Something to sing about.

I'm beginning to wonder... could this be the best week ever?

It started last Saturday night when I went to the National Symphony Orchestra concert at Wolf Trap. There, not only did I finally get to hear Aaron Lazar sing in person (he was Fabrizio in the PBS broadcast of Light in the Piazza) but, I got to meet him in person backstage!

It was another example of why being crazy sometimes just doesn't work out. Now, I had my own flight of crazy earlier in the day when I chased down the local post woman so I could get my personal copy of Harry Potter. Being nice and patient has its rewards. Take, for instance, fifteen years ago when I went to see a baseball game in Montreal. It was the Expos vs the Mets. The Mets were doing warm ups on the field. I was standing next to my brother (wearing an Expos cap) and a man who decided the best way to capture a baseball and the attention of all of the security guards was to jump the field and run around a bit. And there I was, standing, hoping. And, wouldn't you know, Sid Fernendez came up to me and gave me a baseball. My almost 11 year-old self was paralyzed with astonishment and so I forgot to ask to get it autographed. SID FERNEDEZ IF YOU READ THIS I HAVE A BASEBALL FOR YOU TO AUTOGRAPH!!!!! Ahem.

Saturday night, there were all sorts of middle-aged people yelling out to Marvin Hamlisch that they were his long lost cousins and that he should really come over and take pictures with them. We stood and looked at them with shock and dismay over the general pushiness of people. We were asked who we were waiting to see, and said Aaron, but were told that he had about fifteen family members backstage with him, including his grandparents. So, we were doubtful that we would even get a chance to see him (we did see him going into the theatre pre-show, though). But, shortly after, the guard lady came back and told us that if we didn't mind waiting a bit more and promised to behave ourselves, we could meet him backstage. And, so we waited, and met him, and even though he called me Kristie (I have the problem of going quiet on the last part of my name, I admit) he was so sweet and lovely and so nice to actually meet him. Not to mention that his "Music of the Night" was to die for.

And, today, is Jasper Fforde Day!!!! And it's been declared that day on the calendar for several months now. Finally, after five years of reading his books, I get to meet the man. I'm so very excited, even though it means I have to drive through crazy DC traffic to get there. I first read The Eyre Affair whilst travelling through France and I nearly wanted to not go out and see Paris so I could finish reading the book. That's a problem, isn't it? So The Eyre Affair is probably my most well travelled book in the history of ever as it went on my spring break "tour of Europe" back when I was in Wales. In fact, I collect the UK editions, so my friend was studying at Cambridge bought me a signed copy of the UK edition (which I have discovered is actually missing some text) and I'm going to get her a signed copy of the US edition, which she collects. Win all around.

Hopefully this coming Saturday, I shall finally get to meet Robert Hunt, who is probably my favorite Javert and get to see Michael Minarik (of frolicing through four lanes of traffic in Boston fame). So, now you can see why it is the best book/musical week!