Okay, so I'm going to plug in for a little bit because I have to report about my SCBWI experience before I lose the memory. When you pass 40, you never know what might fly out of your brain at any moment.
Now, you'd think my experiences would be full of things like meeting Jon Scieszka (a man whose work I admire, adore, and
would love to copy I mean...love to cherish), chatting with
Harold Underdown of The Purple Crayon (he's YOUNG! We told him to get a new picture! NOW!), seeing Judy Blume IN THE FLESH (what an amazing woman! So graceful and inspiring--I cried at the end of her talk,) meeting editors (the WONDERFUL Jenne Abramowitz--so adorable and nice,) meeting MY FABULOUS AGENT (that will be in another post), and hitting the pavement in my light up fairy costume for the PJ ball. Oh...did I have fun or what? (Um...I have NO pictures because I lost my camera after the ball...another story...egad!)
But that's not what I'm going to talk about. The most memorable experience happened like this:
My friend,
Meg O Hair, and I had just finished a fun filled lunch at the
Pink Taco. Earlier in the week, we'd made friends with the owner, general manager, and assistant manager. That meant free stuff for us. Yum! So, Meg and I were happily shopping at Gelson's market in the trendy mall on the Avenue of the Stars. After we'd made our purchases, chatted with the lovely cashier, and scared a few customers by our over-the-top behavior, we skipped toward the sliding glass doors. On the way, I noticed a very tiny, yet beautiful woman paying for a salad. Instantly, I recognized her as Paula Abdul. I pointed and said to Meg, "Oh, isn't she cute?"
Paula waved at us and smiled.
Then we walked out.
I thought this was very strange. Why, you ask? Well, for anyone who knows my friend, Meg, you know that she's not scared of any star. In fact, the last time we were in LA together, we met John Edwards. He looked like a movie star waltzing through the lobby of the Century Plaza Hotel. Meg darted for him, told him she loved his $400 haircut and forced me (because I'd never vote for the guy) to get my picture taken with him. To be fair, he was very charming and kind.
So, I thought Meg wouldn't miss this opportunity to meet Paula. When she didn't say anything, I shrugged and thought that was the end of it. As we ascended the escalator to the rest of the mall, in front of us stretched a huge poster with Paula's face on it, advertising the upcoming X-Factor tv show with Simon Cowell. I pointed and announced, "Oh, wasn't that cool? We just saw her."
Meg blinked like she had a piece of fluff in her eyes. "We didn't see Paula Abdul."
"Yes we did," I said.
She shook her head. "No. That was just a cute girl in there."
I laughed, wondering how she didn't recognize her. "That was Paula Addul."
In a flash, Meg was gone. Seriously. She'd disappeared like Samantha Stevens on Bewitched.
When I turned around, I saw a blur zip into the grocery store.
I tilted my head, thinking, "I guess it's time to meet Paula." So I hopped on the descending escalator, hoping we weren't going to make too much of a scene.
Meg and Paula were instant friends by the time I got back to the store. They exchanged doggie pictures, chatted about life, and Meg even prayed over Paula for help in defeating the bad press she may get if she does something like trip on a sidewalk in her four inch heels. It was surreal!
Paula was so NICE! I can't say that enough. She made sure she stopped and took the time to be with her fans. Even though I was the sidekick in the story, Paula asked me to be in the picture with her and Meg. I couldn't get over how tiny she was. As Meg put it--she was a bone with a belt. She made me look like I needed to lose 100 pounds. Ugh!
After we were finished, Paula had somewhere to go (she was all decked out in rhinestones and platinum). Her stretch Escalade swooped over and her assistants ushered her into the back seat. She waved at us out the window, blowing kisses. LOL!
So, that's it. The most memorable experience. I wonder who we'll meet next time we're in LA? Snooki?
Now that it's unplugged August, I'm plugged in more than ever (isn't that strange? Kinda like prohibition! LOL!) Anyway, I've discovered some amazing things in my self-imposed unplugged-ness so I thought I'd share.
2. Angry Birds: Yes, I'm late to the party. I had no idea about this incredibly addicting game because as my kids would say, I have a ghetto phone. I'm one of the only holdouts that doesn't have an iphone or droid. Hubby has a droid. Kids have iphones. I'm soooo uncool. Hubby was playing this game on his phone during my birthday. I fell asleep watching him annihilate green pigs with the most dastardly birds. Fun stuff. So, I got my own game on Google Chrome. Dumb when you're not supposed to play (@!($)#*@ unplugged August!) 
Don't see the similarities?
