La Toya Jackson

On June 22nd 3 days before the 2nd year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death.  La Toya Jackson came to NYC to do a book signing for her new book Starting Over.  This book is about La Toya Jackson and her brother Michael Jackson.

I went to the book signing because I thought it would be cool to meet someone from the Jackson family.  I thought about how cool it would be to meet her but I didn't think about how I would get to the book signing.  I went alone to the book signing and it was in Tribeca.  I haven't been in Tribeca that much so I had no idea where I was going.  I took the subway and then I walked to the Barnes and Nobles.  I thought I would be fine getting to the Barnes and Nobles because I had a GPS in my phone.  Well I was wrong because my phone decided it wanted to be a real pain.  For some reason it couldn't find a signal and I was shocked.  That had never happened before with me.  I was just glad that even though it couldn't find a signal.  My phone had shown the map of where I was and I tried to figure it out by looking at the map and street signs.  About 15 minutes later I finally arrived at the Barnes and Nobles.  It was around 10am and I had to wait until 6pm til the book signing.

Normally I don't mind the wait.  I'm just use to it because I been doing it for about a month and a half.  I actually like having the chance to be able to read the book and talk to others on line.  I find it fun and almost peaceful. Since  I been going to a lot of the book signings I started to see other people that I have met on other lines at different places around the city.  For most people who don't go to book signings let me tell you this.  People who go to a book signing usually have been to several more book signings before the one they are at now.  Some people make a job out of it.  If you are at a book signing and see someone getting about 3 to 10 books signed then that means they usually sell them online for money.  It seems like a nice job.  You get to meet famous people and get money for your time.

Majority of time I spent on the line I was just reading and talking with others.  It really helped make the time go faster.  I was actually shocked how fast the time past.  Before I knew it the time was already 5:30pm.  I'm not going to lie and I have said this before the closer it gets to the event it really sucks.  I say that because you start to get excited because it is just only minutes before you get to see the star of the event.  Still I tried to keep myself busy so time would pass by faster.  I'm not going to lie that plan really failed.  I was still excited for the event which made time go by slower.

La Toya Jackson

Finally it was 6pm and the paparazzi were getting ready to get their pictures of La Toya Jackson.  Usually the paparazzi only have about a minute or less to get their shot before they are kicked out.  What sucked about this and this does happen is when the star of the event is running a bit late.  La Toya Jackson came 20 minutes late.  I didn't really care I just started to get annoyed about the extra 20 minutes of waiting.  When it was 6pm people in the line were starting to watch every movement to see if she was coming.  Some people would get a bit excited a bit to early and start yelling she's here.  Usually the people to walk past were either security or workers at the Barnes and Nobles.

La Toya Jackson

Finally when she arrived everyone was clapping and cheering for her.  She then sat down at the desk and let the paparazzi go crazy with their cameras.  Their minute was up and then they were pushed to the side to let the rest of us get the chance to take pictures and get our books signed.  I didn't know what I was going to say when I got up to her.  I figured I would say something about her being on The Apprentice.  So that is exactly what I did.  When I met her I said hi and she said hi back to me.  She was really kind.  I then told her "you were great on the apprentice".  She said "Thank you very much".  I then said "Have a nice day".  And she said " Thank you and you also have a nice day".  Then I left with my book signed.  I thought it was pretty cool. La Toya Jackson was really nice and talked to everyone who came up to her.  She genuinely was happy to be there.  It was a pretty good day and I was glad I got the chance to meet her.