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sgornyNote: This is a repost because LJ won't let me fix some "unrepairable error". Sorry about the inconvenience. Don't feel like you have to read, or anything.
This is a horridly long post from my journal, with a bit cut out. I should cut more, down to just the meeting the Folks stuff, but that will have to come later.
Read at your own risk... it's overly detailed and LOOOOOONG!
So I arrived at the airport, checked in, got on the plane, and flew without incident. Got a rental from Thrifty (a LONG way from the airport), and there is where the fun began. As I tried to get to Boston, I came to a split where one way was a toll tunnel (Sumner Tunnel), and I was unsure if that was where I was to be. So I went straight… and ended up getting lost in East Boston. I drove around for about 15 minutes, and ended up circling the Maverick Train Station. I called the concierge at the hotel, and tried to find out where I was. He didn’t know East Boston, and recommended that I get directions into Boston from a gas station, and call him after I got through the tunnel. Turned out I was only about 4 blocks away, but the streets in Boston are not right angles. Once I got to the tunnel, I called him again. He gave me directions – through the Tunnel, follow the signs to Gov’t Center, than… I lost track. So I went as far as I could, and called again. I had missed a turn, so I had to turn around and go back. I got lost again, and had to call a 3rd time. This time, they stayed on the phone with me until I got there. I was never so happy to see a hotel in my life!
The Omni Parker House was a very nice hotel. Elegant lobby, great valets & concierge. I had them call up to the room to let![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
qafbliss know I was there, and the bellman took my bags up. I used valet parking, because I wasn’t up to dealing with it.
When I got to the room,qafbliss was on the phone with her mom. Turns out, she was waiting for her to call back, and when the desk person called up, she kind of shouted “What!” because her mom was supposed to call right back (but had lost the number). She ended up having to call her back on the cell again. I sat on the bed, and waited for her to get off the phone. Suddenly, I felt an odd sensation on my butt. Turns out, the water bottle (which had fallen out of the car, onto the road) had sprung a leak, and I had a big wet spot on my pants. Used a hairdryer to take care of it.
We decided to go out to dinner (it was after 8 by now), and walked around a bit. The weather was pretty cool but nice, and we walked in a big circle before ending up at Kennedy’s. On the way, we stopped at Borders and I got a ticket for the signing. Kennedy’s was an Irish pub with a singer in the bar. The food was pretty good –qafbliss got a mushroom salad, and I got a steak with mushrooms, garlic, and pepper. And a beer. qafbliss got wine, and the glass had someone else’s lipstick on it. So we sent it back for a new glass. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and discussed what our plan was for Saturday.
More about the tickets. There were red, green, and blue tickets. Holders were broken up into 6 categories. Red 1, Green 1, Blue 1, Red 2, Green 2, Blue 2 (in that order). You went by colors – red -> green -> blue. If you had a Borders receipt, you were in subgroup 1. If not, subgroup 2. We were Red 1, so we could line up beginning at 1:30, for the signing beginning at 3:00. I got a red ticket on Friday night, soqafbliss could have come into Boston a day later and been OK. But we didn’t know.
We were to meet a few other fans in the lobby at 8:00 in the morning, so we had to get up at 6:30-7:00.qafbliss decided to get up first. But before we went to bed, we needed to check our e-mail first, then we ended up talking for quite a while before we went to bed. It must have been 2:00-2:30 before we got to sleep.
Saturday, March 6th, 2004
6:30 came very early. We got downstairs by about 8:10, and the people we were to meet didn’t get there until about 8:30. They were (names deleted to protect the innocent). We got coffee and walked around for a while, ending up at Borders. The noticed the tri-fold posters at the door, and were tempted to get it and take it. But I did. We then walked around for a bit more, and went inside Borders. There were already 3 girls from Wellsley sitting on the inside steps at 9:00. We scoped out the area, then went back to the hotel to freshen up. We headed back to Borders at around 11:30. There were already about 20 people in line. We decided to get into line. The line slowly grew to about 30-40 people. About 12:30, Ed (a Borders employee) came out and told everyone that he had to disperse the line, as it was too early to form. Few people wanted to leave, but we talked amongst ourselves and decided to do a kinda honor system. Soqafbliss & I went to eat. We split a roast beef & cheese sandwich from the Borders Café. It wasn’t very good. While we were eating, there was a piercing scream. It was an old lady, and there was a kind of menacing man slowly walking away from her table, kind of like Bud walks sideways away from Rose (my cats). qafbliss & I decided to leave pretty quick. The security guys came, and I’m not sure what happened, but somehow he approached & threatened/scared her (weapon? Flashing?) and those around her agreed with what happened.
We went back to get in line, and discovered that new people had come while we were gone and they would not abide by the honor system, which ruffled a few feathers. We were in about the same position as we started out in, so we were OK. (Those who shall remain unnamed) met back up with us.
Around 2:30, they wove us through the stacks to minimize the line. It was kinda tight, andqafbliss was bothered by it. She had to leave several times to get air. By about 2:50, I decided to go over to where Gale, Michelle, & Thea would be arriving to get pics. The Gay American Idol sang a song, and then they announced the actors. Michelle walked in first, followed by Gale, then Thea. There was much clapping and picture taking, and stupid me forgot to use the video mode, only used progressive mode, which got a bunch of pics but they were kind of random.
The stars sat down, and I took a number of pictures (mostly Gale). I then went back in line to show everyone.
The line took a while to move. I left a number of times to take pictures – some good, most not so. And a few videos, too. When we got to the front of the line, I was so excited I could hardly stand it. I went first, thenqafbliss, than ...(names removed to protect the innocent). There was an employee for Borders who was hole-punching all receipts, so that you couldn’t return the DVD’s. qafbliss decided to not get hers signed, so she could return them, and go as my guest. We were told that we could only have 3 items between the 2 of us, so I decided to have them sign the “She” magazine (Thea & Michelle), the DVD’s (all of them), the Wake press kit pic (Gale)… and the handbill for Uncle Bob, which I hid inside the “She.”
I was so totally fixated on Gale that it was hard to remember what happened, but this is what I reconstructed withqafbliss.
First up was Michelle. She is very beautiful and tiny in person, with a tight dancers body. She was wearing a black shirt (tank? Sleeveless?) and black pants (tight) with a silver belt. She reached out to shake my hand – I was surprised, since she made the first move (I might not have on my own) and thanked me for coming. I gave her the copy of “She” magazine entitled “Moms of QaF” with Thea, Sharon, and Michelle on the cover. She seemed surprised a bit to see it, but in a good way. She signed it, and I lost track of it on the table for a minute. I handed her the DVD’s and decided I wanted them to sign the DVD’s instead of the box. Should have had them do both. I opened the entire strip and laid it on the table so I could get the DVD with Thea & Michelle out. She picked it up, looked at it, and said loudly in a surprised tone to Gale “Oh my God, why is Randy with Sharon?”
Gale shrugged and lifted his hands in a “who knows” gesture while giving a corresponding what-the-fuck look. Michelle looked at them all, then signed the one with her & Thea on it. I really don’t remember saying goodbye to her… I think I thanked her, but Gale was next and I was mesmerized. Everything became a bit hazy. I really don’t remember it too well.
First, I handed him the little poster out of the Wake Press Kit. “Can you sign this?”
He took it, looked at it a bit, and I was afraid he wouldn’t sign it. But he did. He seemed a little surprised to see it, but his expression was a bit guarded in the early part of the evening, and I was so enthralled I had a hard time reading him.
“Sure,” he said, and signed it.
Next, I held out the DVD’s. I wasn’t sure how we wanted to sign, so I decided to let him make the decision. “Do you want to sign the box or the DVD’s?” I asked nervously.
“Well, you paid for it!” he responded slightly snarkily – but I love his snark.
I handed him the DVD and he signed it “To Susan – heart, Gale”. He then picked up the “She” magazine and looked at it, kind of puzzled. Like, why does she want me to sign this? He made a little face like, well, OK… but I reached out (while he was holding it), and pulled out the Uncle Bob playbill. “No, this is for you.”
He picked it up, and pondered it for a minute. I couldn’t read his expression, and thought that maybe he was not going to sign it. But he did. “To (my real name). Love, Gale.”
I knew I had to touch him. I couldn’t be this close and not do so. So I reached out my hand and said “Thank you.” He took my hand and shook it – guh! He has soft hands, and a strong, but not overly firm handshake. I thanked him, and moved on to Thea.
By now, I was thoroughly discombobulated. I had just touched the man of my dreams – I know, no chance of reality, I’m not that stupid. But OMG, he was beautiful. His skin was so soft & dewy looking. His hair was slightly messy – not like Brian’s, but he probably used a hair wax on it. He was wearing a beautiful black suit, with a periwinkle shirt, narrow pants, and pointy toed boots (probably half boots). He had a silver mid-length chain on, which I didn’t even notice untilqafbliss told me later and I saw the pictures. He had none of the “smokers lines” around his mouth, no crows-feet… he didn’t look like a 34 year old at all, no matter what those other people on Yahoo said. He is perfect and beautiful – probably internally flawed, but in a wonderful way. I love his quirks & eccentricities… but I probably have rose-colored glasses on.
Next up was Thea. She greeted me very effusively and pleasantly… I wish I could remember what she said! I wanted her to sign the DVD, so I went to pull it out of the box… but my hand was shaking. Literally shaking. I was so embarrassed. Our conversation went like this…
Thea – Are you nervous?
Me – Yes… (how could I deny it? My hand was shaking like I had a palsy!)
T – Why? Because you’re used to seeing us on television?
Me – (God, what do I say?) No. (Maybe) Because you’re… so nice.
T – You’re nervous because I’m so nice? (smiles)
Me - ……
qafbliss -It’s because you look so much more beautiful in person.
Me – (Thank God)
T – That’s what we like to hear.
I think she thanked me for coming, and told me to watch the following season, but I was distracted because I looked at Gale again. I stepped to the side, and made a video of Gale whileqafbliss was talking to Thea.
When she was done (and I was filming), I said something like “Thank you so much! It (or you?) were very nice.” loud enough for Gale (and all of them) to hear. He nodded, tilted his head to the side, and said “That’s right.”
I then moved off to the side to watch more signing, and take pictures. The rest of the evening was spent this way. There were a few highlights:
***
They took a break about 1/3-1/2 way through the signing. When they returned, Gale stepped up to the stage and shouted “Where’s the DJ!” We had been listening to music by the DJ from the Hollywood Bar. She proceeded to play a few songs that Gale had requested.
***
About ¾ of the way through, Michelle had to go to the bathroom. They announced that there would be a 3 minute break, and about 20 minutes more of signing. She literally ran off to the bathroom, unbuckling her belt as she left.
After a few minutes, Gale walked up to the mike and tapped on it. It was turned on. He said, “Do you think she’s done yet?”
Michelle immediately popped up at his side. “Yes?”
“Did you wipe?” teased Gale.
***
Just a few minutes before signing ended, when there were only about 20 people left in line, one man brought his little girl (Reyna) up to the stage. He stood her on it in front of Gale, who talked to her intently. Dad (I think) took a picture of Reyna and Gale. Then Gale pulled out his own camera and took a picture of Reyna! Probably to remember his littlest fan.
***
At the end of the signing, Michelle & Thea got up to leave. Gale was busy recapping the pens and playing with the Post-It notes on the table. I guess he had been confiscating them from people as they went through the line. They got up, walked away, saying “Bye!”
Gale didn’t look up. He continued to do some sort of ordering/organizing of the Post-It’s that only he understood. He stood up at first, than sat down again, organizing all the while. This went on for about 2-3 minutes. He seemed to be placing them into rows, kind of sticking them together so that they made long strips. At one point, he looked up and scanned the crowd, seeming a bit surprised that there were 20-30 people watching him. But he didn’t stop.
(note - all below is reconstructed, and my be tainted by my faulty memory)
I think someone asked what he was doing. I don’t know what he said. I said “Leave him alone… he’s tired.”
Another voice piped up. “Are you tired? I’ll give you a massage to make you feel better.”
Gale replied, sarcastically, “Yeah, right.” Or maybe “Yeah, to make me feel better.” I just can’t remember.
Another voice shouted, “Can I take a picture with you?”
Gale shook his head no and seemed to get a bit unhappy. I think he realized he needed to get out of there. He stood, looked around behind his chair and asked, “Where is all my shit?”
He picked up his ordered Post-Its and walked out, making a little speech. I don’t remember it. Something about thanks, and be good I think. As he walked out, a rather slutty looking girl pressed something into his hand. He looked down at it, and then stopped, backed up, and said, “This has already been chewed. I want a fresh piece.” (I think he thought it was gum, but it was her phone number. Or maybe he was just making a cutting remark). Then he walked out.
***
***
After that,qafbliss & I walked down to Strawberries to buy the next DVD set, so we could get into line for the signings in New Jersey at FYE. As we were about 3 stores away from Borders, I remembered that I had to put my name in for the big vinyl posters of the QaF cast that had been hanging about for promotion. I think there were 3 of them. Then we got the DVD’s, and returned to the room. We had decided that the day with Gale, Michelle, and Thea had been great, and that we didn't want to risk ruining our memories. So we decided to head to New Jersey to see Hal, Harris, & Bobby.
We went back to the room and checked the internet for any mention of the day’s signing. Only a few were up. I tried to upload pics to my photobucket, but I couldn’t. They just wouldn’t go. Finally, I got 2 to go through – pretty Gale, and Gale with his cup. Made a short LJ post, and then packed to go to NJ.
We left for NJ about 9 pm. We figured we should be in NJ by 1:00 or so. But it would have been wise for us to take a map instead of relying on mapquest. The directions were right, but the distances weren’t (in one critical case), so we didn’t reach the hotel until about 2:30 am. I was pretty tired, and we couldn’t seem to find the entrance to the motel. We called, and the foreign man on duty told us he was outside the mall. Now, this is a big mall, and when we found the hotel, the only way to get there was to drive over the grass. I figured I had bought the insurance, butqafbliss didn’t want to. We drove around for about 5 minutes, and finally figured out how to get into the motel.
The motel (the MacIntosh Inn) was a dive. We walked in, and there was a side meeting type of room filled with an assortment of young, small town people. They all leaned forward to look out the door towards the lobby at us.qafbliss swore she smelled pot. We made our way to the room and got to bed by about 3:00.
Sunday, March 7th, 2004
We awoke by 8:30 and got ready. The bathroom floor was sticky and it bugged me.qafbliss & I both wore blue jeans & black turtlenecks. I wore black clogs, she wore brown boots.
We got to the FYE around 10:30. There were only 3 people in line (older), so we decided to walk around the mall a bit. Nothing good to find. Went back by around 11:00, and ran intoalendilmoon. I had been introduced to her by f1renze at the Boston signing. She seemed happy to see us, and since there were only about 10 people in line, we decided to walk through the mall and shop a bit.
We returned to the store about 12:00, and the line was at about 15-20 people, so we decided to sit and stay. More people kept arriving, and I met (a number of people who might not want to be mentioned). We waited until nearly 2:00, with me saving good Gale pics to e-mail and deleting the bad ones. Then I changed the batteries in my camera, and went to the front of the store to catch Hal, Harris, & Bobby coming in.
Turns out they were late. Their driver got lost, and they arrived about 30 minutes late. I got some video of them arriving. Then I had to hurry back into line because it was moving fast. I decided to have Harris sign my QaF book, and to have them all sign my DVD’s.qafbliss went first this time.
As we were going through the line, I noticed that the manager was taking down the poster that had hung on the entering pole about the event. He had promised it to me earlier, after I asked for one of the vinyl posters and it turned out they were claimed by customers. I hurried over, even though I was only about 6 people from the front of the line.
“Hey, what are you doing?” I demanded. I thought he had forgotten.
“I saw that you were near the front of the line, and wanted to have this ready for you when you left.” Man, I could kiss that man.
“Thanks,” I meekly replied. I felt bad about doubting him.
The first one up was Bobby. He looked very strong and handsome, as always. I can’t remember what he was wearing. I seem to remember a light button up shirt and a black necklace. You could definitely see his chest. He looked at the book in my hand, like he was going to sign it. I told him he already had, and he said “Yeah” like he remembered. I told Harris that I wanted him to sign it, but to have Bobby sign the DVD’s.qafbliss introduced me to Bobby,
qafbliss - She was at (a previous QaF event) with me.
B – Oh, yeah. Right!
He reached out and shook my hand.
B – Are you a member of Hal’s Angels? (qafbliss had a button proclaiming her to be so).
Me – Not yet, but soon.
Bobby seemed a bit disappointed in that answer, but I wanted to be truthful.
B – Well, check out my site.
Me – Oh, I already have. It’s great.
B – Well, check back again soon.
I gave him the DVD to sign, and the box too. I asked if he minded signing both of them. He had no problem with it.
I gave Harris the book, and he opened it up. For some reason, I don’t remember our conversation much.
Me – Can you sign this?
Harris – Sure, no problem.
- he looked at the book for a minute, noting all the signatures. Bobby looked over at it too.
I pointed out all the signatures, even that of Stephen Lynch. Harris picked up the silver pen.
H – I want to be different.
H – Are you from Toronto, too?
Me – No, Seattle.
H – (nods).
He signed the book, gave it back to me, and said “Thanks for coming.”
Last up was Hal. He was already talking toqafbliss about his band and their gigs.
Hal – Hey, how are you! (he seemed genuinely happy to see me, and to remember me)
Me – (???) Fine!
Various small talk ensued. I pointed out his signature in the book – “Reading is fundamenantenal…” and he seemed to remember it and laughed. I gave him the DVD to sign. He noticed that we had Gale, Michelle, and Thea’s signatures. I think a bit of talk about Boston ensued with Harris involved, as we were standing in front of them. This might have been when the “come to NJ to see Harris” talk happened, but I think that was earlier.
Hal looked at his picture on the DVD. “Could they make me look any more feminine? They airbrushed the hell out of me. Maybe they could remove my cheekbones entirely and make my face look more like a moon?”
He signed the DVD set & the box. Then he thanked us for coming, and stood up and hugged each of us.
H – Have… fun… in the mall, or whatever! he teased.
qafbliss – yeah, we will (sarcastically matching tone). See you later.
We walked outside, with the manager handing me the poster as we left.qafbliss sat for a while on a planter with alendilmoon while I went back in to get some pictures. Then we left.
We needed to go to Staples to get a tube to protect the poster. We headed down Hwy 1 South, and eventually found a Staples. Got what we needed, and hit the road. Started following signs for Hwy 1 – and ended back up at the mall after driving through a skeezy part of town. We had gone in a circle! By now, it was 4:30. We could have stayed, and had lost all our time advantage. We realized that we should have been on Hwy 1 North, and corrected our mistake.
As we headed down the road, we were laughing about the turn of events. We needed to find Hwy 95 North. We drove and drove and drove, and finally found it. On the way home, we passed by NYC.qafbliss got a few blurry pics of it. Then we hit the traffic for the Geo Washington Bridge. It must have taken us an hour to go 10 miles. Maybe more. I never thought we’d break free. But we did. We didn’t reach our hotel until about 11 pm, after missing the off ramp for the motel and going to the airport and paying another toll to return. qafbliss did. I ended up waking up at around 9:00. We got ready and went to return the DVD’s (2 for qafbliss, one for me). As we were getting ready, qafbliss looked out the window and announced “It’s snowing.” And it was. Horizontally, practically. It looked like it would be fun to be out in… little did I know.
First things first. We went to Starbucks to get coffee. The girl behind the counter looked familiar, andqafbliss said she had been at the signing in Boston. She noticed us, and asked us if we’d been there. Her name was (removed). She wanted copies of my pictures, and gave me her e-mail address. I told her to e-mail me, because I always lose numbers, and she said she would. We walked out of there, commenting that it was weird to be recognized in a town we’d never been in before.
Next stop was Borders, andqafbliss returned her DVD’s. Then on to Strawberries. It was snowing pretty good, and was biting cold. I was wishing for my warm jacket. We ducked into Strawberries, and who did we run into except (3 more names cut). We ended up talking to them for about 45 minutes.
qafbliss & I left and went to Macys. It was coming down hard. We went to the purse section, and both bought small Coach coin purses and daisy keychains – white for me with yellow centers, blue with cream centers for qafbliss. I then went to the Clinique counter to get more of the oil blotting strips, but they were out. The salesperson recommended Filene’s across the way, so we went there.
At Filene’s, I found the cutest purse. It is midsized, black with a big creamy white S on it. Normally $120, on sale for $59.99. Couldn’t pass it up. Then we went to the Clinique counter, and they had what I wanted. Next, we went to Claires soqafbliss could get a charm for her Italian bracelet.
I’ve been wanting an Italian bracelet for a while, but never got one. They were only $4.99, and the charms were $1.25 to $2.25 each. I got about 5 charms and ended up paying about $14 total. By now, it was 12:45, and we needed to be back at the hotel by 1:30 to pack and check out by 2 pm. We tried to walk for about 1 ½ blocks to look for something, but the wind was picking up and it was freezing. So we headed back to the Hub near the hotel to get some food.
Lunch chatter cut.
We decided to drive around the town a bit, as the rentacar didn’t have to be back until 3:00 or so. Mistake #1. We had a hard time finding the rental co (Thrifty), and ended up in East Boston, circling the Maverick train station again. Just like when I’d arrived. I swear, that place is like a sump. We called the rental car company, and a nice guy ended up staying on the phone with us, giving us directions, being our own private On Star until we reached the place. Thank God. I’d never have found it.
Well, this is a long post, and I should probably cut more of it. I will later, but wanted to get it up for you all.
If there's any interest in my November trip to Toronto, I'll try to edit and post it. Let me know.
This is a horridly long post from my journal, with a bit cut out. I should cut more, down to just the meeting the Folks stuff, but that will have to come later.
Read at your own risk... it's overly detailed and LOOOOOONG!
So I arrived at the airport, checked in, got on the plane, and flew without incident. Got a rental from Thrifty (a LONG way from the airport), and there is where the fun began. As I tried to get to Boston, I came to a split where one way was a toll tunnel (Sumner Tunnel), and I was unsure if that was where I was to be. So I went straight… and ended up getting lost in East Boston. I drove around for about 15 minutes, and ended up circling the Maverick Train Station. I called the concierge at the hotel, and tried to find out where I was. He didn’t know East Boston, and recommended that I get directions into Boston from a gas station, and call him after I got through the tunnel. Turned out I was only about 4 blocks away, but the streets in Boston are not right angles. Once I got to the tunnel, I called him again. He gave me directions – through the Tunnel, follow the signs to Gov’t Center, than… I lost track. So I went as far as I could, and called again. I had missed a turn, so I had to turn around and go back. I got lost again, and had to call a 3rd time. This time, they stayed on the phone with me until I got there. I was never so happy to see a hotel in my life!
The Omni Parker House was a very nice hotel. Elegant lobby, great valets & concierge. I had them call up to the room to let
qafbliss know I was there, and the bellman took my bags up. I used valet parking, because I wasn’t up to dealing with it. When I got to the room,
qafbliss was on the phone with her mom. Turns out, she was waiting for her to call back, and when the desk person called up, she kind of shouted “What!” because her mom was supposed to call right back (but had lost the number). She ended up having to call her back on the cell again. I sat on the bed, and waited for her to get off the phone. Suddenly, I felt an odd sensation on my butt. Turns out, the water bottle (which had fallen out of the car, onto the road) had sprung a leak, and I had a big wet spot on my pants. Used a hairdryer to take care of it. We decided to go out to dinner (it was after 8 by now), and walked around a bit. The weather was pretty cool but nice, and we walked in a big circle before ending up at Kennedy’s. On the way, we stopped at Borders and I got a ticket for the signing. Kennedy’s was an Irish pub with a singer in the bar. The food was pretty good –
qafbliss got a mushroom salad, and I got a steak with mushrooms, garlic, and pepper. And a beer. qafbliss got wine, and the glass had someone else’s lipstick on it. So we sent it back for a new glass. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and discussed what our plan was for Saturday. More about the tickets. There were red, green, and blue tickets. Holders were broken up into 6 categories. Red 1, Green 1, Blue 1, Red 2, Green 2, Blue 2 (in that order). You went by colors – red -> green -> blue. If you had a Borders receipt, you were in subgroup 1. If not, subgroup 2. We were Red 1, so we could line up beginning at 1:30, for the signing beginning at 3:00. I got a red ticket on Friday night, so
qafbliss could have come into Boston a day later and been OK. But we didn’t know.We were to meet a few other fans in the lobby at 8:00 in the morning, so we had to get up at 6:30-7:00.
qafbliss decided to get up first. But before we went to bed, we needed to check our e-mail first, then we ended up talking for quite a while before we went to bed. It must have been 2:00-2:30 before we got to sleep.Saturday, March 6th, 2004
6:30 came very early. We got downstairs by about 8:10, and the people we were to meet didn’t get there until about 8:30. They were (names deleted to protect the innocent). We got coffee and walked around for a while, ending up at Borders. The noticed the tri-fold posters at the door, and were tempted to get it and take it. But I did. We then walked around for a bit more, and went inside Borders. There were already 3 girls from Wellsley sitting on the inside steps at 9:00. We scoped out the area, then went back to the hotel to freshen up. We headed back to Borders at around 11:30. There were already about 20 people in line. We decided to get into line. The line slowly grew to about 30-40 people. About 12:30, Ed (a Borders employee) came out and told everyone that he had to disperse the line, as it was too early to form. Few people wanted to leave, but we talked amongst ourselves and decided to do a kinda honor system. So
qafbliss & I went to eat. We split a roast beef & cheese sandwich from the Borders Café. It wasn’t very good. While we were eating, there was a piercing scream. It was an old lady, and there was a kind of menacing man slowly walking away from her table, kind of like Bud walks sideways away from Rose (my cats). qafbliss & I decided to leave pretty quick. The security guys came, and I’m not sure what happened, but somehow he approached & threatened/scared her (weapon? Flashing?) and those around her agreed with what happened.We went back to get in line, and discovered that new people had come while we were gone and they would not abide by the honor system, which ruffled a few feathers. We were in about the same position as we started out in, so we were OK. (Those who shall remain unnamed) met back up with us.
Around 2:30, they wove us through the stacks to minimize the line. It was kinda tight, and
qafbliss was bothered by it. She had to leave several times to get air. By about 2:50, I decided to go over to where Gale, Michelle, & Thea would be arriving to get pics. The Gay American Idol sang a song, and then they announced the actors. Michelle walked in first, followed by Gale, then Thea. There was much clapping and picture taking, and stupid me forgot to use the video mode, only used progressive mode, which got a bunch of pics but they were kind of random. The stars sat down, and I took a number of pictures (mostly Gale). I then went back in line to show everyone.
The line took a while to move. I left a number of times to take pictures – some good, most not so. And a few videos, too. When we got to the front of the line, I was so excited I could hardly stand it. I went first, then
qafbliss, than ...(names removed to protect the innocent). There was an employee for Borders who was hole-punching all receipts, so that you couldn’t return the DVD’s. qafbliss decided to not get hers signed, so she could return them, and go as my guest. We were told that we could only have 3 items between the 2 of us, so I decided to have them sign the “She” magazine (Thea & Michelle), the DVD’s (all of them), the Wake press kit pic (Gale)… and the handbill for Uncle Bob, which I hid inside the “She.”I was so totally fixated on Gale that it was hard to remember what happened, but this is what I reconstructed with
qafbliss.First up was Michelle. She is very beautiful and tiny in person, with a tight dancers body. She was wearing a black shirt (tank? Sleeveless?) and black pants (tight) with a silver belt. She reached out to shake my hand – I was surprised, since she made the first move (I might not have on my own) and thanked me for coming. I gave her the copy of “She” magazine entitled “Moms of QaF” with Thea, Sharon, and Michelle on the cover. She seemed surprised a bit to see it, but in a good way. She signed it, and I lost track of it on the table for a minute. I handed her the DVD’s and decided I wanted them to sign the DVD’s instead of the box. Should have had them do both. I opened the entire strip and laid it on the table so I could get the DVD with Thea & Michelle out. She picked it up, looked at it, and said loudly in a surprised tone to Gale “Oh my God, why is Randy with Sharon?”
Gale shrugged and lifted his hands in a “who knows” gesture while giving a corresponding what-the-fuck look. Michelle looked at them all, then signed the one with her & Thea on it. I really don’t remember saying goodbye to her… I think I thanked her, but Gale was next and I was mesmerized. Everything became a bit hazy. I really don’t remember it too well.
First, I handed him the little poster out of the Wake Press Kit. “Can you sign this?”
He took it, looked at it a bit, and I was afraid he wouldn’t sign it. But he did. He seemed a little surprised to see it, but his expression was a bit guarded in the early part of the evening, and I was so enthralled I had a hard time reading him.
“Sure,” he said, and signed it.
Next, I held out the DVD’s. I wasn’t sure how we wanted to sign, so I decided to let him make the decision. “Do you want to sign the box or the DVD’s?” I asked nervously.
“Well, you paid for it!” he responded slightly snarkily – but I love his snark.
I handed him the DVD and he signed it “To Susan – heart, Gale”. He then picked up the “She” magazine and looked at it, kind of puzzled. Like, why does she want me to sign this? He made a little face like, well, OK… but I reached out (while he was holding it), and pulled out the Uncle Bob playbill. “No, this is for you.”
He picked it up, and pondered it for a minute. I couldn’t read his expression, and thought that maybe he was not going to sign it. But he did. “To (my real name). Love, Gale.”
I knew I had to touch him. I couldn’t be this close and not do so. So I reached out my hand and said “Thank you.” He took my hand and shook it – guh! He has soft hands, and a strong, but not overly firm handshake. I thanked him, and moved on to Thea.
By now, I was thoroughly discombobulated. I had just touched the man of my dreams – I know, no chance of reality, I’m not that stupid. But OMG, he was beautiful. His skin was so soft & dewy looking. His hair was slightly messy – not like Brian’s, but he probably used a hair wax on it. He was wearing a beautiful black suit, with a periwinkle shirt, narrow pants, and pointy toed boots (probably half boots). He had a silver mid-length chain on, which I didn’t even notice until
qafbliss told me later and I saw the pictures. He had none of the “smokers lines” around his mouth, no crows-feet… he didn’t look like a 34 year old at all, no matter what those other people on Yahoo said. He is perfect and beautiful – probably internally flawed, but in a wonderful way. I love his quirks & eccentricities… but I probably have rose-colored glasses on.Next up was Thea. She greeted me very effusively and pleasantly… I wish I could remember what she said! I wanted her to sign the DVD, so I went to pull it out of the box… but my hand was shaking. Literally shaking. I was so embarrassed. Our conversation went like this…
Thea – Are you nervous?
Me – Yes… (how could I deny it? My hand was shaking like I had a palsy!)
T – Why? Because you’re used to seeing us on television?
Me – (God, what do I say?) No. (Maybe) Because you’re… so nice.
T – You’re nervous because I’m so nice? (smiles)
Me - ……
qafbliss -It’s because you look so much more beautiful in person.Me – (Thank God)
T – That’s what we like to hear.
I think she thanked me for coming, and told me to watch the following season, but I was distracted because I looked at Gale again. I stepped to the side, and made a video of Gale while
qafbliss was talking to Thea.When she was done (and I was filming), I said something like “Thank you so much! It (or you?) were very nice.” loud enough for Gale (and all of them) to hear. He nodded, tilted his head to the side, and said “That’s right.”
I then moved off to the side to watch more signing, and take pictures. The rest of the evening was spent this way. There were a few highlights:
***
They took a break about 1/3-1/2 way through the signing. When they returned, Gale stepped up to the stage and shouted “Where’s the DJ!” We had been listening to music by the DJ from the Hollywood Bar. She proceeded to play a few songs that Gale had requested.
***
About ¾ of the way through, Michelle had to go to the bathroom. They announced that there would be a 3 minute break, and about 20 minutes more of signing. She literally ran off to the bathroom, unbuckling her belt as she left.
After a few minutes, Gale walked up to the mike and tapped on it. It was turned on. He said, “Do you think she’s done yet?”
Michelle immediately popped up at his side. “Yes?”
“Did you wipe?” teased Gale.
***
Just a few minutes before signing ended, when there were only about 20 people left in line, one man brought his little girl (Reyna) up to the stage. He stood her on it in front of Gale, who talked to her intently. Dad (I think) took a picture of Reyna and Gale. Then Gale pulled out his own camera and took a picture of Reyna! Probably to remember his littlest fan.
***
At the end of the signing, Michelle & Thea got up to leave. Gale was busy recapping the pens and playing with the Post-It notes on the table. I guess he had been confiscating them from people as they went through the line. They got up, walked away, saying “Bye!”
Gale didn’t look up. He continued to do some sort of ordering/organizing of the Post-It’s that only he understood. He stood up at first, than sat down again, organizing all the while. This went on for about 2-3 minutes. He seemed to be placing them into rows, kind of sticking them together so that they made long strips. At one point, he looked up and scanned the crowd, seeming a bit surprised that there were 20-30 people watching him. But he didn’t stop.
(note - all below is reconstructed, and my be tainted by my faulty memory)
I think someone asked what he was doing. I don’t know what he said. I said “Leave him alone… he’s tired.”
Another voice piped up. “Are you tired? I’ll give you a massage to make you feel better.”
Gale replied, sarcastically, “Yeah, right.” Or maybe “Yeah, to make me feel better.” I just can’t remember.
Another voice shouted, “Can I take a picture with you?”
Gale shook his head no and seemed to get a bit unhappy. I think he realized he needed to get out of there. He stood, looked around behind his chair and asked, “Where is all my shit?”
He picked up his ordered Post-Its and walked out, making a little speech. I don’t remember it. Something about thanks, and be good I think. As he walked out, a rather slutty looking girl pressed something into his hand. He looked down at it, and then stopped, backed up, and said, “This has already been chewed. I want a fresh piece.” (I think he thought it was gum, but it was her phone number. Or maybe he was just making a cutting remark). Then he walked out.
***
***
After that,
qafbliss & I walked down to Strawberries to buy the next DVD set, so we could get into line for the signings in New Jersey at FYE. As we were about 3 stores away from Borders, I remembered that I had to put my name in for the big vinyl posters of the QaF cast that had been hanging about for promotion. I think there were 3 of them. Then we got the DVD’s, and returned to the room. We had decided that the day with Gale, Michelle, and Thea had been great, and that we didn't want to risk ruining our memories. So we decided to head to New Jersey to see Hal, Harris, & Bobby. We went back to the room and checked the internet for any mention of the day’s signing. Only a few were up. I tried to upload pics to my photobucket, but I couldn’t. They just wouldn’t go. Finally, I got 2 to go through – pretty Gale, and Gale with his cup. Made a short LJ post, and then packed to go to NJ.
We left for NJ about 9 pm. We figured we should be in NJ by 1:00 or so. But it would have been wise for us to take a map instead of relying on mapquest. The directions were right, but the distances weren’t (in one critical case), so we didn’t reach the hotel until about 2:30 am. I was pretty tired, and we couldn’t seem to find the entrance to the motel. We called, and the foreign man on duty told us he was outside the mall. Now, this is a big mall, and when we found the hotel, the only way to get there was to drive over the grass. I figured I had bought the insurance, but
qafbliss didn’t want to. We drove around for about 5 minutes, and finally figured out how to get into the motel.The motel (the MacIntosh Inn) was a dive. We walked in, and there was a side meeting type of room filled with an assortment of young, small town people. They all leaned forward to look out the door towards the lobby at us.
qafbliss swore she smelled pot. We made our way to the room and got to bed by about 3:00.Sunday, March 7th, 2004
We awoke by 8:30 and got ready. The bathroom floor was sticky and it bugged me.
qafbliss & I both wore blue jeans & black turtlenecks. I wore black clogs, she wore brown boots. We got to the FYE around 10:30. There were only 3 people in line (older), so we decided to walk around the mall a bit. Nothing good to find. Went back by around 11:00, and ran into
alendilmoon. I had been introduced to her by f1renze at the Boston signing. She seemed happy to see us, and since there were only about 10 people in line, we decided to walk through the mall and shop a bit.We returned to the store about 12:00, and the line was at about 15-20 people, so we decided to sit and stay. More people kept arriving, and I met (a number of people who might not want to be mentioned). We waited until nearly 2:00, with me saving good Gale pics to e-mail and deleting the bad ones. Then I changed the batteries in my camera, and went to the front of the store to catch Hal, Harris, & Bobby coming in.
Turns out they were late. Their driver got lost, and they arrived about 30 minutes late. I got some video of them arriving. Then I had to hurry back into line because it was moving fast. I decided to have Harris sign my QaF book, and to have them all sign my DVD’s.
qafbliss went first this time.As we were going through the line, I noticed that the manager was taking down the poster that had hung on the entering pole about the event. He had promised it to me earlier, after I asked for one of the vinyl posters and it turned out they were claimed by customers. I hurried over, even though I was only about 6 people from the front of the line.
“Hey, what are you doing?” I demanded. I thought he had forgotten.
“I saw that you were near the front of the line, and wanted to have this ready for you when you left.” Man, I could kiss that man.
“Thanks,” I meekly replied. I felt bad about doubting him.
The first one up was Bobby. He looked very strong and handsome, as always. I can’t remember what he was wearing. I seem to remember a light button up shirt and a black necklace. You could definitely see his chest. He looked at the book in my hand, like he was going to sign it. I told him he already had, and he said “Yeah” like he remembered. I told Harris that I wanted him to sign it, but to have Bobby sign the DVD’s.
qafbliss introduced me to Bobby, qafbliss - She was at (a previous QaF event) with me.B – Oh, yeah. Right!
He reached out and shook my hand.
B – Are you a member of Hal’s Angels? (
qafbliss had a button proclaiming her to be so). Me – Not yet, but soon.
Bobby seemed a bit disappointed in that answer, but I wanted to be truthful.
B – Well, check out my site.
Me – Oh, I already have. It’s great.
B – Well, check back again soon.
I gave him the DVD to sign, and the box too. I asked if he minded signing both of them. He had no problem with it.
I gave Harris the book, and he opened it up. For some reason, I don’t remember our conversation much.
Me – Can you sign this?
Harris – Sure, no problem.
- he looked at the book for a minute, noting all the signatures. Bobby looked over at it too.
I pointed out all the signatures, even that of Stephen Lynch. Harris picked up the silver pen.
H – I want to be different.
H – Are you from Toronto, too?
Me – No, Seattle.
H – (nods).
He signed the book, gave it back to me, and said “Thanks for coming.”
Last up was Hal. He was already talking to
qafbliss about his band and their gigs.Hal – Hey, how are you! (he seemed genuinely happy to see me, and to remember me)
Me – (???) Fine!
Various small talk ensued. I pointed out his signature in the book – “Reading is fundamenantenal…” and he seemed to remember it and laughed. I gave him the DVD to sign. He noticed that we had Gale, Michelle, and Thea’s signatures. I think a bit of talk about Boston ensued with Harris involved, as we were standing in front of them. This might have been when the “come to NJ to see Harris” talk happened, but I think that was earlier.
Hal looked at his picture on the DVD. “Could they make me look any more feminine? They airbrushed the hell out of me. Maybe they could remove my cheekbones entirely and make my face look more like a moon?”
He signed the DVD set & the box. Then he thanked us for coming, and stood up and hugged each of us.
H – Have… fun… in the mall, or whatever! he teased.
qafbliss – yeah, we will (sarcastically matching tone). See you later.We walked outside, with the manager handing me the poster as we left.
qafbliss sat for a while on a planter with alendilmoon while I went back in to get some pictures. Then we left. We needed to go to Staples to get a tube to protect the poster. We headed down Hwy 1 South, and eventually found a Staples. Got what we needed, and hit the road. Started following signs for Hwy 1 – and ended back up at the mall after driving through a skeezy part of town. We had gone in a circle! By now, it was 4:30. We could have stayed, and had lost all our time advantage. We realized that we should have been on Hwy 1 North, and corrected our mistake.
As we headed down the road, we were laughing about the turn of events. We needed to find Hwy 95 North. We drove and drove and drove, and finally found it. On the way home, we passed by NYC.
qafbliss got a few blurry pics of it. Then we hit the traffic for the Geo Washington Bridge. It must have taken us an hour to go 10 miles. Maybe more. I never thought we’d break free. But we did. We didn’t reach our hotel until about 11 pm, after missing the off ramp for the motel and going to the airport and paying another toll to return. qafbliss did. I ended up waking up at around 9:00. We got ready and went to return the DVD’s (2 for qafbliss, one for me). As we were getting ready, qafbliss looked out the window and announced “It’s snowing.” And it was. Horizontally, practically. It looked like it would be fun to be out in… little did I know.First things first. We went to Starbucks to get coffee. The girl behind the counter looked familiar, and
qafbliss said she had been at the signing in Boston. She noticed us, and asked us if we’d been there. Her name was (removed). She wanted copies of my pictures, and gave me her e-mail address. I told her to e-mail me, because I always lose numbers, and she said she would. We walked out of there, commenting that it was weird to be recognized in a town we’d never been in before.Next stop was Borders, and
qafbliss returned her DVD’s. Then on to Strawberries. It was snowing pretty good, and was biting cold. I was wishing for my warm jacket. We ducked into Strawberries, and who did we run into except (3 more names cut). We ended up talking to them for about 45 minutes. qafbliss & I left and went to Macys. It was coming down hard. We went to the purse section, and both bought small Coach coin purses and daisy keychains – white for me with yellow centers, blue with cream centers for qafbliss. I then went to the Clinique counter to get more of the oil blotting strips, but they were out. The salesperson recommended Filene’s across the way, so we went there. At Filene’s, I found the cutest purse. It is midsized, black with a big creamy white S on it. Normally $120, on sale for $59.99. Couldn’t pass it up. Then we went to the Clinique counter, and they had what I wanted. Next, we went to Claires so
qafbliss could get a charm for her Italian bracelet.I’ve been wanting an Italian bracelet for a while, but never got one. They were only $4.99, and the charms were $1.25 to $2.25 each. I got about 5 charms and ended up paying about $14 total. By now, it was 12:45, and we needed to be back at the hotel by 1:30 to pack and check out by 2 pm. We tried to walk for about 1 ½ blocks to look for something, but the wind was picking up and it was freezing. So we headed back to the Hub near the hotel to get some food.
Lunch chatter cut.
We decided to drive around the town a bit, as the rentacar didn’t have to be back until 3:00 or so. Mistake #1. We had a hard time finding the rental co (Thrifty), and ended up in East Boston, circling the Maverick train station again. Just like when I’d arrived. I swear, that place is like a sump. We called the rental car company, and a nice guy ended up staying on the phone with us, giving us directions, being our own private On Star until we reached the place. Thank God. I’d never have found it.
Well, this is a long post, and I should probably cut more of it. I will later, but wanted to get it up for you all.
If there's any interest in my November trip to Toronto, I'll try to edit and post it. Let me know.
