Admiration, being a fan, and other such junk

[Adora]

How do you act when you meet/interact with someone you admire strongly. And by admire strongly, I mean in the way of something bordering on "being a fan"?

For example, when I met Sir Pratchett and he signed my book (I was lightheaded for the rest of the day) I called him "sir". Which was a big deal for me, because i'd only used the term to mock one of my high-school teachers previously. And I don't know whether he had the OBE then or not. And if he did I probably didn't know he did.

The point is, I admired the guy, so I treated him in a way I don't normally treat other people around me. I didn't make a total idiot of myself though, which is more than I can say for most of my life.

But then there are smaller things as well. And really stupid online things that may not make much sense, but I'll try to explain.

There are, obviously, certain online artists who I admire and respect. On art-account sites or websites I look at these peoples' works and just about fall flat on the floor because they're so talented. Some of them are professionals, others are just really amazing amateurs. So when I get a comment from one of them on something I've done, even if it's just a one-word comment like "nice", I'm usually really flattered and make stupid comments like "OMG THANK YOU I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!1one" (yes, with the capitals). I know it's pathetic. And probably puts them off ever leaving a comment on anything else I do ever again. But you get the idea.

I know a lot of people who are put in positions of honour in our society (whether you judge them deserving or not) say they get tired, or scared, of fans a lot of the time. And so sometimes I feel like even more of an idiot when I am a fan of someone/something. But then there are cases where someone is a celebrity and I just think "Yeah, whatever", because I don't admire them. Case point- I once went to a little gathering at a restaurant, and one of the guys from the Black Eyed Peas was there. I mean, I think they're an OK band as far as the pop charts go, but not really notable or worthy of "OMG"ing. If it had been Ben Harper instead, I might've asked for an autograph and tried not to act like an idiot.

And now I have no idea where I'm going with this post. Maybe you want to share some of the "When I met so-and-so" stories? I dunno. I think you can blame this post on sleep deprivation or something.

[Ensign Steve]

Maybe you want to share some of the "When I met so-and-so" stories? I dunno.

[caveat: celebrities are not necessarily people I admire, and vice versa, but for the purposes of this thread ... celebrities.]

When I was introduced to Jeremy Miller, I didn't recognize him right away and I said, "Hey, Jeremy, it's nice to meet you." When I met Brice Beckham, I did recognize him, and I said, "Hey, nice to meet you." I'm not excited by either of their work so I didn't get butterflies or act all goofy or anything.

Even if I am a fan, I'm not one to ask someone for an autograph. Like Rosie O'Donnell says, what am I going to do with some person's name on a napkin? One exception is if I am at an actual event for that purpose, the only one of which I've attended was when I got Robert Picardo to autograph a photo I had purchased at the event. I also had a photo taken with him. Needless to say, I had serious butterflies and giggles when I met him (I was also drunk) but I still just acted like myself and engaged him the same way I would anybody else. I met Chris MacDonald at a funeral (he's a step-uncle-in-law, or something) and I was dying to talk to him about ST:TNG but my cousin had just finished chatting him up about SLC Punk for half an hour so I left it alone. I met Margaret Cho at a fashion show, but I was with the people who put on the show, so all I could do was thank her profusely for appearing.

I don't have a point, either. I blame my post on beer. ;)

[viscousmemories]

Tom Robbins is one of my all-time favorite authors, and when I asked him to sign a few books for me I'm pretty sure I was completely nonchalant. I would've liked nothing more than to chat or hang out with him (if not wash his feet), but since I had no reason to believe the interest would be mutual I just muttered something about him being a great writer and dictated who he should address the autographs to. (Two were for me, one for my ex-girlfriend).

[Shake]

I am actually still a somewhat shy person in general, so around such people, I get all flustered, not knowing what to say.

When I saw King Missile (http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=king_missile) at a club once, John came off the stage and walked through the crowd during one of the songs, and he shook my hand and said, "Cool shirt!" I was wearing this P. I. L. t-shirt:

http://www.fodderstompf.com/IMAGES/rare/9BLACK.jpg

All I could say was, "Thanks," and then he wandered back up to the stage.

We saw Rita Rudner in Vegas this past summer, and we bought a book and had her sign it. I couldn't say anything, my wife said that we'd enjoyed the show.

[TomJoe]

In college, there was this bar called The Icon. A rather small joint, but they had the best concerts. One week they had The Connells (http://www.theconnells.com/) there, one of my favorite bands, so obviously I had to get tickets.

So we get there about an hour before the start of the show, and I look over at the bar and who's sitting there? The entire friggin band sans lead singer. Obviously I had to go over there, and got them all to autograph one of their album covers that I brought with me. I then had the pleasure to just sit down, knock a beer back with them and talk to them about life in general. Heck, they asked me more questions about what I wanted to do with my life, than I had to talk to them about their careers.

Thing I remember most was them asking me what albums of theirs I had, and I told them "All of them, except the first... it's a bitch to find." Their reply? "It sucks, don't buy it." To this day, I don't own it.

[Ab_Normal]

Lemme see, I stood in line for a good hour or so to get Joe Straczynski's autograph at the 1997 Westercon in Seattle. I've had ice cream with Larry Niven in Missoula, then I actually filked 'cause he was leading. I've met lots of sf-fantasy writer types, running cons over the last decade... generally, I stick with, "I've really enjoyed your work, thank you very much" and leave it at that.