Eeeep!
Today, I met Stephen Fry.
...and I've been on Cloud Nine ever since.
He is an utterly, utterly lovely man. Major book-signings aren't the most arduous tasks in the world, but they must be a bit of a chore after a while; the top floor of WHSmith was completely packed, and although I've been working at the same shop for a year, I've only realised now how impractical it is for signings; the queue snaked around all the bookshelves leaving barely any room for anyone else to get through. But he was brilliant; cheerful and funny and willing to have a chat and a joke with everyone, as well as be photographed about a million times from various different angles.
(Also, I found it quite amusing that all the managers had suited up and looked twice as smart as usual. There again, Stephen is worth impressing!)
I joined the queue at about quarter past and got chatting to two lovely women behind me; one of whom worked in the post office and was taking advantage of a not-very-busy shift. There is something wonderful about being at an event with fellow fans; we were chatting away about various things, and every so often would just squeak and hop about a tiny bit without any proper words. Strange image, looking back on it. Impracticality aside, it's actually quite fun to have a snaking queue; there's a exciting sense of getting closer and closer, especially as we could hear Stephen's voice the closer we got.
(There was a wonderful moment, just as I was about to meet him, when he did the trademark Melchett "Baaaa!" for someone. It was fantastic hearing it done after so many years watching Blackadder!)
Miraculously, considering my stomach was tickling with excitement and I was terrified I was going to make an arse out of myself (and when I'm determined not to, I usually embarass myself in some way), I managed to behave like an ordinary human being when I finally reached him.
He was lovely; I gave him a box of Milk Tray that I'd bought earlier and he was delighted, saying "You angel!" and making everyone in the (visible, at least) queue laugh. He said he'd scoff them in the car on the way to his next signing in Oxford. Hurrah!
We had a little chat about a part of the book that, as I said to him, simultaneously fascinated and horrified me; there's a place in Minnesota, an outdoor lab/garden, where cadavers are "farmed" and left outside to decompose within various conditions in order for scientists to get a closer idea on decomposition. They have the victim's earlier consent, of course, and it's all in the name of investigation, but it still unsettles me. In the book, Stephen recounted visiting there and how he felt his left shred of innocence had gone after seeing it. He told me that the number of volunteers has actually gone up due to people watching murder investigations on CSI. I would have loved to have asked him some more about it, but I was already stretching my "turn", really, and holding up the lovely ladies I'd been talking to, so I said thank you and went on my way, trying not to giggle with glee and not knowing what to do with myself for some time.
So now I have Stephen's beautifully curvy signature, and my name, in the front of the book. YAY! I haven't quite finished it yet, but I've read most of it and it's the perfect book to just sit down on a bench with and drink it in; he really tells his stories in an unhurried, emotionally-involved, singular way, and he's a joy to read. I'm also incredibly in awe of how much he did in America; every state brought a new activity to try, or extreme environment to visit, and amazing people to meet in every city. My hunger to travel to America has doubled thanks to him. I still can't decide which state sounds the most appealing, though!
Oh, he's lovely. He has incredibly bright blue-green eyes, as well, close-up, and a lovely smile. The queue stretched out way behind me, but I'm sure everyone felt incredibly lucky to meet and talk to him, and he treated everyone with a real warmth; it was wonderful.
(I've basically spent all afternoon luxuriating in the fact that one of my heroes called me an angel, even if it was prompted with chocolate. I keep grinning every time I think about it. Eeeep!)
Talk about ending the week on a high note!
I'll be working tomorrow morning. I can't help but feel that my managers are going to make fun of me; I was practically skipping when I walked past them earlier and had a grin on my face that wouldn't go away for ages.
Talk soon!
ETA:
"When you watch QI, you gradually come to realise that everything you ever knew..."
"...is complete bollocks. He's the best teacher in the world!"
There's something so satisfying about having that conversation with someone you've only known for ten minutes. I'm not sure why it is. Hurrah for Fry-camaraderie!
...and I've been on Cloud Nine ever since.
He is an utterly, utterly lovely man. Major book-signings aren't the most arduous tasks in the world, but they must be a bit of a chore after a while; the top floor of WHSmith was completely packed, and although I've been working at the same shop for a year, I've only realised now how impractical it is for signings; the queue snaked around all the bookshelves leaving barely any room for anyone else to get through. But he was brilliant; cheerful and funny and willing to have a chat and a joke with everyone, as well as be photographed about a million times from various different angles.
(Also, I found it quite amusing that all the managers had suited up and looked twice as smart as usual. There again, Stephen is worth impressing!)
I joined the queue at about quarter past and got chatting to two lovely women behind me; one of whom worked in the post office and was taking advantage of a not-very-busy shift. There is something wonderful about being at an event with fellow fans; we were chatting away about various things, and every so often would just squeak and hop about a tiny bit without any proper words. Strange image, looking back on it. Impracticality aside, it's actually quite fun to have a snaking queue; there's a exciting sense of getting closer and closer, especially as we could hear Stephen's voice the closer we got.
(There was a wonderful moment, just as I was about to meet him, when he did the trademark Melchett "Baaaa!" for someone. It was fantastic hearing it done after so many years watching Blackadder!)
Miraculously, considering my stomach was tickling with excitement and I was terrified I was going to make an arse out of myself (and when I'm determined not to, I usually embarass myself in some way), I managed to behave like an ordinary human being when I finally reached him.
He was lovely; I gave him a box of Milk Tray that I'd bought earlier and he was delighted, saying "You angel!" and making everyone in the (visible, at least) queue laugh. He said he'd scoff them in the car on the way to his next signing in Oxford. Hurrah!
We had a little chat about a part of the book that, as I said to him, simultaneously fascinated and horrified me; there's a place in Minnesota, an outdoor lab/garden, where cadavers are "farmed" and left outside to decompose within various conditions in order for scientists to get a closer idea on decomposition. They have the victim's earlier consent, of course, and it's all in the name of investigation, but it still unsettles me. In the book, Stephen recounted visiting there and how he felt his left shred of innocence had gone after seeing it. He told me that the number of volunteers has actually gone up due to people watching murder investigations on CSI. I would have loved to have asked him some more about it, but I was already stretching my "turn", really, and holding up the lovely ladies I'd been talking to, so I said thank you and went on my way, trying not to giggle with glee and not knowing what to do with myself for some time.
So now I have Stephen's beautifully curvy signature, and my name, in the front of the book. YAY! I haven't quite finished it yet, but I've read most of it and it's the perfect book to just sit down on a bench with and drink it in; he really tells his stories in an unhurried, emotionally-involved, singular way, and he's a joy to read. I'm also incredibly in awe of how much he did in America; every state brought a new activity to try, or extreme environment to visit, and amazing people to meet in every city. My hunger to travel to America has doubled thanks to him. I still can't decide which state sounds the most appealing, though!
Oh, he's lovely. He has incredibly bright blue-green eyes, as well, close-up, and a lovely smile. The queue stretched out way behind me, but I'm sure everyone felt incredibly lucky to meet and talk to him, and he treated everyone with a real warmth; it was wonderful.
(I've basically spent all afternoon luxuriating in the fact that one of my heroes called me an angel, even if it was prompted with chocolate. I keep grinning every time I think about it. Eeeep!)
Talk about ending the week on a high note!
I'll be working tomorrow morning. I can't help but feel that my managers are going to make fun of me; I was practically skipping when I walked past them earlier and had a grin on my face that wouldn't go away for ages.
Talk soon!
ETA:
"When you watch QI, you gradually come to realise that everything you ever knew..."
"...is complete bollocks. He's the best teacher in the world!"
There's something so satisfying about having that conversation with someone you've only known for ten minutes. I'm not sure why it is. Hurrah for Fry-camaraderie!