So I decided (at the last minute) to surprise Shannon and the Green Mustard crew by dropping into DragonCon on Sunday. My friend Eric and I drove up Saturday at midnight, arrived Sunday at 8:00 AM, spent 17 hours walking around the event, left at 1:00 AM Sunday night and got back to South Florida at 9:00 AM Labor Day. Here’s what transpired in that short time.

- Ran into Javier in an elevator.

- Bumped into Michael Stackpole in the halls and we took the time to talk and catch up. Mike is easily one of my favorite convention personalities and it is always a pleasure seeing him.

- Waved at Gary from a distance and told him I wasn’t at DragonCon… then avoided photos as proof.

- Shared an elevator with Cristine Rose (aka “Angela Petrelli” from Heroes.)

- Shared another elevator with Alessandro Juliani (aka “Lt. Felix Gaeta” from Battlestar Galactica.)

- Ran into Aaron Douglas (aka “Chief Galen Tyrol” from Battlestar Galactica) and thanked him for signing my wife’s autograph for free. Read more here.

- Had that Petey guy cut me off on an escalator. That blog is right… he is an asshole! (J/K)

- Bumped into George Lowe and talked about a mutual friend spending a lot of money on photos and autographs.

- Yes… we were talking about Joey Snackpants having moments of geigh with Shatner. I spent time with Mr. Snackpants at the con, but not TOO much it seems. He has “con flu” and I (to date) and still healthy.

- Saw Emily long enough to talk shop about a potential voice actor that NEEDS to be at SuperCon.

- Got Patrick Stewart‘s autograph… AWESOME.

- Ran into Allen C., Kimberly B., Troy D. and a few others who all saw me incognito to which I replied in true Clerks form: “I’m not even supposed to be here!”

- Paul Vincenti won an award for his amazing artwork at this year’s DragonCon – and I bumped into him to convey congratulations.

- I saw a contest and re-affirmed my belief that a certain someone is, in fact, a douche.

- I watched another amazing performance from the girls from Wasabi Anime at this year’s Masquerade. You should watch, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzcevRG6CSY

I can’t quite put my finger on it… DragonCon still seemed like a great time, but it wasn’t (as a whole event) as “spectacular” as the past couple of years.

At least I learned early that it is easier and quicker to buy a ticket at the door than it has ever been to buy in advance. Hopefully next year will get more bugs worked out.