I apologize for taking over the blog with a posting but I promise you, this will be worth it. It also gave me some great inspiration for the story. So enjoy this posting about how I (KurtsieKalanai) met Chris Colfer:
I am a Gleek. I always like to say that I’m a “Raging Gleek”.
I have watched the entire series thus far several times. I am writing a
multi-chapter, multi-book fanfic. I spent an obscene amount of money on Glee
Live VIP tickets and merch. My home office decorations are even dedicated to
Glee! I never thought I would be admitting this at 36 years old.
If it’s possible, I’m a bigger Chris Colfer fan. He is by
far my favorite actor on the show, followed by Darren Criss and Lea Michele. I
am so much a fan that he is referred to simply by his first name at home, like
he was some sort of long lost relative. “Are we going to watch Chris today?” or
“Gotta make sure we have Chris’ books with us.” It really is a problem. :P When
I found out that Chris was doing a book tour, I absolutely HAD to go! Luckily
he was doing a signing in Cincinnati, which is about a five and a half hour
drive from where I live in Ontario, Canada. So I called and reserved my copies
and spots in line and waited…and waited… I think the anticipation was the worst
part.
The day finally came and we packed ourselves in the car at 6
in the morning for the long drive. We decided we were going to stop off in Lima
on the way back, but we made several pit stops along the way. I will chat about
Lima later in this posting.
The signing started at 3:30 and we arrived at the bookstore
for the first time at around 1pm. The store was halfway to full already! We had
to go back to the hotel and change, so we got our books and left. When we
returned an hour and a half later, there was barely room to move! Thankfully we
had a reserved spot in line, so that part went quite smoothly.
Right around 3:30 (give or take a few minutes) Chris came to
the top of the stairs to excited fans. I was surprised, however, at how polite
and reserved everyone was. It was nice to be in a nice respectful atmosphere.
There were a few screamers, but most of us just cheered and clapped. Luckily I
was only in line E, so I didn’t have long to wait.
All of a sudden, I became a stupid teenager. I got nervous.
I could barely talk. I started shaking. I was about to meet my idol! This man
had actually inspired me to start writing again. Previously, I went through
about 15 years of writers block and didn’t write anything but academic papers.
He and his character Kurt inspired me to be myself and not care what people
thought. That was an interesting lesson to learn in my early 30s!
The line went quite fast, so we only had 30 seconds tops
with him. But what a 30 seconds I got! It helped I had 3 books to sign. There
were no posed pictures to save on time, but my spouse did get some good pictures
while we were talking. It was all very pleasant and generic, and he called me
sweetie three times! He was so sweet. I made up a little envelope with a letter
and some pictures I took from Glee Live. I told him everything I wanted to say
was in that envelope. I hear he reads all the letters given to him, so he will
know how I feel. It seemed like a flash, bit it was over pretty quickly.
People ask me if he as beautiful in person. I have to say he
is and more. The man is an absolute Angel. You can tell that he is truly touched
by all the attention he is getting over the book. I think that is what I like
about Chris. He is still a “real” person. He is humble, he is funny, and he is
so very talented. I have been listening to the audio book, and he changes his
voice for every character. I would encourage Ryan Murphy to use his talents
more! He is an untapped resource.
So that was the signing. Because we thought we would be
there later, we decided to just book a hotel in the city. We ended up eating
yummy Mexican and driving into Kentucky, which was just over the river from
Cincinnati. I can now say I have been to Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky, among other
states.
The next day, we decided it would be fun to stop off in Lima
for a few hours before making our way home. Now if you are from Lima, please do
not take ANY offense to what I am going to say. This is just what we came away
with in only a short visit.
If the production crew from Glee did their research, they
did an excellent job. It was the epitome of small town Ohio. The mall was tiny (and
didn’t have fountain OR massage chairs), downtown was quite small, and the
entire place just had an air of oppression and small town-ness (is that a
word?) I could totally see why Kurt and Rachel and just about all of the New
Directions wanted to get out of there.
Ironically, the only place that looked at all modern was the
only high school in the city which is, funnily enough, named Lima Senior High
School. It was pretty big, and what a high school should look like. However,
the school looked like it was in the middle of Lima Heights adjacent, if there
is such a place. We left Lima with a really odd feeling. I can’t tell if it is
just the bias from the TV show or what, but I just want to say I wasn’t a fan.
I can say that I am glad we went, because it does make me
appreciate the show more, and why the kids wanted to get the hell out of there.
It also gives me a little bit of perspective about small town USA as I am
Canadian, and things are slightly different here. It was also a good
opportunity to research for my fanfic and get some pictures with Lima signs on
them, like Lima Mall and Lima Dental (wonder if Dr. Carl works there?)
Two days later, I am still on Cloud 9. This goes down as one
of the happiest moments of my life. I know he is a busy man, but that 30
seconds of his life was just for me. I know he has made a massive impression on
me, and if it is possible, I am an even bigger fan. I have my pictures on Facebook
and you are more than welcome to see them at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150951215851561.417411.672896560&type=1&l=3d17ed7761.
Thanks for reading and if you met him during the book tour, I would love to
hear your stories!!
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