Seven Days of a Surreal Existence in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Day 1, Tuesday: Traveling between sectors of the galaxy can be a dangerous thing. The Jundland Wastes are not to be traveled lightly, but one can crank up the rented landspeeder to 85 mph as long as one avoids Imperial entanglements.

The danger was overshadowed by the excitement of "we're FINALLY going!" Arriving on Coruscant and cruising by the Galactic Convention Center just added to the excitement. Sleeping in a luxury hotel... ahhhhhh....

Day 2. Wednesday: A Star Wars movie marathon. Hugging and squeeing with Hansgirl3...There is no movie experience that can compare to seeing a Star Wars movie while sitting in a crowd of Star Wars fans. The cheering and clapping that goes on... the general camaraderie of folks in the crowd... it made me feel young again, when I used to stand in line to see the one of the OT movies.... Living on junk food...

It was so very reminiscent of seeing the OT on 3-28-85 at the Coronet Theater in San Francisco... Everyone in line was just a friend you hadn't met yet...

Day 3. Thursday: Totally pumped up from seeing the Saga the day before, we hit the exhibit halls with full force (so to speak), checking out the art show and buying an Obi-Wan Kenobi Force FX lightsaber in the vendors' hall, my belated birthday gift to myself... hugging and squeeing with Jedi Master Mina, JediLily, Viago Angel, Padme Skywalker, shopping until dropping (a bundle).... Artoos roaming the hallways... stormtroopers and Jedi everywhere....

Later that same day.... Deej's Bloggers' Meet & Greet party... meeting Brooklooine Ghost, EwanandHaydenfan5, Jedi Princess 77, MO2YP, Nobby, Sol, Amadalooine. Jedi Melinda, Anakinside... and others... helping Deej with his webcast... laughing and talking with friends from all over the country...getting a private performance of Amira Sa'id, the belly dancing teacher in the Slave Leia costume, and JP77's original Star Wars song...and a stand up routine from The Stooge himself...

Day 4, Friday: A day in costume. Grampy-Wan as Master Yoda got all the attention! Me in my full Jedi outfit was just along to help the master.... We couldn't walk ten feet without someone wanting to take a picture.... Made a lot of little kids happy with that... a photographer with a Media badge followed us around for 10 minutes, but I didn't think to ask him who he works for... so somewhere out there, there's a lot of candids of Master Yoda and his loyal Jedi assistant...Wasting my time seeing a preview of "5-25-77"....

Opening ceremonies.... Birthday cake! Thousands of fans in one room singing "Happy Birthday" ... lightsabers waving...totally unreal...

Day 5, Saturday: More shopping for the Grand Padawans, Grampy bought himself a gift, a SW chess set... Twi'leks and Princess Leias and Padmes roaming the halls... lunch with the Crew and other bloggers...R2-D2 Droid racing.... enjoying the Star Wars Celebrity talent show with our very own JP77 participating.... The absolutely wonderful Conversation with Carrie Fisher....

Day 6, Sunday: Another day in costume as I participated in a group photo shoot for The Jedi Assembly... very fun activity.... Many strangers driving by took our picture... LOL... "Star Wars Trilogy in 30 Minutes", I laughed until I had tears in my eyes... "The One-Man Star Wars Trilogy", an incredibly energetic performance... disappointment with Billy Dee Williams interview... may have been caused by crappy host! Enjoying the Costume Pageant, with our very own Padme Skywalker participating...

Hanging out with some of my Crew mates.... falling asleep as I hit the pillows...

Day 7, Monday: A last round of shopping and a lot of goodbye hugs (the tears came later)... then the trip back to Tatooine... lots of speeding landcraft on the outskirts of Coruscant... the trip across the wastelands was unremarkable except for the big, gray Titan landspeeder that kept roaring up on my rear bumper, barely waiting for me to move over to pass.... Evidently he'd exit somewhere and then come along again later... finally saw him pulled over by California Sector Imperial Patrol just before the border... LOL

Crossing into the Arid Zone Sector brought danger from Imperial Patrols, saw at least ten in the first fifty miles... managed to navigate safely through the scrubland ...

Somehow, arriving back at the old farmhouse brought me a serious dose of reality... after almost a week of living in the Galaxy Far, Far Away, I was forced to face my own abode, sleep in my own bed... face the world without other Jedi around....

The entire week was like an Out of Body Experience.... It was like someone else was having all that fun...there just has to be a C5... sometime, somewhere.... I'll be there...

You Will Change Your Life Forever! Think About it for 3 Weeks...

Originally titled "You Will Take a Journey that will Change Your Life Forever. Oh, and You Have Three Weeks to Think About It".


In each and every Episode, a Skywalker leaves on a journey that changes his life forever. What would he have thought if he'd known three weeks in advance that he would meet the most incredible people he ever imagined?

In three weeks, I'll be departing the sands of Tatooine on a voyage to Coruscant. (You might know it as Los Angeles.)

In TPM, Anakin leave Tatooine to become a Jedi, a voyage that will certainly change his life forever. If he'd known in advance he might have said, in the innocence of youth, "Am not."

In AOTC, if someone had told Anakin that he'd be going to Naboo and would end up married, the snarky, teenaged Anakin would probably have said, "No way!"

In ROTS, arrogant Anakin would have thought his trip to Mustafar would have changed his life for the better, and not left him near death and crippled for life.

In ANH, innocent young Luke, on being told he was leaving Tatooine and forever change his life would have shaken his head and said "Looks like I'm going nowhere."

In TESB, Luke's journey to Dagobah was a total mystery to him. If old Ben Kenobi had said "You're going on a voyage to a planet that you don't know exists so a total stranger can make you into a Jedi Knight... think about it for the next three weeks," he would probably have said, "All this snow is making me hallucinate."

And last but most importantly, in ROTJ, Luke makes a journey to the Death Star that changes him from a Rebel living on the run into the Grand Master of the Jedi. What would he have said in advance? "I am a Jedi, I can face anything."

So when I get to Coruscant, will I meet a Skywalker? Will I see Han and Leia dancing together or receive wisdom from Obi-Wan and Yoda? I don't think so.

No, but I'll be seeing people like me. Star Wars fans. Star Wars nuts, even. People who have loved the saga for thirty years. People who love to costume, or are excited to watch all six movies in one day.

But most importantly, I'll be meeting BLOGGERS! People I've known for a year, that I considered my dearest friends. People like Jedi Master Mina and Hansgirl3. People like Nob01 who designed T-shirts for people he barely knows. People like DJ Maul, Michelle1968 and The Stooge who work to set up a Meet & Greet party for all of us. Incredible people.

I've been rather nervous about the whole thing for some time, but as the time grows nearer I find myself adopting the ROTJ attitude... "I am a Granny, I can face anything!"