GABIT attendees thread

[samcarterrules]

I am so with you on this one. (Rant in spoilers so folk can avoid.)

Spoiler:

My sister has never been able to come to terms with fandom of any kind. Our mother was a Mario Lanza fan who helped to run his fan club. Remember, this was in the days before the internet, but she had pen-pals all over the world. She had rhumatoid arthritis and was housebound most of the time. That club was her escape, and kept her 'alive'. She was very aware that her obsession would not be appreciated by her family, and kept her activities with it to the day time, and ran her house as best she could given her disabilities. I personally never suffered through this, and was pleased that she had this diversion to help her through the years of pain she bore. My sister, who is 8 years my senior, never complained to me, but I don't know if she felt in any way deprived.

She is learning to live with my obsession with Stargate and RDA. I know she doesn't like the time taken up with GABIT, and I am aware that she does resent it. I am getting very strong vibes from her about my forthcoming sojourn to Canada in August. Three weeks on the other side of the Atlantic is going to be quite a trial for her. I try not to feel guilty, but it's hard. I have my life to live. She still has her husband - mine was lost to me four years ago. Gatecon is going to be hard. He loved going to Vancouver and joining in the con. He would have loved being involved in GABIT.

My point, in this lengthy rant, is that some folks have a very narrow view of what it is to really get involved in something - anything. My sister has never (in her adult life) been 'into' anything (although as a teenager she would follow Doris Day's fashions and hairstyles very closely, being a natural platinum blonde). Her life has revolved around work and her husband (they have no kids - their choice). Holidays were always spent in very few venues in the UK. In retirement, she spends a lot of time in her garden and on her hobbies of photography and painting. I, and my kids, are all she has as a family, and she has very few friends. The internet terrifies her and she won't have anything to do with it. (Our Mum would have LOVED it!) She is tied to her way of life and I am 'out there' giving it all I can and living it all I can, and trying very hard not to feel guilty about it. (And succeeding to a degree!)

Mumsey - not bovvered what others think!

WTG Mumsey!




Julia(samcarterrules)

[Skydiver]

People constantly ask when we're having kids. I used to say "soon!" but that's a lie. I'll have kids when I am done needing to be selfish, and when I've seen the world. I'd already been to Mexico and New Zealand, but due to Stargate I have now been to Canada, London, Austria, Holland, Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy.

i get the SAME thing. the old 'your clock is ticking' crap. folks, i haven't found a man i can stand to be around for very long, and i'm sure not gonna get married just to keep society happy so....get over it.

I don't think i'll ever get married, and if i do, kids are highly unlikely. That's just how it is. I'd rather be single and happy than get married out of pressure adn bring a child into the world because society thinks i should

As outgoing as I am on here, and with people I know...I am EXTREMELY shy meeting people for the first time. Maybe I don't show it, but it terrifies me.

I'm massively introverted, unless i'm on a mission. If i need to make contact with someone to make something happen, sure. But just walking up to strangers and chatting? no.

Yup...thankfully the friend travelling there with me is well aware of this and is quite happy with me ignoring her for a bit every day when she stays with me lol.

.

sue and i travel well together because we do get each others' quirks. I need my alone time, she crashes early and gets up early. she also needs her 'get me the heck away from people' moments, wehre she doesn't want to be social, but just wants to get away

there's nothing wrong at a con with just going off on your own. Obviously, do it safely adn reasonably , but there's nothing wrong with some decompression time. Get away from the hustle and bustle and crowds and just curl up in a corner and chill.

It actually makes you understand why the actors need to go off on thier own every once in a while. They need to 'turn off' and just relax for a bit. That's why they have green rooms and sanctuaries for them, 'safe' places where they can chill.

[Celandine]

I am so with you on this one. (Rant in spoilers so folk can avoid.)

Spoiler:

My sister has never been able to come to terms with fandom of any kind. Our mother was a Mario Lanza fan who helped to run his fan club. Remember, this was in the days before the internet, but she had pen-pals all over the world. She had rhumatoid arthritis and was housebound most of the time. That club was her escape, and kept her 'alive'. She was very aware that her obsession would not be appreciated by her family, and kept her activities with it to the day time, and ran her house as best she could given her disabilities. I personally never suffered through this, and was pleased that she had this diversion to help her through the years of pain she bore. My sister, who is 8 years my senior, never complained to me, but I don't know if she felt in any way deprived.

She is learning to live with my obsession with Stargate and RDA. I know she doesn't like the time taken up with GABIT, and I am aware that she does resent it. I am getting very strong vibes from her about my forthcoming sojourn to Canada in August. Three weeks on the other side of the Atlantic is going to be quite a trial for her. I try not to feel guilty, but it's hard. I have my life to live. She still has her husband - mine was lost to me four years ago. Gatecon is going to be hard. He loved going to Vancouver and joining in the con. He would have loved being involved in GABIT.

My point, in this lengthy rant, is that some folks have a very narrow view of what it is to really get involved in something - anything. My sister has never (in her adult life) been 'into' anything (although as a teenager she would follow Doris Day's fashions and hairstyles very closely, being a natural platinum blonde). Her life has revolved around work and her husband (they have no kids - their choice). Holidays were always spent in very few venues in the UK. In retirement, she spends a lot of time in her garden and on her hobbies of photography and painting. I, and my kids, are all she has as a family, and she has very few friends. The internet terrifies her and she won't have anything to do with it. (Our Mum would have LOVED it!) She is tied to her way of life and I am 'out there' giving it all I can and living it all I can, and trying very hard not to feel guilty about it. (And succeeding to a degree!)

Mumsey - not bovvered what others think!

YAY for you! I totally feel the same way. I've always said life is short, probably annoyed most people with this very cliche phrase, but for me it's the honest truth. Sometimes it takes a good dousing with RL cold water to realize this, but be thankful when it does happen. I try and live every day as if it might be my last by taking full advantage of living my dreams, going on trips (camping, backpacking or otherwise) that most people look at me oddly for taking, especially when its concerning some "odd scifi show" and just doing what pleases me as long as I can afford it, and sometimes even when I can't. If I come home only have two nickels to rub together, I never regret the fun and memories I made.

Thank you for putting it so beautifully Mumsey.

Spoiler:

I've gotten a bit of sibling guilt from my brother. He gave me a bunch of grief over going to AT3 and I was so shocked. He's a singer and was a professional dancer when he was younger and has been all over the world and I've always been 100% supportive of his choices (financially and emotionally) but since I have had some health issues he felt that my money would be better spent looking for more help in that area not jotting off to London after an actress. We're speaking now but only because he apologized a week or so ago. Wait till I tell him I'm going to Vacouver to see RDA.... haha We've always been really close. We'll see how that goes over.

Your going to Vancouver too? We sooo have to meet up! And here I was thinking that I'd have to wait until next year at AT4..hehe.

[SPOILERS]

I can't wait!!

Yay!! Glad everything has been decided then. We Gabiteers can be quite the persuasive bunch I think.

[EH-T]

EH-T, LOL...Glad to hear it!

Hey! How are Ya?

Yes, I wore my badge all through France but took it off for the flight home in case they considered it a weapon!

Chelle, glad we convinced you although I don't think you really needed convincing just a little confirmation to relieve the guilt.

Suse, how wonderfully supportive of your sister. Good on you and Laura for rescuing Scifithinker!

Interesting to hear (or rather see) everyone's views on attitudes of others to their Stargate and Sam/Amanda appreciation. I am sort of like Skydiver, I don't wear Stargate T-shirts or even own any. I did try bidding on a Sanctuary one at AT3 but someone else got it. I'm not really a collector and while I like my picture with Amanda I must admit it resides in a drawer. I don't watch a lot of television and don't really discuss TV much with friends and family. I only know of one friend who is a big Stargate fan but there could be others, I just don't bring it up much. Some know it is my favourite show. My trip to AT3 was an add on to a trip to France to see family. For those who ask what I did in London I tell them but mostly they ask about Paris. It is not that I am ashamed by any means, I think it is just part of my personality, I generally prefer talking with friends and family about them not me. That's why GW is a nice outlet to discuss Stargate. Especially since it is a way to share the experiences of AT3 with those who were there or those who want to hear about it. Things will change if I go to AT4 as then people will ask why I'm going and what I'm doing.

[Mandysg1]

On the topic of not knowing anyone at AT3, (I did go with a friend from GW, JanSam) but I found it funny how a group of women wearing "I survived Canada" T-shirts brought many Canadians together

[EH-T]

On the topic of not knowing anyone at AT3, (I did go with a friend from GW, JanSam) but I found it funny how a group of women wearing "I survived Canada" T-shirts brought many Canadians together

LOL! Yes, to discuss what that was all about and whether our honour was in need of defending!

Funny also how I kept asking women where they were from in Canada (as they were wearing Canadian tops) only to find out they were impersonating Canadians! Right Antoa and JanSam?

[antoa]

LOL! Yes, to discuss what that was all about and whether our honour was in need of defending!

Funny also how I kept asking women where they were from in Canada (as they were wearing Canadian tops) only to find out they were impersonating Canadians! Right Antoa and JanSam?

We just wanted to be awesome like the Canadians

And I was made an honourary one. They figured that Minnesota was close enough

[EH-T]

We just wanted to be awesome like the Canadians

And I was made an honourary one. They figured that Minnesota was close enough

And now it is official, you even spell like a Canadian, eh!

[Skydiver]

eh?

[EH-T]

eh?

Ohhh, there's another one! Sky: honourary Canadian!

[Mandysg1]

LOL! Yes, to discuss what that was all about and whether our honour was in need of defending!

Funny also how I kept asking women where they were from in Canada (as they were wearing Canadian tops) only to find out they were impersonating Canadians! Right Antoa and JanSam?

Well...I did have an influence on one of them

[Fresh_Horse]

On the topic of not knowing anyone at AT3, (I did go with a friend from GW, JanSam) but I found it funny how a group of women wearing "I survived Canada" T-shirts brought many Canadians together

The question is, did they survive the Canadians they brought together?

Hey, you sort of knew me!

[ames]

Getting her hooked on Amanda, easy. Trip to UK in (maybe) November? Might be a bit harder.

Shhh - let me have my dreams, k?
She's hooked on Stargate, but not AT yet ... I say yet, people! I can be fairly persuasive and very stubborn when I put my mind to it ... unfortunately I come by it honestly, and mom's had a heck of a lot more experience at this than I, so ... she usually wins when we go head-to-head. The key is to convince her slowly ... just drop the idea in quietly ... point out that airfare, accomodations, and travel fares while there will be MUCH more reasonable in the Autumn than the Spring/Summer months ... seeing as she was totally against me going to AT3, I've got my worked cut out for me - but where there's a will, there's a way!

<snippity>
and when she thought she'd lost them it was very very scary...
<snippage>
My family are wonderful, they don't get it, but they accept it and to be honest a lot of the time they are genuinely happy to see I am happy regardless of the cause. They're a good bunch

the lanyard served a similar purpose to when you put a bell around a cats neck and yes...convince your mum! Mother and daughter trips are fun...AT events are fun...combine the two wheee

lol...mind you at the moment I am trying to persuade my Mum that she wants to go to Glasgow to play camogie (womens version of hurling...which is a strange sport that is a bit like field hockey with the ball in the air all the time).

Yes, yes it was. Luckily they were found again, so it was all good in the end.
*hugs heavy-ar*e, clinky, lovely lanyard!!!*
I think Mom and I could seriously have a blast at something like this. She wouldn't want to do the disco, and I'm not sure about the cocktail party, but the talks and the auction and general hanging out - those she'd love.
Pssst - is this 'camogie' kind of like lacrosse then?

Quotations spoilered for space:

Spoiler:

I am so with you on this one. (Rant in spoilers so folk can avoid.)

Spoiler:

My sister has never been able to come to terms with fandom of any kind. Our mother was a Mario Lanza fan who helped to run his fan club. Remember, this was in the days before the internet, but she had pen-pals all over the world. She had rhumatoid arthritis and was housebound most of the time. That club was her escape, and kept her 'alive'. She was very aware that her obsession would not be appreciated by her family, and kept her activities with it to the day time, and ran her house as best she could given her disabilities. I personally never suffered through this, and was pleased that she had this diversion to help her through the years of pain she bore. My sister, who is 8 years my senior, never complained to me, but I don't know if she felt in any way deprived.

She is learning to live with my obsession with Stargate and RDA. I know she doesn't like the time taken up with GABIT, and I am aware that she does resent it. I am getting very strong vibes from her about my forthcoming sojourn to Canada in August. Three weeks on the other side of the Atlantic is going to be quite a trial for her. I try not to feel guilty, but it's hard. I have my life to live. She still has her husband - mine was lost to me four years ago. Gatecon is going to be hard. He loved going to Vancouver and joining in the con. He would have loved being involved in GABIT.

My point, in this lengthy rant, is that some folks have a very narrow view of what it is to really get involved in something - anything. My sister has never (in her adult life) been 'into' anything (although as a teenager she would follow Doris Day's fashions and hairstyles very closely, being a natural platinum blonde). Her life has revolved around work and her husband (they have no kids - their choice). Holidays were always spent in very few venues in the UK. In retirement, she spends a lot of time in her garden and on her hobbies of photography and painting. I, and my kids, are all she has as a family, and she has very few friends. The internet terrifies her and she won't have anything to do with it. (Our Mum would have LOVED it!) She is tied to her way of life and I am 'out there' giving it all I can and living it all I can, and trying very hard not to feel guilty about it. (And succeeding to a degree!)

Mumsey - not bovvered what others think!

Good for you Mumsey!!!

Spoiler:

I've gotten a bit of sibling guilt from my brother. He gave me a bunch of grief over going to AT3 and I was so shocked. He's a singer and was a professional dancer when he was younger and has been all over the world and I've always been 100% supportive of his choices (financially and emotionally) but since I have had some health issues he felt that my money would be better spent looking for more help in that area not jotting off to London after an actress. We're speaking now but only because he apologized a week or so ago. Wait till I tell him I'm going to Vacouver to see RDA.... haha We've always been really close. We'll see how that goes over.

my family doesn't quite get my fandom thing. I tend to downplay it. I dont' wear stargate shirts or anything, and my actor photos are hanging on one corner in the room, or in an album. Usually, when i go to a con, i'm going to meet friends. My squees over the actors are private squees or amongst my online friends.

that's one thing i like about cons...i can be 'normal' there and simply enjoy myself and not feel like the 'odd geek that nerds out over a tv show'

Luckily (or unluckily, I suppose) my family isn't large (Mom, Dad, Grandma, and a Sister with kids) and although I love them all, we're not THAT close. I visit my parents and my Grandma regularly (we visited Saturday, in fact), and although they know why I went to Europe in the first place, I don't go into details with them. Nor do they know how deep my love for Amanda truly runs (hey, most of you guys don't even know. But I don't plan on going anywhere, so you'll figure it out in time. ) they really didn't even understand who she was until I said she was an actress on SG.

It's different being on my own now, and married. I've never been super independent (having been a CLINGY child) but I've been through two marriages (on the second now) and I think they've figured out that my life is my own. As long as I don't complain to them about bills, they couldn't care less how I spend my money. And my mother can't stand when I mention one thing more than a couple times in multiple conversations, so I avoid mentioning SG.

That's a lot of good advise, Julia. I've started to realize now that no matter how much I try to relax, I am going to feel unhappy and overburdened in a life of 40hr work weeks if I don't do things for myself, and have something to look forward to. I get home from work and head straight to the computer. My husband works nights but gets home around 9:30pm. I know he can't stand my time on the computer, but I also know he realizes that is where my friends are. In here *taps monitor*. I know I'm a terrible wife. I truly am. I don't enjoy spending time with my husband unless we're traveling, or doing something I love to do. Luckily he was the one who introduced me to Stargate, and he loves the show and the conventions. The only reason he's considering not going to London is to save money, and so that he can spend more time with my best friend Deneen and her husband in Vancouver (we met on a Stargate board in 2006). Otherwise he'd love to go both to London AND AT4 itself.

I have few friends who I still keep in contact with who AREN'T SG fans. Not because I don't like them, but because I have come to the conclusion that life is too short to waste it holding on to people you have nothing in common with. I used to DREAD my friend calling me to find out when we could hang out because I wanted to make excuses not to go. I wanted to be home, here, where I could not feel WEIRD about loving Amanda Tapping, or wanting to talk about S/J (not on this thread, but you get my meaning.)

People constantly ask when we're having kids. I used to say "soon!" but that's a lie. I'll have kids when I am done needing to be selfish, and when I've seen the world. I'd already been to Mexico and New Zealand, but due to Stargate I have now been to Canada, London, Austria, Holland, Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy.

And I wouldn't change a moment for the world.

I think AT3 was one of the first times in the recent years where I truly felt like I was where I was supposed to be.

I'm blessed with a relatively forgiving and rather open-minded family -- most of the time. In truth, when it comes to scifi obsessions, I'm nowhere near the top of that pile in my family (Dad's side, anyway) My cuz Peter once created and wore a functioning Borg arm for a StarTrek convention ... I think he was all of 12 or so at the time. In fact, he met his wife at a StarTrek con (not that same one, of course)! The only holding us back from making a huge family splash at these wonderful shindigs is simply the cost. (Although if GABIT were to do a gathering in, say, Toronto, that story might change slightly - I'm just sayin'! LOL) Dad and I have slowly been wearing Mom down, and she's finally admitted that sci-fi is cool too To be fair, in general they're happy when I'm happy ... and if money weren't an issue, I'm sure we'd all be happy going to events and whatnot together! There are things about me my parents are less supportive of/simply don't understand, but being a scifi fan is definitely not one of them.

YAY for you! I totally feel the same way. I've always said life is short, probably annoyed most people with this very cliche phrase, but for me it's the honest truth. Sometimes it takes a good dousing with RL cold water to realize this, but be thankful when it does happen. I try and live every day as if it might be my last by taking full advantage of living my dreams, going on trips (camping, backpacking or otherwise) that most people look at me oddly for taking, especially when its concerning some "odd scifi show" and just doing what pleases me as long as I can afford it, and sometimes even when I can't. If I come home only have two nickels to rub together, I never regret the fun and memories I made.
<snip>
We Gabiteers can be quite the persuasive bunch I think.

Very well put, Cel
I'm glad we met, and I'm looking forward to more meetings in the future!
...and yes, I've heard that rumour about Gabiteers ... hmmmmm Well as long as we're putting our powers of persuasion to good use, eh? LOL!

[ames]

We just wanted to be awesome like the Canadians

And I was made an honourary one. They figured that Minnesota was close enough

LOL - go Canada We do tend to be a welcoming bunch, after all

And now it is official, you even spell like a Canadian, eh!

Hehehe....we're contagious! =O

eh?

Look - our influence is spreading

Ohhh, there's another one! Sky: honourary Canadian!

Yay!!! (Yes, I've had sugar. Shush.) *bouncy*bouncy*
Welcome all - come join us Cdns - we have maple (syrup and cookies and sugar and donuts and drinks and ..... mmmmmmmmaple) and we'll even share!

[Mandysg1]

The question is, did they survive the Canadians they brought together?

Hey, you sort of knew me!

Oh yea and now I'll never be able to forget you