Sunday, September 21, 2008

Extra! Extra! Julie Meets Paul Feig!

I had an amazing night last night [Um, I started writing this post on Friday, and now it’s Sunday. So pretend you are reading this post on Friday.]. But first, I will just tell you that I passed my glucose test (by only one point!), which means I don’t have gestational diabetes and I don’t have to worry about having any more blood tests. Joy! I did, however, get so hopped up from the combination of the glucose drink and my fear of blood-taking that I spent $466 on maternity clothes when I really only meant to treat myself to one Juicy hoodie. This weekend, I’m going back to the sister store at a different mall so that I may return the items. I hope it’s not one of those things where you can only get store credit. I feel like such a sucker. They got me in my vulnerable, sugary state.

So last night Matt and I drove all the way to La Grange, Illinois (minimum of an hour and a half drive from my house) to see Paul Feig speak at a Borders. For those who don’t know, Paul Feig is the creator of the fantastically wondrous TV show, Freaks and Geeks (Judd Apatow gets way too much credit for this show, since Feig is the heart behind it and wrote all of the best episodes). He also directs episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, and Mad Men. He has two humorous memoirs out, and now he has a new YA novel out called Ignatius MacFarland: Frequenaut!, which is why he was at the bookstore in the first place.

I am such a huge fan of Freaks and Geeks. I watched it the first time around when it was actually on TV, and since I have watched it twice all the way through on DVD. I watched it again this summer and thought to myself, I would really like to meet Paul Feig. We have so much in common. I mean, he writes Dungeons and Dragons plotlines, and I run the D&D club at my school, not to mention that my new novel (coming next fall!) has a D&D plot. And I thought we had other things in common, too. Or just that we’d get along really well. Anyway, when I saw he was going to be at this bookstore, I had to go, which is weird for me because I am usually not up for going anywhere on a school night, let alone some place that is insanely far away from my house.

Matt and I arrived way early, and were the only people there for at least an hour. To pass the time we grossed each other out with the latest edition of Guinness World’s Records (Matt couldn’t believe they didn’t include Kenny G.’s amazing record of holding the same musical note for the longest amount of time using circular breathing). The reading started at 7:30, and people started arriving at 7:15. I would guess there were about 30 people there, but since we were in the front row, I didn’t really get a good estimate. Paul came out (“out” being a relative word, seeing as he spoke next to the café and the CD section [and some total freak had the nerve to walk over right next to him and use a listening station while he was speaking. Who does that?]) in a nice suit and wowed the crowd with a reading from his new book and stories about his life in the biz. He answered questions about the writing process, working in comedy, and a bunch of Office and Freaks and Geeks questions. Then it was time for us to get autographs! Stay tuned for the next post (in about five minutes…

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