I was feeling much
more relaxed and happier at the signing in Ridgewood. I got there really early.
I had cappuccino at Starbucks and intended on spending a couple of hours at the
library after that but then I changed my plans and joined the small line that
already had formed by the bookstore.
That store was much
smaller than I had imagined. I did wonder why stars would come here to do
signings. I discovered that many have and would be. The lady in front of me got
me a list of upcoming signings- Tony Bennett, who my Mom likes, was included on
this.
That lady was
really nice. She was with her teenage daughter. They were from Maryland. She
asked me where the Wawas were in this area. I told her that we only have Quick
Checks and 7-11s in Northern Jersey. I said that I like Wawas too.
The green sweater
girl behind me was showing me some of her photos from recent DD concerts that
she had been too. I was a little jealous that she had gotten so close to the
stage.
She or another girl
asked the Maryland teen which star that she would be willing to wait in a long
line for to meet. She said Leonardo DiCaprio.
Maryland lady and
I got to talking about how parents don’t discipline kids like they used to. I
mentioned how my mother washed my mouth out with soap a few times after I
cursed. She said that she had put hot sauce on her daughter’s tongue as
punishment for that.
She joked around
that maybe John would do a private reading for us because there really wasn’t
that big of a crowd yet. That was at around 2:00. The line did get longer as
time went by. A few people had moved further back on it because they were
feeling nervous about meeting John.
John arrived about
20 minutes late. I think that it was because of traffic on Rt. 17. The crowd
was cheering and screaming when his vehicle pulled into the parking lot. I said
to Maryland woman “Calm down, he’s just a man, not a God”. She laughed about
this.
There are some
devoted fans that do consider him a bass god though. I had read posts at the
official fan site regarding this. I was only a member of that for two years-
2008 and 2009.
I was still feeling
nervous about meeting him again but I think that I did a better job of it this
time. He had asked me if I started reading it yet. I said that it would take me
a while because I am a slow reader. He said “That’s okay; take your time.”
I did take photos of
this event too; they were a little better than the NYC ones but still not that
great. A nice girl, Lori, who I was talking to afterwards said that she would
send me some of her shots. She had one of those really good cameras. I was so
grateful to her.
I actually got to be in JT’s presence a
second time that night. Another girl, Lana, had just arrived at the store when
I was at the register signing up to have the audio book mailed to me. She heard
that my zip code was Linden and said that she originally came from that area.
After I told her that I was taking the train home, she offered to drive me
instead so I said yes.
I waited on the
line of about 60 people with her. The staff had been moving everyone through
quickly the entire time. It felt like we were cattle that were being herded.
I couldn’t
remember if I had even thanked John for signing my book. I did so after he
talked with Lana a bit. I did feel like a bit of a doofus for doing that then
though.
They were not doing
personalizing of it like at B&N; that day our name was written on a sticky
note to make the process go by quicker.
I had been going to
get my brother a cupcake from Crumbs after this event but there wasn’t an
opportunity to do this now that I was getting a ride home. That was so kind of
her. She also sent me some of her photos.
I can’t believe
that I was on that line for around 7 hours. I never ever thought that I would
do something like this for any star. My brother would think that I am crazy if
he knew about this.
He would also flip
out if he knew that I have not just two copies of this book but three; I didn’t
want to mess up the signed ones so I got one to read. I really have been
putting a lot of cash into the JT machine lately
I was so excited
when I saw doggies being walked in both locations- a Golden Retriever by a guy
and 2 Soft Coated Wheaton terriers (I’m pretty sure that was their breed) by a
girl in Ridgewood and an adorable cockapoo by someone in NYC. I pictured my
brother teasing me by saying that I should just be excited about seeing John,
not doggies. I like doggies a lot more than I do any celebrity.
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