Posted by Journalbookbinder
From the Chicago Convention, October 26 - 28, 2012
After going to last year's convention in Chicago, I decided I wanted to go in 2012 because there were some things I didn't get to do in 2011. This year I wanted to go for all 3 days and see as many guests onstage as possible, as well as get a few autographs.
And if you're wondering if you should be afraid to meet someone in person that you've only been in contact with
online, well, you probably SHOULD be! But in this case, I met up with Nikcon7 (we've only talked by e-mail and
through the wiki) and I'm so glad we did this! My partner was too sick with the flu to come with me this time, and, especially in light of that, it was great to have another Supernatural nut there to experience the whole thing with me. Much better than going alone. Thanks for sharing such a fun weekend with me, Nikcon7!
All quotes here are approximate; to the best of my recollection.
I got there on Friday. They started right in with the guests onstage and Kim Rhodes (Sheriff Mills) started the whole thing off. She was good onstage. Kind of high-energy and outgoing.She seemed to love working on Supernatural (actually, everyone did; several of the actors who appeared said that there is such a sense of professionalism and "family" on the set; that everyone does like each other and it shows and makes it a great work environment). She would like to come back, though claims she didn't have any episodes coming up. She talked about getting the script to "Time After Time" where she gets to kind of be an advisor/motherly figure to Sam and she said that all over the script it said things like, "she kisses Sam in a 'motherly' way" and, "she talks to Sam in a 'motherly' voice" and Kim kind of rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, okay, I GET it...I'm not going to get to have sex with him!!!!". Then she laughed and said, "but of course she couldn't because she's Bobby's". And joked that he character couldn't "move on to the next one (Sam)" after Bobby died. She said she's always cast in the "mom" rolls. But she doesn't mind. She talked about how she thought that Time After Time was a good chance for Sam to have some sort of motherly figure when he never really has had one; someone to point out that he needs to take better care of himself, etc. She said Jim Beaver's beard is very soft (as she knows from getting to kiss him).
Rachel Miner (Meg) was really good.She seemed very cool (like someone you'd want to hang out with). She was sick with a flu-like bug, but was a trooper and went on anyway. She talked a lot about the craft of acting and I enjoyed her time onstage. Her hair was blonde (!!!) She really seemed to appreciate everyone. She loved getting to do the physical stuff (fight scenes) on Supernatural; especially one where she got to beat up Jared (which is crazy because she's pretty small and he's so big). She said they try to do a lot with camera angles to make up for the height difference. She said she does think there's some genuine feeling between Meg and Cas.
Gabriel Tigerman ("gifted" child Andy Gallagher way back when) was really animated onstage.He was
entertaining.
Dick Roman...James Patrick Stuart. Though I disliked his character (or their lack of development of his character), he was great onstage and talked very passionately about acting and the various people he's gotten to work with .He was enjoyable to listen to. He did get some laughs when he talked about first hearing about how Dick Roman was going to go out...being told "You have to let Jensen stick a giant bone in your neck until you explode" and there was laughter over the double-entendre to which James said, "I thought, 'why not?'; he's (Jensen's) pretty cute." which of course got huge applause. He said the challenge with Dick Roman was that he had to play something that was trying to imitate a human. And since the arm of the real Dick Roman is still out there somewhere, it leaves a tiny window for him and the slim possibility that the character will return.
I did check out the Friday night karaoke party this year. People sign up to sing specific songs ahead of time and there was some VERY bad singing and some halfway decent singing .Still, it was fun. And you get to stand only about 10 - 20 feet away from some of the actors (Richard Speight Jr. and Matt Cohen). Kim Rhodes and Gabriel Tigerman were also there hosting and James Patrick Stuart came out and actually did some singing; he got into it! There were some very interesting costumes (not much that was Supernatural-related...though I did see several leviathan Cas costumes with the dripping black blood....there were lots of angels & devils, lots of cats, lots of non-Supernatural superheroes like Captain America and other comic book characters, and some very random ones like a bar wench, a mad hatter, something that looked like s slutty Marie Antionette, and some I wasn't sure what they were supposed to be! Note to everyone under 30 though...are you really experiencing something when you spend the whole time looking at it through your iPhone because you're taking photos to post online all night? There were many people who were not getting into the whole experience (not much enthusiastic dancing, etc.) because they spent the entire time trying to take photos of the actors onstage. Put your damn camera down and experience life for a minute! Just sayin' (and probably revealing my age). Because it was Halloween-themed, Richard Speight Jr. dressed as a giant pea pod and Matt Cohen dressed as a giant carrot (they said later they went to the costume store and just looked for what was most ridiculous) .Kim Rhodes dressed as what looked like an undead, slighty Egyptian character and Gabriel Tigerman came out looking like one of his eyes was missing. I didn't stay more than a couple of hours at the karaoke...but I think I heard people coming back to their rooms around 3:00 am; so it went on and on.
Then it was Saturday...more guests to see:
DJ Qualls (Garth) was great. I didn't get any photos of him (my seats were particularly far back that day)
but he was great fun to listen to. He told a great story about doing a stunt for another show where he had to fly off the back of a horse (or mechanical bull or something) and on the second take, the harness pinched his crotch and when they lifted him up by the harness for the stunt, it was the most pain he'd ever been in. DJ said that he loved being on Supernatural and for him, a guy that has a character actor face, he's used to getting cast as the underdog but he loves being able to kill things on Supernatural and get to be a hero. He told a good story about his first big break in the movie "Road Trip"...he was working in Nashville in local community theater and figuring that he'd never get to go much further than that (he studied English and literature at the University of London for a time) when a casting director from LA happened to be visiting his sister in Nashville and went to this community theater show DJ was doing and asked if he'd audition for "Road Trip". He went to the audition, but he said he was sure he blew it; he didn't think it went well. He was driving back to Nashville after the audition in Texas and on the way home, his car broke down, and he just started to cry at the state of everything. But when he got home, he got a phone call and they wanted him for the part because the casting director loved the way his ears stuck out and when he auditioned, the light from the window behind him kind of illuminated his ears that were sticking out and the director loved that. He got the part. You never know where or why your big break will come! DJ did say that he smoked a fair amount of pot when he was younger and said that you should NOT do that if you want to be an actor because it really does affect your ability to remember things. He seemed like such a likable, slightly crazy guy. Sometimes he talked a little too fast onstage and was hard to understand. He talked about being bullied as a kid because he was small and looked funny. But wanted everyone to know that you CAN get the career you want; just keep at it. He and Jared really bonded on the set of Supernatural and are now very good friends who apparently keep in touch quite regularly. He was good!Might have been my favorite guest to listen to.
Emily Perkins (Becky) was perhaps the most surprising. She was SO quiet. Almost shy. To the point that it was kind of difficult to hear what she was saying because she spoke so quietly. She looked as if she really had no makeup on and you might have walked past her and not known who she was; looked very much like a "regular person" and seemed quite shy! Nothing like crazy, over-the-top Becky. That was 100% acting there! And, interesting fact, she has been lifelong friends in real life with the woman who played "special child" Ava!
Rob Benedict (Chuck) was okay (some just seemed better at interacting with the audience) but I can't
remember too many specifics about what he had to say. He appeared with Emily Perkins and there was some joking about her (as Becky) "dumping" him (as Chuck). He talked about his band and how he'd like for Chuck to come back, but is not sure how they could do it.
While there was a break between guests onstage, we took the opportunity to go make a donation to Misha's Random Acts charity who was there collecting items for a women and childrens shelter in Chicago. One of the items on their list of "wants" was "journals" and that's what I do, so I made 50 journals to donate back in August. It was extremely gratifying to donate those journals. The area director for Random Acts was there along with her teenage daughters and it was great that daughters thought the journals were great. Thanks to the Random Acts people for making it easy for me to donate these items that would otherwise have been too expensive (too heavy) to ship.
Richard Speight (Gabriel) and Matt Cohen (young John Winchester) are always REALLY funny. Richard is a
total ham. There's never a "dead" moment when he's on. The two of them are obviously friends and are fun
together. They tease each other like a married couple would.
Misha Collins.Last year, he was great onstage. This year, I was less impressed....he does like to throw any stupid questions back at the questioner and part of the problem with his time onstage was that he was asked a lot of stupid questions. I have no idea why. He didn't have much to work with. I wish Misha could have been onstage with some other people (if he could play off the other actors, I think it would have been pretty entertaining). He did tell a story about how, sometimes, they are all just a bunch of overgrown boys and there was actually a wrestling match in a hotel room with he and Jared and Jensen that resulted in Jensen getting rug burn right across his forehead and Misha dislocating an elbow. Wouldn't we all love to see a video of that night! If asked about Misha, the other actors (like Jim Beaver) always acted like he (Misha) was pretty crazy. It seemed that he was more of the prankster; I guess he filled the entrance of Jared's trailer with Canadian pennies once that all poured out when he opened the door....then Jared returned the favor by filling Misha's car with pennies. Misha seems like such a smart, fun, guy. I just wish the people in the audience had had better questions for him.
Jim Beaver appeared last on Saturday. The poor man was so incredibly tired (they drove him straight from the airport where he got in after his flight from California was delayed and canceled several times) that he could hardly string a sentence together. But he would be back onstage on Sunday and would have more time. On Saturday, he was on for 20 minutes, and then Misha joined him, then Misha went on for about another half hour on his own. But once Misha came on, he kind of took over, so I was glad that Jim had more time onstage on Sunday. He was one of the main reasons I decided to go back to the convention this year (Jim wasn't there when I went last year).
Saturday night, since I didn't have gold tickets that included the cocktail party, I decided to wait in line for Jim's
autograph (he was signing at several times during the weekend). But before that, I went to have my photo taken with him. He was dancing around; trying to stay awake and "up" (he was so tired, poor guy!). The photos go by very quickly, but it was a true pleasure to stand next to someone whose work I admire! Then it was on to wait in line for his autograph. We waited in line for about an hour and a half. At one point, when we were getting close to the front of the line, Jim got up and looked down the long row of people and proclaimed "You are all sick! (for waiting so long for him)". Jim was very sweet (as you would imagine). Jim actually go a chance to look at my book (I had him sign the book I made with the Impala on the cover); he said, "This is cool!". He signed it to me (with anyone who is NOT Jared or Jensen, they have the time to personalize something). I hate that by the time I was standing in front of him, I was so tired that I didn't have a coherent thing to say! I want a do-over! I so wish I had prepared something to say to Jim! I just had nothing but to thank him!
I also need to mention that, just by chance, TNT was running a 24-hour Supernatural marathon from noon Saturday to noon Sunday. I have to say, it was so much fun to be in this rather upscale hotel with Supernatural on the TV's in the lobby, the restaurant, everywhere! If you live in a place where there aren't any other dedicated Supernatural fans, let me tell you, it's a huge kick to watch these episodes with someone else who loves the show as much as you do!
I also took the chance on Saturday to pass out some classic rock CD's to promote the wiki. (It was just a free music CD I made with the wiki address on the envelope.) What was great was that a few people who picked up the CD's already knew about the wiki and told me that they thought it was a great site! Sitting in the lobby and talking to people as I passed out the CD's was also great fun.
Then it was Sunday.
First thing Sunday morning was the photo ops.
Everyone sits in the auditorium waiting to be taken down to the photo area. It was really interesting to be sitting
between a very nice woman from Iowa who was there with her teenage daughter and both were completely giddy about the whole thing...and on the other side of me was a meticulously made-up tiny little woman from
AUSTRALIA...that's a long trip to take all the way to Chicago! The woman from Australia obviously put a lot of time into hair & makeup and was wearing what looked to be about 7" platform heels.Then there's me in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt and cowboy boots. Point being, there were many many different people there and everyone was incredibly nice; we were all there for the same reason and we all love the show.
This year I did one photo with just Jensen and one with Jared and Jensen (you can see the Jared & Jensen one on my profile page; right at the top!). I knew from last year that these experiences rush by in a flash. This year was the same. It was fun to see the people in front of you in line have their photos taken. My Jared & Jensen photo turned out better than my Jensen-only photo, but I have to say that it was worth the cost of the photo to be able to put both arms around Jensen for a second! As was the case last year, both guys were very gracious. There is really only time to say hello and "thank you", but I think the photos are totally worth it. As I left the room after my photo with Jared & Jensen, Jensen was already turning to the next person in line and I walked past Jared and just kind of put my hand on his upper arm as I went by and said, "Thanks" and he said, "You're welcome" as I left and he turned to the next person....as you can image, the man is in shape! His arm felt great! And Jensen had the softest sweater on; I just wanted to make a pillow out of it!
Then it was back to the theater for more guests onstage starting with Richard Speight Jr. and Rob Benedict again. They were good; Richard is a natural with the audience. He walks up and down the aisles (everyone else pretty much stays planted onstage). He got many laughs and Rob seemed to enjoy Richard's jokes as well. Someone asked Richard if he ever got sick of "Dick" jokes with the name "Richard". He said, "Baby, I WRITE the Dick jokes." Richard talked about his time as a Pepsi spokesman briefly and said that they were trying to decide if he should snap his fingers in the Pepsi commercial or do something else...but one of the directors on the project was familiar with Supernatural and knew that, as the Trickster on Supernatural, one of his trademarks was snapping his fingers. Richard told her that if they do that, the Supernatural fans will go nuts and she said, "I know"...figuring that the Pepsi ad might get more play and more press if they went that way. That's what they did. Richard went on a tangent about those fake (slightly suggestive) names that people leave when they make reservations...like "Phil McCracken" and "Heywood Jablowme"....old jokes, yes, but still funny. Rob tried to jump in with "Mike Hunt" which Richard immediately deemed too dirty and went about shaming Rob for "going there". Rob acted ashamed.
Between guests they played videos that fans submitted and the winners won $100. Some were really really good! Especially the funny ones.
Then it was time for Jared & Jensen. It was a complete sell-out and the place was totally packed - standing room only at the back so I was glad I had purchased reserved seats for Sunday. Definitely a good idea if you don't have gold or silver tickets. I'll try to remember some of what was said by them:
When Jared appeared onstage, he had a black shirt on, but he had the plaid shirt on earlier in the day for the
photos....he explained when he got onstage that someone threw up on him so he had to change shirts! What they do for their fans! I wonder if whoever it was was sick or if their nerves got the best of them and they just threw up. Poor Jared, but even more; I feel bad for the person who got sick.How embarrassing!
Someone asked what they learned on Supernatural that they take with them (or what they "got" from Supernatural to which Jared replied "A wife and a kid!"....Gen and their baby were both there in the auditorium; up in the front row...every so often the people near them would say "Awww" as the baby did something cute; but I was too far away and never saw Gen or the baby; but it was sweet that they were there...since Gen acted on Supernatural, I've never understood why she doesn't get onstage and take questions at these things!But it was nice she was there.) Anyway, Jared's real answer was that he has learned that things take time. They've been on Supernatural for so long; they've learned that good things take time and you have to stick with it.
Someone asked what kind of car Jensen has. I was surprised that he said he doesn't have one. When he's home in LA with Danneel, he drives her car. He used to have a full-sized pickup which he says was ridiculous because he never really needed to haul anything. Jared joked that Jensen would have to throw a script in the back of the pickup and that was about all he ever had to haul. He sold the pickup. He said he'd might like to have a classic Impala one day (maybe after the show ends...I think he's hoping he'll be given one and he should be!!!!). But right now they are driven to work (he said they figured out after season 2 that working 16-18 hours days and then expecting them to drive themselves home was not the best idea if they wanted them back at work in one piece the next day).
One audience member asked Jared and Jensen what their favorite food is that their wives cook for them (okay; a bit sexist...why is the wife the only one cooking???But I have to admit I was curious about the answer.) I can't
remember Jared's (except that it involved tomato soup; something Gen made him the first time she ever cooked for him)...but Jensen said his wife is really an excellent cook and she makes some kind of pork dish with a peanut and coconut sauce that is just amazing. Once he flew home to LA for the weekend and she had made this roast with homemade chicken pot pie as a side dish (a side dish??????That's usually a main dish!) and a pumpkin chiffon pie. He said he got home and asked her what all the food was for; were they having people over or something? And she said no, she just felt like cooking. And he said he just looked at her and said (essentially), "you're the best," like he couldn't believe she just did it for them. So sweet. He said he always requests this pork dish and she tells him "no" she's not going to make it, and he asks "why not?" and she says, "If I always make it, you won't long for it." Awwww.
Jared was asked what his favorite costume was that Jensen had to wear. He said it was definitely the gym teacher outfit from After School Special. Jensen had a specific coach in mind from his past and insisted that the costume department find the perfect pair of high-waisted polyester shorts. It took them awhile, but they found them! They hinted that soon, in an upcoming episode, there will be some costumes that we'll all enjoy.
Jensen talked a little bit about the purgatory scenes. He said he really loves the "look" that purgatory has. (I do too!) He was asked what was more difficult; the scene in hell (when he was being stretched - tied up at his wrists and ankles) or the scenes in purgatory. He said the one hell scene was definitely more difficult. Thanks to Kim Manners who insisted it look that way; he said it was quite uncomfortable. He said that often, there is the temptation do overdo the makeup - just cover someone in fake blood for a scene, etc. Jensen said that, over the years, they've learned that less is more, but for purgatory, he and the makeup artist decided to just go for broke; lots of dirt and blood, etc.Jensen though they'd only be shooting in "purgatory" for a day. But it turned out to be more of an ongoing thing and now he's stuck with getting the full makeup each and every time.
Jensen was asked how Jared has changed over the years....Jensen said really it's like he's another person. When you watch the early episodes, Jared is so young and has physically changed so much over the years that it's like you're watching someone who might be a relative of Jared's instead of watching Jared himself.
There was much teasing about Jensen's age. That, of the two, he was the "old" one. Jared said, "He'll be 35 in
March." To which Jensen protested asking why he's already making him older than he is...he's still 34. There was some joking about how Jared has a better memory (hard to believe with all of the lines they both have to
remember!).
Someone asked who would win a pie eating contest. Jensen said that Jared would win any kind of eating contest. That Jared's really the one who eats like Dean. FYI; Jensen likes pies like lemon meringue.... more to the end of cream pies instead of fruit pies.
Jared said he would be cutting his hair a bit at some point since he has to sort of act like they might be
believable FBI agents; it can't be super-long. But he does like having it longer.
When asked about Halloween this year, Jared said Thomas would be dressed up as Yoda. Jensen said that every year, he volunteers at a haunted house for kids. No one know it's him (he's in a mask) but he said he gets great personal enjoyment out of completely scaring kids to death. He jumps out at them and was pretty proud of the fact that, over the years, he's had a few kids flat on their backs on the ground; they just fell over, scared to death. He wondered if maybe he should get some psychological help with this; he enjoys scaring kids so much.
The general consensus seemed to be that they hope the show will go for 10 years. As always, Jared and Jensen really seem to appreciate and enjoy their fans.
Jim Beaver was back onstage after Jared & Jensen and on Sunday he was much more rested and really did a good job. Something that made me mad though...after Jared & Jensen, about 30% of the people left!!!! They ALL should have stayed for Jim! He's worth it!That bothered me.
Jim Beaver. On Saturday, people who asked questions kept coming up and starting by saying, "Hi Jim, I just have to say you remind me of my dad..."I mean, about 5 people in a row said this. Finally Jim said, "Isn't there ANYONE out there who thinks I remind them of their dead boyfriend?" (Anyone available and attracted to him...) Jim was good onstage on Sunday. He is like a less grumpy version of Bobby. He is someone I would love to have dinner with; to talk politics (he posts about politics on Facebook and is pretty much in line with me) and other things. Someone got up to ask him a question and started by saying, "You and I are at completely opposite ends of the spectrum politically, but..." and she went on to ask him a question about acting. He answered her question, and ended by saying, "And you'll come around on the political stuff eventually," which got lots of cheers.
Jim seemed very pleased with the Death's Door episode (he should be; he did a great job...and I've read that "Death's Door", according to Jensen, might be his - Jensen's - favorite episode of the entire 8 seasons of Supernatural). He said his favorite episode he was in though was Weekend at Bobby's since he got to do so much in it.
Jim also talked about how he always wanted to be a Hollywood stunt man when he was young. Finally, a few years ago, he did some sort of stunt fall down a set of stairs and he got a separate "stunt" check as payment for that and he felt like he'd finally arrived.
Jim said his roll of Bobby was only supposed to last for one episode. The woman who played Missouri Mosely was not available to shoot so they wanted someone to sort of fill that "advisory" roll for Sam & Dean and they thought they should go with someone kind of the opposite of Missouri (a man instead of a woman, etc.) and then his roll just kept going. I'm so glad it did. Bobby is really the heart of the show!
When asked if he thought Bobby should have ended up with Ellen or Sheriff Mills, the audience pretty much
unanimously yelled out "Ellen", but Jim would have picked Sheriff Mills; he said he (I'm not sure if he meant "he" as in "Bobby" or "he" as in "Jim") has a thing for women in law enforcement.
Someone asked why Bobby and Sheriff Mills never got to have that kiss goodbye. That they kissed spontaneously when Bobby realized she'd "discovered" that Borax burned the leviathans, but when she went to leave, they had that moment where they almost kissed, but didn't. I'll have to watch this again because I never noticed, but Jim said, "Did anyone notice that when they said goodbye it was the NEXT DAY and they were wearing different clothes?". The whole auditorium kind of went, "Ohhhhhh" and Jim said, "I can't believe that got past all of you!Nothing gets past you guys!". I totally missed that and, apparently, everyone else did too!
Someone asked Jim about a particularly funny moment in his life. He told a story about his daughter Maddie. When she was little, after Jim's wife had passed away, Maddie was looking at his wedding ring and she asked about it and he said, "This is daddy's wedding ring," and she thought about it for a minute and asked if mommy had a wedding ring and Jim said yes, she did. So Maddie thought a little more and out in the audience I'm thinking that this is really sad and touching; this little girl trying to figure out her dad and mom's relationship even though her mom is gone...and Maddie said, "Daddy has a ring....mommy has a ring...bathtub has a ring!" which just cracked Jim up. He said he doesn't even think she knew what a bathtub ring was, but it was so funny to hear her make the word associations. Pretty sweet.
There was one little girl who asked Jim a question (she sounded like she was around 10 at most) and she said she'd been a fan since watching him on Deadwood. To which Jim responded incredulously to the girl's mom, "You let her watch DEADWOOD?!". I've watched a couple episodes and every other word is "f u c k". I was rather surprised too!
I was surprised when someone asked him a question about playing roles where the character loses their wife (implying how does that affect him since he lost his). I would never ask that! But I always wondered that about him myself. He said that about 6 months after his wife died, he was on a show and he had to do a scene as a guy who lost his wife (not Supernatural). He talked about how he thought that, though he wishes he never had to go through losing his wife in real life, if anything good can come of it, he was able to access parts of him and access emotions to apply to the role that other actors just don't have. It was very very touching to hear him talk about it and he got a big round of applause.
I really enjoyed Jim and I'm glad I made the trip to see him (knowing that he would be there this year and he wasn't last year made me decide to go). Jim would really love to be back on Supernatural, but also isn't sure how that could happen with the storyline. He sent out a really nice Tweet before he went onstage on Sunday about how he really missed Jared & Jensen and was happy to see them in Chicago. My opinion is that they should never have killed off Bobby!
After all the guests were done onstage, it was time to wait for autographs from Jared & Jensen.
First the bad news....the autographs are a PAIN! If you don't have gold or silver tickets, you are dead last and the line is long. I waiting in line for about an hour and a half for Jensen's autograph then had to run over to get Jared's because they were about to leave. By the time they've signed for all those people they are tired and a bit glazed-over. (I was exhausted too.) I thought that getting an autograph might give you a moment to talk to them, and it does (a really really short moment, whereas there's really no time at all to say anything to them during the photo ops), but it's so short and, being at the very end of the line of people getting autographs, at that point, Jared & Jensen were both pretty ready to be done (I don't blame them). Jared and Jensen really didn't get to see the book I made...in order to move things along, they have several handlers (I didn't know this because I didn't get autographs last year) and one of them takes your ticket and the other one gets your item ready to sign so you're not wasting time fumbling with the thing you want them to sign when you're in front of them. Well, "getting mine ready" meant opening the book to the page I wanted signed; so I tried to quickly close it after they signed so they'd notice the book cover, but they were both so tired and about ready to be done that they really didn't notice. You are not allowed to have them personalize anything with your name (takes too long). And, sorry guys, gotta say your signatures are pretty illegible! But I was there, in front of them, and got to say a few words to them, and that was worth it, though I don't think I'd try to get autographs again.
I planned for awhile what I wanted to say to Jensen. But I even had to cut that short statement down to fit into the few seconds I had. I said, "You are exceptional at your job. You make it look easy." He said, "Well, I love what I do, so that helps." And I thanked him and he thanked me and that was it.
Then I went over to Jared (again, I was almost the last one)....same thing; the book was open when handed to him so he never really saw it. I said, "Hi, thanks for doing this" and he said "Sure" (or something like that). Then I said, "I can't believe you have to be at work at 6:00am tomorrow" (which is TRUE; he has to be back in Vancouver, on the set, at 6:00am tomorrow morning!) and he said, "Well, I'll try to sleep on the plane" and I think he winked at me! Then I said "Thanks" and he said "Thanks" and that was about it for Jared. Jared was more engaged; even with the last person.
I think Jensen was tired and about ready to be done. So he wasn't 100% engaged with me when I was in front of
him; but he tried! At least he did hear what I said and responded.
After all the waiting for the autographs, I decided to take myself out to dinner (my friend had to leave right after Jim Beaver was on in order to get home that night; so I was on my own at this point) at the super-expensive hotel
restaurant. Well, it was expensive, but everything was really cooked perfectly. It was quite excellent. In honor of the weekend, I had to go "Dean" in the spirit of the convention and have a beer and a cheeseburger; a bacon
cheeseburger no less!...I never eat these so it was great. It was a great end to a great weekend.