The summer before entering school as a seventh grader, I took part in a Shakespeare camp. I knew I was going to take part in a Shakespeare play. I didn’t know I was going to fall in love with the camp. I didn’t know that I would truly consider everyone there as part of my own family. I didn’t know how painful it would be every year when the week was over and the camp had to end. I can’t tell you when the camp became the high point of my whole year every year, but it has without question. And this camp was started by AshleyRose.
I remember all the way at the beginning of this year receiving an e-mail from AshleyRose about how she decided to do this Star Trek blog thing and she wanted me to follow along. I had a very limited connection to Star Trek at the time. I had seen my dad watching some TNG here and there on TV, but I never watched it with him. I had a vague image of the guy with the weird forehead and some episode when Data had sided with the Borg…until that one guy who played Charles Xavier talked Data into returning to the good side. I had also seen the newest Star Trek movie (at the time) in theaters a few times. Overall, I knew nothing about the series. But I loved the movie, and I love AshleyRose, so why not follow along?
With my limited knowledge, I had absolutely no idea what to expect from the blog. But I wasn’t following it every day in the beginning. I had completely forgotten that this project was even happening...until I decided I would send a reply e-mail. Upon reviewing AshleyRose’s last e-mail, I panicked that I completely forgot about her project. I spent the next few hours going through every entry. After fighting through all the laughter and the tears, I was finally caught up, and I had fallen in love with this blog.
I wasn’t following along by watching the episodes, but I read every post that was made. I saw how the characters changed from each new series. From my experience with the movie, I loved how much the “original” crew had changed from TOS to the newest movie. I knew enough about “who” this Spock character was or this Captain Kirk person so that I could understand their personalities. I could still enjoy what the characters were doing. What they were faced with. How painful it must have been for Spock to die. I could even see Kirk introducing a civilization (or two) to STDs… I saw very little of TNG, but I still was close to it because it was the most familiar to me of the actual Trek TV series from just having seen a part of an episode or two. While following along, I knew I couldn’t wait to eventually watch TNG myself sometime.
But when AshleyRose was finishing TNG, I didn’t want it to end. I knew nothing of the other Trek series. I didn’t want to be thrown into a series where I didn’t know anything about the characters. I’m glad it happened though. I got lots of good things out of the other series as well. I especially have an interesting in watching Voyager. I want to see Janeway and Seven kick butt. I want to know more about the Doctor. I still remember watching the video Ashley posted on the Doctor and Seven singing together. I had Seven singing “You Are My Sunshine” in my head the entire time I was in class after that. I also remember being depressed about the copy crew who was fated to turn to dust. I want to truly watch and be a part of this series.
My big Star Trek event of the year was watching Star Trek: Into Darkness. I watched the previous movie right before watching Into Darkness in theaters for a midnight showing. It was amazing! I was back with the crew that I knew so well. At one point, I heard my dad say the villain was Khan. A few minutes later, with his epic facial expressions, the jerkface revealed, “My name is Khan.” The best part was hearing someone else in the theater being shocking and saying, “No way!” Yes way! And my dad got it right! I watched Into Darkness a total of four times (the same amount I saw the previous movie in theaters) over the course of five days. One of those days was spent showing the previous movie to my little brother right before leaving to watch Into Darkness again! I then watched it again with friends the next day. By that point, I was quoting parts of the movie and taking note of how everyone seemed to only be capable of crying through one eye. I loved being able to have my own, though rather short, Star Trek adventure.
At the beginning of the year, I basically knew AshleyRose as my drama director. As the year draws to a close, I have been given the opportunity to get a glimpse of something she loves. How it helped her get through the hard times. How it helped her connect with her family. And even the non-Trek stuff, such as watching her mother perform Greek tragedies on stage. For me, this blog has allowed me to learn more about someone I admire and love. It has allowed me to follow a friend a whole year instead of just one week. This blog was totally worth it!
As an added bonus, guess what I got for Christmas: Seasons 1 & 2 of TOS! The year may have ended, but my journey has just started. And I know just who to turn to when I want to talk about Star Trek.
What an amazing post!! I love this. It's amazing, isn't it, how much you can be drawn in to something and gain a deeper understanding, because the message is carried by someone you admire and respect. That's how I felt reading this blog. Although I didn't know AshleyRose (and still don't, in the traditional sense), the way the message was interpreted and expressed was a big part of what kept me coming back. The way you say "It has allowed me to follow a friend a whole year instead of just one week"- that's very touching. That resonates with me in a certain way- I feel like I have this special bonus now, since the Year of Star Trek is technically over, yet I'm still able to read and post. I feel like I'm getting bonus time, instead of "just" the year. I can't leave. I want more. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing your story.