Dragon*Con 2009 (a.k.a. Prof. Chutney's Vacation!)

By Prof. Anya Chutney

For the last two year, my Roomate and I have attended Dragon*Con (D*C). Held over Labor Day weekend each year, D*C is an event that takes place in downtown Atlanta, GA (USA). You'll find fans of almost every genre of science fiction, fantasy, horror, comics, anime, art, film, television.... Well, pretty much anything you can think of!

Anya and the Roomie in front of the Tardis.

We go to attend panels (some with actors, some not), gape in awe at the amazing costumes, meet up with friends, and to simply have a blast immersing ourselves in the culture of happiness for five days!

Ever been around thirty-thousand-plus folks who just get why you love the things you do? That's Dragon*Con! Even if other folks don't like Joss Whedon shows or Harry Potter, for the most part, they show you respect... because there's something there that they love, too!

Dragon*Con runs twenty-four hours a day from Friday morning until Monday afternoon. Whether you want to spend all night watching "Doctor Who" or going to the Zombie Prom, there's something for everyone... any time of day!

Plus, you could spend a fortune in the dealer's room! We always save up money to buy some T-shirts each year.

Another really awesome thing about D*C is that you get to meet and talk to a lot of the actors. They charge for photos and autographs — but, you have to realize that they are paying their own way to the convention, for the hotel and their meals. They spend all weekend working to ensure that the fans have a great time. Most of them are just amazing.

This year, we were lucky enough to meet Miss Felicia Day — who has been on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and in one episode (thusfar) of Dollhouse. I thanked Miss Day for being such a creative gal and for breaking so many boundaries for women in the industry! She writes and produces (and runs!) The Guild, which is a web series she created about gamers.

Top left to right: Roomie, Anya, and Felicia Day. At bottom is our friend M.

We were also lucky enough to meet Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica (you've also seen him on Dollhouse and Warehouse 13). I got to tell Mr. Hogan how much I hated his character at the start of Battlestar Galactica... and how his performance and the change in the character made me completely fall in love with him — so much that Tigh was my favourite character of the series by the time everything was said and done!

Left to right: M., Michael Hogan, Roomie, and Anya.

The craziest thing to happen to me was meeting Ron Glass (from Firefly). We were just meandering around the Marriott lobby and ran into him. He was lovely enough to be willing to be in a photo with me!

Left to right: Anya, Ron Glass, and M.

Roomie and I also paid to have a shot done with James Marsters (from Smallville, Torchwood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel). He took a nice polite photo with us — then asked if we wanted to be bad citizens! This is the photo we got — he loves to play around with the fans. You'd get a huge kick out of seeing all of crazy poses he does with his adoring public. This man loves his fans — and knows how much we adore him!

Anya, James Marsters, and Roomie.

We attended panels for Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel. You often have to wait in long lines, but it is always worth it! You can ask questions of the actors and you get the best stories! They are all there to entertain you — and to have fun!

Michael Trucco from Battlestar Galactica.

Mary McDonnell from Battlestar Galactica.

Joe Flanigan and Rachel Luttrell from Stargate Atlantis.

Paul McGillion and Jason Momoa from Stargate Atlantis.

Claudia Black and Ben Browder from Stargate SG-1 and Farscape.

James Marsters and Charisma Carpenter from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

The Costumes at Dragon*Con are beyond belief! Here are a few that we got great shots of:

Kaylee's dress from Firefly.

Jayne's hat from Firefly

Fruity Oaty Bar girls from Serenity

Rose and the Doctor from Doctor Who.

Steampunk.

Hufflepuff students!

Itty bitty Dr. Horrible!

The Dragon*Con Parade is also NOT to be missed:

And, for the first time this year, I dressed up! It was a simple costume — but, it meant a lot to me. Charlaine Harris, who wrote the Sookie Stackhouse series on which HBO's True Blood is based, was at D*C this year. We got to see her panel — and she even answered one of my questions! A group of gals had decided to dress as waitresses from Merlotte's Bar and Grill (where Sookie works). Charlaine was lovely enough to take a photo with us and shake all of our hands!

This year was extra special to me because we got to hang out with a gal who we met at the Con LAST year. She and I have become friends online — and, we met her group of friends from online. They are an amazing group of women and we cherished the time we got to spend with them.

Roomie, K., and L. with the GORGEOUS cake from the local diner.

Each year we do something different — meet someone new — discover something else we love. We honestly needed a vacation after our vacation, but we are already making plans for next year — hopefully plans that will allow us to meet two Huffs from HOL! And, we are taking one of our dear friends with us to share the love.

If you ever get a chance to go to a convention — even if it is a day long convention near where you live — I would highly suggest it. We weren't sure what we were getting into our first year. What we discovered was something we adore and look forward to year-round.