We were up early this morning to make Levar Burton's 10 a.m. panel. It was quite good: he talked not only about Star Trek: the Next Generation, but about Roots and Reading Rainbow (we all sang the theme at the end), the latter which I didn't know was originally just a summer series, to head off what teachers call "summer lag" in reading. He told us someone is trying to develop a "VISOR"-type gadget based on what his character Geordi LaForge used to wear on TNG, and it is called a "Geordi." (The character of Geordi was named after a real Star Trek fan who was confined to a wheelchair.)

When this panel was over, I went downstairs to hear Dean Haglund from X-Files/Lone Gunmen and James stayed up in the ballroom to listen to Marina Sirtis (also from TNG). Haglund as always was very funny; we were disappointed to find out his very amusing-sounding Celebrity Dungeons & Dragons series that he was pitching was a dead issue—apparently Hasbro (company that now owns the rights to Dungeons & Dragons™) just ignored it and let all the required milestones run out. He's involved with a film called Illumination which Patrick McGoohan is coming out of retirement to star in. It's the true story about Dr. Rife, a doctor who in 1935 supposedly discovered a machine that would cure cancer. He also had some stories about conspiracy theorists he has met.

I got upstairs in time to get some photos of Marina Sirtis and hear the end of her talk. She mentioned that she got into acting without the blessing of her parents, who were old-fashioned Greeks, to whom the word "actress" was equal to "prostitute." James told me she also had a very funny story about why she wore a different costume than the rest of the Enterprise-D crew. She is now going back to England, because there are no good parts for middle-aged women here in the US.

James and I then went to the Hilton to get memberships for next year (they're cheapest that way), and then did a last turn around the Dealer's Room and Exhibitors Hall. Dean Haglund mentioned he had made a DVD of the improv show he had done the night before, and than all proceeds from selling it was going to Hurricane Katrina relief. I wanted to contribute to the relief anyway, so I got the next to the last DVD.

One of the memes asked just recently if I collected anything and I said not really, except for the St. Nicholas volumes and collie statues. I forgot the very small collection of Pocket Dragons (now at six) that I have managed to accumulate. I don't really like dragons all that much, but these are too cute. We have only one of the original larger ones (what we call the "Leia dragon"—it has an Oreo hidden behind its back and the name of the sculpture is "What cookie?"); the others are the smaller ones, only about two inches high. I didn't get the one that reminded us of Willow (it looked guilty), but got two little dragons sitting back to back, each absorbed in a book. I thought it was appropriate!

We ended this year's convention with the Mighty Rassilon Art Players production of the new version of the original musical Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. (If that sounds familiar, it's inspired by one of the lines in Shakespeare in Love.) This was a riotous two hours of young love, mistaken and hidden identities, a queen who won't sing, sailors of peculiar gender, an airy sprite with a hidden agenda, and oh, yeah, yet more iambic pentameter. Very, very funny, with outstanding performances and soundtrack.

We headed home via Michael's (of course as it always happens when it's 50% off coupon day, I couldn't find what I really wanted) and Linens'n'Things. We had stopped at Linens on Saturday night to get some new chair pads for the kitchen chairs (these have non-skid bottoms instead of ties, which break off or rip when you actually sit on them). They only had five in the color I wanted, a cherry—or rather an apple—red to match the apple theme in the kitchen, but I had a 20 percent off entire purchase coupon, instead of the usual 20 percent off only one item, so I grabbed them, figuring I could get the sixth one at the Akers Mill store today. Surprise! The red ones must be very popular, because there were none at all. Hopefully they will restock.

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 9:20:00 PM

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