George and me, 2004

George Takei, Star Trek’s beloved Sulu and Facebook enthusiast, is one of the most multi-dimensional people I’ve ever met. To list his accomplishments would take this entire blog, so if you don’t know the man behind the deep voice and huge smile, look him up. It will be worth it. For now, I want to tell you about Seattle.

When signing autographs, a long somewhat tiresome procedure for media stars, George Takei likes to engage his fans. He is a talker, slowing the long lines to concentrate on every person before him as if they were the only one in the room. But his talk is never random. In Seattle at the 40^th Anniversary of Trek some years back, he asked everyone how many languages they spoke. If they answered in the singular, they got a friendly discourse on the importance of communication in a fast-changing world; if they spoke something besides English, George would carry on a conversation with them in that language!

*Note: Klingon counts as a second language.

These are the voyages…