Take me to the city on the edge of forever..

Greetings and salutations.

My name is Ashley, I'm a seventeen year old Senior in high school and I live in the rather uneventful state of Nevada. The only good thing about living here is that the annual Las Vegas Star Trek Convention is only a ten hour drive from my home in Reno. I've attended that convention only two years in a row so far, but I already have my tickets for the 2009 convention. I would have gone to more over the years, but it's so very expensive, and up until now, we didn't have the finances, so I expect to be attending many more in the future.

I have been a Trekkie since the age of six, when my Uncle Jeff first showed me Generations. At the time I had no idea what was going on, but I knew that I liked that Kirk guy an awful lot, and Picard wasn't bad either. So, I have been a devoted Trekkie for eleven years of my life, and take pride in that, since it has influenced me so much, making me proud to be the person I am today. I know that a lot of adults look down on the "newbs" of Star Trek, if you will, but I am far from that, and I am tired of being judged on an age basis. Just because I'm seventeen means nothing, considering that Star Trek has been the universe that surrounds me for more than half of my life, and I can guarantee that I know just as much, or maybe even more, about Star Trek than some "veterans". I live, eat and breathe Star Trek, and would like to be treated with as much respect as anyone else who feels the same way. I know that may make me sound stuffy or snobby, but really, on all the other Star Trek forums I visit I get treated like my opinion could never matter because I was born in 1991 and wasn't alive, or old enough, to watch the original airdates of TOS and TNG. With that said, I leave it up to you prove to me that not all Star Trek forums shun the younger fans because of what age we are.

With that aside, I promise that I'm actually very friendly, I despise conflicts of any nature, and my friends constantly tell me that I am too relaxed. Being a huge Trekkie for all of my middle school and high school career has humbled me a lot. I never went to any parties, I don't drink, or smoke, and I've never even seen drugs before. Most girls my age tease me a lot about being a virgin as well, saying things like, "It just comes with being a loser" but I just laugh at them, because sooner or later they end up pregnant before they're out of high school. I guess you could call me a goody-two-shoes, but I just don't see the point in being a rebel, besides, I get a long much better with my teachers than I do with the other students. I take my grades pretty seriously, but if I get a C on a final or something, I don't mind, at least I know I tried. I love to read and write, drawing is something I love too. My favorite subjects in school are a tie between three; English, Science and History, my least favorite being Math, which is strange, I know, because I love science so much.

If it's not obvious by now, I love to type, but if you ever met me in real life you'd be shocked at how quiet I am. I'm a very open person, I don't typically hide things and I'm always open to new ideas and theories on life, love, the universe and the like. I don't judge others, and believe firmly in the "kill 'em with kindness" philosophy.

Now, it's time for a little about what I love about Star Trek. As you can see from the above section on my profile, I am a lover of The Original Series. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the whole crew have a special place in my heart, because even though Generations was the first Star Trek movie I ever saw, TOS was the first series that I really dove into. I was captivated by both the Vulcan and the Andorian race, and try to live my life as peacefully and logically as the Vulcans do. My favorite character from TOS is, you guessed it, Mr. Spock. Though, TOS obviously isn't the only series I love, in fact, I've seen them all, TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY and even ENT. However, the one that I will always hold most dear is The Original Series. Speaking of Vulcans, they're my favorite Trek alien race, and I wanted to be one since I first laid eyes upon (and fell in love with) Mr. Spock. I actually had an old Trekspace where my name was T'Para, which you can still feel free to call me, as I adore being called by my self-appointed Vulcan name.

Through it all TOS has always remained my favorite series. Just the little hidden moral lessons and deep humanity behind it all really gripped me. I know that is apparent in almost all of the Trek series' but for me, TOS was ground-breaking because Gene Roddenberry was so ahead of his time. I adore all the actors, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and especially DeForest Kelley have thoroughly taken my heart and ran with it. That's my only regret in life; That I'll never get the chance to meet James Doohan and DeForest Kelley.

As you can porbably tell by my pictures I'm a huge fan of collecting. My collection isn't as big as I'd like it to be, but one of these days I think I'll have enough, haha. I've gotten most of my memorabilia from Star Trek conventions and from collecting over the years by asking for nothing but Star Trek stuff for birthdays and holidays, haha. The one thing that I'm most proud of though is my TOS-style Commander (science division) uniform that me and my mom made ourselves. I absolutely love that uniform and wear it whenever I can, like conventions, prom, other school dances, Halloween and any other reason I can find to wear it. I also wear my Vulcan ears in an attempt to look as much like a female Spock as possible!

Well, with that being said, I think you owe me one message at least for reading ALL of that, and besides, I love making new Trek friends, so feel free!

End transmission.