Earlier that day I learned I needed to buy the DVDs and
stand in line. I was told that by buying the DVDs in advance I was a ViP and could
skip the line. They neglected to tell me everyone was buying the DVDs in
advance. So no line skips. That was my
mistake. I should have known better.
It was toward the end of the day on Friday. I was tired and
my feet hurt. I had one other autograph
to get and the timing was tight. I needed
to be done with this signing within 45 minutes to have time to make the other line at the Fox booth. When I
showed up, about 50 people were ahead of me.
I started watching the clock. At the start time, Adrienne Barbeau and Len Wein
hadn’t shown. Still with 50 people, there
would be plenty of time to process the fans.
the heart rate barely increased. They did arrive just a few minutes late.
The line moved slowly. As I watched the clock and counted the people
in front of me I knew I would need to make a decision: Stay or go.
I stopped one of the guys from the booth and asked if I could
just leave the DVDs and have them signed and then pick them up after my other signing. I was told no. The heart is beating quicker. Okay. I was really thinking of leaving and losing
out on these signatures. Then they announced
that Adrienne was going to be interviewed. It would only take 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, the interview hadn’t started. In fact, they were still trying to figure out
the shot. Heart was beating fast and a slight throbbing developed in the head. Then Adrienne needed to freshen
her makeup. Which does make sense. The clock was ticking. Loudly. I decided ‘no mas’. I was in line almost an
hour. The other signing had started. I left.
I went to the other signing at the Fox booth. They had the fans line up in
another section of the expo floor. I found the spot and I was told the signing
hadn’t started yet. Deep breath. Good. heart rate slows. I hadn’t missed anything. I asked where the end of the line was. They
had about 200 people in line. I was at the end. Even better.
So I decided I had time go back to Adrienne after all and wait there.
On tired blistered feet I crossed the convention floor yet
again. Even at 6PM, the crowds were
heavy and the progress was slow. These are the decisions that cause you to lose out on both autograph sessions. You get greedy, you gamble, and you lose.
As I walked back to
the Shout! booth, they still hadn’t started the interview. Ugh. It’s been 15 minutes. I went back to the
Fox and found out I was late. Heart raced and the acid build up was felt. I took a big swig of water to tame the indigestion. They had already processed most of the
crowd. I got some bad intel. I quickly joined the end of the Fox line. I matriculated back to Adrienne and they were JUST starting the interview.
After the interview ended, I was about 5 people back. Len
Wein needed to go. They asked the crowd if anyone had a Swamp Thing DVD for him
to sign. I handed over my DVD. I was the
last one that had something for him. He signed. He even looked for me in the crowd and he gave me
a head nod. I gave him a thumbs up and then he left.
Adrienne continued signing and was chatting with everyone. She
gave me that signature smile and looked great. I handed her
the DVDs and she signed. I told her I loved Carnival and she thanked me. As she
handed me the DVDs, I knew my Friday was done.
I was tired. I was exhausted. I had a little excitement. I had a great day. The wife
and I met and took the shuttle home. Even
though the shuttle dropped us off on the wrong corner and we had to walk several
extra blocks uphill, in the snow, we just chatted and swapped stories. 2 days of the
marathon were over.
AH
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