In August 2010, I went to my first scifi convention in probably a decade or more. It was in Dallas and I went to see a man I greatly admire as both actor and activist, Edward James Olmos.

The following February, I found myself again in the Dallas area for the Women of Sci-Fi Expo to meet Battlestar Galactica's beautiful and gracious Tricia Helfer and Katee Sackhoff.

With my inner geek rejuvenated by those cons, I attended another, Comicpalooza in Houston last May. I again met Mr. Olmos, who is, by the way, an incredibly generous and sincere person.

Now, after these three smaller cons, I'm poised to attend one of the largest in the nation, if not the world — the legendary Dragon*Con.

This is the 25th edition of the convention, which is expected to draw crowds in the tens of thousands into downtown Atlanta. Programming spans five hotels and hosts scores of stars, artists, dealers, and exhibitors.

I've never been to Dragon*Con and am both excited and a bit nervous about attending such a large event. Nevertheless, I'll be there with hopes of once again meeting Mr. Olmos, along with other Battlestar Galactica stars, including Mary McDonnell, Michael Hogan, Tricia Helfer, Aaron Douglas, and Tahmoh Penikett.

Those of you who've read my past posts know that BSG is the show that brought to life everything I'd ever hoped to see in a science fiction TV series, so you'll understand my excitement at having such a large contingent of its stars.

Adding to the excitement is the chance to catch up with friends, including my oldest pal whom I haven't seen since we watched the 1998 shuttle launch of John Glenn from a Florida beach, a once in a lifetime opportunity that she made it possible.

I've missed our friendship and hope to reconnect with her and indulge our inner geeks to the fullest. I think it's going to be a great trip and I'm very much looking forward to it.

On May 5, 1961, Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. became the first American in space after climbing atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket. The approximately 15-minute suborbital hop officially put the Americans into the space race, which had begun in 1957 with the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik.

Shepard, a Naval aviator known for his icy demeanor under pressure, was the second man to visit space — the first having been Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – and would later become the fifth man to walk on the moon, serving as commander of Apollo 14. He was the only member of the original seven Mercury Program astronauts to visit the moon. 

While on Earth's only natural satellite, Shepard took a few strokes at a golf ball with a makeshift club, becoming one of the indelible images of the Apollo program.

Shepard flew in space only the two times, having been sidelined after his first flight by an inner-ear problem until a medical procedure enabled him to return to flight status in time for him to earn command of an Apollo mission.

Shepard died in July 1998 at the age of 74.

Battlestar Galactica's Bodie "Hot Dog" Olmos, the son of Edward James Olmos, finished great in his first marathon amidst some pretty bad weather for the event. Rain, wind and cold assailed the more than 26,000 runners and walkers in the event. 

While Bodie was finishing the last leg of the race, donors heeded the call of the elder Mr. Olmos (BSG's Admiral Adama) to give to his son's fund-raiser benefitting the American Society. They pushed the total of donations to more than $10,000 in a matter of hours. The night before the total had been somewhere around $8,000, with the remainder trickling in at first then finally ringing up like a cash register in the final hour. It was amazing to watch and exciting to see how well Bodie was doing throughout the race.

If you want to know more, head on over to OlmosPerfect.com and check out the article there. 

Amazing race, Bodie!