Shore Leave (US convention)/1999

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Convention
Name:	Shore Leave (US convention)
Dates:	July 1999
Frequency:
Location:	Baltimore, Maryland
Type:
Focus:	multi-fandom
Organization:
Founder:
Founding Date:
URL:
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Shore Leave is an annual fan-run convention that takes place in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

It was founded by the Star Trek Association of Towson which continues to run it. The first convention took place in 1979; the con was still running as of 2025.

The con's focus was initially on Star Trek, but it has since broadened to include other science fiction media.

1999: Shore Leave 21

1999: Programming

• Mystery Trekkie Theater 3000 was NOT performed here.

1999: General Con Reports

Well, the concert was pretty good Friday. It was The Usual Suspects (now that's the name for a filk band - dibs!): Roberta started off the set. Her compositions, as usual, were good. She sang a mix of old and new media filk, including her Mars song to the "Little Train that Could".

Next after Roberta was me. (Luck of the draw; I had asked for a later performance.) My daughter, Jackie, accompanied me, serving me as my roadie and helper, which I needed since I had both my banjo and my guitar.

My stuff and reactions:

• Boonta Road - new one, I will post shortly - good: if I don't include media material right off, MEGO (My Eyes Glaze Over) factor comes in. I played it on banjo.
• Kitty Downers - boy, you should have seen the look of the audience. They didn't know whether to laugh or gasp. I played it on banjo and was grateful I had the Chad Mitchell Trio retrospective album, as their guitar arrangement of "Banks of Sicily" is very sweet.
• Q.E.D. - I went back to banjo. Good laugh.
• We're Sorry - on guitar, very good laughs, especially when daughter forgot to flip page and I vamped for 30 seconds...
• A song about William Riker shaving his beard - Good reaction. It was there because I was low on media stuff.
• I've Endured - We tried singing with Crystal, but we got the key wrong, but we didn't rehearse it anyway.

After me came the Denebian Slime Devils (4/5 of the group) - they did a very good show. As usual, "Windows Wonderland" drew the most laughs, as well as "Back in the Capsule Again". The boom box malfunctioned briefly.

Crystal Paul - good material, good presentation, I remember singing an X-file song (a movie/show that has never floated my boat), the Rocks of Alderaan song, etc.

J.J. Cavaliero [sic] - oh, I can't remember her name correctly- and an assistant. Beautiful two-part singing, but slash fiction has NO appeal to me. If Kirk and Spock are gay, I suspect filking to Noel Coward's "Mad About the Boy" would be more appropriate.

On the Mark - They were wasted from a long drive, and Mark had a cold, so their performance seemed a little thin, but thin On the Mark is still good. If only I didn't have to work that weekend.

For a while after the concert, I wandered in to play blues with Zaphod and the Galactic Boogie Band. He's getting better as a blues player each year.

After the concert, the filksingers, per tradition, were locked out of the Derby Room, despite the reservations, and we then played to 2:00 AM, when daughter of mine started looking wiped.

1999: Con Reports by K/S Fans

Note that most of the art auction reports, skits, art show, and discussions described by K/S fans in the letterzine, The K/S Press and Usenet (specifically alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated) did not happen in public venues, but instead at the annual K/S Press room parties and other places. In fact, many K/S fans did not attend much of the official programming, but were there as part of a "con within a con."

Shore Leave 21 was yet another memorable K/S experience for me. It was a nice feeling to actually know where I was going this time, to have the Marriott seem familiar and welcoming. Best of all was seeing friends again so soon after KiScon, not to mention meeting new people throughout the weekend. I missed everyone who could not make the trip, too, especially Carol Davis...

One outstanding feature of this year’s con was an abundance of artwork. There were so many great TOS pieces in the art show, both by our own Shelley Butler and DEW, and also by a variety of artists represented in a collection being offered for sale by a fan’s estate. I even attempted to buy Shelley’s gorgeous new color-pencil portrait of Spock from “The Tholian Web.” Unfortunately it went to auction, where I was quickly outbid. Sigh. Maybe next time!

Of course there was artwork of the K/S variety to drool over at the K/S Press party, too, plus a surprise showing of some wonderful originals by The Southern Cross. And as if all that wasn’t enough, some of the Mad Shoppers in the group even managed to unearth a few K/S pieces in the dealers’ room. It was great; show-and-tell on Sunday night looked like an art exhibit!

The KSP party on Friday evening turned out exactly as advertised: a relaxing time to meet people and talk and enjoy some good munchies. (Nice work, oh grocery shoppers. And I’ve forgotten who brought those chocolate chip/coconut bars, but they were to die for!) The party was a little bit crowded because it was discovered almost at the last minute that a con event had been scheduled in the Worthington Room during the time it was supposedly reserved for us. Crisis! I got to watch Jenna get on the phone and deal with this in a masterful fashion, which resulted in our party being relocated to a smaller meeting room next door.

Jenna and I left the party a bit early to go sing in the Shore Leave filking session. I had been warned (assured?) that there would be almost no one in the attendance, but there actually were a fair number of people in the audience. Thanks to Galen and Claudia and Dot for making up a K/S contingent, which helped me feel a little less nervous! It was a strange feeling to be up on stage when I have been wishing and wishing that I could be in the audience listening to Jenna and J.S. sing. But rehearsing and performing with Jenna was fun and inspiring once again, and I made only one major mistake that I remember, so it turned out to be a great experience.

Of course the entire weekend seemed to pass way too quickly, in a sort of blur of K/S and laughing and K/S and talking about stories and K/S and watching videos and K/S and, well, you get the idea. We were a rowdy presence in the hotel dining room more than once, too. And I actually attended three con events! Went to hear Tim Russ, which was a pleasant surprise. He was entertaining and funny, not to mention gorgeous, and fielded Carolyn S' bold question about the the possibility of a Voyager episode dealing with pon farr with a great deal of aplomb. (Way to go, Carolyn!) I also went to see Gary Lockwood, who was... interesting. I had to look really, really hard to see anything of the young actor in this older guy who looked like he should be out mowing his lawn or something. He's a self-described "hustler," though, so maybe there's a lot of Gary Mitchell in him after all!

The third event I attended was an interesting science talk about the search for planets outside our solar system. Some amazing discoveries are being made, and I left feeling humbled by the possibilities out there in the vastness of the universe. A whole year seems like such a long time to wait until Shore Leave comes around again!

I arrived at the hotel in time to join the early-bird K/Sers for dinner on Thursday. What a wonderful way to start the con, being able to connect and just pick up from where we left off last year. The menu consisted of seafood anything in a rich white creamy sauce. Ugh.

Friday was the shopper's delight. I almost blew my entire wad at the goods to be seen and had. Shopper's Anonymous just step aside. I met some fellow K/Sers for breakfast, and Jenna was a zine dealer who happened to need some help with bringing down her zines. I volunteered and that I was able to sneak my way 30 seconds early into the Dealer's Room. After helping her, I booted myself to the next table containing Robin's zines. Like fine wine, I partake of the exquisite K/S arts on her zine covers before taking a sip and picked the best copies of her latest bouquet of new zines Scattered Stars 12 and Morpheus Rising. As I was going through the process, I kept glancing to her right where Emily Adams' table used to be and wishing she was there to share in the joy of K/S with us. I really miss her. Well, after bugging Jenna with chit chat, I went off in search of more K/S treasures.

I got a butt-load of pictures of my favorite guys. I had lunch at the local Pizza Hut. They had expanded their menu to Veggi and Supreme personal pan pizza. Eat at your own risk. Buzzed around some more at the Dealer's Room to make sure I didn't miss anything and all too soon it was time for the K/S Press Party. Ohmigod, I actually met the elusive and reclusive Southern Cross. She had brought her K/S paintings for Art Room and prints of her past works to sell and that was my downfall. Ka-ching, ka-ching the rest of night. I bought most of her prints. They were beautifully drawn illos of our guys. She even had some originals from Price of Freedom which Carol bought with gleeful, excited abandonment. Southern Cross was really cool, I gave her the third degree about her art techniques. She was most helpful in her replies. It was a delight way to end the first night of the convention.

Saturday, I was off to the Art Room. Besides K/S illos and paintings, there were so many gen illos of our guys as well. I was really surprised. After taking my gander and drool at them, I went backup to the Dealer's room where Jenna was kind enough to let me wheel and deal at her table. It was a hoot and a holler. I've never done anything like it, but the sales bug took a hold of me like an obsessed used car salesperson, and I tried to sell as much as I can with the time I had available. It was not enough, Jenna had to literally peel me off her chair. I bought a used zine, a cut out poster of the Enterprise and Bird of Prey, seven Sentinel zines for my sister and a stuffed Parrot.

In the afternoon, I went to hear Eric Pierpoint speak. He was the nicest guy in the world and a good actor, but he couldn't give an interesting talk to save his life. The highlight of the day was when I got a chance to talk to Cordelia Naismith another of my all time favorite author. Yes, my cup runneth over. She was a fountain of information about writing K/S, and I found out that we had similar taste in stories and guy. Man, it rocked.

By the time 8 p.m. rolled around, it was time for the Snooze City Art Auction. It was an eye-rolling, butt-numbing event of three straight. I think the Minnow's three hour tour was faster than this mind-vacuumed auction. The knick knacks, the kind you can get at Target for next to nothing went first as usual, all of the good stuff like real art was saved towards the end. Mind boggling purchases, a piece of wood with a candleholder glued to it was sold for $40.00. A supposed crystal glasses that instead of tinging together went thunk and was sold for some ridiculous amount. The auction got interesting only after the bizillionth teeny, weeny candleholders, quarter-sized crystals and clanking glasses were sold. It was definitely a trip. Afterward, a group of fens went to find food and ate it outside by the pool. Ms. Kathy S. was so hungry that she became obsessed with a bag of chips which she kept in her purse because everyone kept trying to make an inroads of it. Afterwards, we went upstairs to Carol's room and watch some great K/S music videos, Karen P. had brought a video of the comedian Kevin Pollick who did an excellent, right on the mark, hilarious imitation of Shatner as Captain Kirk.

Sunday was the last day of the con, I went out to breakfast with friends. Got some autographs. I saw the guy who played Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He was the third sub, but the best. He gave a good talk, nice to look at, but certainly ain't no Shatner. Jenna me watch her table for which my legs thank her. Spotlight, dinner with the fens and Show and Tell. That was so fun. We went up to Carol's room and watched videos. She and a friend had made some great new K/S music videos. One of the videos was dedicated to Spock's hands and another to various 60' music. It was excellently done. Finally, everyone arrived, we had such fun showing our newest additions to our K/S collections. Kathy S. had bought a great many pictures from the classic Star Trek series. Carol and her roommate had the biggest collection of all. They had illos and figures spread throughout their room. Jo Ann had gotten a copy of T'ZADU at a good price with Shelley's help. Jo Ann regaled the room with her imitation of Shelley and Jenna's critique of the zine down to the hand gesture and ending with "lots of sex" in it. It was a gut-busting, side-splitting, knee-slapping, big-wheezing, loud-guffawing camcord moment. It was a great way to end a con.

I was a bit surprised to discover that this Shore Leave was my 7th visit to the land of Klingons and K/S. Each year, Shore Leave has increasingly become primarily a K/S hunting ground. I arrive like some obsessed trophy hunter stalking the vendors for the ultimate prize.

This year I ferreted through dozens of zine boxes and visited various room sales eager to find those zines which would complete my collection. Clutching my zine list and waving cash, I emerged victorious. I obtained an original First Time 1 (thank you, Robin) and thereby considered Shore Leave a great success.

Oh, yes, there were other people and other activities and this year I actually attended some. Tim Russ of 'Voyager' was in attendance and so M.E. Carter (hi, Jean) and I popped in to have a look. Mr. Russ did a cute musical parody of "Voyager" sung to the theme of The Love Boat and also one to Gilligan's Island. He was charming and had a pleasant singing voice.

I saw Gary Lockwood several times, but did not actually attend any schedule event with him. He looked distressingly like a grandfather on vacation, but then, I never did like Gary Mitchell. (This proves it. No taste.-- S.B.)

Jenna, Carolyn Spencer and I sat through the endless torment - a.k.a. the art auction. I sent a note of protest to the organizers and all those who suffered should do likewise. Otherwise there will be more X-Files ash trays next year.

The Friday night get together was smaller than previously but still fun. I spoke to some people that I'd met but never had real conversation wit (hi, Linda). Karen P. brought some Shatner videos that I had not previously seen, so I enjoyed the evening very well.

My roommate had to leave the convention early (missed ya', Kim) and I thought the con attendance lower than previously. Otherwise, it was pretty much the usual pizza lunches, breakfast buffet for 15 and the constant search for K/S friends who were always off following their own interests and locating bargains. They should have remembered to buy stuff for me!

As usual, I had a fun time and was glad I went.

On Fri. morning, the con officially began. I'm going to cover what were, for me, some of the highlights.

The events: I actually went to a lot of the events! (I am still trying vainly to make up for never having gone to Shore Leave before last year). Gary Lockwood's talk was the most memorable of these, for a couple of reasons. I guess he must have seen me sneak in a bit late, that must be why, when there was a lull and no one had any questions for him, he pointed at me and demanded that I ask something! He'd been regaling us with stories of his prowess as a dice-thrower, so I asked the first thing that came into my head, did he play poker? He expressed a bit of puzzlement over that one, actually what he said was, "Why did you ask that?", so I simply told him I knew of a New York poker game that would be more than happy to have him! He is one hot guy. The silly poker question had interesting results - it led to his telling a great story about how he beat a champion marble shooter at his own game, while on location filming "Firecreek" (directed by Vincent McEveety!) in 1968. Seems Gary had won thousands in the nightly poker game, and the crew was hoping to get revenge. They didn't know he was a marble expert, too (to hear him talk, he was a champion of everything at one point or another).

Seeing Gary Lockwood in the flesh makes the idea of Gary Mitchell in any sex category or activity totally believable. He is a very colorful, and very sexy (even at 60-something) guy, he exudes physicality and has great legs. He told us he was raised on a big ranch, where he worked hard as a cow-hand until he ran away at 15 to work as a Hollywood stunt-man.

Also, he made some interesting remarks about actors and how sexual chemistry contributes to a performance. He used Sean Penn, rather than a female co-star, to illustrate his point about what made certain actors attractive to him, a detail I found intriguing.

I also stopped in briefly to hear Tim Russ, just in time to catch Carolyn's question, are they ever going to do a pon farr story with Tuvok?, and Tim's answer, which was that if someone submitted a good one, they would consider it. I had had a close encounter with Russ in a hallway the night before. I was exhausted, and tried to pass two people, and then apologized for doing so, explaining how tired I was, etc. etc. This was a young black man and an older black woman. After I finally stopped blathering and found the stairs, I thought, "I wonder...? Nah, those were fans." But when I saw him onstage, I realized it had been him. Proving that I wouldn't know most Voyager actors if I stumbled over them in a hallway.

The KSP party: Several things stand out: The magnificent oil paintings by The Southern Cross. Talking with gen writers Mary Rottler and Lynn Syck about their collaboration (these two are incredibly prolific, though otherwise entirely unlike tribbles). Watching my roomie Karen's hilarious tape of Kevin Pollack "doing" WS (he's the best Kirk impersonator there is, next to Belushi). Just being there, in the aura of K and S. And K on S. And S in K. Well, you get the picture (and there were many!)

The dealer's room: many marvels and treasures this year, though one has to go with Terri and Carol to find the best stuff. I didn't, but I still found one absolutely great thing: a tiny little shuttlecraft that opens up to reveal a detailed interior with two teeny figures, Kirk and Scotty, but that can be remedied by a bit of blue shirt paint and black eyebrow paint, if I can find a small enough brush. K and S bend at the waist so they can sit in the teeny tiny navigational chairs. And I yielded to temptation and bought the Kirk and Gorn action figures. (For some reason, the Gorn comes with Kirk's cannon; go figure). Shelley got a terrific Andorian (the one from "Whom Gods Destroy") with a pink sort of feather boa around his neck. We laughed and laughed to find that it was described as an "Andorian serape" on the package. (I almost got him too, but I just felt that Kirk somehow needed the Gorn. And no, I haven't read the "Gorn story". Yet) I was impressed by the amount and variety of art people got this year. Really beautiful stuff, from the art show.

There was one that got away, a small oil painting called "Death of a Mistress, Loss of a Love" with Kirk in the foreground from the final scene of ST II, and in the background the silhouetted figures of the crew, watching the Enterprise's final fall, from the end of ST III. Spock watches over all from above. I still wish I had bid on this one, but I was trying to impose some limits after other extravagances.

The masquerade: I really enjoyed this, even though there was not a lot of Trek stuff. Lots of "Star Wars", all skits a vast improvement on the movie. The best performance was given by [April Valentine's] son Ian, 20, who brought the house down with a lip-synched rendition of a Weird Al rewrite of "American Pie" ("My, my, this here Annaken guy/Maybe Vader someday later, now he's just a small fry"), complete with electric air-guitar initially concealed under a desert-Jedi cloak. Everyone was singing the refrain along with him by the end, waving light-sabers and arms over their Heads, a real rock concert feel. I understand his mom has been a longtime filker, so he comes by it honestly.

And speaking of filking, I had the pleasure of hearing Jean and Jenna's Sat. night performance. It was particularly beautiful in that large room, and listening to it gave me a much-needed second (or third) wind. I would love to have a tape of it.

On Sunday afternoon, I went to see the showing of Wrath of Khan. A funny moment when Khan tells Kirk, "I wish to cause you pain" and noted h/c writer Mary Rottler leans over to me without missing a beat and gleefully whispers, "Me, too!" I enjoyed Mary and Lynn's panel on "Why is Classic Trek Classic," too.

I also managed to watch part of "Dagger of the Mind" with several other K/S-ers on that last afternoon. That is always so great, everyone wants to rewind the same things, and no one minds! We got a big kick out of Dr. Van Gelder's screaming.

The whole thing was wonderful. I could go on, (I know, I already have) but I guess I better leave some space for other correspondents.

Oh, and did I mention that Gary Lockwood is one hot guy?

I have to admit to experiencing a hopefully temporary hormonal stranglehold on my body and emotions these days, but I liken it to the plak tow or some similar condition, so please bear with me.

Coming into the Hunt Valley Inn is like coming home! The hotel is just big enough without being overwhelming and it has a rustic beauty in the lush forests of Baltimore (well, lush forests to this Angelean!) and really nice people working there. When we arrive we always ask the personnel if they've worked at this Star Trek convention before and depending on their answer, we regal them with warnings of crazed Klingons in the hallway and strange and unusual types milling about.

One of the highlights of Shore Leave is the ubiquitous rearranging of furniture in the bar lounge. The big wide chairs must be packed together around little, tiny round tables to accommodate vast quantities of exhausted K/Sers. However, this furniture rearranging is also applicable to the pizza place, the place where Claudia decided to put her face into her cereal bowl.

The Friday night party was a relaxed affair, but Kathy, Carolyn and I were the aforementioned grocery shoppers who braved the boiling, unrelenting sun and heat (am I building this up enough?) and raced around the huge, glorious Food Giant in search of delicious things [...].

One of the most amazing feats was stuffing most of the perishable party food items into the tiny refrigerator that the hotel so thoughtfully provided in our room. [...] The refrigerator reminded me of the circus where the hundreds of clowns come out of the tiny taxi. An entire banquet was held inside that refrigerator.

At the get-together, one of the highlights was watching Karen P's video tape of Keven, the comedian who does a spectacular impersonation of Shatner as Kirk. It really was fascinating. I wish the scenario could have involved more of interaction with Spock, however!

[...]

I must comment on the vast majority of artwork in the art show that was TOS related. This abundance of Classic Trek art has been lacking in previous years, so it was a very pleasant surprise.

And Saturday was a day I actually went to an event! I, too, went to see Tim Russ and boy! Was I surprised. I always thought he was just okay on Voyager. I like Tuvok okay and that is fine. So I was not prepared for the charming, sexy, good-looking, talented man who stood on that stage and fielded questions in such an articulate manner and sang so beautifully! He wore a gorgeous outfit of soft cotton and linen in muted earth tones that highlighted very nicely defined musculature. All this is a sophisticated way of saying he was one hot hunk of a guy.

But can you believe that I, Shelley Butler, self-ascribed Gary Mitchell aficionado (as well as a true believer in the "Kirk, fresh off the farm, goes to Starfleet Academy, has a torrid affair with older Gary Mitchell who shows him the ropes [so to speak] and then poor, misunderstood Gary Mitchell falls to his ultimate doom while madly in love with the unattainable Kirk") writer of such, would not get to see the Gary Mitchell on stage when presented with the opportunity?

Can you really believe that?

Rats and double rats.

[...]

I know, I know, and you'll have to read about it here from others, that the art auction was overly long, boring, dull and hot and stuffy in the room. But there were some good things about it, too! Things like sitting next to Galen as he bid on some items (Galen is increasingly adorable each year that we see him); watching in morbid fascination at the auction proceedings... ("And... now... we...have...a... Klingon...etched...glass...") as Kathy and I timed each item and counted an average of 3 minutes each for more than 100 items (but it was funny!); and getting all excited when some of my work came to auction.

I didn't buy very many Star Trek items this year, at all. I think I'm more into enhancing my zine collection and the used zines were paltry this year. But something happened that was so "classic" in terms of our understanding of K/S. I wish that Jo Ann would have related the story as she did to a group on Sunday, but I can only relate it by the written word. It really needs to be acted out.

In a nutshell: Jo Ann and I found an original T’ZADU and I got all excited and had to relate the story to her while waving my hands frantically as I am wont to do. “So there’s Kirk who is dying and in order to be saved, he’s got to be regenerated and made young again, but the terrible price that Spock has to pay is to take the vow of “T’zadu” and never reveal the truth to Kirk no matter what, and poor Spock has to suffer horribly as he is now captain of the Enterprise and Kirk is there and Spock loves him so much, but can’t say anything and it’s so heart-wrenching and so sad and then the whole rest of the novel is [more enthusiastic hand- waving] Jots and [ots o’ sex!” And so Jo Ann clutches her treasure to her bosom as we walk through the dealers’ room and encounter Jenna.

So we’re all enthusiastic and we say, “Oh, look what we have— TZADU! And Jenna raises one eyebrow and proceeds to tell the story of Kirk whom she feels is totally out of character and how Spock has to take this vow, but it’s really structurally incomplete and the infrastructure is on a disjointed literary plane with the author’s intent which misconstrues the integral focus and then for the whole rest of the novel [and here Jenna rolls her eyes in disgust] there’s nothing but sex.

Sunday is the cruelest day (thanks, ts) and it’s all about not wanting to leave the dealers’ room for the last time. You keep wanting to go back because maybe there’s this fantastic bargain that you missed. One of the coolest things I bought (and I sure bargained. I love to bargain! I embarrass all around with my great feats of bargaining prowess!) was the same Kirk marionette that Carol Davis had at Kiscon. It’s hand made and it’s so cute with his boots and gold command uniform! I wanted the Spock so bad, but they were all sold out. But now Kirk’s hanging on my bookcase.

Then it was goodbye until next year.

Shore Leave is a unique kind of fun not only for being with K/S'ers, but because of being in a whole hotel filled with Trekkers. Besides kind of "normal" people, I might define many Trekkers as "creative misfits," and it's a fun place to be. It's such a pleasant place for us K/S'ers to gather; and if you're a collector of ST and other collectibles, the dealers rooms are the best.

KiScon might have been a more special gathering as far as the group of us being more cohesive and it being more focussed, with the constant K/S activities and gatherings; but I do love this element of being in a Star Trek situation. K/S has that unique relationship to ST, obviously, as opposed to being part of a slash con.

There were many high moments for me at SL, the K/S passion was buzzing.

Of course, there are con events if you're so inclined, but I never seem to fit many of those in, except the art show and auction, and the masquerade. We did check out Tim Russ, who seems cool as a person and actor and performer, and a gorgeous guy in civvies, but he's not very Vulcan. Carolyn Spencer asked him a question (you can guess what other Vulcan was the subject of the question) but I'll let her talk about that.

As for the dealers rooms... I only got three zines this year, compared to maybe a dozen like I usually get. This is good, though. Not just for money reasons, but for my space constraints, I'm cooling it a bit with the collectibles, so this year was good, that I didn't buy more than I have space for. As far as zines, I have a nice stack of unread zines anyway (this is like a security blanket). My focus of collectibles, of course, is always Kirk and Spock, not just general ST. I did, though, get a Xena thing or two, and B5, and Nikita. I love collectibles, but I just have to slow it down a little.

As usual, I loved our "show and tell," what treasures everyone got. I didn't get any real vintage finds this year, except the 1991 full-figure Kirk and Spock rubber stamps, which are quite nice. (Not full-figure as in "full-figured gals," but as in head-to-foot, not just heads.) I think my favorite finds are the photos. Terri and I, and Linda Wan, maybe some others, definitely managed to find some unique Kirk and Spock photos we've not seen before. Also, the 2000 desk calendar is a good one this year. 1997 was good, lots of Kirk and Spock photos; 1998 was totally crappy, and I didn't even buy 1999. But the 2000 is color photos, with plenty of Kirk and Spock.

I lost my voice by Sunday night, as I often do. Such a bummer, it's so awful to be unable to talk! Yet still, talking so much as to lose my voice, and spending very little time sleeping, there's still never enough time to talk, especially one-on-one, with everyone I'd like to. Plus I forget things I'd meant to mention to someone, about her story or something. So whoever I talked to, I'm sure we could have had more satisfying conversations, but the energies are so scattered and high there. And some I barely spoke with at all; but at least we were mostly all in the same room Friday evening.

And back to K/S... one of my personal highlights was listening to [Brianna F] tell me in great detail about a story she's writing a unique and long, richly plotted tale also with delicious angst, and a happy ending... not that she really knows the ending yet. This is one example of the kind of times I like, relaxed and immersed in K/S.

This is pretty lame as a con report, but it's not easy to capture the emotional flavor of how it was, and I can't think exactly properly right now, back in the hubbub of so-called real life. I'm happy, though, that when I came back from SL I was inspired to start a new story. It had been a couple months since I finished my last one, and I do not like it, I feel bereft, when I'm not writing K/S.

So, SL was a lovely thing to do for the last summer of the century! K/S is alive and well... now onward closer to the ST future.

I'll always remember this year's Shore Leave because it was the first time I got to sit behind a table in in the dealer's room and sell my very own zines. I only wish Dusky, my co-editor, could have been there too. Dealing can be fun!

[...]

It was really funny to watch the people walk by who didn't know what was on the table already. I'd say 60-70% seemed to be already familiar with K/S and knew it wasn't their cup of tea, and that was fine as they simply walked by. What was great was watching the widened eyes of those who realized what they were looking at for the first time. A few times I actually witnessed the proverbial "bug-eyes," and it was so funny!

Actually, at the beginning of the con I was braced for nastiness, for confrontations, for folks to challenge me, especially since the cover of Beyond Dreams I is pretty inescapably intimate. (Hey, I like pictures of Kirk and Spock naked, embracing! Don’t you?) But as the hours and days wore on, I realized that wasn’t going to happen, and I became really comfortable. Oh, there were a few twentyish-men who held BD in their hands and said, “I just don’t get it” with a hint of challenge in their voices. But I just said, “If you don’t get it, you wouldn’t be interested, so you shouldn’t buy the zine.” At the suggestion that they might actually buy the zine, they uniformly dropped it like a hot potato and moved on.

Then there was the fellow who kept circling, coming back to the tables and to talk with Robin time after time, while disavowing all interest in what we were selling. That was really quite hilarious, as was the dutiful husband who had been given a list by his wife, who couldn’t make the con. Despite his discomfort, he really loved his wife, and was going to get her as many K/S zines as he could. Bless him! Maybe he realized there is usually a fringe benefit in having one’s spouse involved in such a sexually explicit enterprise as K/S....

Laurie next to me did a great job of noticing and warning off children. I was so often distracted that I often didn't jump on it as quickly as I should have. That's something to become more aware of.

[...]

... I did manage to pick up a few special treasures. There was a dealer there selling stuff from a fan’s collection, a fan who had Alzheimer’s. That is so sad! But the woman didn’t always know the value of what she had, and I unearthed an original pencil portrait of Kirk and Spock done by Carole Swoboda (TACS) in 1983, that I don’t recall ever seeing in a K/S zine, that is to die for. I would have dueled for quite a while for that picture if it had been in the show’s auction, but she let me have for a song. I’ve got to determine for sure whether it’s been published or not, ‘cause if not it would make a great illo in one of my zines, or even a cover.... (From the same dealer, a friend managed to walk off with an original Southern Cross, also for much less than what it is worth. Ah, the joys of unearthing treasures.)

Then, to my utter astonishment, I unearthed an original pencil Suzan Lovett in the secondary dealer’s room! It’s a collage that I know I’ve seen in a zine but I can’t quite place. Anyway, same thing happened, the dealer didn’t see the hunger in my eyes and I walked away with the picture, very happy indeed.

You can tell that I really love and go after the K/S art, can’t you?

Last year I reviewed one of Shelley’s pictures, the one on the cover of a fairly recent First Time in the 40s, with Spock sleeping and Kirk holding his hand but looking away, and I’ve always loved the composition of that picture! I managed to get that one from the art show. And then an original oil from Connie Faddis, portraying a very intriguing Spock dressed in vividly red, monk-like robes, and Kirk’s face, shadowed, floating above him.

I’ve never managed to get so much art for so little money! Someone was smiling on me that weekend.

The bad news of the con, for me, came when I lost my bidding in the art auction for three small oil paintings being sold in a single lot by Barbara Fister-Liltz. If you know her work, you know she doesn’t do much Star Trek at all, but her stuff is incredibly lifelike. These portraits were of Kirk, Spock and McCoy from Star Trek I, and especially the Kirk was to die for. Real enough to reach out and kiss. I duked it out with with another fan (a lovely person whom I hope to get to know better!) until the price skyrocketed too high even for my fanaticism for art. Sigh. It still hurts, but it helps to know that the pictures went to a really good home, to a very nice person. If she ever gets tired of them, she knows where to turn.

[...]

On Friday night M.E. Carter and I actually engaged in an official Shore Leave event (how rare!) and filked onstage for thirty minutes. M.E. is a wonderful person and a great roommate, and I enjoyed singing with her so much! Her harmonies (something that I never seem to be able to do, to my shame) made our songs take wing, and the two songs of hers that we sang are hauntingly beautiful. Most unfortunately our tape recorder didn't work properly...

[...]

I hope everybody enjoyed the Friday night party given by The K/S Press. It was different this year, in a smaller room next to the Worthington, and without the formality of an art auction and filking, etc., although we did display quite a bit of K/S art. I managed to get a print (one of only three) of a color pencil by the inestimable Shelley Butler, and I jump up and down in glee to own this piece. She calls it "Mirror Kirk" but anyone with any sense whatsoever should just look into this man's eyes and know instantly it is our Kirk finding himself in the Mirror Universe. I honestly do believe that this is one of Shelley's very finest portraits ever, if not the best. I know she isn't always crazy about working with color pencil, but the work she has produced in it so far is mesmerizing.

[...]

It was a wonderful surprise to have The Southern Cross join us at the party and also through some of the convention. On Friday night she brought with her some prints of her famous pictures: the unicorn pic that graces the front of the novel by Deanna Gray, To Catch a Unicorn, also the oasis picture where Spock's frals are wrapping themselves around Kirk's hand (I love frals!), the blood brother picture where they are dressed like Indians and their bleeding hands are held together, the one of Kirk which I can't describe in a family publication! So, the one of Kirk on his knees, his jeans unzipped and his engorged penis wrapped around by the rope that ensnares his arms as well .... Allow me a moment to collect myself, it’s gotten awfully hot here in front of this computer! Anyway, several of us were very happy to purchase some of these prints, with Robin acting as informal go-between and occasional bank lender.

And The Southern Cross also brought some originals with her, notably some from The Price of Freedom. I’ll let someone else tell that tale, but suffice it to say that another lovely person managed to walk away with two of these, and I sure do hope she has stopped shaking!

But that wasn’t it! Eventually two huge oil paintings in progress came from The Southern Cross’s car to our party. They were shown in the art show the next day, the first with a price tag of $4,000 on it, and the other Not For Sale. They were both so gorgeous that I feared someone would actually put down $4,000 for the piece; I knew TSC didn’t want to sell either of them.

The first was of the fellows dressed in first mission gold and blue, looking up at you from the depths of the picture.... oh, I’m not good at describing this. From the depths of space, with the Enterprise hovering.... I’m not even sure this is accurate, I was so bowled over by it, I think I went a little bit nutty. I remember their faces so clearly, though, so lifelike and almost three dimensional.

I’m not even going to try to describe the second picture, it was not as finished as the first and it seems unfair to the artist to peg her with my paltry observations at this point. But it will gorgeous when finished, I’m sure.

Back to relatively calm reality. I am really happy that both Beyond Dreams 1 and Encore! and The KiScon Zine all sold well, better than I had hoped, really. As always, the chance to spend some time (not as much as I wanted to!) with my precious friends more than made the trip worthwhile. I came close to not being able to attend this year (real life can be so difficult sometime!), and I am so glad that I managed to make it.

I sat in the dealer's room with Robin and Katie, right next to Jenna, just soaking up the conversation, watching the faces of people as they walked by the zines on display. I spent a while shopping, managed to find a few treasures, including several old zines I'd been looking for. I had a great dinner with Robin and Katie and Linda, and two other ladies who were a lot of fun to talk to, and I am so sorry I can't remember their names (a common problem I have). The K/S party that night was very relaxed. We sat around talking, admiring (drooling, for some of us) over the artwork on display. The Southern Cross made an unexpected visit, and it was a thrill to meet and talk to her. I bought a copy of all the beautiful prints she had, completely ignoring the fact that earlier I had cleaned out Robin's portfolio and swore I had enough artwork. Is there ever enough artwork? I still dream about the two oil paintings The Southern Cross brought in to show us, especially the Spock that was still in progress. It was very enjoyable to watch [Carolyn S] as she debated, hedged, sat down, stood up, shook, and finally bought those two originals from the novel Price of Freedom. I thoroughly understand, Carolyn, being the same way myself. I was glad you bought them, I could see just how much you appreciate them. They are beautiful. I had a chance to talk to [Kathy S] and [Shelley B] about writing, something I really wanted to do. These are two such talented authors. I can't thank these ladies enough, for all their wonderful words.

Aside from seeing various guests, the Star Trek part of SL is mostly about collectibles for me (I'm always amazed at people who don't collect...though I'm getting "better" about it myself). But the K/S part of it is what makes it such a special and rejuvenating weekend. It basically doesn't even matter what we do, because the K/S spirit within the ST spirit is so lively there. Like a group of us might be standing there looking at TOS t shirts and deciding which design we like better, but what's really going on is deeper than that, in our minds and our hearts. We're sharing without words our common experience of how deeply we love Kirk and Spock together, the myriad ways it affects our individual lives and the ways it brings us together. Of course we also share with words at SL, with lots of them.... I also hung around the Hubbell table with the lovely (female) astronomer, looking at mind-boggling photos of other galaxies and such space phenomena. How glorious is life!

* Personal Log, Jungle Kitty, Shore Leave, Day 0 *

Started a new story on the plane. Arrived safely and had dinner with a group of K/Sers. Then a bunch of us spent the rest of the evening giggling and guffawing over some very funny music vids.

Off to bed now, so I can spend the morning bitching about the dealer's room not opening until 2:00.

* Personal Log, Jungle Kitty, Shore Leave, Day 1 *

I guess the best today was the dealer's room. Must remember to thank Laurel for turning me onto the fun of collecting useless stuff (Star Trek crapabilia). The highlight of my haul so far:

<drumroll> <or long [[Shatner]]ian pause, if you prefer>

The Star Fleet Marriage Manual. Note to all personnel: It's illegal to marry a Klingon but not a Romulan.

I kept my head, though. I didn't buy the Star Trek Band-Aids or the Star Trek Silly Putty. I also resisted buying the coaster of Spock with giant pointed ears with laundry hanging on them, but it did make me laugh pretty hard.

Heard Gary Lockwood speak. Not much of a speaker. Although his last story about almost getting killed by a giant wave surfing in Brazil sounded so much like a dumb Academy stunt that I really loved it. <g> If he's still around tomorrow, I'll have him AUTOGRAPH my FOTO-NOVEL of *WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE*!!!!!! (If you've ever seen one of those foto-novels, you'll understand my excessive use of all-caps and asterisks.)

So far, I've seen the following from the TSU crowd: Ned, Mary Ellen, Judith, Laura JV, Kaki. Don't know who else will show up.

Judith got online and sent an email to Robin, who then called us. She's going to call again tomorrow night during the party.

*Personal Log, Jungle Kitty, Shore Leave, Day 2 *

Major adventures today! Writing this, then going to take a nap, so I can stay up waaaay late at the party.

OK, in chronological order.

I got a poker lesson from Gary Lockwood. I am *so* *jazzed* that I got input from GL for a story! Also got him to autograph my FOTO-NOVEL--the picture of "I'LL SQUASH YOU LIKE INSECTS!" He also autographed the Gary Mitchell card from the ST card game -- Friend of Kirk(tm). It was suggested to me that I should give him a copy of Golden Boy to read. But he informed me several times that he's a cowboy and very macho, and I think he'd beat me up. Real-life revenge fic. <shudder>

Also got 3 incredible photos--a still from the blooper reel where Kirk and Rand are going at it and 2 from Alex T. Great. Stunning!

Snapped up a book called "Biographies" put out at the time of ST II. It's got bios of the characters. Haven't read them all, but the Kirk one is really something. They have him being born on the moon (?!?) and, in addition to his brother Sam, he had a sister named *Michelle Suzanne.* <wink to Gayle Potts> It also has an interview with his mother, and love poetry by Rand. I'm sure the others are equally, er, fascinating. I did see that the Spock bio has some love poetry by Chapel.

Finally...June 1984 issue of Enterprise Incidents, Special Ed on WS. It has incredible pictures, lots that I'd never seen before, including a picture of him at about age 16 that I want to be buried with. Also a bunch of pictures of WS, LN, & DF at a barbecue . They're all in their ST costumes, so it's really funny. Couple of pictures of K & S laughing and shirtless (Patterns of Force) and

<I think you better sit down>

WS in that delicious short-sleeved T-shirt from Bread & Circuses...

<Are you ready?>

WITH HIS HAND DOWN HIS PANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, I am one happy kitty.

* Personal Log, Jungle Kitty, Shore Leave, Day 3 *

After my nap yesterday, I ran back to the dealer's room and tried to get more "Enterprise Incidents." Got a couple, plus a similar magazine called "Enterprise."

So on to the party. It was different than the Friscon party. Fewer people and less raucous. And no magic cookies. :-(

In fact, this whole con felt different than Friscon. I think it helped that at Friscon, we had planned out TSU activities for most of the time--field trip to Good Vibrations and Fondue Fred's, Req for Meth, 2 parties, etc. This time I didn't meet a lot of the ASCEM folk until the party, and there was more of people coming in and out. Of course, there's more to do at Shore Leave. More panels (although not as interesting as last year, IMO) and a much larger dealer's room.

So here's the scoop on the party. There were a couple of lurkers who de-lurked to be there, which I think is TERRIFIC. Debbie had made up a bunch of TSU buttons for all of us. I grabbed one of the ones with 2 hard-boiled eggs on it. <g>

The story readings were, of course, the highlight. Let's see, what did we have? K/S from GW, "Time is the Fire" from Wildcat, "Dr. Birch Goes On Vacation" from Scarlet, "Meditation of Blood" from Laura JV, K/B from me, S/Mc from jonk, K/S from Judith (who incidentally does a fabulous 7 of 9), K/U from sydvick, and J/7 from Robin. (I hope I didn't skip anything.) I hope the works in progress will be finished and posted *very soon,* because they were all top-notch. I really do wish all of you could come to one of these parties. Hearing the stories read aloud, and esp. by the writers, is so wonderful.

Today (Sunday) was quiet. Just hanging around in the lobby with people.

All in all, a fun weekend. It's really nice to be able to put faces with names. Hope to see all of you at Friscon. It's on Halloween this year!

The third time the curse rose was when Shelley went to see Gary Lockwood, who played Gary Mitchell in “Where No Man”, was appearing at a con. After listening to him speak, it didn’t take Shelley and everyone else in the audience much time to realize how condescending and rude this man really was. Finally, during the question and answer session, Shelley just couldn’t take it anymore, so she stood up and told him, “You know, you’re just as much of an asshole as Gary Mitchell was.” To which he replied, “You bet I am!”