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I went to see Pamie at her book signing last Thursday night! It was so much fun, and so nice to see her again! As an added bonus, I also saw the lovely Mo and Evany. Super coolness! And I was only just slightly overly nervous, as I tend to be around people I haven't seen in a while. Luckily, that mostly faded pretty quickly. Probably because of the alcohol. Thanks, booze!

Anyway, I'd only been to two book events before in my life (if we're not counting the disaster of a book club I used to belong to a year ago, but we won't speak of that now...). The first event was for my brother, who wrote a novel his senior year of high school. He never tried to get it published, but since writing it was (is!) such a huge accomplishment, his school held a small event for him, where we all sat and heard him read excerpts from his book. I was fairly young and remember the flavored seltzer water and cookies best. Of course, I also remember feeling quite proud of him while simultaneously feeling awed by the morbidity of his writing. It was a horror novel. He actually recently taught a class at Cornell on horror writing, so I think he still has a fondness for it. He definitely still loves writing, and I always look forward to reading any of his work. Anyway, his book reading was fascinating, and a lot of fun!

The other book event I went to was a book signing. I was playing Inadequate Tour Guide for a former penpal and her friend about two years ago. I knew about as much of the city as they did, and nearly everything we saw was as new to me as it was to them. We had fun exploring San Francisco together, though, and eventually came to the well known area of Haight and Ashbury. We wandered into a cool looking bookstore, and there was a guy signing books. So, what the heck? I bought a copy, got it signed by the author himself, and even had my friend take a picture. Why not? I still have the book, and still haven't read it. Man, do I ever have a long "to read" list! I may get to it, eventually. First, I have to read all five Harry Potter books, since I'm the only person on earth who hasn't even read the first one. I keep saying I will, and by golly, I mean it! No, seriously. I'll read them. I will!

But first, I read Pamie's Why Girls Are Weird! (How do you like my segue? Pretty nice, huh?) I had a feeling I'd like it, but didn't know what to expect beyond that. Well, I loved it! It was the first time in a while I'd read something that I just could not put down! I mean, I usually read to fall asleep, but this book had me awake and eagerly turning pages. I had to make myself put the book down the night I started it so that I'd get enough sleep for work the next day. The very next night, I read the entire rest of the book, and I just thought it was awesome. It made me laugh out loud and cry, and think of my own experiences with internet personas, meeting online friends in person, and the secrets/lies that sometimes go along with internet relationships, and what happens when the truth finally comes out. I'm happy to say I don't have to worry about any of that anymore, but the book brought back a lot of those memories and had me contemplating many things. My head also swam with ideas about online journalling itself, and I only wish I'd taken the time to write them down when I thought of them, instead of trying to make sure I had enough sleep. Darn that pesky need for sleep!

My point is, it was a very interesting read! And aside from being able to relate to the book on a personal level, I also just really dug the story itself. I think I'll probably re-read it sometime soon, in spite of my gi-normous "to read" list.

Oh, and? This book has the best sentence ever about summers in Texas, and I am in awe of the fact that Pamie captured it so perfectly:

"A Texas summer can be so hot that people want to kill and maim and cry bloody tears."
--Why Girls Are Weird, Pamela Ribon, p. 61

It's just so true!

So anyway, I'm so happy I made it to Pamie's book signing! A little late, but I made it! Yay! It was great to be able to listen to Pamie read parts of her book. I love hearing people read their own writing. It's always just a little different than how I hear it in my head.

Then I met a really nice woman in line named Jennifer, who took all the pictures I'm including in this entry. I can't believe that I am always forgetting my camera. Someone remind me to take my camera to JournalCon this year, please!

So anyway, thank you again, Jennifer!

The rest of the evening was pretty freakin' fun! It was so great hanging out with everyone and having lots of laughs. The cider wasn't bad, either! I was glad to meet Stee as well. He is a cool guy. All in all, fun times were had by all, and I look forward to seeing everyone again, hopefully sooner than later. I must say, that was definitely my most favorite book event yet!