Well, dear readers, the signing is over and was lots of fun. There were quite a few lovelier than lovely people there, including many East Coast dear readers such as S. Woody and der Brucer, Ben, Noel, elmore, PennyO, Elan (and his lovelier than lovely wife, Judy), and others I’m probably forgetting due to tiredness. Our very own Mr. Brent Barrett was the first to arrive, and was soon followed by many others, including an entire Scarlet Street contingent. Our very own Liz Larsen and her ever-lovin’ Sal Viviano showed up – I hadn’t seen them in ages, so it was very nice to be with them again. Our very own Theresa Finamore came with her friend and it was nice to see her again, too. They had the room set up for a reading (which I was not planning on doing), so I ended up reading Chapter One, and a bit of the What If game chapter and I had a blast doing it, because the crowd was so appreciative. We had some rather surprising no-shows, including WEL and WFO. Oh, well. And let’s not forget former dear reader Mr. Craig Brockman. He was supposed to be there and he was supposed to do the photo op. I’d been contacted by someone he doesn’t care for about doing a photo op and I shined them on. So, to have him shine me on without so much as the courtesy of an e-mail is the height of something or other. Had I known, I certainly would have covered myself in terms of having someone there to cover the event, but I think that is exactly what Mr. Brockman must have had in mind. Nothing else makes sense. He was also supposed to do a giveaway contest which I’d assumed would have been done to coincide with the event. As you know, we even provided the questions for the contest. I think we can all safely presume that won’t be happening and, in fact, I can assure you it won’t be happening, because it no longer interests me. Bad behavior, if you ask me. I shall have to bitch-slap him from here to eternity and hell and back, but in my own way in my own time. A BK scorned is not a pretty thing. However, let’s accentuate the positive, shall we, not dwell on such petty negativity such as bad behavior. All in all, it was a splendidly splendid affair, they sold quite a few books and there was cheese slices, and wine, and Diet Coke to boot. I booted the Diet Coke, as a matter of fact – it was fun. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Afterwards, several of us trekked up to Joe Allen, where we had a divinely divine meal and lots of good laughs. We ran into our friend Mr. Bert Fink, who’s a big-wig at the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, and we ran into Mr. Don Pippin, a wonderful musical director (all of Jerry Herman’s shows) – Mr. Pippin is thanked in the Writer’s Block acknowledgments because he helped me with certain details on out-of-town tryouts.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m quite certain there is a very special thing to discuss in the next section.
I’m exhausted from writing the full report. I am full-reported out. Today I shall think about getting a ticket to a show for tonight, then I’ll be going to Joe Allen again for another meal. And then, bright and early Wednesday morning I shall be winging my way back to the home environment.
Now, wait just a darned minute. Stop the notes. I do believe we’d all better just put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, I do believe we’d better break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, I do believe we’d better dance the Hora and perhaps even the Locomotion, for we’ve got us a birthday to celebrate here at haineshisway.com. And our birthday girl is our very own beloved dear reader Jane. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our lovely Jane. On the count of three: One, two, three – HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR LOVELY JANE!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must go to Footlight Records, I must walk all over the city of New York, New York, I must score a ticket to a show, I must see the Harvey Schmidt exhibit at the York Theater, and I must eat at Joe Allen. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite torch songs and what are your favorite versions of said torch songs? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and hopefully some of our signing attendees will post photographs of the event and give their full report as well.