There Be Dragons!

Have any of you been to DragonCon?

You know. That thing in Atlanta every year with all the weird people running around.

No, not Freaknik. The other one.

No, not the SEC Championship. The other one.

No, not the World Series. That never happens. No, I'm talking about that science fiction fantasy weird sh*t happening that they do every year. Yeah. That one. Have you been?

I've been in Atlanta when it was going on. Didn't realize it until I saw a bunch of Klingons walking down the street. I was at a Sons of the American Revolution thing, and somehow wound up near the Klingons. Didn't have my musket with me, which was probably a good thing.

Anyway, I've never been. One of my sisters has been. Maybe two. Maybe all three, I don't know. It's not the kind of thing I'd want to bring up. Not normally, at least.

Anyway, I've know about the existence of DragonCon for some time, but have never been. Never wanted to go. But, I'm going this year.

I'm going for one reason, and one reason only. The Doctor will be there. If you have to ask "which one?" then you can't go and see him. It doesn't matter. But, it is one of the classic Doctors. I wouldn't go just to see David Tennant, Matt Smith, Christopher Eccleston, Paul McGann, or Peter Capaldi. But, one of the classic Doctors? Yes. Only four of those first seven are still alive. And, though I'm a latecomer to the world of Doctor Who, I'm enough of a fan to want to go see one of the original Doctors at a sci-fi convention.

So, I'm going this year. First time. And, yeah, there are some other people that might be interesting. But, I'm going to see The Doctor. And I'm not sure what it's going to be like. So, if any of you have been before, let me know what to expect.

I'm thinking a bunch of weird people running around all dressed up like some Nerd Nightmare. I suspect the Klingons will be drunk on their asses each night. Or, maybe just the chicks that go to the Klingon Keg parties. Yeah, that.

So, like I was saying, tell me what to expect. And, if you'll be there, maybe we'll run into each other. No, I won't be dressed up like Princess Leia or anything.

Harvey might, though.

Beyond Belief

I'm not a huge science fiction fan. Oh, I like me some sci-fi, but I'm not like some of the sci-fi fans I've seen.

Star Trek and Star Wars (the 1977-83 movies), of course. I also enjoyed most of the shows or movies I saw that involved space travel or time travel. But, I was never a big reader of science fiction short stories or novels, except for the writings of Isaac Asimov. So, I'd call myself a casual fan of the genre, but I'm probably a little more serious about it than many.

Most of my sci-fi, as I said, was TV or movies. Some of the ones I watched as a child and remember were The Angry Red Planet (not really a good movie, but entertaining to a kid), The Time Tunnel (Irwin Allen junk, but kid-fun), The Thing from Another World (James Arness as a killer vegetable), The War of the Worlds (I still enjoy watching that) ... Oh, I could go on and on.

Reading sci-fi, though, wasn't something I did a lot. Ender's Game (read it a long time ago), Enemy Mine (long before it became a movie), The Andromeda Strain (read the book before I saw the old movie), Who Goes There? (the story that became "The Thing" movies) ... and tons of Isaac Asimov books.

My science fiction reading began in elementary school. Remember Scholastic Books? Those little cheap paperbacks you could order at school? Well, I saw one that I thought I wanted. It was titled Beyond Belief and it was a collection of eight science fiction short stories. So, I shelled out the 45¢ and ordered the book.

While it wasn't the first science fiction I read -- I think I read Asimov's The Fun They Had in class -- it was the first science fiction book I owned.

I loved it. The stories were all pretty good, and, best of all, it was mine! I could read it any time I wanted. And I wanted to a lot. I took it to school every day. I took it everywhere but to church ... because I left it in the car when I went in to Sunday School.

Then, one day, it was gone. I don't know what happened. Maybe I dropped it. Maybe somebody took it. Maybe it fell into another dimension. Whatever happened, it was gone.

I cried. Really. I cried myself to sleep. I was heartbroken.

Eventually, I got over it. Mostly. I bought some other science fiction books along and along. Some novels, but mostly anthologies. Best of the Hugos and such. But I always missed my first science fiction book.

No longer.

I found Beyond Belief on a Website of close-out books. In fact, the Website said its online store was closed, but it still had a link to an email address. I emailed, and inquired, saying that the Website showed it was still available. The operator of the Website answered my query and said if I'd send him the money, he'd send me the book. So, I did.

The book arrived today.

It's the same little book I remember. I've already re-read a couple of the stories, and I'll read the rest soon.

I'm a kid again.