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Dr. Bombay
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Now, some of you may know that I've tried various times in the past to meet my idol, Paula Abdul. I've loved her for the past 15 years. And all the other times haven't worked out not to mention it wasn't going to be a guarantee that I'd meet her. Well, in about September I found that Paula was going to be doing a meet-n-greet at a Women's Expo in Columbus, OH on November 6, 2004. I live in SLC, Ut but I figured I had enough time to get a trip to Ohio in the works. I called the event cooridinator and asked her if it would be weird if a guy showed up at the Expo and she said, "No, there are lots of guys who attend not to mention more than 1/2 our vendors are men." I told her I was coming specifically to see Paula from SLC. She thought that was impressive.
So I bought my tickets, got a hotel secured, talked my friend Jone from Iowa into coming with me and she said she'd rent a car and all was well. I checked the Women's Expo site every day to make sure Paula wasn't cancelling because she's famous for that.
Well, two weeks ago I log on there and the picture of Paula has changed!!!!
I look and find that her appearance has been scheduled for the next day, which was when my flight was scheduled for, early in the morning. I called the even coordinator, Nici, to confirm this. She wasn't too pleased at this as she had to move stuff around. She recalled me from our previous conversation and she assured me that if I came out I would meet her.
Luckily, my dad works at the airport in security and he talked the airline into changing my return flight to a later one for free.
So I flew out last Friday, Saturday Jone and I went to visit some historical sites in Kirtland, Oh which were way cool and then Sunday came.
Sunday, we had planned on getting up at eight but I woke at seven because of an overactive bladder and just being so excited about the prospects of the day. I layed in bed until the alarm went off and then I showered and dressed and packed, all before Jone was out of bed. I guess I really was anxious. Nici, the event coordinator, had said to arrive early. The event started at 11. We were there around 9:30 and Nici wasn't even there yet. Jone and I snuck in with the other vendors and took a look around. We registered to win a black Thunderbird 2004. Nici finally showed up and gave me one of her cards which I was to trade in for a wristband to be part of the group that was getting to meet Paula. I went to the stage where Paula was to appear and took a seat behind these teenage girls who I had met on one of the Paula message boards. They were all so excited! They had flown in from California some of them. Jone went and looked around the Expo. Paula was supposed to appear at 1 PM. In true Paula fashion she didn't arrive until 1:15 PM.....and she was BEAUTIFUL!!!! And so teeny! I had been thinking about how she could look for this and I was really wanting her to look how I wanted, and she was...I couldn't have asked her to dress any differently or do her hair and makeup differently. She had long hair and was wearing a pin striped pant suit with a white button up shirt beneath and a white neck tie that was pinned with a diamond studded brooch. She also had a red flower on the lapel. She was sitting so close to us. She fielded questions from the audience. I was going to remind her of our conversation on Larry King Live and ask her how that was going but somebody else asked her about the videos on DVD. She said she was really mad about somebody selling them (which, unfortunately I bought cause I was so sick of waiting) but she said she is working on a great package for them because she views them as her artwork. I can't remember at which point in this Jone had to leave but it was shortly after Paula arrived. Oh, and by the way, I was filming on the camcorder and I put Jone in charge of the still camera. She took the whole roll of film on Paula walking out....I guess I should've specified. I'm sure she thought I had more film, but it was ok. I was too thrilled to actually be seeing Paula. I raised my hand and the host came over and I got to speak to her face to face. I said, "Hi Paula. My name is David and I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah." At which point she smiled and said, "Yay!" I continued, "I was wondering the status of the TV show 'Skirts' you've been working on." She wasn't too happy about the status of the show. She said making a TV show is much more difficult than doing an album. She said she had a great exec producer at Fox who left for another company. She wanted him to still do it but that meant going to another studio and Fox was giving her grief over that. But she says she's not giving up. This really stupid lady asked her why it was that Clay wasn't the actual winner of AI but was so popular. Paula said that AI does have one winner but many American Idols come out of it and it just so happened that Clay was very talented and America really liked him. This lady insisted on fighting with Paula about it and you could tell Paula was irritated not to mention the audience. This cute little girl who was prolly two or three told Paula she liked to sing. The Question and Answer session went on over an hour and then Paula was supposed to have a 1/2 hour break.
I got into line for the autograph session. There were like 50 people ahead of me. While I was in line I realized that I hadn't bought her flowers like I was going to and from what I had seen, noone else had either though they brought stuffed animals and such. So I decided to write a little note on the black paper from my Paula scrapbook. I used a gold pen. I told her I wasn't sure I would get to meet her and in that case I just wanted her to know that she makes me happy, that she is beautiful inside and out, and that I hope she is happy. I also told her if she was ever in SLC to holler at me and gave her my numbah
While I was waiting I had lost track of the teen girls and a little bit later they came up and said, "David, you will never guess what just happened?!!! We had a private meeting with Paula!" They showed me the pictures of them with her. I guess they had somehow got to meet with her since they flew so far. I should've stuck around them but I was happy for them and really not that upset. So Paula was taking a long time again and it was getting closer and closer to my plane leaving at 5:10. Around 3:30 she finally comes out and starts signing autographs. She was told to just sign and that's it but she was talking to the first couple people. These bratty girls behind me and their mother were complaining about how they had been there all day. They were from Ohio. One of Paula's assistants came around giving the pictures of Paula that we were having signed again. He advised us to put our names and addresses on them in the off chance we wouldn't be able to meet her and she would sign and send them later. The girls told the guy they were from Texas and so he told them to follow him. One of the other girls that was in front of me who knew I was from SLC told me I should follow them too. I told the guy I was from SLC. He put us behind the curtain where she was sitting and advised us that she had a plane to catch at 5 so she would be leaving there at around 4:10. He said she would come out the curtain and walk to the exit across the way to her limo. We could ask for autographs then. A girl from the Wal-Mart exhibit at the Expo was back there too. She found that I didn't have a still camera so she said she would take my picture and send it to me. She also offered to record for me. So 4:10 comes, then 4:15 and Paula is still signing and her agent's getting nervous, I'm getting nervous because I wasn't really sure how I was getting to the airport. I had thought of asking her agent if I could hitch a ride with them but my bag was at the front of the building. Honestly, had it been with me I would've asked. Her girl assitant was taking things out to the limo so I gave her my note to give to her. So 4:20 rolls around and she starts walking out the curtain. I was right next to it and said, "Paula, would you please sign this for me." She said, "Oh sure!" My pen wasn't working right so she was really struggling and her agent was getting on her about hurrying up. I had my arm around her shoulder. After she signed my pic (which I scanned here) the agent and Nici said that she couldn't sign more, they were sorry but she really had to leave. Those liar girls were mad but they deserved it. The Wal-Mart girl said that her battery died just as Paula came out but she got it recorded. I thanked her profusely and then began the sprint towards they Hyatt Regency at the end of the convention center. When I got there the shuttle bus was just getting there.
Long story short on my missed flight, don't EVER use America West airline. I finally got home the next day in the morning after having hassles with them and eventually having to fly home on Southwest...
But I met Paula and I love her!!!
p.s. This is my 300th post! Woo-hoo!
So I bought my tickets, got a hotel secured, talked my friend Jone from Iowa into coming with me and she said she'd rent a car and all was well. I checked the Women's Expo site every day to make sure Paula wasn't cancelling because she's famous for that.
Well, two weeks ago I log on there and the picture of Paula has changed!!!!
I look and find that her appearance has been scheduled for the next day, which was when my flight was scheduled for, early in the morning. I called the even coordinator, Nici, to confirm this. She wasn't too pleased at this as she had to move stuff around. She recalled me from our previous conversation and she assured me that if I came out I would meet her.Luckily, my dad works at the airport in security and he talked the airline into changing my return flight to a later one for free.
So I flew out last Friday, Saturday Jone and I went to visit some historical sites in Kirtland, Oh which were way cool and then Sunday came.
Sunday, we had planned on getting up at eight but I woke at seven because of an overactive bladder and just being so excited about the prospects of the day. I layed in bed until the alarm went off and then I showered and dressed and packed, all before Jone was out of bed. I guess I really was anxious. Nici, the event coordinator, had said to arrive early. The event started at 11. We were there around 9:30 and Nici wasn't even there yet. Jone and I snuck in with the other vendors and took a look around. We registered to win a black Thunderbird 2004. Nici finally showed up and gave me one of her cards which I was to trade in for a wristband to be part of the group that was getting to meet Paula. I went to the stage where Paula was to appear and took a seat behind these teenage girls who I had met on one of the Paula message boards. They were all so excited! They had flown in from California some of them. Jone went and looked around the Expo. Paula was supposed to appear at 1 PM. In true Paula fashion she didn't arrive until 1:15 PM.....and she was BEAUTIFUL!!!! And so teeny! I had been thinking about how she could look for this and I was really wanting her to look how I wanted, and she was...I couldn't have asked her to dress any differently or do her hair and makeup differently. She had long hair and was wearing a pin striped pant suit with a white button up shirt beneath and a white neck tie that was pinned with a diamond studded brooch. She also had a red flower on the lapel. She was sitting so close to us. She fielded questions from the audience. I was going to remind her of our conversation on Larry King Live and ask her how that was going but somebody else asked her about the videos on DVD. She said she was really mad about somebody selling them (which, unfortunately I bought cause I was so sick of waiting) but she said she is working on a great package for them because she views them as her artwork. I can't remember at which point in this Jone had to leave but it was shortly after Paula arrived. Oh, and by the way, I was filming on the camcorder and I put Jone in charge of the still camera. She took the whole roll of film on Paula walking out....I guess I should've specified. I'm sure she thought I had more film, but it was ok. I was too thrilled to actually be seeing Paula. I raised my hand and the host came over and I got to speak to her face to face. I said, "Hi Paula. My name is David and I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah." At which point she smiled and said, "Yay!" I continued, "I was wondering the status of the TV show 'Skirts' you've been working on." She wasn't too happy about the status of the show. She said making a TV show is much more difficult than doing an album. She said she had a great exec producer at Fox who left for another company. She wanted him to still do it but that meant going to another studio and Fox was giving her grief over that. But she says she's not giving up. This really stupid lady asked her why it was that Clay wasn't the actual winner of AI but was so popular. Paula said that AI does have one winner but many American Idols come out of it and it just so happened that Clay was very talented and America really liked him. This lady insisted on fighting with Paula about it and you could tell Paula was irritated not to mention the audience. This cute little girl who was prolly two or three told Paula she liked to sing. The Question and Answer session went on over an hour and then Paula was supposed to have a 1/2 hour break.
I got into line for the autograph session. There were like 50 people ahead of me. While I was in line I realized that I hadn't bought her flowers like I was going to and from what I had seen, noone else had either though they brought stuffed animals and such. So I decided to write a little note on the black paper from my Paula scrapbook. I used a gold pen. I told her I wasn't sure I would get to meet her and in that case I just wanted her to know that she makes me happy, that she is beautiful inside and out, and that I hope she is happy. I also told her if she was ever in SLC to holler at me and gave her my numbah
While I was waiting I had lost track of the teen girls and a little bit later they came up and said, "David, you will never guess what just happened?!!! We had a private meeting with Paula!" They showed me the pictures of them with her. I guess they had somehow got to meet with her since they flew so far. I should've stuck around them but I was happy for them and really not that upset. So Paula was taking a long time again and it was getting closer and closer to my plane leaving at 5:10. Around 3:30 she finally comes out and starts signing autographs. She was told to just sign and that's it but she was talking to the first couple people. These bratty girls behind me and their mother were complaining about how they had been there all day. They were from Ohio. One of Paula's assistants came around giving the pictures of Paula that we were having signed again. He advised us to put our names and addresses on them in the off chance we wouldn't be able to meet her and she would sign and send them later. The girls told the guy they were from Texas and so he told them to follow him. One of the other girls that was in front of me who knew I was from SLC told me I should follow them too. I told the guy I was from SLC. He put us behind the curtain where she was sitting and advised us that she had a plane to catch at 5 so she would be leaving there at around 4:10. He said she would come out the curtain and walk to the exit across the way to her limo. We could ask for autographs then. A girl from the Wal-Mart exhibit at the Expo was back there too. She found that I didn't have a still camera so she said she would take my picture and send it to me. She also offered to record for me. So 4:10 comes, then 4:15 and Paula is still signing and her agent's getting nervous, I'm getting nervous because I wasn't really sure how I was getting to the airport. I had thought of asking her agent if I could hitch a ride with them but my bag was at the front of the building. Honestly, had it been with me I would've asked. Her girl assitant was taking things out to the limo so I gave her my note to give to her. So 4:20 rolls around and she starts walking out the curtain. I was right next to it and said, "Paula, would you please sign this for me." She said, "Oh sure!" My pen wasn't working right so she was really struggling and her agent was getting on her about hurrying up. I had my arm around her shoulder. After she signed my pic (which I scanned here) the agent and Nici said that she couldn't sign more, they were sorry but she really had to leave. Those liar girls were mad but they deserved it. The Wal-Mart girl said that her battery died just as Paula came out but she got it recorded. I thanked her profusely and then began the sprint towards they Hyatt Regency at the end of the convention center. When I got there the shuttle bus was just getting there.Long story short on my missed flight, don't EVER use America West airline. I finally got home the next day in the morning after having hassles with them and eventually having to fly home on Southwest...
But I met Paula and I love her!!!
p.s. This is my 300th post! Woo-hoo!
I'm glad you finally got to meet her. 
