Kicking off what promises to be a fairly epic month of smaller-yet-geektastic adventures in between space shuttles (yes, that's a valid notation of time in my life lately!) was CSTS Philly last night.

For those who may not know, CSTS = Can't Stop The Serenity, in which browncoats from all over the world gather in their respective cities to watch the movie, generally goof around, and raise money for Equality Now, a charity Firefly/Serenity creator Joss Whedon supports.

It's been happening and growing every year since 2006, and I tried to go the last few years, but never could, for one reason or another.

Finally, a year arrived when I knew about it well in advance, yet remembered when it got closer, and had no other obligations that night! Of course, when the day actually arrived, I didn't feel like going anywhere, but Marian Call (who made an awesome album inspired by Firefly and BSG) was coming to play in the area a couple of weeks later, and I had told her I'd take some flyers to put up/pass out there, so that filled in the missing motivation my inner lazy introvert ate, and it turned out to be a really fun night!

There were refreshments, trivia, raffles, and live music by Sean Faust. At one point he asked if anybody in the crowd could sing, and nobody volunteered, so after a minute I did, and ended up singing "The Hero of Canton" (also known as Jayne's song) with him, though I didn't know all the words to the verses, and once folks realized that was what they were being asked to sing, others quickly picked up the slack!

The main organizer, Matt, called me back up on stage a little later to announce the Marian Call show, which was awesome, and a bunch of people took flyers. We watched Serenity then, as a "Special Hell" screening, in which the audience is encouraged to talk in the theater, adding emphasis and snark a la MST3K, which definitely added an interesting layer to the always wonderful 'verse. Definitely glad I went! I even won a couple of the raffles, coming home with the book finding Serenity (edited by Jane Espenson) and a copy of the "Done the Impossible" DVD!