and human...you see?"
I was beginning to see.
"Are you saying that you teach a class on THAT EPISODE? A whole class about it?" I asked, looking at Mark. Mark just shrugged.
"Yes! Yes!" he exclaimed "That is right! I teach class on 'Inner Light'! I came from Japan just for Meribor!" he pointed to my name and photo in the program to show me - as proof.

Well, you could have blown me over with a feather. I signed all of his photos, and took some with him - Mark thought it was all very amusing.
At one point, I sent Mark off to go and see all of the Star Wars people who were in a different room. He came back as giddy as a school girl.
"Peter Mayhew says he remembers you! He's going to come over to say hi!"

The afternoon proceeded with various hilarious intervals, and towards the end of it, a couple approached me that had met me in Vegas. They were clearly some hard core fans.

"Will you have dinner with us tonight?" they asked, "Some other Star Trek people will be there-we're going to a steak house that's really close by. We'd just LOVE it if you and Mark could both come!"

They had even asked about Gideon, remembering him from Las Vegas. Very sweet.
We all met in the bar. But I had to excuse myself for a moment to take a call from Gideon. He was acting a little crazy.
"Look, I just don't have time for you tonight, Jennifer." he said.
"Ok, That's fine. Mark and I are at the Hilton bar having drinks with some of the people from today. They've asked us out to a steak dinner. It's that couple we met in Vegas."
"And are you going? With these STRANGERS? I have to say, Jennifer, I didn't like the look of them in VEGAS."
"Yes. I think we're going." I said, out at the valet area, trying to keep my voice low.
"And you're at the BAR NOW?" Gideon said as though he didn't believe a word, "With MARK? GAY MARK is WITH YOU?"
"Yes. He is. And actually he's waiting,so I'll talk to you later, ok?"

I went back into the bar to find Mark happily holding court with a lively group. He leaned over and whispered to me as soon as I sat down, "I just peed next to Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker - the guy who played R2 D2!!! AND one of my favorite droids was in there, too! It was SURREAL!"
No sooner had Mark had finished explaining his amazing urinal experience, then GUESS who burst into the bar? Yes. You guessed.

My very, very busy boyfriend, Gideon.
He dragged me out to the valet area and yelled at me for God knows what - I still didn't know what he was upset about. There I was! WITH my GAY FRIEND - that he knew very well. Knew he was GAY, for instance. I think I ended up just yelling "You're crazy!" at him and high-tailing it inside. I was starving, and it was cold out there.

I told Mark that I thought we were going to some cheesy steak house, like 'Outback' or something. WELLL....what I didn't know!
We ended up at one the most OVER THE TOP restaurants I have EVER been to. It was like the Belagio! We had a private dining room. Gene Rodenberry's grandson was at the head of the table. The drinks started flowing, and then the shrimp and the crab and the stuffed mushrooms, and all of these fancy appetizers.
"Are we PAYING for this?" Mark leaned over to whisper.
"I don't know," I whispered back, "The entrees are $65. How about we split one?"
"Fine by me." Mark said. "I'm pretty full already on all this amazing shrimp!"
The evening went by like some crazy, drunken movie scene. We weren't asked - or allowed -to pay for anything, and when it was time to drive home - I was so full I felt handicapped. I dropped Mark off from one of the most eventful of all our evenings together, and went home to roll around with a terrible stomach ache from the surf and turf and the decadent drinks and desert.

As I lay in my bed in misery, I thought, "Well, not everyone gets to have Gene Rodenberry's grandson give them a toast for their excellent performance. That's something."