50 Years.

Junior year of high school, I was scanning Facebook, probably to avoid homework, and I saw a post about the plans to open the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff. The people in charge were asking for name suggestions for the cafe. I walked into the kitchen and moped to my mother about how much I'd love to go, thinking I'd never be able to.
Fast forward 3 years. I'm sitting in the basement of the Marquette library, making my list of places I want to see when I go abroad. My goal is to make it to all the countries of the UK, and I was coming up short with what I knew about Wales. "What's in Wales? What can I do in Wales?" And then it hit me! The Doctor Who Experience is still open. Cardiff here I come! And it was an indulgent celebration of my nerdiness the likes of which I've never seen. Obviously, I loved it.
It only struck me as I was arranging the pictures for this post that to someone who doesn't like Doctor Who might genuinely think this stuff looks lame. But for those who love and know the stories behind them, you'll know that when I saw David's TARDIS and stood next to the console, I actually teared up a little bit.
This Saturday (or in my case very early on Sunday morning when I tuned into the BBC website), the 50th Anniversary Special of this show marked the passing of a milestone for a television show that has touched the lives of millions of people. I watched it 3 times in 24 hours, legally and for free in the country of its creation, with two of my wonderful new friends. I couldn't have been happier about my part in the celebration! I could wax long about how many times I've laughed and cried and dreamed that the TARDIS ground its way into view on my front porch in the middle of the night, but I'll stop at saying that I felt really lucky to see the stuff that helps make this show so great. I'm not quite done talking about this, but I'll save the rest for next time.
No matter how much I think the curators should be reprimanded for just letting Daleks wander around freely, I have to say how excited I was to experience the Experience.