Back To The 80's with Rick Springfield

July 9, 2011 was a day that can be described as very long.  You would think that description is strange because that day I got to meet Rick Springfield at his book signing.

My day started at 2:30 am when I was driving to the Barnes and Nobles in Carle Place to wait until the book store opened to get a wrist band.  I wasn't to familiar with Rick Springfield so I didn't know how many people would show up or how early they would be there.  I can tell you that at 3am no one was there except for me and my dad.  He thought I shouldn't be going by myself to a book signing at 3am by myself. Lame right?  Okay maybe if your a parent you would agree with him but still I figured I could handle it on my own.  I came to accept him following me in his car because when I parked I went into his car and tried to fall asleep.  I have an old car so it really isn't comfortable to sleep in.  To my surprise my dad was the first one to fall asleep.  What sucked is that I felt like I had to stay awake and wait to see if anyone else was coming that wasn't so bad, but the part that really sucked was my dad's snoring.  I'm not going to lie it was annoying and after reading this I may get a small talking from my dad about why I wrote about this.  Well dad my response to that is you told me to start a blog about my adventures and this was part of it.  I would even try to put the radio on louder but even in his sleep he would reach for the dial and lower it.  Not cool dad!

After about 3 hours passed I eventually fell asleep.  I was kind of in a daze because I was exhausted so I really didn't know what time it was.  All I know I fell asleep for an hour or less and it was now 7am.  I saw my dad outside of the car and in front of the Barnes and Nobles talking to some people standing outside in front of the door.  I had no idea what my dad was doing but after the people walked into the store my dad started waving for me to come over.  I asked him what was going on.  He told me he spoke to some people who worked there and told them we had been sleeping in our car for about 4 hours waiting for a wrist band.  Let me tell you this has never happened and I never expect this to happen again, but a young lady walked out and handed me a wrist band.  I was shocked.  Normally they make you wait until the book store opens.  Still I was glad because this meant I could go home and back to my comfy bed for a few more hours of sleep.  I will be honest I really enjoyed those few hours of sleep.

Around 12:30pm I figured I should get to the bookstore a little bit early because the signing was at 2pm. I didn't care what spot in line I was in as long as I was on line that's all that matter.  I didn't arrive until 1pm and as I got out of the car I put on my wrist band.  This is when I noticed there was a number on the band.  I couldn't tell what number it was because it looked like 1 and 4.  I really didn't care at the time because I knew I had a spot on line because there were limited spots.  So I bought the book and headed upstairs to where they were lining up everybody.  I was walking trying to figure out where I was going to be in line and luckily I was walking toward the young lady who gave me the wrist band.  She put me in front of the line telling me I was first.  I had been first on lines before but this seemed different.  I got to cut people in line to be first.  Technically I didn't cut in line because we were all given a number but when you walk in front of people it kind of feels like you cut them in line.

The time really flew by fast.  I think this was the shortest amount of time I ever had to wait at a book signing because I got to go back home and get some sleep.  I did try and start off some conversations.  I was talking to a young girl and her mother. They were really nice to talk to.  I asked them what time they got on line to get their wrist bands.  They told me the line started around 7:40am.  I told them that I had been there 40 minutes before them.  I had told them I was waiting since 3am.  I think they thought I was crazy.  I didn't really mind.  I then started to talk to two other people in line Maggie and Katie.  They were cool people to talk to.  Finally 2pm had arrived and then an announcement over the loud speakers let everyone know that Rick Springfield was running late. What a SHOCKER! Not really.  Not all book signings start on time.  No one in the line was really that upset.  We then heard from some of the workers that Rick Springfield had just gotten off of the plane and was headed to the store.  I felt bad for him because you get off a plane and now you have to sign books.  If I were him I would be exhausted and would find it impossible to stay awake for the event.  I didn't know how long his flight was or where he was coming from but I figured it was at least a few hours on his flight.

Me and Rick Springfield

Me and Rick Springfield

At 2:30pm Rick Springfield had graced us with his presence.  What was really interesting is that instead of the paparazzi taking pictures first, he just sat on the table and started signing books on his lap.  In my book that is very cool.  I walked up to him and I said "You should be on Glee".  I don't think he heard me but I didn't mind.  Then I asked him for a picture and I got to take a picture with him.  He was a really nice guy.  After I took a picture with him I watched from the side lines for about a minute.  Then Katie and Maggie came up to meet and told me they had taken a picture while I was getting ready to take a picture on my phone with Rick Springfield.  I thought that was awesome.  They asked me if I wanted the picture and I said yes.  It is a really good picture too.  I'm glad they sent it to me.  Katie and Maggie if you are reading this thank you for the picture.

After that I decided that it was time to go.  After an early wake up and a good few hours rest it was a pretty good day.  I'm glad I didn't fall asleep while Rick Springfield signed my book.