My poor Flickr photostream is now littered with the tag, “I met Diana Gabaldon!!!” With THREE exclamation points, hehe. I even made a new Collection and Set for all my photos of Outlander and Diana. The About page has officially been updated and you know that photo is going to stay there forever. Finally, Before I Die is also updated, with #11 and #40 crossed off, baby! I can’t believe it! wee!

I do want to say more about the event last night! My friend and I got there an hour before it was scheduled to start because there was no way I was going to be late. There were only a couple other people there when we arrived, so we got a good spot in line, which quickly filled up as other fans arrived. We were all standing in line, nearly all of us carrying books for her to sign later. In fact, some people had more than one book, and one chick had a BAG of books. ahem. The girl in front of me in line and I struck a conversation about the books, which was really nice. Then they opened the auditorium for seating, and I got a FRONT ROW SEAT!

Diana was actually almost half an hour late. It was supposed to start at 7, but then one of the organizers came up to the front of the auditorium to say that Diana was stuck in traffic, but that she was on her way! There was literally a collective gasp of panic from the audience when the organizer said she might not make it. But then a few minutes later, this guy appeared, playing bagpipes. I thought, oh, how nice, and took a photo. Then I turned back to the front, and Diana was walking up to the podium! She came in from the back of the auditorium, like a rock star, hehe.

She looks exactly like her photos on her books and online, only prettier, I think. She talks really fast, with enthusiasm, which isn’t surprising since she used to be a professor before she became a published author. She talked about her life before being published, how she came up with Outlander, her writing process, other things like that. She even took some questions from the audience after she spoke.

Then she took a little break, and we all went across the hall for the reception. There was a Celtic group performing (I’m not kidding…Celtica!), and we had some munchies while waiting for Diana to come in. She just sort of glided into the room, all smiles and SO friendly! She talked to people for a while and took photos, then started the book signing.

We had to wait quite a while–it was around 9:30 by the time I got up to her table!–but then I got up there and was SO starstruck, I know I keep saying it, but I was a total dork. Here’s the exchange:

Me, stepping up to the table: Hi!

Diana, smiling: Hi!

Me, handing her my book: I’m so excited to meet you!!

Diana, smiling, taking the book, I think she might have said, oh, thank you! Or something, hehe

Me: Can we take a picture??

Diana, still smiling: Yes.

(So then I sort of crouched beside her and we took the picture.)

Me: Thank you!

Diana, opening my book to sign it (which had a sticky note with my first name on it; they asked us to write our names, so it would be easier for her to spell them right): You’re welcome! Tiffany…I’m writing, “Alba gu bràth,” which means, “Scotland forever.”

Me: Oh, ok!

Diana, handing my book to me: There you go!

Me: Thank you SO much, I appreciate it!

Diana (still smiling!): You’re welcome.

eeeeeeee! She rules, for real. If you’re an Outlander fan, your life is not complete until you meet Diana. She is so gracious and fun to listen to as a speaker, she’s witty and intelligent…and I think she stayed until the last fan’s book was signed, way past 10 PM. That’s just cool. And if you’re not an Outlander fan, go read her books! Go now! hehe

I still cannot believe it…I met Diana Gabaldon tonight! =D=D=D

I also have more pictures from when she was speaking before the book signing, but I at least wanted to pop in and post this, since it’s all I’ve been talking about for the past few days! She signed my book, too, and I need to post a photo of that! Tomorrow, I promise. I need to go to bed…I have to work in the morning, and it’s almost 11 PM, eek!

oh, and…I MET DIANA GABALDON! hehehe

Here it is, folks! It’s really official…I’m going to meet Diana Gabaldon tomorrow night! SQUEEEEE! hehehe Today when I picked up my tickets, I was worried at the last minute that the library people would tell me, “oh sorry…you’re not on the list after all,” in which case I would have CRIED. Seriously. But nay, I am all set! And soooo excited!

I’m taking my good friend with me. He recently got a job in VA and lives here now, too. I even got him curious about the Outlander series and he’s going to read at least the first one. haha, I shall convert all of you!

pssst…which reminds me, I never forgot about our deal! I will read Harry Potter, I PROMISE! And if for some reason I don’t, you can…throw yarn at me, or something!

So I have my tickets all ready to go, and even the book I’m going to ask her to sign. I was going to bring The Outlandish Companion, but I think I’d rather have one of the official series books signed. Only, my Outlander copy is a mass market paperback and isn’t really signable. So I’m bringing A Breath of Snow and Ashes since that’s a nice hardcover.

This is gonna RULE!

I’m not sure if this will help anyone, but it has worked for me, so I’ll pass it along. I used to get TONS of comment spam on my blog…literally, like dozens a day, sometimes 100+. I think it’s because I don’t block robots from my site, and even though I’m running Akismet, some spam would still sneak in. Well, I turned off trackbacks in WordPress (I think it’s in the Options tab or somewhere), and ever since I did that, I get hardly any spam. Just passing that info to you.

So, today had crazy weather! Wind gusts up to 50 mph, which is oh-so-nice when one has to take the interstate to work. Needless to say, I took the interstate going to work but used an alternate route on the way home. Longer commute, but probably safer.

I knit some on my Fleece Artist sock before work this morning while enjoying a Mocha Frapp from Starbucks. Now that’s a nice morning! I even had a chance to pop into one of my LYSes during lunch since I needed some new dpns. My bamboos are definitely bent. I’m trying some Brittany birch ones for the first time. I wanted to get some new #1s, until the shop owner told me that Brittany doesn’t make them in size 1 since they snap so easily. So I got them in size 2. I used to be a Knit Picks dpn devotee until the finish on mine started peeling off. It was ok for a while, since KP replaced them for free, until the finish on the *replacements* started peeling, too! arg! I highly suspect this is due to my sweaty hands knitting. Probably something about the oils in my skin interacting with the nickel coating, methinks. hmm.

Speaking of knitting (when am I NOT speaking of it?), kc informed me that Blue Moon Fiber Arts added more colorways to their site! egads, the prettiness!! I must NOT buy any of it anytime soon, as my stash is just growing and growing like a fungus (albeit a mighty pretty one), and I can’t knit fast enough to keep up with it. But oh, those colorways are inviting. I think my favorite is Socktopus, hehe.

So, more about the Diana Gabaldon event I’m attending this week, squee! Apparently I was initially signed up for the Thursday night event because Wednesday’s was booked full. Then today, I got a voicemail from the organizer of the events, saying that I had been waitlisted for Wednesday but she had two tickets for me, if I still wanted them! yes, of course I still want them! See, Wednesday there’s a book signing and a more formal meet-and-greet, I guess, plus a Celtic group/band. Then Thursday there’s an informal event with Diana, which is the one I thought I was attending since less people had registered for it. But now, it looks like I’m going to the Wednesday one instead because they’re trying to register more people for Thursday night. I called them back to confirm, and I have tickets for Wednesday reserved…I’m just waiting for the organizer to call me AGAIN and confirm with me to pick them up. phew! I’m just so excited to be going; I’ll go to either event, as long as I go to at least one, I’ll be a very happy chick.

Is this only Monday? Today at work went by really quickly for me. Maybe too quickly. I was pretty busy and didn’t get everthing done. It’s kind of weird for me to leave work for the next couple of days…I’m used to finishing everything before I go home. I guess it’s good that I’ll be busy, at least!

I got into the event! I’m going to see Diana Gabaldon on the 19th!!! WOO!

Diana Gabaldon is going to be in my area next week!!!!!!!

ok, ok, breathe breathe breathe! I am SO excited. dude, she is my favorite author and meeting her is totally on my Before I Die list. eeeee!!! hahaha I am such a dork!

I just called to register for the event, but they’re closed so I’m going to try first thing tomorrow morning. I hope I get a spot…I SO want to go!

I just spent the last five minutes scrutinizing a spreadsheet from one of my instructors with NO idea how she had the thing set up. We have ongoing peer assignments/commentary, and I could not, for the life of me, figure out who my partners were because all the names were lined up in columns and rows and it all looked like gobbledygook, as far as I was concerned. Darn spreadsheet! Then I stopped, looked at it again, and it made sense. Darn brain!

And I really should be more alert than this because I had a mocha earlier tonight. I should be wired! But no, I’m just confused. (When am I not confused, though? Still, I should be confused yet wired.)

I’m chugging away on my second Snakes on a Sock. I’m doing the heel flap now, taking a break so I can rest my fingers (by typing? hmm yeah).

I don’t think I ever posted this, but–Diana Gabaldon has a podcast now! For the Outlander series obsessed. Her voice is different–took some getting used to for me, plus she talks kind of fast. But I love hearing her talk about The Books, and hopefully the podcast will satiate me until the next Outlander book comes out…whenever that will be. A word of…caution?–the current episode, #5: Sex Scenes, is probably *not* the best episode to start with, lol. Particularly if you’ve never read the books at all. DG reads and explains excerpts from the latest book (her love scenes versus formula romance novels, etc.)…just a disclaimer there!

The husband just stole the TV from me, turning off my Ghost Hunters: Season 2, Part 2 in favor of watching C-SPAN. hmmm I’m not a fan of C-SPAN, but whatever floats his boat! I’m still in birthday mode for him–he turned 30 on Friday. And he is convinced he is some old man now. I badgered him in efforts of trying to figure out just what the heck to buy him for his birthday, but every time I asked, he just said, “I don’t know.” ?? Soooo I asked him if he wanted to go out for dinner, or what. He said, “Let’s go to The Olive Garden.” umm…we don’t have one here. The closest one is two hours away. So he asked for spaghetti and meatballs, which I made (from scratch! The meatballs, anyway. I didn’t mash my own tomatoes, or anything). We’re planning on going to Lubbock on the 9th (of October, eek! already?) since we’re both off for Columbus Day and doing a little shopping, or something. Just to get away from here.

So technically, I still need to buy him a birthday present, belatedly. I asked him yet again today what he wants, and he said Stargate SG-1 Season 9, which releases this Tuesday. PERFECT! He has every other season. That’s 8 boxed sets. That’s a lot of Stargate. He’s quite obsessed with the series, you see. But at least I know what to buy him, even if it’s late. It’s the thought that counts, and everything.

btw, the guy on Stargate who plays Daniel Jackson? Totally hot. Really. (When the husband was stationed in Germany, his friends thought he looked like Daniel Jackson [Michael Shanks]. I see some resemblance, but only when they’re both wearing glasses.)

I really think I’m descending into something reminiscent of adolescent boy craziness with all my fantasy boyfriends. Ewan McGregor (of course), Hugh Jackman (he would totally be my boyfriend if Ewan wasn’t first; and he is filming a movie with Ewan, btw. hehehe), Clay Aiken??, and Michael Shanks. I have these weird crushes, I know it’s insanely goofy but then again, so am I. I tend to be drawn to actors/singers/musicians, though. I wonder if Michael Shanks is a singer too?! (Good Lord, I am so rambling. It’s 1 AM here. And I’m highly caffeinated. I’m shutting up now.)