My ComicCon Report
I wasn't sure when I posted earlier if this was allowed, but here goes. Below is my report of JB's book signing and my first ever ComicCon experience (could only go for Thursday).
My best friend, Ceiceli, and I arrived at Book Soup, the store where the signing took place, at around 1:30 in the afternoon. We immediately raced inside to buy copies of his book (Ceic didn’t have one yet, and I needed a new one).
At around 3:oo a line started to form, so Ceic and I raced back (we’d been hanging out in a coffee shop across the street) and joined the line. I don't remember much of standing in line, just that by the time they opened the doors to let us in just after 7 PM, our legs were seriously cramping and the line stretched down the street. I was so excited as I walked through the doors, clutching my copy of Anything Goes (the one I'd brought from home), close to my chest, my fingers reflexively gripping the presents I'd brought (for JB and his partner, Mr. Scott, and his sister) tight in my fist. They filed in as many of us as they could for a quick Q&A session, which I hadn't been expecting. Ceic got a seat in about the third or fourth row, and I stood in the aisle beside her, a good 5 or 6 feet away from the podium. While scanning the store, I saw his Mum & Dad, the back of Mr. Scott's head as he was walking away, and Mr. Gavin (his manager). That's when it hit me. I looked down at Ceic and we both went "OMG! We're going to meet John Barrowman!" So what if we'd been counting down for a month, seeing them all there, made it real somehow. Then he and his sister were announced and suddenly there he was.
OMG but they were so funny! He looked fantastic, if a bit tired, and his sister was so cool. After the Q&A they reformed the line. Ceic was in front of me, and there were a good 25-40 people ahead of us. The line moved pretty quickly and strangely enough I didn't feel that nervous at all. Finally, it was Ceic's turn. I remember most of their conversation, 'cause I was kind of listening in. He smiled at her, then looked down at her book, pen in hand.
JB: "Ceic- Cecile?" (That’s how he initially pronounced her name). He looked up at her as he signed, a questioning look on his face.
Ceic: "Ceiceli," she corrected, blushing. (Her name is pronounced Cess-uh-lee).
JB: "Ceiceli, Ceiceli. Well I'm going to say it anyway, Ceiceli you're breaking my heart."
She blushed really hard then and laughed softly as he pushed the book back towards her. I didn't catch what she said in response, as she moved on towards his sister, as by then it was my turn. He sat up and smiled at me. My insides turned to mush but I managed to keep my breathing even.
JB: "Sam?" he verified, glancing at my book as he began to sign. I nodded and managed to say a quick 'yes' when he glanced up and looked me right in the eye. "Ooh, I like your gloves!" (I was wearing my new black gloves from Hot Topic)
Me: "Thank you!"
Seizing my chance, I quickly lifted up his gift (which was in a large semi-clear bag with the image of a rose decorating the side) and placed it on the table in front of him.
Me: "This is for you and Mr. Scott." I swear, his face practically lit up, his eyes widened and he seemed so surprised.
JB: "For me? And Scott- You know, I don't think he's ever been called Mr. Scott in his life?" He half laughed and set the present down. "Well thank you very much." He smiled at me again, and I quickly stammered out a ‘you’re welcome’ and smiled back, before moving on towards his sister.
I was a bit flustered at this point, so I don't remember whether she said Hi or Hello, but she smiled at me too, as she signed my book, and I hurriedly gave her her gift, before I lost my cool. She was quite surprised too and said:
Ms. Carole: "Oh, why thank you! I'll give it to Clare right now, but I'll look at it in the car."
She handed the present to her daughter, who I surmised was sitting on the floor behind the counter. I smiled and accepted my book back, glad that she seemed to like it. I then turned to catch up with Ceic, who was waiting just off to the side. We walked right past Mr. Scott and sort of stumbled down the three steps that led into the other room of the store, walking past Mr. Gavin in the process.
We were both reeling by now. I got really dizzy and collapsed back against one of the book shelves, hitting the back of my head in the process (although I was too blissed out to notice until the next day). We just stood there leaning against the book shelf, struggling to catch our breath. I feelt tears burn my eyes, I was so happy. We spent the rest of the signing standing there, smiling like loons and listening to the quick bark of his laughter every few minutes. Eventually the store began to empty and they all left. Ceic and I stumbled out of the store, giggling loudly. The night air mixed with the scents of car exhaust and lingering cigarette smoke momentarily cleared our heads, and we started talking a mile a minute, comparing autographs and analyzing what they'd said to us. He wrote "Ceiceli, love always, Barrowman," in her book, and "Sam, love, Barrowman," in mine. At first I was a tad miffed by this, and she a teensy bit smug, but then I said how he commented on my gloves (and he hadn't commented on hers) so we agreed we were even. My Mom picked us up then and we drove home.
ComicCon was slightly less fun than the book signing, but I still wouldn't have missed it for the world. We woke up at 4:45 A.M. and raced about getting ready.
We ended up leaving the house at 6:30 in the morning. It's normally a 3 hour drive from my house to San Diego, so we should've gotten there just as the doors opened for badge pick-up. No such luck. We got stuck in a traffic jam on the I-5 freeway. At around 5 in the morning a semi truck carrying about 16,000 pounds of frozen chicken and spare ribs exploded and set off a brush fire. We heard the announcement over the radio that they were shutting down the freeway just as we drove past the last exit that would've led to the only alternate route to San Diego. Talk about bad timing. We spent five hours stuck in that jam, moving about a mile an hour. We drove past the accident around 1:15. There was hardly anything left of the semi, just the charred skeletal frame of the chassis.
The only reason we wanted to go the ComicCon at all was to see the Doctor Who and Torchwood panels and to get John Barrowman’s and Gareth David-Lloyd’s autographs. We’d missed the panels but figured we could still at least get JB's and GD-L's autographs, so we picked up our badges and wandered off to locate booth #3845.
OMG but ComicCon is a freaking zoo. The hallways forcibly reminded us of high school, the number of times we got stepped on...anyway; by the time we found the booth we were both feeling quite frazzled and incredibly claustrophobic. At the last minute Ceic decided she didn't want her own autograph after all, so I got in line and bought two tickets, one for JB and one for GD-L.
I approached JB first, my heart hammering in my chest. It didn't matter that I'd seen him the day before, now I knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that gorgeous smile. I slid the photo I'd selected across the table to him. He didn't look up, just leaned over slightly and started signing. I just stood there patiently, smoothing down the front of my skirt in an attempt to calm my shaking hands. All I can remember thinking was please look up, please look up and smile at me... He finished signing and looked up, smiling softly as he pushed the picture back across the table to me.
JB: "Here you go."
Me: "Thank you." I started to turn away then, content, when he said:
JB: "It was nice to see you again."
OMG but I lost it then. I was totally not expecting him to remember me from the day before. But he did! I might possibly have made a slight fool of myself then. I was just so shocked and ecstatic; I felt my face light up in this huge grin.
Me: "Oh, did you like your present?!"
JB: "Uh, I haven't opened it yet..." I think he then said that he would, but that might've been wishful thinking on my end.
Me: "Oh, well I hope you like it!" I gushed.
At that point I was so embarrassed for semi-hogging his attention that I did a quick hair toss, so that my bangs obscured my face, turned and fled. Soon as I could no longer directly see him, a wash of calm flooded me. I quickly approached GD-L's table. He looked up and gave me that cute half smile he's so known for.
GD-L: "Hello." OMG but he has the most beautiful accent, he sort of dragged out the 'o', so the word was almost like a song.
Me: "Hello." He looked down at the photo I handed him, glanced at me, looked back at the photo, then back at me. He sat up then and shook my hand.
GD-L: "It's nice to meet you."
Me: "It's nice to meet you too."
*head-desk* honestly, could I have sounded any more like a bloody parrot?! He signed my photo then. Watching him sign his name, I debated asking him about his band but chickened out at the last second. He looked up then and handed me the signed photo. I thanked him and he nodded once, that half smile playing about the corners of his lips. I quickly walked away then, as the tattered shreds of my calm completely dissipated. Ceic grabbed my elbow and we stumbled out of the exhibition hall. We sat on a hilly patch of grass just outside the convention center for a few hours after that, under the shade of a stunted cluster of palm trees.
We called my Papa around 5:30 and asked him to come pick us up as we were starving (we hadn't eaten all day, thanks to that traffic jam). He was about an hour away and advised us to go and find a snack, as dinner wouldn't be for several more hours. I remembered that we'd passed a mini cafe while walking to the signing booth, so we gathered up our bags and braved the crowds once again.
The food was seriously overpriced, so we split a hamburger and a raspberry Snapple. The Snapple at least was good, if lukewarm. The burger-ugh, but McDonald's food tastes better! *shudders* I seriously don't advise the consumption of ComicCon food. Not if you value your stomach lining at any rate.
So there we were, sitting on the floor with our backs against a wall, reluctantly nibbling on our respective halves of that disgusting quasi-burger, when it happened. Mr. Scott walked right past us, not six feet away from us, looking straight ahead. He vanished round a corner and Ceic and I turned back around just in time to watch GD-L walk right past us, going in the same direction. We were so stunned, we couldn't stop grinning. They walked past us again not long after, heading back towards the booth. We tried not to stare. Not very hard, but we did try. All I have to say is this: GD-L sags his pants. And they fit him very well. *blushes*
We sat there until they announced the closing of the Hall at 7 PM. We were almost at the exit doors when GD-L cut across my path. If I hadn't instinctively frozen I would've run into him. Ceic squeed in my ear so loud I was sure he'd hear, but he just kept walking. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur. We stayed at my Aunt and Uncle’s house, ate the first meal of the day, and stayed up ‘til 3 AM playing with the digital camera. Good times.
I’ll say this. Seeing both of them made the entire trip worthwhile. I had such a fantastic time; I know I’ll treasure their autographs forever.
*blushes* Sorry it's so long, didn't mean to babble so much. But that's as short as I could get them...
My best friend, Ceiceli, and I arrived at Book Soup, the store where the signing took place, at around 1:30 in the afternoon. We immediately raced inside to buy copies of his book (Ceic didn’t have one yet, and I needed a new one).
At around 3:oo a line started to form, so Ceic and I raced back (we’d been hanging out in a coffee shop across the street) and joined the line. I don't remember much of standing in line, just that by the time they opened the doors to let us in just after 7 PM, our legs were seriously cramping and the line stretched down the street. I was so excited as I walked through the doors, clutching my copy of Anything Goes (the one I'd brought from home), close to my chest, my fingers reflexively gripping the presents I'd brought (for JB and his partner, Mr. Scott, and his sister) tight in my fist. They filed in as many of us as they could for a quick Q&A session, which I hadn't been expecting. Ceic got a seat in about the third or fourth row, and I stood in the aisle beside her, a good 5 or 6 feet away from the podium. While scanning the store, I saw his Mum & Dad, the back of Mr. Scott's head as he was walking away, and Mr. Gavin (his manager). That's when it hit me. I looked down at Ceic and we both went "OMG! We're going to meet John Barrowman!" So what if we'd been counting down for a month, seeing them all there, made it real somehow. Then he and his sister were announced and suddenly there he was.
OMG but they were so funny! He looked fantastic, if a bit tired, and his sister was so cool. After the Q&A they reformed the line. Ceic was in front of me, and there were a good 25-40 people ahead of us. The line moved pretty quickly and strangely enough I didn't feel that nervous at all. Finally, it was Ceic's turn. I remember most of their conversation, 'cause I was kind of listening in. He smiled at her, then looked down at her book, pen in hand.
JB: "Ceic- Cecile?" (That’s how he initially pronounced her name). He looked up at her as he signed, a questioning look on his face.
Ceic: "Ceiceli," she corrected, blushing. (Her name is pronounced Cess-uh-lee).
JB: "Ceiceli, Ceiceli. Well I'm going to say it anyway, Ceiceli you're breaking my heart."
She blushed really hard then and laughed softly as he pushed the book back towards her. I didn't catch what she said in response, as she moved on towards his sister, as by then it was my turn. He sat up and smiled at me. My insides turned to mush but I managed to keep my breathing even.
JB: "Sam?" he verified, glancing at my book as he began to sign. I nodded and managed to say a quick 'yes' when he glanced up and looked me right in the eye. "Ooh, I like your gloves!" (I was wearing my new black gloves from Hot Topic)
Me: "Thank you!"
Seizing my chance, I quickly lifted up his gift (which was in a large semi-clear bag with the image of a rose decorating the side) and placed it on the table in front of him.
Me: "This is for you and Mr. Scott." I swear, his face practically lit up, his eyes widened and he seemed so surprised.
JB: "For me? And Scott- You know, I don't think he's ever been called Mr. Scott in his life?" He half laughed and set the present down. "Well thank you very much." He smiled at me again, and I quickly stammered out a ‘you’re welcome’ and smiled back, before moving on towards his sister.
I was a bit flustered at this point, so I don't remember whether she said Hi or Hello, but she smiled at me too, as she signed my book, and I hurriedly gave her her gift, before I lost my cool. She was quite surprised too and said:
Ms. Carole: "Oh, why thank you! I'll give it to Clare right now, but I'll look at it in the car."
She handed the present to her daughter, who I surmised was sitting on the floor behind the counter. I smiled and accepted my book back, glad that she seemed to like it. I then turned to catch up with Ceic, who was waiting just off to the side. We walked right past Mr. Scott and sort of stumbled down the three steps that led into the other room of the store, walking past Mr. Gavin in the process.
We were both reeling by now. I got really dizzy and collapsed back against one of the book shelves, hitting the back of my head in the process (although I was too blissed out to notice until the next day). We just stood there leaning against the book shelf, struggling to catch our breath. I feelt tears burn my eyes, I was so happy. We spent the rest of the signing standing there, smiling like loons and listening to the quick bark of his laughter every few minutes. Eventually the store began to empty and they all left. Ceic and I stumbled out of the store, giggling loudly. The night air mixed with the scents of car exhaust and lingering cigarette smoke momentarily cleared our heads, and we started talking a mile a minute, comparing autographs and analyzing what they'd said to us. He wrote "Ceiceli, love always, Barrowman," in her book, and "Sam, love, Barrowman," in mine. At first I was a tad miffed by this, and she a teensy bit smug, but then I said how he commented on my gloves (and he hadn't commented on hers) so we agreed we were even. My Mom picked us up then and we drove home.
ComicCon was slightly less fun than the book signing, but I still wouldn't have missed it for the world. We woke up at 4:45 A.M. and raced about getting ready.
We ended up leaving the house at 6:30 in the morning. It's normally a 3 hour drive from my house to San Diego, so we should've gotten there just as the doors opened for badge pick-up. No such luck. We got stuck in a traffic jam on the I-5 freeway. At around 5 in the morning a semi truck carrying about 16,000 pounds of frozen chicken and spare ribs exploded and set off a brush fire. We heard the announcement over the radio that they were shutting down the freeway just as we drove past the last exit that would've led to the only alternate route to San Diego. Talk about bad timing. We spent five hours stuck in that jam, moving about a mile an hour. We drove past the accident around 1:15. There was hardly anything left of the semi, just the charred skeletal frame of the chassis.
The only reason we wanted to go the ComicCon at all was to see the Doctor Who and Torchwood panels and to get John Barrowman’s and Gareth David-Lloyd’s autographs. We’d missed the panels but figured we could still at least get JB's and GD-L's autographs, so we picked up our badges and wandered off to locate booth #3845.
OMG but ComicCon is a freaking zoo. The hallways forcibly reminded us of high school, the number of times we got stepped on...anyway; by the time we found the booth we were both feeling quite frazzled and incredibly claustrophobic. At the last minute Ceic decided she didn't want her own autograph after all, so I got in line and bought two tickets, one for JB and one for GD-L.
I approached JB first, my heart hammering in my chest. It didn't matter that I'd seen him the day before, now I knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that gorgeous smile. I slid the photo I'd selected across the table to him. He didn't look up, just leaned over slightly and started signing. I just stood there patiently, smoothing down the front of my skirt in an attempt to calm my shaking hands. All I can remember thinking was please look up, please look up and smile at me... He finished signing and looked up, smiling softly as he pushed the picture back across the table to me.
JB: "Here you go."
Me: "Thank you." I started to turn away then, content, when he said:
JB: "It was nice to see you again."
OMG but I lost it then. I was totally not expecting him to remember me from the day before. But he did! I might possibly have made a slight fool of myself then. I was just so shocked and ecstatic; I felt my face light up in this huge grin.
Me: "Oh, did you like your present?!"
JB: "Uh, I haven't opened it yet..." I think he then said that he would, but that might've been wishful thinking on my end.
Me: "Oh, well I hope you like it!" I gushed.
At that point I was so embarrassed for semi-hogging his attention that I did a quick hair toss, so that my bangs obscured my face, turned and fled. Soon as I could no longer directly see him, a wash of calm flooded me. I quickly approached GD-L's table. He looked up and gave me that cute half smile he's so known for.
GD-L: "Hello." OMG but he has the most beautiful accent, he sort of dragged out the 'o', so the word was almost like a song.
Me: "Hello." He looked down at the photo I handed him, glanced at me, looked back at the photo, then back at me. He sat up then and shook my hand.
GD-L: "It's nice to meet you."
Me: "It's nice to meet you too."
*head-desk* honestly, could I have sounded any more like a bloody parrot?! He signed my photo then. Watching him sign his name, I debated asking him about his band but chickened out at the last second. He looked up then and handed me the signed photo. I thanked him and he nodded once, that half smile playing about the corners of his lips. I quickly walked away then, as the tattered shreds of my calm completely dissipated. Ceic grabbed my elbow and we stumbled out of the exhibition hall. We sat on a hilly patch of grass just outside the convention center for a few hours after that, under the shade of a stunted cluster of palm trees.
We called my Papa around 5:30 and asked him to come pick us up as we were starving (we hadn't eaten all day, thanks to that traffic jam). He was about an hour away and advised us to go and find a snack, as dinner wouldn't be for several more hours. I remembered that we'd passed a mini cafe while walking to the signing booth, so we gathered up our bags and braved the crowds once again.
The food was seriously overpriced, so we split a hamburger and a raspberry Snapple. The Snapple at least was good, if lukewarm. The burger-ugh, but McDonald's food tastes better! *shudders* I seriously don't advise the consumption of ComicCon food. Not if you value your stomach lining at any rate.
So there we were, sitting on the floor with our backs against a wall, reluctantly nibbling on our respective halves of that disgusting quasi-burger, when it happened. Mr. Scott walked right past us, not six feet away from us, looking straight ahead. He vanished round a corner and Ceic and I turned back around just in time to watch GD-L walk right past us, going in the same direction. We were so stunned, we couldn't stop grinning. They walked past us again not long after, heading back towards the booth. We tried not to stare. Not very hard, but we did try. All I have to say is this: GD-L sags his pants. And they fit him very well. *blushes*
We sat there until they announced the closing of the Hall at 7 PM. We were almost at the exit doors when GD-L cut across my path. If I hadn't instinctively frozen I would've run into him. Ceic squeed in my ear so loud I was sure he'd hear, but he just kept walking. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur. We stayed at my Aunt and Uncle’s house, ate the first meal of the day, and stayed up ‘til 3 AM playing with the digital camera. Good times.
I’ll say this. Seeing both of them made the entire trip worthwhile. I had such a fantastic time; I know I’ll treasure their autographs forever.
*blushes* Sorry it's so long, didn't mean to babble so much. But that's as short as I could get them...