Probably the vast majority of my time at the show was spent hunting down cosplayers wearing costumes that I liked and asking them if I could get my picture taken with them. I took a lot of pictures, probably more than I've ever taken at any of these shows before.

One of my earliest destinations once I hit the convention, though, was to stop by Loni Anderson's table and get an autographed photo from her. What really stuck out to me when I got up close to her was that even at 71, she's still a very beautiful woman. She was also quite pleasant. She shook my hand as soon as I got up to meet her, listened for a minute while I gushed about what a great actress I think she is, and signed the photo I had selected for her to autograph. All in all, it was a cool experience. Later, I also got a professional photo op with her, which I thought came out rather well.

The other celebrity that I just had to get a picture with was Dean Cain, the actor best known for being Superman in the '90s. Dean Cain was *my* Superman... the interpretation of the character that was airing when I was a kid... the guy who played the version of Superman that turned me into a Superman fan and a superhero fan in general. This was my childhood hero attending an event I go to every year; I couldn't let the opportunity of meeting him pass me by. I didn't get to say much to him (his line was humongous enough that they probably wanted to keep things moving along quickly), but it was still a fun encounter. His assistant took five pictures of the two of us, with Dean Cain doing different poses in each of them. Once that was over, Dean patted me on the back and asked if I was smiling for the pictures. When I affirmed that I was, he said, "Good. So was I."

The last big thing that I did before leaving was to pick up my commissioned artwork, which I had prepaid for a week or so before the show. I had wanted something unique, so I requested the artist create a painting of one of my favorite actresses (Reese Witherspoon) dressed as the Pink Power Ranger. I'm more than satisfied with the result. The artist, Carla Wyzgala, did a wonderful job of recreating Reese Witherspoon's likeness for the artwork. As you can see, I've already framed the picture. All I need now is to find a good place to hang it on my wall.

I couldn't be happier with my time spent at this year's Wizard World show in Chicago. By the end of the day, I had seen tons of creative cosplayers, met a '70s/'80s sex symbol, met my childhood hero, and got some artwork featuring one of my very favorite movie stars dressed as one of my very favorite television characters. Wizard World really has a way of making me feel like a kid again. I look forward to going again next year.