Thoughts from Booksignings

Last night, Mom and I drove to New Orleans to be a part of the Tour de Nerdfighteria. I hadn't been to New Orleans since before Hurricane Katrina, and probably since a middle school field trip Mom insists happens, but I do not remember. I can't comment on how the city has or hasn't bounced back from the storm.. All I can know is that the fact that humans try to find humor in tragedy:  we picked up a parody newspaper called "The New Orleans Levee: We Don't Hold Anything Back."

Actually, I saw a lot of humor there. Like these signs on the bathrooms at the Temple Sinai where John and Hank were. I understand the idea--don't put your shoes where people might put their hands--but still.






New Orleans also makes me think of Neil Gaiman's short story set in the French Corner, featuring voodoo and hole-in-the-wall watering holes. We ate lunch with one of my friends from high school at a place called Daisy Duke's, and their menu brought to mind the party-nature of the city:

But this wasn't the kind of party I would be attending. There were already Nerdfighters outside the venue at five when we got there, but we ended up close to the front of the line. Mom worried that she'd be the oldest person there, but she wasn't.

We saw the TFiOS van.

Mom read Paper Towns









 In line, a boy was doing a project recording people's reactions to a question about love, people were quoting John's books and humming Hank's songs. Inside, I heard teenage girls gushing over To the Lighthouse, and I thought of myself at fifteen, designing an entire unit on the book as an extra credit project, and wished there were Nerdfighters.

But while John talked about the joy of writing for young adults, about their desire to figure out who they are and how their experiences are new.

And I thought about how I didn't necessarily want to be seventeen again, but I could still live with that kind of wonder about the world, and stop focusing on the uncertainties. I love the random, exciting experiences of things like booksignings and meeting people I admire, but I'm generally nervous around strangers, for fear that they'll judge me. So I plan to try to treat each new person like they're someone I admire. It won't be easy, but it's a goal.

They signed ALL MY THINGS and were incredibly nice. I finally got TFIOS (my thoughts about which will be posted later).




They say you're not supposed to meet your heros, because they might not live up to your expectations of them, but I have to say that meeting the Greens makes me admire them even more.

DFTBA

*Let's add to the pictures of me getting things signed with frizzy braids in my hair!
**It was very hard to get pictures of them. They move around like hamsters on speed.