Thank you SO much! I really appreciate the response. I'm not at all opposed to actually having to, oh, commute and make a good trip. I think it would be even more fun. It's just hard with three kids under 11 years old, two dogs, and two kitties to have to board somewhere, hehheh. Thanks, again! Jess

To Whom it May Concern: These always sound so fun and interesting, even though I don't see one in my future. My sister in law was just asking, and I would like to know as well, how and where can we find out about various scifi/fantasy/gaming/comic cons in the Midwest (Think Omaha, not Minneapolis or Chicago) area? Yeah, I'm kind of a n00b in this arena. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. My Brother-in-law and D&D friends were of no help to either of us. :( I'm genuinely interested.

Huh. Well, I'll be damned. That actually looks pretty good. No explosions. No casualties (yet). Now, I can breathe.

Absolutely what she said. :) And if anything cool ever comes to Omaha, now that we have the big Qwest Center and MidAmerican Centers out there, that would be sweet. We kind of get the shaft a bit in the Midwest unless I'm able to drive 8-9 hrs to Chicago or Minneapolis. OOH OOH OHH! The Qwest Center would be cool, seeing as my husband gets any tickets he wants from his Qwest vendor at work.

This makes my heart so happy. I feel like I can relate a bit more, for once! :D I recently quit my PT job to focus on family, writing, health and hobbies, and immediately a director friend asked for actors to do a little diddy melodrama at his church for their...wait for it... "Night of AWESOME!" I am having so much fun. We laugh ALL the time, but we are fantastic and gettin' r done, too. I'm glad he asked and I said yes. I was in a show in February with a local Theatre Company I joined here (my only paid Gig ever)... it was so SERIOUS and pressure-filled that I swore I was done with theatre for good (after having just gotten back in after so many years doing the parenting thing). I took this little gig, though, as a step back out and realized, instantly, who and what you work with, as well as why, really can make or break an experience. I am dead freaking tired, and we were feeling it last night, but we still had a blast. The guy running the event said he would like to compensate us in some way, which seems silly to me, as we signed on to do this to help our friend and because we love it. I am so happy for you, words don't cut it.

http://www.dorktower.com/images/comics/DorkTower971.gif Done. :)

Sorry if everyone's already seen this, but my friend sent it to my SIL and me because of our rather verbal "slight disdain" re: Eureka cancellation and the network previously known as Sci-Fi... http://www.dorktower.com/images/comics/DorkTower971.gif So true.

So a DVR being tuned into a channel/show at time of airing and recording it is not counted toward ratings? I do recall hearing a big mess about this because American Idol scheduled their start/end time in such a way that the DVR's would cut it off, angering people and forcing them to watch the show in real time...to improve ratings? I don't watch reality shows, not much primetime, and I don't have anything to go on other than hearsay. It never occurred to me to look into it further. If DVR's affecting ratings (in a bad way) is part of the problem, I hope networks can get it straightened out because, frankly, I can NEVER watch TV shows when they actually air. Even if I could, I still record them so I can watch later while I work out or fold laundry, etc. Bleh.

Yay social networking. Like how I found out that my aunt had passed away, from my uncle on facebook, before his own brother (my Dad) had been able to get the phone message. Disrespect. I'm so sorry, but this was a GREAT show. It is well known and will be remembered as such. You got to be part of it, which is awesome. I'm jealous! Best thing yet is how people know you through so many different outlets. You're back in the game, baby! Now you get to be part of even more great projects to come. I'll add this from my sister-in-law, Sandi from G+ : "Syfy blows giant, sweaty, hairy donkey balls! To say 6 more episodes of Eureka next year and then pull it within a couple days?! That's even douchy-ier than Fox!" Hehe, I love her.

Define successful. We're not all going to enjoy any kind of celebrity, and not all celebrities are going to be "super-famous". Some will... You've many times over described yourself as. "A person. A human being." Who isn't? I mean, in the end, upon death, we're all going to shit and piss ourselves just like everyone else. "Back in the day" there was a time when I swooned over all of you guys. I particularly had a thing for River, reading his biography and learning as much as I could about his background, family life, etc. He always seemed very "real" and down to earth to me, for a teen celebrity. He was amazing. Someone I truly idolized as a person. A "human being". As time went on, I got over the teen idol/celebrity phase, engrossing myself in my own life. I remember the day River died. I was half asleep and my alarm radio was going off. I was dreaming I heard that River passed away on the radio. I thought nothing of it... until my mother came to the bathroom door as I was getting ready to go out and said, "Did you hear that River Phoenix passed away?" I turned and just stared at her, my jaw dropping. "I thought that was just a dream!" It was SO surreal. Everything came rushing back to me. I was heartbroken, and even more heartbroken and disappointed when I found out how and why he died...the path he had taken was everything opposite of what I had admired about him. Like you, I was so sad for his family. I was sad because I felt very discouraged when it came to my own dream of making it on stage, either on Broadway or in film and TV. I Ended up not going that route, and instead ended up following some more destructive paths for awhile. It needs to be said, Wil, from a true "nobody", that you are the ONE and only celebrity, thus far, that has managed to salvage any remaining hope I have for artists who all face that monster out there some day. I've even rekindled my love of writing and being onstage, as well as fostering my daughter's dreams. I am still wary, cautious, doing as much research into the field as I can to protect her while supporting her. I don't know how you or anyone else here would define a "true fan". I haven't been here all the time, frankly. I've kept tabs off and on. I don't geek out extensively (though all my friends do). I'm not a gamer. I don't collect comic books (though my first Graphic Novel just arrived in the mail today - Dan Fogler's Moon Lake). I enjoy theatre, movies, TV, reading, writing, teaching, creativity, and above all, humor. I have a family that always comes before anything else and we LAUGH IT UP. I will likely never make it to any type of convention. However, I consider myself a "true fan" of yours because you you've stayed true to YOURSELF and you don't hold back. I only watched TNG because you were on it, but I couldn't give a shit about any of that now (no offense). YOU inspire me. THAT'S success, IMHO. Of all the posts you've written, this one hits me in the heartstrings the most. I almost cried. I hate you.

Then... the horns kicked in... and your shoes started to squeak? ;) Can you SEE what I'm SAYING???

I finally got to see the last two episodes. I liked them a lot, just as I've enjoyed all previous. Huh. People will nitpick anything. There was something I laughed at the other day that wasn't quite "accurate", but fuck if I can remember what it was now. Obviously, I'm not nearly as concerned as I should be. Although... now it's going to bug the shit out of me until I remember... uhm... what was I talking about? OH, right. It's TV. Was it enjoyable? Yes. Do I want more? Duh. Mission accomplished. That aside, I love the show and your work, but I am REALLY interested in your behind the scenes experiences as much as on scene. I have always been intrigued with the amount of teamwork that goes into making a film production (as opposed to theatre that I'm used to)and time frames in which episodes and movies are filmed. You know, the technical side of things as much as performance. I'm not sure why, but it caught me off guard when you said this episode was filmed a year ago. I knew they were filmed in advance, of course, but a year? I enjoy reading about your venture to work, then being back in LA shortly after. Rinse, repeat. You could probably cash in pretty nicely writing a "TV/Film For Dummies" book. I've been out of the loop. New blog idea, maybe? Or an archive for specifically work-related posts? - Jess

What did you do? Is Anne typically partial to cruel and unusual punishment? Happy birthday!

Hah forget pictures. Can you imagine where your liver would be if you "had a beer" with everyone that requested it? I'm already trying to figure out how I can make money off your funeral... ;)