Well, it's the night of Sunday, February 24, 9:05 PM Central Time (or it was when I started writing this journal ^^;; ), & my dad & I have just arrived home from Dallas at Frightmare Weekend, which was a tie for what I consider to be THE best time of my life (with the day I first viewed "The Great Mouse Detective"). Boy, do I have some stories to tell you!

All right, for starters, Dad & I left in the family van (just me & him; Mom & Sissy didn't buy any tickets for themselves to go) & left the carport of my house at around 3 PM; we made a pit stop at McDonald's near town's edge for a late lunch & took off afterwards. After about 5 hours of traveling from Winnie down Interstate 45, we finally pulled into Dallas around 8 PM...but unfortunately, Dad got lost (more than once!) & it took us an hour to reach the Hilton hotel near the Dallas / Fort Worth airport. By the time we got our stuff out & exited the van at 9:00, we walked to the main door, shivering in the winter cold...

So, anyway, while we were checking in at the (very nice) lobby, we found out that we didn't arrive early enough to get a good room (first come, first serve, they basically said), so after we took a tour of all the places where we would be going to have Frightmare fun for the next couple of days, Dad & I took the elevator to the 8th floor, where we set up our things in the room that we were to share. Small, cramped, not a lot of walking room...& a great big Murphy bed in the middle. So, after we unpacked, I took my evening meds at 9:30 (if I recall correctly), kicked off my shoes, put on my nightgown, & dozed off for the night. (It took a while before I fell asleep, though--I was SOOO very excited about meeting Malcolm McDowell & Irene the next day... ^_^ )

The next morning, I woke up at around 7:00 or so (I'm a bright-&-early bird! ^_^), & after we got dressed & bathed & stuff, we went down to the lobby & then through the hallway on the left until we reached The Vineyard, where I had a rainbow medley of various fruits (tee-hee!) & Golden Grahams (while Dad had bacon, eggs, & sausages) for our complimentary breakfast (they felt so bad about not being able to get us a nicer room that they let us have our morning meal for free--VERY nice of them! ). Then we went back up to our room & I worked on my laptop for a while; afterwards, around 12:00 noon, Dad & I went down to the lobby, & that's where we met up with Irene Relda!

I can honestly say to you that hanging out with Diane (or Irene :) ) at the hotel, Frightmare, & the mall nearby was a real treat; we must have spent hours talking about all kinds of things--Great Mouse Detective, Malcolm McDowell, Clockwork Orange, films & animation (& TV shows) in general, art, music, acting, the latest stuff...And Irene was positively sweet, genial, & fun to talk to; she even showed me her portfolio of all the art she's done of her GMD pastiche cast (WONDERFUL art I found in there!) & her sketchbook (great stuff she had in there, as well!). I can say that I enjoyed every moment I spent with Irene, & I hope we might be able to meet up in person again. That was indeed a wonderful treat... ^_^

Shortly after Irene & I first found each other in the lobby, we went downstairs to the Guests & Vendors section of the whole "Frightmare complex" (I don't know what else to call it! ). Irene & I went around, looking at stuff, until we got into the line of people waiting to meet--you guessed it--the one, the only...Malcolm McDowell! *toots fanfare on a party horn*

At one point, just after we got something for Malcy ("Mr. McDowell" to Irene) to sign his autograph upon (we got the same picture of Alex DeLarge toasting his milkplus & smiling at the camera), we were only a few feet away from him. I was practically bursting with joy (basically going "OMG, I think I'm gonna DIE!"), & the moment I came up to him, I could barely contain my ecstasy! He shook my hand, autographed my picture of Alex, told me I was a beautiful young lady, took pictures, & he HUGGED ME!!! ^_^ Whee! :D

After Irene got her picture signed & everything, we said g'bye to Malcy for the day (though he hoped to go to the celebrity party that would be hosted that evening) & Irene decided to drive us (along with her friend from Florida, who was accompanying) to the mall near the hotel (where we had lunch at a bakery, since all the other restaurants were packed with people). Then Irene, Dad, & I went back to the hotel, spent a good long while talking over various topics & going over her GMD art in the lobby (while her friend went downstairs to look at more stuff), & met this really nice guy (dressed as Alex DeLarge!) who did a lot of work on stage & in the Disney theme parks (he even played Gaston in a local version of the Beauty & The Beast musical); we all got his AIM & Myspace (& a couple of photos with him), which was quite nice. Then, after Irene, her pal from Florida, Dad, & I did some more talking & whatnot, we went back to our hotel rooms & agreed to meet up again Sunday morning.

Shortly after we split up from Irene & her pal, at around 5:00, Dad & I went upstairs for a Q&A panel with Malcy (can't stop calling him that!); the Alex-esque fellow we met earlier was nice enough to save a couple of seats for me & Dad! Then Malcy appeared, & everyone (including me!) tossed around questions about him & all the things he's done. He ended up telling the funniest stories about "Clockwork Orange", "Blue Thunder", "Caligula", "Time After Time", "If...", "Star Trek: Generations", & the "Halloween" remake. He talked for about an hour & then left, while we were all clapping...That was certainly an educational experience. ^_^

As it turned out, Malcy stayed only for a couple of minutes at the celebrity party that night (it started at 7:30 PM) & he left after a quick bite to eat (he probably had duties elsewhere), but Dad & I stayed to mingle with a nice couple who ate with us (I dined on plenty of chips & cookies). Then, at around 9:30 PM, we stopped to get some Reese's Cups, more chips, & a Coke at the gift shop, before taking the elevator back to our room. I played on my laptop for a little while & watched Law & Order: SVU & Court (er, Tru) TV stuff until I went to bed at around 12:00 midnight.

Considering how late I stayed up (what with various visions of Irene & Malcy dancing in my gulliver & making me all excited), I was quite surprised to wake up early the next day, at around 8:30. Dad & I got dressed & had another complimentary breakfast at The Vineyard (the nice hotel people wanted to make it up to us because they weren't able to get us a better room); we had the same foods we ate for breakfast yesterday, & then we went up to our hotel room to pack. No sooner did we start taking everything (we packed light) & walking down the hallway of our room floor than we met up with Malcy--again! He was checking his E-mail at the time, & we talked for a short while; it turns out he was very interested in me & we chatted for a short while.

I gave Malcy a little "fan-portfolio" that I'd prepared for him, full of fanart & fanfiction related to his films, especially ACO (he was surprised to know that I'd put my prequel-story in there), & he was also very pleased with the gift. He asked for my address & phone number, & he was absolutely kind enough to give me his personal E-mail (ain't tellin' ya, sorry!). Along with Irene & her pal from Florida, we met up with Malcy again later in the vendors' area; he autographed a couple of pictures I'd bought for & (same pic of Alex that Irene & I had gotten the day before)--& he even let me pick a free picture of him to sign as his personal gift to me. ^_^

So Malcy autographed my picture of Linderman from "Heroes", & we said "goodbye", hoping that we'd talk again soon; then Dad & I went back over to Irene & regretted to inform her that we had to head along home. Irene & I said our "goodbyes", & then Dad & I left the Hilton & began our journey at 1:52 (I think) PM. It did make me sad to leave everyone so abruptly, though, & indeed, parting is such sweet sorrow...But this was indeed a wonderful, magical event, & I will never forget it as long as I live. :D