Kiari's Report from Burbank

Saturday, 17 January 1998 / Kevin's entrance / Later that night / Kevin on-stage Sunday, 18 January 1998 / The rest of it...

Saturday, 17 January 1998

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so all I had to do Saturday was wake up at like 4 am or so, get ready, get to the airport, and get on the plane. My husband and I were on the 7 am flight down to Burbank and we got in at 8 am. The shuttle to the hotel took about 3 minutes, tops! So, here we were in Burbank with no room and at least forty minutes to hang out before the brunch.

So hang out we did. We found the room where the brunch was being held. I saw Zepgirl wander by, but I was shy and didn't introduce myself until later in the room. I saw Sura and we exchanged a very quick hello (I see now that she had the task of finding Kevin, poor her ).

Finally, we got in line to get into the room! All the while, my hubby is muttering under his breath, "I can't believe you made me go to this!" LOL! He was, unfortunately, quite tortured throughout the whole weekend.

The buffet of croissants, bagels, and fruit was set up. I found a table to sit at. Actually, a very nice lady named Linda and her nephew Rick invited us to sit with them. I got my food and was surprised to see Robert Trebor drift into the room! Well, okay, he can't very well drift. He's got a jolly kind of presence. I almost didn't recognize Danielle Cormack! She seems so much smaller in real life! Robert sat down and nibbled on his food while he answered questions, signed autographs, and took pictures. Danielle also sat down and chatted with her fans.

Kevin's entrance...

My food was all eaten by the time Kevin made his entrance. I saw him come in before the cameras and the flashes went off. My first thought, "Oh, there's Kevin." I nudged my husband and pointed out the guest of honor. Do you wonder at my calm reaction? Well, I couldn't very well jump from my chair and drool with my husband watching! No, really, it was more like, "Omigosh, there's Kevin! This is what I've been waiting for ever since I got my tickets!" But I stayed planted in my seat. Was it shock? I don't know. My husband told me to get up and take some pictures, so I did, but I kept myself at a distance. I was quite content to just stand back and perhaps listen to bits and pieces of his conversation. Plus staring at him in real life was a thrill in itself!

Kevin looked good too! The longish, wavy dark hair, the goatee, the black leather jacket, the blue jeans, the black boots (gotta love a guy in jeans and boots) made for a very gorgeous Kevin Smith. And he's tall!

Zep had to start moving the table for autographs and I think my table became Kevin's table! Well, I hope we didn't make a mess on it. I was on the wrong side of the room when the line started, so I ended up in the back somewhere. At first the line started at Kevin, but midway it switched over to Robert first, then Danielle, then Kevin. The line still took long because Kevin was such a talker! And I say this in the nicest possible way. He took the time to talk to each and every person who came up. My husband even commented that Kevin was quite personable. (The hubby's grudging mark of approval?)

I got to Robert first. He was nice! He signed my brunch flyer, since I didn't have anything else for him to sign. I took a picture with him. Next up was Danielle. I had her sign the flyer too. She drew a self portrait. It was cute. We took a picture together too. She was very sweet.

Then I had to wait in what became a second line for Kevin.

He had taken his leather jacket off for autographs. He had a sleeveless shirt on. Those arms. That tan. About 3 people before me, he put on MsMoo's red rugby shirt and took a picture with her. Well, he kept the shirt on. I thought to myself, if he keeps that on, I'm going to ask him to take it off! I didn't have to, thank the gods. The ladies before me told him to take the shirt off. He thought they meant the shirt and the one underneath and I think he actually started blushing! Twas quite adorable. But they made themselves clear and he obliged admist hoots and hollers.

My turn! I didn't know what to say. I just dropped my picture in front of him and said hello. Did he ask me if I was enjoying myself? Or was it how are you? It's all a bit of a jumble. He asked me who to make the picture out to. I said, "Valerie. V-A-L-E-R-I-E" He got to the V-A-L-E-R, then sort of stopped. I repeated, "I-E." He said, "Valer, I-E," and made some kind of oh yeah, okay remark as he finished writing my name. I asked if I could take a picture with him. He said of course. I bent down beside him and he put his arm around me. We looked over at my husband, who couldn't get the first picture. We took two pictures together and I saw Sura take one of us too. Then my turn was over. He told me that he was glad to meet me and I sort of stammered the same thing in return. So much for being coherent in front of him.

Sura and I got to chat for just a little bit. She promised to send me the pictures that she took of me and him. {{{{{Sura!}}}}} We promised to talk later, but alas, I didn't see her again the whole weekend! Next time, Sura, we stop and talk and take our picture together!

We lined up for our fan club picture. If you see the pic, I'm the one in the green sweater in the top row. We had ourselves all set up, except there was no Kevin! We began to chant, "Kevin Kevin Kevin." He eventually came up and we took the picture...