History--a long one

I've been thinking about writing my Star Trek testimonial, as it were. It will explore a great deal of my life, since I have been enamored of it for two thirds of it. In other words, this is going to be a long entry. You better get some popcorn and get comfy.

I discovered Star Trek in the summer of 1991. This part is a simple story I've told a million times. Mom and I were going to watch a movie, and I flipped through the channels while waiting on the popcorn. I was a big kid (11 years old) and therefore, I was going to get to stay up late (midnight!!) and watch a movie with Mom. I paused on a channel and this is all I know: it was Star Trek and I saw Spock. I believe everyone was on the Bridge. I have no idea which episode it was. I just have vague memories of watching different episodes from then on.

I remember watching Kirk fall in love with Miramanee, somehow knowing it was doomed from the start. How could he leave his ship and friends? He'd get his memory back and be back, no problem. Another time, Scotty was accused of murder and I knew that wasn't true and I adored him and he didn't do it, you understand?! Then Spock killed Kirk and I waited on the edge of my seat to find out how they would fix that one and I remember giggling when Spock smiled and it was genuine!

From there, I found out that there had been 5 movies put out and a 6th one was going to be out that December! Then, I found The Next Generation...the 25th anniversary special showed me how much I had been missing out and I was fascinated by these conventions and how people actually dressed up like these characters and how cool was that?? So many people around the world loved Star Trek as much as I did, and more?

Then, the biggest thing ever: I discovered the novels. Mom brought me the first--Home is the Hunter. A whole new level to these brave new worlds opened up before me. I was hooked on these stories. I understood that they were not considered canon before I had ever heard the term. I didn't care. I ate them up. My collection grew over the years as Deep Space Nine and Voyager came along, and eventually Enterprise, and all the movies. But let's focus on the books and their impact on me for a bit.

Star Trek showed me that I was a writer at heart. That I actually had a real talent that was all my own. I wrote what could be called my first FanFic that first Christmas, in 1991. It wasn't long; it wasn't well thought out or planned; and I had a Mary-Sue character involved in it. But, my mother said that it was very good and that I had captured the voices of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. She's a voracious reader and a tad picky and I knew a great compliment when I heard one. So, at age 12, I discovered writing. Because of Star Trek.

I also discovered collecting because I didn't want to give up my books. I traded in all my Nancy Drews and anything else I didn't care about all that much and got more Star Trek books. I think I had nearly 30 books within the following two years. No small feat in a tiny town in Oklahoma. I also had a giant cup from 7-11 that I found purely by chance, half buried in a thick mud puddle. I remember digging it out and smearing the mud away and seeing Spock's face. Over the years, the collection has grown and my Star Trek books fill 3 bookcases. In comparison, my non-Trek books fill one.

I was exposed to Shakespeare early on by references made in Star Trek. By the time I had to read Julius Caesar (my first Shakespeare) in 8th grade, I was prepared. It was a double-edged sword, too. As I read more Shakespeare in later years, I recognized and understood more references in Star Trek. They are intertwined in a way that is just beautiful to me. I'm definitely a fan of Shakespeare, thought certainly not to the same extent as Star Trek.

At fifteen, all I wanted for my birthday was an electric typewriter. I received it (despite financial woes) and one of the first things I ever started writing on it was a Star Trek: TNG novel. I never finished it, but I remember the excitement of writing a few pages and having my Mom or sisters read and enjoy them. My passion for writing and my passion for Star Trek are very much interconnected, too. Are you sensing a theme?

I went to my first convention on December 10, 1994. William Shatner was there and I was thrilled beyond belief. The excitement, the costumes, the vendors, the sheer enormity of being in a convention center with so many other people who shared my love of Star Trek was overwhelming. There was simply too much to see, too much to coo over and drool for...we weren't well-off financially, so this was my giant Christmas present that year. It was magical. I felt like it was a once in a lifetime event.

When the bullies wouldn't leave me alone in high school, I would bury my nose in my current Star Trek book and hope that they'd go away. I'd been taught that if you ignored them, bullies would leave you alone, eventually. It worked sometimes, but often, it didn't. They then would begin making fun of my book choices. Or steal my book away--a heart wrenching moment of pure fear each time.

When the bullies in my Math class decided it was fun to mock me, steal my purse, or put things into my bookbag, I stared at the blank pages of a brand new spiral notebook and began to write in them...a story that would become my greatest Star Trek fiction undertaking. I had high hopes of it being a novel, possibly published, but years later, I came to realize that it was pure Mary-Sue and that put such a damper on the thrill of it that I haven't touched it in years. But it's still there, in the back of my head. Maybe I'll publish it on the internet as a massive FanFic.

Skipping forward a few years, I was able to make many friends because of Star Trek. I was reading Sarek by Ann Crispin in college and a guy approached me to talk about it. He was also a huge Trekkie and told me a convention was going to be in town that summer. I met him there and we've been friends for all of these years. A few years after that, I was a member of a few online clubs and met a girl who lead me to my first Star Trek club...and to the first convention I would attend in Indianapolis. That was in 2001, and then I missed a few years, but I started attending every year in 2005.

Star Trek is even connected to my love life. I met my first real boyfriend at that convention in Indy. I, uh, also met my second boyfriend there. I used to joke that I could never meet a guy at a Star Trek convention because he'd just be too weird, ha ha. Well, actually, while there are always going to be those that are very weird and somewhat annoying, there are so many amazing people there too. I made friends and because I attended every year, I became a regular; a recognizable face. I met some dear friends there who were integral in  my big move.

I hated living in Ohio. I wasn't quiet on the subject and for years, I dreamt of moving away...but where would I go? I finally realized that Indianapolis was ideal. But none of my attempts to break free and get there were working out. So I kept dreaming. That local fan club I was a member of? I became the First Officer eventually. I ran meetings and conversations, despite my fear of public speaking and being in charge. Of course, years of retail management teaches you tricks, too. I was once wooed and went on a date with a fellow I met because I was wearing a Star Trek t-shirt at work. It didn't work out past that initial first date, of course, but he did give me a Majel Barret (widow of Gene Roddenbery, creator of Star Trek) autograph.

In 2006, that guy I met in college took me to the huge 40th anniversary convention in Las Vegas. His boyfriend had cancelled on him at the last second and since everything was already paid for, I just needed spending cash. I had a blast and actually saw Majel Barret in person--she even touched my arm and gave me a genteel smile.

Back at the Indy convention in the year 2010 while walking through the vendor room, I encountered someone who would change everything. "My band is doing a song for every episode of the Original Series of Star Trek," he explained. I bought the CD, but distracted by Christmas in Retail-land and other things, I didn't give it a listen until a few months later. And everything clicked into place. I had shows, movies, books, posters, audio-dramas, parodies, conventions, t-shirts, DVDs...what I was missing was Star Trek music. And I had found it. And it was wonderful.

I was hooked on Five Year Mission almost from the start. I had songs stuck in my head within the first few weeks. I rarely took the CD out of my car player. Actually, that's still true. There was humor and sly nitpicking and an absolute pure love of the show in every song. I had found such a treasure. By the time their second CD, cleverly named Year Two, came out, I was known as their Number Two Fan. Number One was a young girl who had proven her love for them already and I have no problem being second. She and I hit it off and text often, sometimes just to gossip about the guys in the band.

Several months after Year Two was released, someone broke into my car and stole all of my CDs. Including all 3 of my Five Year Mission albums (one was a single released before Year Two). I was heartbroken about those CDs. The rest in my car had been car copies and I could easily burn new copies. But not those. They were autographed and so special to me. The guys said they'd take care of it and I received a special package in the mail. Both Year One and Year Two--autographed by everyone--and a few other small gifts were included.

I have so much affection for Five Year Mission. At first, it was mostly because of the Star Trek connection. But then I started really talking to them, attending a few shows and driving long distances to see them. I met the wives; I was one of the first to find out one of them was expecting the first Next Generation. I brought them homemade cookies and joked with them and told stories and some of them harassed the hell out of me--a sure sign of affection. But it's not just that. The music itself is amazing: fun, beautiful, soulful and so perfect to each episode. Listening to their CDs for the first few times inevitably leads to watching those episodes again. And watching an episode means having a great song stuck in my head during it all.

Finally, last year, everything in my life just clicked and fell into place. I now live in Indy, the homebase for my favorite convention and for my favorite Star Trek band. I actually get to go to almost every show and I have hung out with the guys and their families outside of shows. I am not just a fan; I'm a friend. They put out a special CD of 5 different versions of The Trouble with Tribbles and I was thanked in the liner!! On the one hand, these are my friends, but on the other hand...I'm an overwhelmed fangirl who can almost cry out of pure joy to know that I get to be connected to that, to them. At the Indy convention, I met a fellow 5YM fan who ended up becoming a very dear friend and if it wasn't for him and his family, I wouldn't have been able to move here.

Facebook has put me in touch with many of my favorite Star Trek authors. Imagine having a brief interaction with someone who wrote the book that you fawned over in high school or college. Imagine becoming very close friends with one of the authors; even to the point of visiting and staying with him and his! Some would pause and say that Facebook is a magical place. But phooey on them! I say that it's because of Star Trek and the intensely loyal community that has grown from its fandom.

To sum things up, I discovered my ability to write because of Star Trek; I made most of my friends because of Star Trek; I live in the city I love because of Star Trek; I escaped into Star Trek when the bullies were on my case...all in all, I am the person I am today because I am a Trekkie. And yes, it's Trekkie--don't let the haters fool you into thinking Trekker is the preferred term. It's not. Not by me. I know I'm missing some things about my life that were influenced by Star Trek, but I think I hit enough of the highlights here. Star Trek isn't just a show that was on nearly over 40 years ago. It's a doorway to other worlds; to friendships; to self-discovery and growth.