HMV Alley: Pre signing jitters

October 16, 1997: Our final staging area before heading in. We may not have been the cleanest street people (there's only so much you can do in a Burger King bathroom!) but we were certainly amongst the most excited. Folks in the pic with the obligatory thumbs aloft: Joyce, Jennifer, Amy, Dorothy. Also pictured: Marcia and Toni who were so sweet and invited me along to tour LIPA the next day.

A moment in time: Joyce meets Paul

Here's some notes from my journal:

"When it was my turn to approach Sir P. I stared at his hand determined to touch him before extending mine for a handshake. I said, "I’ve spent 24 hours on the sidewalk and all my savings to come here and it was worth every cent." He smiled and said, "Oh no. You didn’t!" I said, "Yes I did. And I’m so happy to be here." I said "Please sign to Joyce and put 'the face' on it." As he signed I called him Sir ChainsawMan. He seemed confused and I said "Are you familiar with Macca-L, the internet list?" He smiled and said ‘Oh! You’re not one of them!" I said, "We absolutely love you. Thank You." When he finished signing, he said "Here you go!" and as I turned to leave I did the "I’m not worthy’ bow twice. He had the funniest look of ‘no, no. Stop that' on his face. And all too quickly it was over. The thrill of a lifetime and dream of always and forever.

I snapped a few more pictures of friends and Paul before being pushed on by the staff. We talked to some reporters and took some pictures of our little weary and happy group. I also bought the vinyl copy of Flaming Pie (I had already bought another cd of Standing Stone for Paul to sign). Almost everyone had tears in their eyes – men and women alike. I just kept smiling. My new/old friends were incredible – they made this entire experience unbelievably great and unforgettable. Lynn, Rich and Jennifer went off to get a celebratory drink. The rest of us had to get going. I told them that they made it a wonderful experience and they responded the same. It was overwhelming. "

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October 15, 1997: Here I am with the coveted wrist bracelet which will get me into the HMV autograph signing session. When I first got in line at 1:30pm the day before the signing, I wasn't sure how I'd make it through the day (and night and day ;-)). As it turned out, we had a blast in spite of the disorganization. The  overnight security was great and my slumber pals were the best. Thanks to Lynn D (the ever prepared!), Jennifer D, Dorothy H, Richard Cook, Amy T and all the other cool people I met in line.

Bottom pic from l-r: Joyce (yeah, me again!) , Richard, Sherry

From l-r: Dorothy, Lynn D, Joyce, Jennifer, Spy, Alexandra (Photo: Copyright 1997, Richard W. Cook)

And now the moment, we'd all been waiting for: Paul arrives at HMV

Incredible! After a brief presentation outside the store in which Paul asks to keep the HMV mascot, he enters the store waving. (Top Photo: Copyright 1997, Richard W. Cook)

Paul sits on stage and we each take turns approaching him. When I reach the security guard, I (not surprisingly) start babbling like an idiot. "This is the thrill of a lifetime. And lucky you..you get to see him all the time." The security guard (not surprisingly) smiles amusedly at the babbling idiot ;-).

(Picture above: Copyright 1997: Dorothy J. Hudson) If you look closely, you can see me smiling away (and not so quietly now ;-)).

Paul and I in the paper. As you can see, we're deeply enthralled in a philosophical discussion <G>!!!

(Picture above from the Daily Post: October 17, 1997; Picture: Rebecca Naden)

Happy *campers*: Our quote of the day: "We made it happen."