I picked up the rental- a 2009 Hyundai Accent- at
1:45. We finished packing and loading the car, and
were on the highway by three o’clock. A series
of small mishaps- such as getting lost in Indianapolis
due to the highway we were to take being close and
getting caught behind a humongous traffic jam- caused
us to arrive at the hotel at 4:30 in the morning.
Forum member Ofelia (Sianna) directed boyfriend
Matt and I to the room we were sharing with Michele
and Katybacon (for that evening only), where we
collapsed into bed. However, I didn’t sleep.
This was partially due to the amount of caffeine
I had ingested in order to not fall asleep at the
wheel, but also because I couldn’t calm my
mind down. It kept zipping between the downright
crappy week I’d had to the fact that this
was the last convention in which I’d see Doug
until at the very earliest next May - provided,
of course, that Dougie isn’t called away to
be in Prague or Australia at that time.
We were all up
and dressed early next morning for the “Breakfast
with the Stars” event that Derek - Doug and
company’s appearance manager and owner/founder
of Coolwaters Productions - had arranged with the
convention. We (the Tankers) ate, caught up, chattered
about the upcoming weekend, and goofed off while
waiting to say hi to Doug and meet Camden Toy and
David Barclay. Ofelia (Sianna), Michele, and Katy
told me about their evening - they got to see a
magic show with Doug, Derek, and the rest of the
gang, and later in the evening, had a pyjama party
in their room with Dougie, who wore Kaddi’s
infamous “Have a Break- Kick a Cat”
shirt. I giggled and groaned enviously when I heard
of all this craziness.
During this time,
KateWisdom, AKA Renee, came over and introduced
herself as a DTF lurker. When the actors arrived,
Derek smushed us all together in the crowded breakfast
room for a picture. They printed off the pictures
and assembled them while we finished eating, then
the “Stars” circled the room signing
them. We were hugged, Bosied, kissed, petted …
all of the Dougie things. I officially have a nickname
now, by the way: Carly-Rhi.
We then went over
to the convention area, where Matt and I bought
our passes. We wandered around until we found the
whole Coolwaters area - David on the end, then Camden,
then Dougie, who had someone from Friday the 13th
next to him (Derek Mears was on the other side of
that guy- not sure who he was, exactly).
We all sat together
for the Q&A with Doug and Camden … and
of course we were the loud ones. After the Q&A,
we chicks went to change. Michele completely rocked
her Zev costume (from the TV show Lexx)
while I was a crappy version of a late 80’s
sober Stevie Nicks. Michele and I went down to show
off our costumes- Sianna took awhile on her makeup,
so we would meet up with her later. We went to see
Dougie, Camden, David, and Derek … I would
have to say my favorite moment was when Derek asked
what Matt was dressed as. “Meatloaf”
was his reply.
I was done with
my costume before Sianna had finished applying her
makeup. My shiny black boots were starting to kill,
and my ankles were weakening - not a good thing.
I went back up to the room to put on my jeans and
silver slippers. Sianna came down with me, dressed
as a demonic vampire. We all decided to go get food-like
stuff for Doug. Thankfully, there was a Taco Bell
across the street, so we all piled into the rental
and went through the drive-in. We also picked up
some chocolate milk for Derek at the BP station
next to the hotel. As it turned out, this was a
good idea, getting food for Dougie, as it was his
only meal that day. (He didn’t really eat
much at breakfast … he got up late and spent
all of the time signing autographs and chatting
with people.)
After the convention
closed, we ran off to Laser Tag. I had never played
before, and knew I was going to be pretty crappy
at it. Derek also said he had never played, also.
There were a ton of people who wanted to play, so
they split the group in two - Doug, Derek, Camden,
and David played twice. I got dead last. I think
Doug was in the top ten with our group, though.
Later, I heard that he did poorly the second time.
But Derek - the fibber - kicked all of our butts
both times, getting a slew of points and ranking
at #1.
While the second
group was playing, we went back to the room to change
and freshen up before the first party in Derek and
Alberto’s suite. (Alberto, for those of you
who don’t know him, is Derek’s very
sweet, quiet life partner.) There was pizza, pop,
and booze … always a good combination. Derek
showed us Doug’s teaser trailer. Somebody
had passed around a sympathy card for Doug before
we got there - pretty much a “sorry we kicked
your butt” card - too funny. A group of young
men gave Doug a humongous Cookie Monster T-shirt,
calling him an honorary member of their vocal group,
Acafellas. (As a former show choir kid,
it does my heart proud to hear there are young men
watching shows like Glee.)
Now came my absolute
favorite part: karaoke. I am a karaoke fiend to
begin with, and I’d had a couple of Derek’s
heavy-handed margaritas, so the night was guaranteed
to be a blast. All of us Fan Sapiens nabbed up Dougie
for a rendition of “Can’t Smile Without
You” – of course! I had a blast singing
“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with
Big Brother Derek. A bunch of us sang and did “Time
Warp” in front of the singing platform, and
we all did “Love Shack,” even Camden
and David.
The showgirl in
me was doing backflips when everybody jumped up
to dance to my version of the B-52’s “Roam,”
one of my all-time favorite songs. Sianna sang “You
Make Loving Fun” with my “Fandom”
lyrics. Dougie sang a sweet love song dedicated
to all of his Fan Sapiens, and we were all doubled
over laughing at the singlemost raunchy, dirty country
song I’ve ever heard, sung by someone not
in our group, but simply for that song, always in
our hearts. (And if anybody knows the names and
artists who performed both songs - tell me, please!)
There was almost always someone on the dance floor
… and if I wasn’t on the stage, it was
most likely me. What can I say, I’m a party-girl.
Matt isn’t
much of a dancer, though I did get him on the floor
a couple times. I danced with Derek a few times,
with the whole group several times, and with Dougie
once. He is a GREAT dancer, by the way.
Matt finished up
karaoke with a very appropriate song: “With
a Little Help From My Friends” by the Beatles.
We all danced. (This is when a very sloshy Derek
grabbed my hands, placing them randomly on his butt,
neck, etc, telling me to “make him ((Matt))
jealous.” Matt’s later reply: “He
couldn’t make me jealous, because I already
know you love me.”)
Doug, Camden, David,
Derek, and Alberto were to come to our room for
another pajama party, so we ran back to the room
to clean up and get into our PJs. After we had been
ready for half an hour, however, it was decided
that perhaps Doug had just gone back to his room
and gotten on the computer. I went to go get him.
He answered the
door fully dressed. I told him my mission - to bring
him to the party, and he told me to wait a moment,
he’d get into his PJs. I wandered over to
the railing of the hallway to wait. He was on the
third floor, and I looked down strait into the hotel
lobby. I’m normally scared to death of heights,
but three floors really isn’t that bad. I
had a nasty moment at Dragon*Con … the whole
group decided to ride the glass elevator as high
as it would go - approximately fifty stories - and,
having had a double shot of Liquid Stupidity (also
known as tequila), I went with them, vowing not
to look down. I sneezed … eyes fluttered open
… and we were on the forty-something floor
… I held it together until we got back to
the lobby level, then burst into tears.
That little memory
somehow brought back my humiliation from acting
class, where I had made a complete ass of myself
in front of my peers a few days before. I suddenly
wanted to cry again. I didn’t, because I hate
crying with a passion, but Doug noticed I was troubled
when he came out (once again in the “Kick
a Cat” shirt). While we walked, I told him
why I was upset.
He told me he still does that - forgets lines during
auditions, even while being watched by incredibly
good actors. I felt better.
Doug doesn’t
sleep a lot on planes, so when we got back to the
room, I gave him something I hope will help with
that. I made him something called a Quillow. When
it’s folded up, it’s a fluffy pillow,
but you can unfold it, and it’s a quilt with
a pocket for your feet. I got one from my French
teacher when I graduated from high school, and I
LOVE it. I made Doug’s a few feet longer than
mine, using blue-green fabric on one side, and the
other side had colorful doggies on it. He told me
he loved it, and curled up on one of the beds with
it tucked under his head.
Camden and David
showed up not long after that, and we sat up for
awhile, talking, drinking Dr Peppers and eating
KitKats. After awhile, Doug repositioned Camden,
and curled up next to him, falling fast asleep …
it was too adorable.
Too soon, though,
the evening had to end, and the men dispersed to
their own rooms.
The next morning,
we got up and grabbed some breakfast from the buffet
after checking out, waving good morning to Derek,
Alberto, Derek’s family, the Coolwaters employees,
and David. Camden and Doug were still in their rooms.
After breakfast, we wandered over to the convention
area. As the day picked up, Doug’s line kept
growing, but he wasn’t yet there. We pestered
Derek into letting us go get him, and he gave us
permission.
On the way up to
the room, we deliberated what to say. Matt had the
best idea.
“ROOM SERVICE!
We were told you wanted bread crumbs and lemon juice,
Mr. Jones!”
On the other side
of the door, we heard him cackling. He told us to
wait a moment and let him finish dressing. We then
walked down with him to the convention area. When
Doug took his place, we hit up Derek with permission
to kidnap Doug for breakfast, and got the okay.
So, at 2pm, we made a run for it. Doug and Renee
went with me in the rental, while Michele went with
Sianna. On the way over, I played my recent album
of choice, Avenue Q. If you’ve never heard
of it, let me just tell you … Sesame Street
for adults. R-rated, perhaps even X. We listened
to “Schadenfreude” and “Everyone’s
a Little Bit Racist.” We arrived at Taco Bell,
got our food, and ate. After we finished eating,
we got a video of Doug answering KateC’s questions
that she had sent along with me to ask him. On the
way back, we listened to “You Can Be As Loud
as the Hell You Want (When You’re Making Love)”
and marveled at Gary Coleman’s gorgeous voice
in the song.
When we got back
to the convention, we prepared to say our goodbyes.
I gave a Quillow to a delighted Big Brother Derek
- dark blue faux silk on one side, a Mickey Mouse
print on the other - who promptly unfolded it, wrapped
it around himself, and ran about like a goof. (See
why I love the guy?) I showed him how to refold
it, and he gave me a hug. I went around, giving
hugs and kisses to all those who I wouldn’t
see in a very long time … the Coolwaters employees,
Camden, David, Alberto, Derek’s dad, and Dougie.
(Derek and I already had an agreement to hang out
in Indianapolis next month.) And then I found Michele
and Sianna, who were crying, and I started crying,
too … all of us went back to Doug for more
hugs. I couldn’t help it. I had so many wonderful
times with the man, and the next time I’d
see him- at the very earliest- would be several
months. It was heartbreaking to have to say goodbye
to the man whom I had looked up to like a father.
In my distraction,
I must have missed saying goodbye to Renee. Sorry,
chick! I feel really bad for that now! We did manage
to catch Katy and her mom before leaving, and hugged
them as well.
We arrived back in Indiana at around 2 a.m.
Ironically, I was
asked a question in my Fundamentals of Success class.
What experience has changed me the most? There is
no question, it has been the events of the past
six months. I was shy and scared the first moment
I met Dougie, but it was not long before I wasn’t
scared or shy any longer. I’m still a little
quiet- but that’s different than shy. I can
strike up a conversation with someone and not be
afraid of what they say, because I know that always---
“There’s
Love!”
