Thursday, December 20, 2018

A John Waters Christmas

Yesterday I picked up Pax at noon and we were off to Baltimore for a John Waters day together. We only made one peepod pit-stop at the Chesapeake House rest area where I was all about the selfies.




We first hit MOM's for lunch (my fave!) then to the Baltimore Museum of Art to see Indecent Exposure and have dinner at Gertrude's - they had a John Waters inspired drinks menu!





Finally we reached the Baltimore Soundstage at about 6:30, where we waited in line til 7pm when the doors opened. Since Pax and I bought tickets for the Meet and Greet we got to sit in the very front and picked two seats on the right side aisle in the second row. The seats were per-fect!





The only prop was this funeral wreath which, fittingly was a phony holly wreath. John Waters came out at 8 and performed until about 9:30pm. He was shocking and sweet and funny as hell; all while feeling very sick. What a trooper. If he hadn't mentioned it, no one would have guessed. He was a full-on pro. The crowd adored him and clung to his every word. Once the show was over and he did a little Q&A he walked off and the "Golden Circle" peeps hung around for the meet and greet. We got to chatting with the two gals that sat behind us and can I just say that every person I spoke to at this event was kind and easy. No snobs. The gay couples in front of us took selfies and jokingly tried to get me in the photo once they saw me trying to duck out of the way. Then I gave them bunny ears and that got a laugh. A young girl in her twenties with braces was cute as can be and I kept wanting to ask her about her dress. Finally I gathered the courage and went up to ask her. She could not have been nicer. She told me exactly where she got it, the cost, took off her coat to show me that it was long sleeved and "feel how soft" and "it's really warm, too." (Once I got home I ordered it from Amazon!) We waited in line and were nearly the last ones - the two gals that sat behind us, and the lovely gal in the dress and her boyfriend were the very last ones. Pax went first and then when it was my turn I started feeling nervous and scared. "What if I trip? What if he doesn't want to take a selfie with me? What if I say something wrong or stupid? What if he's mean?" It was entirely possible that meeting John Waters could be a huge mistake because if it went bad, I'd never want to see his movies or read his books ever again. Too late. It was my turn. I told the gal that was supposed to take our phones and snap the photo that I'd rather take a selfie, which Mr. Waters agreed to and waved me over. I handed him my first edition copy of his book Role Models and told him my full name "one R on Star." He signed and then motioned for me to sit in the chair beside him. I asked how he was feeling and he said his cold went to his ear and we groaned at how annoying it is to feel like you are underwater. I told him how much I love his books and especially his audiobooks. He has a new book coming out next year called Mr. Know-It -All and he said he just finished recording the audiobook version (hurrah!!). I said that it's a fantasy of mine that he score a deal with Audible.com to read all of his favourite books. That's when he said that he had gotten a very lucrative deal with them and they had him read a book he'd never read before. (I so cannot wait for this!!) We had to wrap things up but he let me take a selfie. It turned out terribly blurry. "Oh no, it's awful. It's cuz my hands are shaking." He took my hand and held it out and let me take another one and it was perfect. I thanked him again and got a side hug from him. He was so nice, it was just perfection.



Then the gals behind us took a zany pic with him and we stayed to chat with them, finding out their names and getting a selfie outside before going our separate ways. The craziest part? They were both from South Jersey, too - only a couple towns away from me.


 Pax, Martha, Lori, and Star

It was such a remarkably delightful time and now I'm really looking forward to Valentine's Day and my Date with John Waters!

No comments: