#normandy 2015

We were super early so my dad struck up a conversation with the man in front of us who was there with his son as I wrote in my notebook about my encounter with the actors in the restaurant.  This man was talking about his man cave (his words) at home with all the WW2 prop memorabilia he’s collected over the years.  He has the jacket from one of the main Saving Private Ryan guys, multiple helmets, prop grenades, prop guns, dogtags, uniforms...on and on and on.  He said that he had the print of the painting of Guarnere, Babe, and Malarkey in the graveyard (he forgot to name Shifty) and it’s signed by a bunch of the real guys.  And then he unrolled the 20″x16″ posters he bought with stills from Band of Brothers that he was going to get signed.

While he was talking, I oo-ed and -ah-ed appropriately cause really, he had some super cool stuff and he obviously loves BoB and other WW2 films and that awesome.

Then my dad, as dads  sometimes do, tried to talk about me.  He was very proud of the graphic work that I did for this trip and told many people throughout the four days about my stuff...mostly cause he knew I wouldn’t say anything :P  

So anyways, he turns to this guy and says, “My daughter designed and printed this fabric that she sewed into a skirt.  She’s going to get it signed today.  Lindsay, show him your skirt.”  So I dutifully pulled it out of the bag and showed him the fabric with the collages of specific characters. 

And he responded with, “Wow now....that’s a bit much, isn’t it? You’re a crazy fangirl, huh?” with a look of disgust on his face.

Really?  Really? REALLY? YOU ARE JUDGING ME? REALLY???? I spent a total of $58 on the printing and shipping of that fabric and about, oh let’s be generous with the hours, maybe 20 to 30 hours designing and sewing the fabric.  You have spent THOUSANDS of dollars on all of your memorabilia and you are saying that I went too far?  That I am a crazy fangirl who doesn’t understand the gravitas of the series?  

I’m sorry I don’t have the money to buy real props.  Instead I turn to my computer and make myself tshirts and yes, a girly skirt, that are affordable and MAKE ME HAPPY.  I can show off my love for this series in public in a subtle way.  Okay, maybe a skirt with character faces is a bit...not normal...but tshirts with character faces are totally normal...I just revamped it a bit and made it a skirt so it would be different and interesting.  And dude, I am not just a fan of the series...I have ALL the books, even Clancy Lyall’s and Forrest Guth’s...no, I can’t buy the $250 print of the painting or 20″x16″ still prints...but I can make awesome collages of each character that the actors loved and appreciated.  And I can continue to love this series, the real men and can continue to educate myself about WW2.

I am so sick of the calling out of “fake geek girls” or its counter part “obsessed crazy fangirl” in a tone of disgust...the only person that is allowed to call me crazy is myself.  And the only time I will stop being a fangirl is when the subject no longer interests me.

And guess, what? That is going to be a long time to wait, buddy.  So yeah, get used to the crazy existence of me and my BoB themed skirts cause I ain’t going no where.