Going Left

Great opportunities in life are fleeting. They’re the ones that don’t come around very often. It is almost as if they don’t want to give you time to think about giving chase. If you take too long, the moment to catch them is passed and you spend the rest of your days kicking yourself. You have to grab them, get them in a headlock and wrestle them to the ground!

I, David Read of GateWorld (the largest Stargate fan site on the Web) was presented with one such opportunity only a few weeks ago. I was on holiday for Thanksgiving in my old stomping grounds, a town just an hour outside of St. Louis, getting ready to close my laptop for the night when I received a message from my business partner, Darren. He had just exchanged emails with Alec Peters, CEO of Propworx.

“Propworx?! The ones who did the Battlestar auctions? I own two of their books! And what’s this? They’re doing the same for Stargate??”

I wanted to get on board. No, I had to get on board. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I always hoped that when the day came for SG-1 and Atlantis’s props, costumes and set decoration pieces to be sold my knowledge of the franchise would be a vital component to making the experience more smooth.

There was only one problem. I had made tentative plans to plant my flag back in Missouri, where my family is. I was eager to leave Phoenix — my home for three years — and return to my loved ones. Propworx is in Los Angeles, in exactly the opposite direction.

Great opportunities don’t come along often. I knew dismissing a chance to work with a company as excellent in its craft as Propworx would warrant several self-kicks, or worse. The opportunity to be, essentially, a curator for thousands upon thousands of pieces of Stargate memorabilia before they are received into the hands of fans like me is a fleeting honor.

Do I go right (East) or do I go left (West)? It’s really a no-brainer. Home is where my heart is, but it isn’t going anywhere. The Propworx Stargate auctions will soon disperse this massive collection into the hands of those who deserve it most. I must be part of that legacy.

Left it is!