The Bloggess book tour: Could you hear me laughing all the way in San Jose?

Have you ever heard of the game where you create an imaginary/dream guest list for your ultimate dinner party? The 6-10 people you'd want to invite can be living, dead, or even fictional characters. Well, ever since I discovered her blog, Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess) has been on my short list of people I'd love to sit down and have dinner with or at the very least, meet someday.

You can see how happy I was that it actually happened!

Hubby often points out the cartoons of me have closed eyes. I always tell him that's what my eyes look like when I smile really big. ↑ Proof

I tweeted a bit while waiting for the event to begin so I've included the tweets in this post.

Her book tour for the paperback edition of Let's Pretend This Never Happened was scheduled to begin yesterday at 7:00 PM. I got there at 3:00 PM to beat any rush hour traffic and to get a good seat.

The first thing I did was purchase a copy of her #1 New York Times Best Selling book.

Then I got me some classy snacks. I hadn't had a mocha in probably a year but it was a special occasion so I indulged.

I assessed the seating situation. There was a table and chair for her. . .

. . . and 16 chairs, four of which were reserved, for the audience. I took a seat in the second row and saved one for my friend Keith who was meeting me when he got off work.

For the first two hours I was on my own. Eventually others began arriving around 5:00 PM. Melody, to the left of Keith, was the second person to show up. We had fun chatting as the seats slowly filled up.

It seemed like EVERYONE who arrived looked at the 16 chairs and said "Um, do they realize how many people are going to show up for this?" The funny thing is, they did. I heard two employees talking and one said to the other that 50-200 people usually show up for Jenny's book tour stops.

Eventually a microphone was brought out and set beside the table.

And a pile of Sharpies and some stickers appeared.

When an iced soda was added to the table it felt even more exciting because we knew she must be in the building.

Around the same time I started to feel shaky, like I was about to have an anxiety attack. At first I thought I was just excited. Then I started wondering if I was channeling Jenny because I knew wherever she was she was probably having an anxiety attack at the thought of having to come out and speak. Then it occurred to me that it was probably all of the caffeine in the Frappucino. Of it may have been a combination of all of the above.

I wanted to give her a gift because she's brought not just laughter to my life but also a sense of compassion and understanding.

Like Jenny I also have anxiety issues and we both suffer from depression. Thankfully we both figured out there's no shame in seeking out help. I haven't had a severe bout of depression for over a decade and hope I never do again. My anxiety flares up rarely and only momentarily. I can recognize what it is when it happens now and am able to wait and let it pass.

That Jenny openly and honestly shares what her experiences are like on her blog has been part of the magic of how people are able to relate to her.  When you suffer from different types of mental illnesses you think you're the only one and society has always dictated you should feel ashamed. But Jenny makes it ok because she makes people realize they're not alone, though she credits her readers who leave supportive comments for making other readers feel less judged and more accepted. The simple truth is she and her blog give hope to the hopeless and because of that, she is helping to improve and save lives.

By 6:00 the place was filling up. The 16 seats had grown to 20 when an additional row was added. This created one front row seat that wasn't reserved. I pointed this out as I told Keith he's lucky I'm such a good friend or I'd ditch him for that primo seat. Suddenly it was like we were on Survivor but instead of voting me off the island everyone voted me to the front row since I'd been there the longest.

As we waited Keith got bored so he took out a Sharpie and began filling in the Reserved signs with names of people who he thought might/could/should show up like Will Wheaton, Nathan Fillion, The Doctor, and The Companion (who turned out to be her sister.) HA!

Just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, it did :D

So from this, our group of 20 chairs, the crowd grew to this. . .

There was easily more than 100 fans in attendance.

This is the picture Jenny took when she came out. There were even more people to the right, a whole pile of them. The place was packed! And for once I didn't mind being photographed probably because I was high on life and still feeling a little wacky from the buzz I got from that Grande Frapuccino. It's also the reason I'm still awake and writing this post at 3:00 AM the following morning.

That's Keith one row behind me and to the left of me. And our friends Jon and Tamzen were there too. If you know them they're tiny but I think you'll be able to spot them in the crowd.

The Bloggess: Inappropriate in more ways than one but not always her fault.

The first thing Jenny told us was that she was about to embark on "The most drunk book reading ever" because she thought the drive to Eastridge would take much longer than it did. So instead of wearing off in time, she arrived a bit buzzed. But if she hadn't told us I don't think anyone would have known because we were all laughing too hard to notice.

And it wasn't lost on the audience that some of the evening's inappropriateness was because  Barnes & Noble had set her up right in front of the children's department, note the Barnes & Noble Jr. sign over her shoulder. Now, there's one thing that anyone who's ever read her blog or book knows and that is that Jenny swears a lot LOT. She gave fair warning that the profanity was about to commence and warned parents with kids they might want to exit before the reading began. Oddly, there were two groups of kids who not only stayed but seemed to be watching her presentation. With the final words "Sorry kids, you're about to learn a lesson" she began reading "The Psychopath on the Other Side of the Bathroom Door."

And then we laughed and laughed. We laughed out loud. Some laughed until they cried. What we all learned is that The Bloggess is as funny in person as she is to read. She is storyteller + comedian + performer in perfect portions. Her anxiety to public speak and be amongst her fans is what makes her really real in a human, connecting, and endearing way no matter how many time she said "poo" or "hippopotamus" (code for curse words a book store once imposed upon her).

Along with the kids another small audience member was Jenny's famous, haunted, stuffed monkey Copernicus.

After the reading she had a Q&A session. A few things that intrigued me most were:

• There's an extra chapter on the audio version of Let's Pretend This Never Happened. It was cut from the book but she snuck it back into the recording. *Note to self: Purchase audio book.*
• She was tricked into singing all of the chapter titles on her audio book. LOL
• Her next book is due out in 2014 and is a light hearted look at mental illness. Turns out writing an entire book about mental illness is harder than one would think but I have every confidence in her that not only will she succeed, it'll be another best seller. So many people will be able to relate and that's a good thing.
• Victor (her husband) is even more exasperated more of the time than she lets on in her blog or the book. And she never writes about any situation that is ongoing. Beyonce? She wrote that post weeks after it happened.
• One in ten people experience their tongue turning black when they use Pepto Bismol. Jenny is in that special 10% group. *Note to self: Buy Pepto Bismol to see if my tongue turns black too.*
• That her favorite mantra when she's scared that she isn't good enough to do something was given to her by author Neil Gaimen when she was attempting to record her audio book. As the director called "cut" again and again it was Neil telling her on the phone to "Pretend you're good at it" and the next thing she knew, she was. She'd even written it on her arm before coming out to speak because like most of us, public speaking is something she doesn't think she's good at. I, and I suspect everyone in the audience last night, would beg to differ.
• Her explanation of ethical taxidermy which means she does her best to verify that the animals she collects died from natural causes before they were preserved. BTW, her dad is a professional taxidermist so she grew up around stuffed animals. 
• She is hoping to get a pony service animal. She also wants to put little sneakers with wheels on its hooves so if it gets scared when she takes it on a plane she can just pull it down the aisle.

The Flirty Girl meets The Bloggess!

She seriously has the best smile ever. It's warm and welcoming and she gave one to every person in line. She was fantabulous! Her sister Lisa took this photo of us together with my camera so I told her I'd give her a photo credit :D

Jenny signed all kinds of stuff including books, a t-shirt, an e-reader, and a shipping box for Keith's Penis Reduction Pills. She was soooooooooo AWESOME.

As I walked away I looked in my purse for my keys and realized I'd been so star struck to meet her I forgot to give her the gift I'd brought. Doh! I had to go back and sneak it to her between signings.

On my way out I noticed the display that was piled high with books when I arrived looked like a pack of book wolves had ravaged it.

Thank you Barnes & Noble Eastridge for hosting The Bloggess, curse words and all. It was a singularly fun experience that I hope you'll repeat next year when her second book comes out.

Phoenix Arizona she'll be at your Barnes and Noble at the Desert Ridge Marketplace tonight on the last day of her current tour. CLICK HERE for all of the details then go and have fun!

My Dog is Famous! Kitai was on Jimmy Kimmel Live

I'm not sure when my dog became part of the "Pets Against People" activist group but he must have sent in a photo of himself because he's featured in their PSA that aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

What the heck?

After posting Kitai's brush with fame yesterday on the City Segway Tours Pinterst boards, a friend on Facebook mentioned that she'd seen Kitai wearing his Chia Pet costume featured in one of Jimmy's videos. What the heck? Seriously?

So here I thought that the only thing my dog and Jimmy Kimmel had in common was that they were on a pinboard together. Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong. Kitai has been on his show and he didn't even tell me! LOL

Here's the video. You'll see Kitai at the 52-53 second mark.

Jimmy Kimmel Live - Halloween Costumes for Pets PSA

My Best Sunday (Ever) with Magician David Blaine

Hey, do you want to see some magic? That's how David Blaine often introduces himself to unsuspecting strangers on the street when he wants to perform.

So, what happens when Mr. Magic, David Blaine...

Does his magic for Mr. Science, Steve Wozniak?

Magic trumped Science! Well, at least for yesterday afternoon.

I don't know if there is any collective group as skeptical of magic as scientists. Because of this, there may be nothing funnier than watching a bunch of computer engineers be baffled, shocked and amazed by an internationally renowned magician performing magic trick, after trick, after trick, for hours, inches away from them, leaving them unable to figure out the science behind the magic.

Even when Woz pulled a fast one and threw in an extra shuffle to a deck of cards as he held them under the table, and didn't tell David until after the trick was over, David still pulled off the trick. LOL

Woz's friends had to remind him they were using his cards, not Davids when he suspected there was something funny about the cards.

Their expressions were truly priceless :D

If you've never seen David's brand of "Street Magic" before, watch this short video.

So we were at the Farmers' Market yesterday when hubby received a phone call inviting us to share a very special afternoon with our friends, the Wozniaks, and their guest David Blaine.

I have been a fan of David Blaine's ever since I saw his first TV special titled "Street Magic" back in 1997. While I'd never been a huge believer or detractor of magic before the show aired I was completely enchanted with David Blaine's brand of magic which is to make his audience, specifically their reactions, equally as integral a part of his performance as the magic itself. This makes his tricks not only more believable but a lot more fun to watch than the typical stage show performances that had become an industry standard for decades.

David's personality is the epitome of "low key" which only enhances the viewer's experience as the people he performs his magic on scream, laugh, run away and disbelieve what they just saw happen in front of their eyes.

As his opener, David had our friend Frank write his initials on a quarter then hold it in his hands. Then my hubby put his hands above and below Franks' hands and David put his above and below my hubby's hands. It was a hand sandwich. LOL. Then they all squeezed and when they opened their hands the quarter was bent. No joke.

You can kind of see Frank's initials on the quarter proving that David didn't switch it out for another that had been pre-bent.

Here's a different quarter trick from "Street Magic" on Youtube:

I can honestly say there have only been two times that people have left me feeling like I'd seen something magical. The first was when I saw Cirque du Soleil's "Saltimbanco." The acrobatics were astounding. As I sat in the audience, watching them do things I thought weren't humanly possible I felt the magic of their performances and was awed.

Checking out something cool of David's I may tell you about someday...

Years later the second was watching David's tv show "Street Magic." And never, way back in 1997, did I imagine that one day I'd be sitting in a living room (let alone the Woz's livingroom) watching him perform many of the tricks, and new ones in development, that I'd seen him perform on tv.

His TV Special "Magic Man" also has many memorable tricks. This was my favorite...

David inspires me because his imagination knows no bounds. There's a great list of his past performances on Wikipedia including descriptions of Buried Alive, Revolution and Dive of Death. On his website you can see lots of video clips including Vertigo, Frozen in Time, Above the Below and Drowned Alive.

Click to Enlarge on flickr

Yesterday the trick that seemed to confound the engineers the most was the one above. It was the final reveal in a trick that had many small finishes, such as locating a certain card. After, the cards were shuffled together facing up and down. We were given the impression they would all be facing the same direction when David fanned them across the table. Obviously a few weren't. He laughed a bit and said good thing nobody was filming this one with a video camera...

Then he said something like "Oh, hang on. Woz, remember that $100 bill you put aside earlier? Check out the serial number.... And of course, the serial number matched, in sequence (using the Queen as the zero).

The numbers left facing up scattered throughout the deck were...

 38959309

I swear I heard all of the engineer's brains come to a screeching halt as everyone in the room realized what had just happened.

Even if the scientists say magic doesn't exist, I think it does. David Blaine is able to do things nobody else can do in a way that defies both logic and physics. I'm no scientist but in my opinion that's magic... And I'm a believer!

A special thanks to Woz and Janet for inviting us over. This was a memorable day I'll never forget! And thanks to my Geeky Hubby for letting me use his pictures from yesterday. I didn't want to miss a moment so I didn't take any of my own.

In the Presence of His Holiness, The Dalai Lama

Watch the presentation I saw courtesy of the Community Media Center.

If you were to ask me which celebrity or public figure did I hope to meet or see perform/speak in person some day? The Dalai Lama would have been at the top of my list. Recently that hope was realized when I was invited to attend a private presentation he had requested to have with students from the Ravenswood school district in East Palo Alto, CA. The district itself is comprised 7 schools that include kindergarden through grade 8, and predominately children of ethnic minority groups: Hispanic 70%, Black/African American 20%, Pacific Islander 9% and Other 1%. There were approximately 400 8th grade students in attendance from schools throughout the district.  Ten were chosen from an essay contest, and were able to ask The Dalai Lama a single question.

His Arrival

When I posted these photos on Facebook someone asked some basic questions about The Dalai Lama that I thought I'd share with you here in case any of you were wondering the same things:

Is "The Dalai Lama" his real name? No. It is Tenzin Gyatso

What does "Lama" mean? Lama means he is a teacher of Buddhism

What makes him Holy? He is believed to be a reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lamas the first of whom was a human incarnation of a bodhisattva (an enlightened existance)

What religion is he associated with? Buddhism

Have there been many Dalai Lamas before him? He is the 14th Dalai Lama

What methods have been employed to confirm his holiness? He was found by a special search party and recognized objects that belonged to the previous Dalai Lama claiming they were his.

His manner was calm, affable and he laughed heartily and often.

The students asked questions about his childhood in Tibet, why was he (as a child) chosen to lead his country and religion? How does he cheer himself up when he feels sad? Is world peace possible? And what would he do differently, did he have a biggest regret? Most of his answers centered on compassion, affection, peacefulness, responsibility and education. The Dalai Lama said several times to the students "The choice is yours" and "The responsibility is yours" to go out and create a more peaceful world. To choose compassion and education over violence and being self centered.

He said believers and non-believers share the same seed of human compassion and with inner peace, general peace in the world is possible.

From his perspective, while innovation, science and technology were part of the greatness of the last century, what were our worst faults? Violence caused by a lack of a genuine desire for peace. We need to show more affection to each other and our children so they in turn can grow up to be confident and peaceful adults. 

He said sometimes we sacrifice fundamental values for nationality and religion. That he said, is a mistake. Discrimination is backwards thinking and that if we think of all people as our brothers and sisters and reach out to them with a truly open heart, 99% of humans will respond to genuine openness.

The reason I was lucky enough to attend? John Woods and his team at Enhanced Lighting transformed the gymnasium by sponsoring the purple draping, stage lighting, projectors, projection screens and the sound system that enabled everyone in the room to enjoy the presentation. In return he was given a few tickets one of which he offered to me. Thanks so much to John and Megan, owners of Enhanced Lighting. Truly it was a dream come true.

The students presented The Dalai Lama with a gift and he posed for a group photo with them before departing. Personally I left feeling inspired.

The wish for peace is something I have long hoped for in my own life, in the lives of my friends and loved ones and for the entire world. This experience is bringing me back to asking myself what is really important? What are my priorities? How much compassion do I have? How much altruism and empathy do I share with the people around me? Do I allow myself to get caught up in feelings and actions that work against peace? Peacefulness in my own life? Peacefulness in the world? I do. But I don't have to. I can choose peace and acceptance of myself and others. Perhaps sometimes the best thing to do is to simply recognize when a situation brings out my worst nature instead of my best and to choose differently. It's being aware of myself and how I impact the world. As he said, it's my choice. And it's your choice too.

---

The media was there in full force.

http://www.ktvu.com/video/25385148/index.html

And here is a great article about the visit by Chris Kenrick of the Palo Alto News Online: CLICK HERE

This is one of my favorite books I've read about Tibetan Buddhism. If you're interested in learning more you might want to pick up a copy of Awakening to the Sacred by Lama Surya Das.

INXS Concert at VMworld 2010

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO VIEW AN ENLARGEMENT

Yesterday I was just finishing up a really packed week of back to back meetings and seminars and was feeling pretty exhausted. I thought I was going home last night to relax and just chill out a bit when my hubby sent me an email asking if I wanted to go to San Francisco to see INXS in concert. Um.... Let's see, go sit at home watching tv with my dog or go hear great music and see rock stars up in San Francisco. LOL it wasn't a tough decision.

Talk about total dorks. We got to the Moscone Center and went to the wrong stage area, marveling how we were going to be in the front row. After a few minutes we realized we were at the wrong stage and rushed around the building to get to the correct location in the basement of the Moscone Center. And guess what? We were still in the front row! Sweet!

Some of you may remember from past posts that my hubby has been a devoted INXS fan, and friend of the band, for years. When we do get to see them in concert, and are in the first or second row, it's always fun when the band members recognizes us and gives us a wave and a smile. Last night not only did Kirk Pengilly give me a wave, he also gave me a wink (click on the image and you can really see he's winking), tossed me a guitar pick and...

Posed for this picture while he was performing giving me this very cheeky smile when he saw I was trying to take a picture of him. He totally cracked me up :D They are the first rock stars I've ever met and have set the bar really high for any future rock stars I may ever meet. They are so talented and equally nice.

First song of the night was Suicide Blonde.

Second song was "Disappear" one of my favorites! They played lots of my favs, New Sensation, Taste it, Afterglow, Mystify, Never Tear Us Apart, etc...

Guitarist Tim Farriss is one of the three Farriss brothers who originally started a band called "The Farriss Brothers" in Australia back in 1977. Shortly after they changed the name of the band to INXS.

Was very hard to get a good picture of Andrew Farriss all night because he was further away and often behind some equipment. That's him on the left with Kirk Pengilly and Tim Farriss. Even more difficult was to get a picture of drummer John Farriss off to the right in the shadows.

Garry Gary Beers and J.D. Fortune

Most people are aware that the band's lead singer for 2 decades was Michael Hutchence, who tragically died in 1997. I can still remember how shocked and sad I was when I heard it on the news.

In 2005, the band launched a nationwide search for their next lead singer on a reality tv show called "Rockstar INXS." Canadian singer J. D. Fortune won the competition, recorded "Switch" with the band and began touring with them shortly after.

Because so many people have already asked about J.D.'s current status with the band... Last year there was a considerable bump in the road when it was stated by J. D. in a tv interview that he had been fired by the band. Whatever the issues were, they have been resolved and I'm really happy that they have regrouped and are performing together once again. In 2010 INXS has performed at least 6 special events with J. D. as their lead singer. I did see a tv interview one day where Kirk Pengilly confirmed that J.D. was once again part of INXS so hopefully things will continue to work out and they will all have many future successes together.

Kirk Pengilly plays both the saxophone...

And the guitar.

So there I was, basically just rocking out, when I was handed one of John Farriss' drumsticks by a crew member. Whu???? Tony walked up to the stage, picked up the drumstick, looked at the crowd, looked at the band members, turned around and handed the drumstick to me. For real??? It felt surreal LOL. First a guitar pick from Kirk and now a drumstick from John? I've never had a real drumstick before. I was drumming on the dashboard, window, console and my hubby's arm on the way home until he told me to stop :D

J. D. Fortune perfoming at VMworld 2010

Kirk Pengilly, Tim Farriss and Garry Gary Beers

Being a rock star J.D. had on some pretty stylish, ripped in the crotch jeans. LOL

Garry Gary Beers, Tim Farriss and J. D. Fortune

A spontaneous moment when Kirk took the mic from J.D. to introduce J.D. to the crowd. Judging by the reactions of the band it was a bit of a prank.

I think it always makes a show more fun when the audience sees the band having a great time onstage.

J.D. Fortune performing "Don't Change"

Tim Farriss and Kirk Pengilly closing the show with "Don't Change."

Inxs Members: Kirk Pengilly, Andrew Farriss, J.D. Fortune, Garry Gary Beers, Tim Farriss and John Farriss.

If they are ever performing where you live and you've always loved or liked their music, GO SEE THEM! This was my eighth show and I've loved every show I've seen. It's an evening of hit after hit after hit and you can tell the guys really have fun performing. You can check out the official INXS website for tour information as it becomes available at www.INXS.com

And why was the band in town in the first place? They were there to perform at VMworld, a virtual conference for cloud computing. They describe the U.S. conference on their website this way:

We have developed outstanding Sessions and Labs program this year, with more than 170 unique Breakout Sessions and 30 Lab topics offered across four days. General Sessions will be on Tuesday and Thursday. Plus, VMworld offers additional learning opportunities, such as the new Knowledge Experts Program, numerous networking events, and the Solutions Exchange featuring more than 200 companies showcasing the latest virtualization and cloud computing products and services.

If that sounds intriguing to you be sure to bookmark their website www.VMworld.com so you can stay up to date on their next conference in 2011. If you live in Europe it's not too late to attend the conference in Copenhagen October 12-14, 2010. CLICK HERE for more details about the European VMworld conference.

And... Because everyone always asks, I took these photos with my Panasonic Lumix DMC LX3 point and shoot pocket camera :)