An Evening with Stephen King

Tonight I had the wonderful privilege to attend An Evening with Stephen King—hosted by A Real Bookstore. Many of you may already know that Stephen King is basically my idol. So I'm sure you can imagine just how thrilling this was for me.

But just in case you can't, I thought I'd relive the experience here for you guys. Also, I have pictures to share.

I found out about this event last month—completely by accident. I'm ashamed to say I had no idea the wildly talented Mr. King would be in the area at all. I knew his new book (11/22/63) was coming out soon, but it never occurred to me to check and see what kind of a book tour there would be.

Turns out, it was a really small tour. I got lucky. He came to Dallas—twice. Once at the Majestic Theater, and the second time, the one I went to, at McKinney North High School.

I'm not exactly sure why A Real Bookstore picked the high school as the venue, but I'll tell you this—it was actually a really great place for this. It seated about a thousand. And rest assured, it was a full house. We were allowed in the parking lot at 4 (after school let out). Which, in this case, was great. Because since no one could park before 4, there was absolutely no rush to get there before 4. Otherwise I would have felt the need to camp out by the door as soon as the sun rose. Anyway, I got there a little past four—traffic, of course—but we only had to stand in line outside until 5. Then we were allowed in.

I have to say, it was really awesome to be able to sit and wait instead of stand and wait. Because the actual event didn't begin until 7.

I also have to say, I'm really glad I picked up my ticket the day before because the will-call line didn't move at all until we were practically being let inside.

Seating was first come, first served. Another reason I insisted on being right on time, or as close to it as I could manage. I ended up getting a pretty darn good seat, if I do say so myself. Not quite in the front row, which I would have loved. But still close to the front. And I got a free A Real Bookstore tote bag in my seat. Another plus!

My ticket! And my free bag!

I sat next to a couple of friendly people (who had also come solo), which was awesome—I had brought my iPad along, expecting to be bored out of my mind while waiting, but instead I had some very pleasant conversations and got to talk about favorite King novels, how early I started reading his work (somewhere around 5th grade), and how excited we were to be there.

While we waited, a brass trio played jazz for us. And then the McKinney High Jazz Band played some songs. They were actually really good! And I was super surprised at how fast those two hours went by. A Real Bookstore had also put together a slideshow of Stephen King trivia and fun-facts (most of which the woman next to me knew!). There was even an official Twitter hash tag for the event!

The jazz trio. :)

I was all set with not one but two cameras (and my iPhone), and had triple-checked to make sure the flash wouldn't fire—the only condition of photography; it was allowed as long as we didn't use flash. But then I discovered that the red-eye light was also not okay. I panicked a little bit, thinking I wouldn't be able to figure out how in the world to cover up the thing.

Guys, I even went so far as to put bandaids over it (which actually worked pretty well). But then I decided I'd actually look in my camera settings and...voila! I figured out how to turn it off. On my Canon. My Nikon, I'm sad to say, was not so lucky. So it stayed in my purse the whole time.

And I gotta say, my Canon did a bang-up job. It was an excellent sidekick for the evening. And a trooper. Because, believe it or not, I took a whopping 260 pictures during the event. But I learned a long time ago, take a ton of pictures—if you do, you WILL get some good ones. Better safe than sorry. That's my philosophy.

The King!

The whole thing was a blast. Stephen (yes, we're on first name basis) looked so comfortable up there on stage—he owned it. And guys, he's funny. Seriously funny. It was sort of like seeing a stand-up comedy routine. He cracked jokes, poked fun, and was all around delightful and charming. He told stories about people mistaking him for Spielberg and Coppola, and about his experiences in Dallas while he was researching 11/22/63.

If you want to know what11/22/63 is about, here's a summary.

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.*

And hearing him talk about writing was a dream come true for me. As an aspiring author who can't wait to be published, I couldn't ask for advice or wisdom from a better person—especially considering King is a huge influence for me. I mean, I learned to embrace the beauty of a well-placed sentence fragment from this man. The best advice of the night, at least for me personally, was this: And I'm sad I must paraphrase, but still: "If you're someone who wants to write, you needn't worry about the business side of things. Just get your words on paper. Words on paper, words on paper. The rest will follow." Again, that's a paraphrase. But the basic idea is there.

Words on paper. Words on paper. Words on paper.

Yes, this is my new mantra.

He talked for a little while, shared stories, and was met with generous applause and laughter. Then he read a short section of his book, which was highly enjoyable. He's got a good voice to give a reading; not boring or monotone or unengaged? something like that? And the excerpt really got me excited to read the book.

During the reading.

After the reading, he did a Q&A. I wish I'd really sat down and thought of a good question to submit, because after I got in the car to head back I thought of a million I wish I'd asked. But he was such a good sport and he answered all the questions asked of him, and was genuinely appreciative of the response he got from the audience for the evening.

He also talked about some upcoming books—another in the Dark Tower series,

All in all, it lasted a little over an hour. It was the first time I'd ever seen Stephen King in "real life", I suppose you'd say. And it was great. I always worry that people I idolize will be...disappointing in reality. But Stephen is anything but a disappointment.

He is a charismatic, charming man. Brilliant. Overflowing with ideas, creativity, and he is truly passionate about writing. He loves what he does—at one point in the evening, he said doing events like this were always a little uncomfortable for him because he feels he's meant to be in a room by himself writing stories.

I love the way he puts it—he's made to write stories. Not to get published, be famous, make millions. But to write stories.

Listening to a question.

This man is such an incredible inspiration to me, and I am absolutely thrilled to have had the chance to see him in person, and in a fairly intimate setting. One thousand people is a lot, but being as close as I was, it didn't feel like a huge venue.

And I walked away with a whole new appreciation for the man who's practically always been my favorite author.

I'm sad to report that I did not get an autographed copy of the book (250 autographed copies were mixed in with the 1,000 that were handed out to us). But the woman sitting next to me did! (Congratulations!)

But that's okay, because the experience itself was the true treasure for me. And I really enjoyed sharing it with you guys!


*Excerpt from Amazon's book description.

Mavericks = Champions!

Guys, I'm so excited. I just got through watching the game; Dallas Mavericks v. Miami Heat. I'm a die-hard Mavs fan, and I was so hopeful that we'd wrap up the series before Game 7 and stick it to Miami on their own turf. And WE DID IT. And yes, it deserves an entire blog post. A short one, but still.

This is the first championship for the Mavericks in 31 years—the first championship in the franchise's history. It's a pretty big freakin' deal, that's what!

I watched the game at home with my family, and we were all cheering our boys on. Tucker got overwhelmed by all of the shouting, clapping, et cetera, and retired to my room for a large chunk of game time. I can't stop smiling. We played a great game tonight, and I've never been more proud to be a Mavs fan.

Congratulations, boys. You deserve it!

Dallas Mavericks. 2011 NBA Champions!

First-time NBA champions, from left, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry
show off their hardware after a Game 6 victory. (AP Photo)*

*Click the photo for its source—AOLsportingnews.com

You Can't Always Get What You Want

I have this problem. Oftentimes, I want what I can't have. This could be any number of things. Stuff, talent, job, whatever. Really, more often than not, it turns out to be stuff.

I only WISH this were my closet!

And sometimes I end up with stuff I shouldn't just because I couldn't say no in the store. My closet is full of things I rarely use but do so enjoy looking at. And today what I'm talking about is...shoes.

Yes, shoes.

I have countless pairs of shoes, many of which I never wear. Specifically, heels. I LOVE high heels. But I don't usually have occasion to wear them. Or, for the more casual pairs that I own, I could wear them, but then I think, "Oh, but my tennis shoes would be so much more comfortable." And so it goes, I have all of these cute shoes that gather dust in my closet, but that I'm proud to own.

But there are just as many times that the shoes I see, and need want, are just out of reach. And by just out of reach, I mean way too expensive to buy. I stumbled upon a pair of those shoes this very day!

And here they are! New Alexander McQueen Mutli-Buckle Ski Ankle Boots. (I know, right? Long name.) Feast your eyes!

              

Are these not some freakin' fabulous shoes? I fell instantly in love. Ah, the genius of Alexander McQueen. Even though it's likely* I'll never own a pair of these (*read "certain") I can still ogle them, right? I mean, daydreaming doesn't cost any money, at least not last I checked. Which is good, because with a price tag of $1495, all I will ever be able to do is dream about these boots.

So, in the spirit of fantasizing about things that I wish resided in my closet, here are some shoes that I would swoon over—and probably trip in—if only I could call them my own.

Dolce & Gabbana
Lace Peep-Toe Pumps
$575.00

Prada
Loafer Platform Pumps
$750.00  

Yves Saint Laurent
Tribtoo 105 Pony Hair Pumps
$880.00 

Miu Miu
Jeweled T-Strap Sandals
$730.00

Christian Louboutin
Venus Orlato Suede Ankle Boots
$1,395.00

Fendi
Liberty Peep-Toe Platform Pumps
$790.00

Alexander McQueen
Stretch Ankle Boots
$850.00 

Giuseppe Zanotti
Lace Silk Peep-Toe Slingbacks
$650.00 

Yves Saint Laurent
Tribute Sandals
$760.00 

Kors Michael Kors
Double-Ankle Strap Sandals
$350.00

Giuseppe Zanotti
Studded Lace-Up Ankle Boots
$850.00

Christian Louboutin
Alta Bouton Ankle Boots
$1,495.00

Christian Louboutin
Armony Ankle Boots With Removable Cuff
$1,395.00

Dolce & Gabbana
Lace Ankle Boots
$745.00 

Wicked

So, one of my best friends is getting married in July. And yesterday was her wedding shower and her bachelorette party! Which, by the way, was really fun! And I'm likely to do a separate post about that all together, considering I have several pictures commemorating the occasion but am currently lacking the cable necessary to plug my camera into my laptop to download said pictures. :-)

But on to the subject of this post: Wicked!

For Christine's bachelorette party, a group of us headed to Dallas to see Wicked! I had never seen it before, and I'd never read the book it's based on, either, so I was going in blind. I was somewhat familiar with a couple of the songs, but not well enough to sing along. So the whole thing was completely brand new to me, and it was fabulous!

I'd been to the Music Hall at Fair Park before when I went with my parents to see Fiddler on the Roof, and I think it's a really great venue. We had balcony seats, so it was easy to see everything going on onstage. I only had complaints about the hoard of young ladies sitting in front of us—WHY would you pay for tickets to a musical and then proceed to text the entire time??—but that's nobody's fault but theirs, and perhaps their parents for not teaching them better manners.

 The stage was incredible, the sets superb! I thought the style was really cool, especially the bubble Glinda floats around in. Very creative stage design. And the costumes were great as well! Colorful, unique, and from what I can tell based on pictures from the Broadway production, spot on to the originals, or whatever you'd call them.

And the actors themselves were amazing! Elphaba and Glinda both had very very good voices. It really makes me wish I were a better singer! (and dancer!) But it wasn't just those two that were great performers—the whole cast was really good!

I also loved all of the little tie-ins, explanations, and comments that referred to or embellished on events in the classic, which of course is The Wizard of Oz. I'd list some of them, but like I was telling my Mom, I really think they're the most exciting when you discover them for yourself! Needless to say, I left the theater ready to re-watch The Wizard of Oz. You'll totally look at it in a whole new light! I also left the theater very thankful that I already own the original Broadway cast recording of the show. Yes, it really is that good!

I'd recommend that you see it while it's in Dallas (if you're in the area, of course) but we went the day before the last day it ran. But if it happens to come to where you are, and if you're interested in having a really fun time with a really cute musical, grab some tickets and enjoy a night at the theater!

A Night with a Fiddler

If I were a rich man!

Alright, if I were a rich man, surely my life would be very different. But aside from that, if I were rich, I would most definitely make more trips to the theater. If I were a wealthy...woman.

I had the delightful opportunity to go see Fiddler on the Roof with my family, and what made the experience even more exciting and once-in-a-lifetime was that this particular performance would be the last for the play's longtime star, Topol. For any of you who have seen Fiddler, I don't have to tell you that Topal is not only the star, but he IS Tevye. He was invited to open Fiddler on the Roof in London's West End in 1967, and also starred in the 1971 film, and since the opening he has appeared as Tevye over 2,500 times.

2,500 times! Can you believe it? And you know what? He's still got it!

It was so fantastic to get to see my absolute favorite musical live on stage and starring the Topol.

And when I say we saw his last performance, I mean we really did! This is his farewell tour and, at least as far as my neck of the woods goes, we saw the last performance at Music Hall at Fair Park. It was running May 19-24. We went on the 24th. It was awesome!

We managed to get there early, as was the plan. Before the show, we grabbed dinner at this great Mexican food place, El Fenix, but we were still about half an hour early for the show. Which gave us the chance to buy any souvenirs before the show, as opposed to waiting in long lines after, or during intermission. And it also all but guaranteed that any shirts/sweatshirts, etc. would still be available in our desired sizes. Which they were. And I would know. I got a tee-shirt and a pullover hoodie. :) I love them.

Better still, our seats were great! Sort of front/middle, with a very lovely view of the stage. I didn't take any pictures during-- who really wants to be that guy, spending more time on figuring out why the flash only illuminates the heads directly in front of you instead of the actors on stage, and effectively annoying everyone directly around you? I didn't! I did take a picture of the curtain before the show started. Because it had some pretty cool looking stuff on it. 

Observe:

 

And while I'm on the topic of seats, seating, and so on, I'd like to point out that I don't understand wearing updo's to performances such as this. I agree that they look classy, elegant, and can really top off a nice dress (no pun intended), but the thing of it is, it's not exactly stadium seating. And I can't very well sit in a booster seat just so that I can see over the top of your 'do, ma'am. But it's not just ladies! Granted the guys don't necessarily toss their locks up in fancy twists, buns, or whatever, but they can have hair that's hard to see around -- especially because they're usually taller in the first place. I, on the other hand, am not. Tall. I'm short. So even the guy sitting in front of me who'd decided to style his hair in the popular and easy-to-achieve messy style posed a problem for me. Particularly because the one part of his hair that was really sticking up was in the back. To me, it almost looked like an unwanted tuft of grass on the stage. But that's not really the point. It wasn't too problematic for me this go around, but I imagine I'm not the only person who has trouble seeing over hair. Anyway, maybe I'm wrong, but trust me, it's not very much fun to dish out your money for good seats and then have to crane your neck to see over or around the tall, done up, big, or excessive hair belonging to the person who's seating in front of you. Just a thought.

I also snapped a couple of pictures of me and my parents while we waited. Proof of our going was necessary. At least that's how I felt. But after that, there wasn't much else to take pictures of, so I put my camera away and we skim-read our playbills.

When the play started and the first song began, I won't lie; I got a little emotional. Mostly that joy kind of emotion, because I mean it when I say this is my favorite musical ever, and Topol's voice is fantastic. The dancing, the singing, it was so awesome to be there and actually get to see it as it happens instead of on a television screen. All of the acting was great, too. Seriously, hats off to all of those incredibly talented people! Topol was amazing, not that I expected anything less, and the music was wonderful, too! Really, not a bad thing to say about the whole thing.

Probably one of the less recognized talents of the night, though, was the woman directing traffic in the ladies restroom. We had a mere 15 minute intermission with which to use the facilities, and I don't know that it would have been possible if not for the woman at the head of the line, an employee of the venue, who would call out "Two available!", "One available!", "One on the left!", and herd us through the process. It was really quite effective, much to my surprise, but Mom and I still have to run to make it to the theater doors before they closed us out at the start of the second half!

One of my favorite parts had to be seeing Topol do the signature dance (if you've seen the movie/play, you know the one) during If I Were a Rich Man. Definitely one of the great moments. But it would be impossible to pick just one.

It was a long play, but never too long. The story is engaging anyway, and the second half didn't lose any steam or fall short of the first half in any way. And in that same respect, the audience's enthusiasm never diminished. The standing ovation at the end lasted from the finishing line through two bouts of cast bowing without dwindling or breaking up; and it erupted when Topol made his front and center gracious bow.

Leaving was a bit trying, since everyone else is trying to leave at the same time. Mom took my picture next to the poster for the performance, but what really took longest was waiting for our car. When we got there, valet service was very helpful --no need to hunt for a spot, or make a long walk and not be early after all. But the poor guys (and at least one girl, I saw) were swamped with little valet tickets and were doing the best they could to run back and forth between dropping off a car and going for the next. Some of the actors came out the stage entrance/exit doors, but there was such a big crowd of people waiting, presumably for Topol, and as I've said I'm short so seeing over their heads wasn't an option. The wait for our car took so long I thought I might get to see Topol after all, but just before we got our car, someone came out and told the waiting throng of people that he [Topol] thought we were his best audience and he was thankful for us, but that he wasn't feeling well. Or something to that effect. Again, big crowd, me in the back, not so easy to hear what was said. I didn't really mind, though, because that made it possible for me to leave without feeling like I was missing out on something.

Anyway, it was an unforgettable night; a night I'll never forget! I'm so thankful I could go with my parents and that we got to see it with Topol. I highly recommend actually going to a live performance of something. It's much better than the movies. But the movies are nice, too, for when we can't go to a show, or don't have enough money. 

But definitely go. 

And don't wear your hair up, just in case someone short has seats behind you. ;)

HTM(hel)L

Well, I thought I was learning some HTML...

HA!

HAHAHAHAhahahahahuhuhuhah...*wipes brow* Whew!

Boy, I don't know who I thought I was kidding!

That there HTML stuff is a bit more complicated than I'm used to, apparently. So much so that I've grown fond of calling it HTM(hel)L. See, I've been trying-trying-trying to learn how to make a table of pictures. Thumbnails to be precise. So that I can post a bunch of pictures, but not all full sized. Instead, they'd show up in this nice and neat little row, and if you so chose to see a bigger version, all you'd do is click the thumbnail!

...Yeah...It's not quite as easy as it looks. I managed once. ONCE! Woo-hoo! But then I didn't dry my eyes out by staring at that cursed internet script for a couple of days, and so today when I sat down to try my luck again, I unfortunately discovered that all of my table-o-thumbnails knowledge had somehow completely escaped me.

Alas, it would seem I'll need at least another free 48-72 hours to figure that out. 

Yes, because I can spend hours and hours working on an HTML code, and if I walk away to get a drink of water before I finish it, when I get back I am absolutely and completely LOST. It's just like visiting a land you've never been to before, and driving along is alright, but then you look down to change the radio station and suddenly you may as well be on the moon. Because when you look up again, nothing is familiar.

Only in HTM(hel)L, not only are you lost, but your eyes also burn from trying to discern anything out of strings and strings of letters and backslashes and these little things < >!

So, forget that. I'll post my pictures later. Maybe next year. By then, surely I'll have it down.

[Don't quote me on that. Thanks.]

In other news, I'm in the creative process of reworking the look of this blog! Well, okay, I'm in the creative process of thinking about figuring out how I'd redo this blog if I knew what I was doing. (Which, coincidentally, is one of the reasons I'm trying to get a handle on HTML.) But that's just a bit of "I'm excited about it, so let me share!" news. Not for sure when that would happen or what all it would entail. Probably not much. So maybe a new banner, different colors. You know. BIG differences.

So anyway, if that comes out...I'm sure I'll post more. Maybe a countdown. That could be fun.

Also, since this post has no rhyme or reason thusfar anyway, I'll offer something else. In the interest of playing around with layouts and such -- you know, so I don't screw up mine before knowing what to do with it! -- and because I wanted to, I started another blog. If you know me, you'll know that I admit to loving Paris Hilton. That said, I've started a blog of random Paris news, updates, whatever. As if I'm the first person who's done that! In case you happen to want to check it out, it's just as easy as clicking this link. If you don't, then by all means...don't!

And - a question I wanted to ask. Does this happen to ANYONE else?

So I decide I sort of kind of maybe want to buy a new digital camera. So I have in mind this one that I'm looking at. And I've checked it out at a few different places. Then I get paid and realize if I want to buy it I actually can, so I get out again thinking that I'll look again, and perhaps be more interested in buying it than I was.

Only THEN I can't find it ANYWHERE.

Okay, I found it at once place. But I actually had a couple of cameras I was scoping out, and I only found one of them and I didn't really want to buy one without looking at the other one again. But still.

Is this just me? Am I the only person fortunate enough to suffer such a...condition?

I hope not.

Okay. I'm ending this post now. While I'm ahead. Or before I get too far behind. At this point, I cannot pretend that I'm not just babbling. Oh dear.

In closing, here's a picture of my dog Kelsi. :) Ain't she purdy?