06:35: my unkymood says dazed, but dazed doesn't even begin to cover it.
i've been unwell. vertigo. awful feeling, really. i haven't been to work in a while. but i couldn't say no to gaiman on the weekend signing.
ah, neil gaiman. what a great man you are.
with how this weekend went, i think perhaps i am not meant to be his fan.
i went to rockwell for the gathering on his first day of signing. i took one look at the crowd, stayed about five minutes, felt my head throb and the world begin to spin, then quit. i headed for my niece's birthday party. i figured i needed to rest some before i marshall on sunday. didn't get much rest, though. i went to rehearsal after the birthday bash and we ended up staying past 3am to record because my brain was mush and i couldn't come up with lyrics. went home around 4am and got about 3 hours of sleep before i headed for greenhills to marshall for the signing.
i had heard that the signing the previous night went on till past 1am. insane! but the man is just too nice. he agreed to sign for 700 people, even though the original cap was 500. i figure that's roughly 1500-2000 items. personalized. wow. people stayed till the last item was signed just to applaud him.
i hadn't been to fully booked greenhills and i wasn't sure where it was. it wasn't too difficult to find. when i crossed the street from starbucks, i saw a crowd and thought they were the usual mall-going public, waiting for the doors to open. but it was 11am. the mall was already open. all these people were outside the bookstore, there for the signing. and some had been lined up as early as 5am. you gotta admire these people. these were strangers helping strangers out of a common love for gaiman's work. or for gaiman himself, as was the case among many squealing fangirls. got another item you want signed and a pass you can't use? sure, i can handle one more! don't have a camera? no problem, i'll take your picture and i can just email it to you. these are real fans! this one girl dropped a hard cover graphic novel of sandman and you could hear a collective gasp and murmurs of "oh, no..." and "ouch!" i walked over to her and asked if she was ok (i supressed the initial urge to ask if the book was ok).
a lot of those lined up were told to leave, because a man can only sign so much, right? but a lot of them stayed anyway, baking under the sun, clinging to the hope that maybe, just maybe, they'll get something signed. at the end of the day, we let in another 50 people above the 500 limit, and another 100 (or was it 150) to get just one item signed. you don't know how happy i was for these lucky people. there were these two ladies, though, who really got on my nerves. i'd have loved to push them down the stairs. but let's not go there. by the time they were all done, we volunteers were given our moment. we were allowed to get all our stuff signed. i was more amazed at the fact that i was still standing than i was at the fact that i was in the presence of neil gaiman. i was lined up to get a book signed for my friend. it was not one of gaiman's own books, but a sort of sandman guide book that was a good way to start a newbie off on his works. the introduction was written by him, anyways. i had prepared a little explanation for why i was getting that particular book signed, but all i got out was "this is rather embarrassing..." before my mind went blank and my tongue went numb. i also asked him to sign my id, then thanked him profusely. i was too stupid to ask for a hug or a handshake or anything. on the upside, i was too zonked to be nervous. that was my biggest fear, i think. we went home, exhausted but all smiles.
the writer's forum the next day. i was extremely excited about this. here was an opportunity to pick the man's brain. i took a cab to greenhills and got off in front of the atm. two seconds later, i realized i had left my book and my invite (the writer's forum was by invitation only) in the cab. i ran. and ran. and ran. flat out, with my bag slung across and my wallet still in my hand. everytime i was five steps behind the cab, he would speed up. bastard. i had half a mind to throw something at him just to get his attention, but all i had in my hand was my jacket (which wouldn't have worked) and my wallet (which would have left me broke). i ran half the distance of the entire block of greenhills shopping center, but i couldn't catch him. i thought my legs would give out. my thighs still hurt. they had a registry of people who were invited to the forum, thankfully. i honestly would have cried if they hadn't let me in.
being in the forum was a joy. so what if i didn't get any of my books signed? (don't ask.) so what if all i got for myself was an impersonal signature on my volunteer's id? hearing him speak and give advice and tell little anecdotes... it's enough. it's more than enough. until he comes back, should he ever come back, i will be awaiting orders. ;)
brewed by lifecafe