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Seeing Hodgeman
Last night was interesting. The feature of the night was attending the reading and signing of The Areas of my Expertise by John Hodgeman.
John and I were in high school together, and knew each other well enough to be friendly, so I hoped he would remember me. To jog his memory, I sent him a brief e-mail message beforehand to avoid that awkward moment where I would have to explain why he should recognize me when he first saw me. As it turned out, he did receive the message, and it worked out well as he was able to recognize me when the right moment came. That moment was during the Q&A portion of the evening when a woman sitting a few rows behind me asked him if he had played D&D as a kid (he brings up D&D briefly in his book). His answer was essentially no, but it afforded me the opportunity to say "You know, John, we would have welcomed you to the club had you asked." He looked over at me and said "Oh, it's Ragani! Hi Ragani!" then went on to explain that we had gone to high school together. He then asked what character I played in D&D. It seriously took me a moment to recall, and eventually said I think I was a thief. He said everyone tended to say they were a thief if the did not want to admit what they had played, and the Q&A went on.
While we queued for signatures,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
furycom came over and said hi. I had noticed him earlier, but he had not seen me, so was startled when he heard Hodgman mention my name during the Q&A. It was fun running into someone I knew there who did not expect me, and nice to see furycom.
When it was my turn to talk to John, he got up and gave me a big hug, had me sit down next to him and told me he had received the e-mail. I had invited my friend, Mike, along, who I had asked to take some pictures with my mobile phone. John handed me Jonathan Coultan's cup of brandy so we could each pose with glasses (they had both taken a brandy sipping break earlier while we listened to an excerpt from the CD of the book).
We talked a bit while he signed the copies of the book that I had (one for Mike, which he signed "Thanks for taking my photo", one for my brother which he signed "your sister is koo koo" and one for me which he signed "I am the Pirate King"). He reminisced about our days working on The Pirates of Penzance for the school play, which I had not even thought about as being the main connection for how we knew each other best.
As for the remainder of the evening.... My friend Mike used this opportunity visiting SF to spend more time with his new sweetie, A, so invited her alone. She has regular plans Thursday night with long time friend, J, who was also invited. We met them at Cody's and although I got a seat, it was crowded, so they ended up standing over to the side. Afterwards, J suggested we go eat at Sam Wo, which is your classic whole-in-the-wall Chinese place in China Town. Small shop (you walk past the kitchen to take the narrow stairs to the tiny second floor dinning area) cheep eats ($3-$5 for most things) and rude service. I would not recommend it for those wanting vegetarian options, as there were not too many, and, although the food was acceptable, it was not amazing. As for the company, Mike's new sweetie, A, was lovely and I can see enjoying her company in the future. We grocked each other's jokes, even ones that Mike did not get right away, which was amusing. Her friend J, on the other hand, needed a porter to carry all her emotional baggage, which lead to many awkward moments throughout the evening.
John and I were in high school together, and knew each other well enough to be friendly, so I hoped he would remember me. To jog his memory, I sent him a brief e-mail message beforehand to avoid that awkward moment where I would have to explain why he should recognize me when he first saw me. As it turned out, he did receive the message, and it worked out well as he was able to recognize me when the right moment came. That moment was during the Q&A portion of the evening when a woman sitting a few rows behind me asked him if he had played D&D as a kid (he brings up D&D briefly in his book). His answer was essentially no, but it afforded me the opportunity to say "You know, John, we would have welcomed you to the club had you asked." He looked over at me and said "Oh, it's Ragani! Hi Ragani!" then went on to explain that we had gone to high school together. He then asked what character I played in D&D. It seriously took me a moment to recall, and eventually said I think I was a thief. He said everyone tended to say they were a thief if the did not want to admit what they had played, and the Q&A went on.
While we queued for signatures,
furycom came over and said hi. I had noticed him earlier, but he had not seen me, so was startled when he heard Hodgman mention my name during the Q&A. It was fun running into someone I knew there who did not expect me, and nice to see furycom. When it was my turn to talk to John, he got up and gave me a big hug, had me sit down next to him and told me he had received the e-mail. I had invited my friend, Mike, along, who I had asked to take some pictures with my mobile phone. John handed me Jonathan Coultan's cup of brandy so we could each pose with glasses (they had both taken a brandy sipping break earlier while we listened to an excerpt from the CD of the book).
We talked a bit while he signed the copies of the book that I had (one for Mike, which he signed "Thanks for taking my photo", one for my brother which he signed "your sister is koo koo" and one for me which he signed "I am the Pirate King"). He reminisced about our days working on The Pirates of Penzance for the school play, which I had not even thought about as being the main connection for how we knew each other best.
As for the remainder of the evening.... My friend Mike used this opportunity visiting SF to spend more time with his new sweetie, A, so invited her alone. She has regular plans Thursday night with long time friend, J, who was also invited. We met them at Cody's and although I got a seat, it was crowded, so they ended up standing over to the side. Afterwards, J suggested we go eat at Sam Wo, which is your classic whole-in-the-wall Chinese place in China Town. Small shop (you walk past the kitchen to take the narrow stairs to the tiny second floor dinning area) cheep eats ($3-$5 for most things) and rude service. I would not recommend it for those wanting vegetarian options, as there were not too many, and, although the food was acceptable, it was not amazing. As for the company, Mike's new sweetie, A, was lovely and I can see enjoying her company in the future. We grocked each other's jokes, even ones that Mike did not get right away, which was amusing. Her friend J, on the other hand, needed a porter to carry all her emotional baggage, which lead to many awkward moments throughout the evening.