Adventures in Taylorland, Part II

There was a lull in the activity over by the book signing and I was worried that havingfun might miss seeing Taylor (he's been known to leave early), so I ventured back and asked the first person I saw if Taylor would be there the full time.

I'm not the most informed person in Taylor Hicks' fandom, so I didn't realize I was talking to Clay. I told him a friend of mine was still on her way and he assured me Taylor would stay until 12:30. Then he asked me if I bought batteries. LOL! No fans were around at the moment, so he and Taylor went off to take a break.

Everyone I spoke to was friendly and helpful. Taylor was very nice, too, when my camera wouldn't work. He had Clay give it a couple of tries and then said he'd stick around if I wanted to go and buy new batteries.

But he was in his autograph-signing-mode, where he doesn't hear everything you say and barely looks up. He had no clue who I was and I wasn't going to make an ass of myself by reminding him. I'm a very small fish in this pond and I know it.

Havingfun was havingtrouble finding the bookstore and kept calling me on my cell phone. I wound up putting an employee on. After about five minutes of this, everyone knew she was on her way. My phone would ring and the employee helping us would say, "Where is she NOW?" When she finally walked up the stairs, the woman in charge of Taylor's schedule called him on her phone to tell him she was there. LOL!

Me, Taylor and havingfun met up at the table and HF launched immediately into a plea for him to do a shadow show in Austin. She named great venues in the area, fans who are hoping for a show and eateries in the area. She may have thrown in his horoscope for that week but I'm not sure. (I tease because I love, HF!)

Taylor tried to explain the difficulties of setting up these shows, considering the schedules of the musicians involved, but never said it was out of the question. He said he had an offer from a venue in Austin and was thinking about it.

The rest is a jumbled memory. He signed her book at some point. In fact, he signed a book to himself, too. Clay was walking away and Taylor called to him, "Hey, wait, I don't have a copy of the book. Let me give you one for me." I think I said something like, "You don't have your own book?" and he said he had one somewhere but not with him on the road.

Then he said to no one in particular, "Wait, let me sign it to myself: 'Dear Taylor, Thanks for being you.'" He cracked himself up:



We talked for at least fifteen minutes. He talked a lot about the business of the music biz. I said I thought that end of it sounded like a pain in the neck but he said he actually kind of enjoyed it. He added that Grease has been a great vehicle for getting his CD out there. He admitted that maybe this wasn't exactly the way he wanted to do it, but that it's working for him.

*I need to stop here and point out that havingfun actually talked more than I did. I'm sorry I can't remember what she said as clearly as I can what I said.*

The woman with the clipboard interrupted us to remind him that he had other obligations that day but he called over to her, "No, it's OK. We're just talking." Perhaps he gave the secret signal by accident (ha) but I thought it was nice of him to continue our conversation.

Taylor asked Clay to go get a couple of head shots for us and when he brought them over, Taylor signed them for us. While he was signing, I asked him if he ever goes into chat at his new site and he said NO. But he said he's really happy with his new sites and he reminded us about the video chat occurring the following day.

I told him that I remembered that before the CD came out, he had said how important it was to him from an artistic point of view. He wanted to take the time to get the music right. I said I thought he achieved what he had hoped to. He appreciated that and then said, "You know, the Grease tour was already in place BEFORE we recorded the CD." I paused to let that sink in and then I smiled and said, "You're kidding." He seemed pleased with his own cleverness.

So, he did say (as he's been saying all along) that he hopes to do more stage roles because he'd like to continue attracting more than Idol fans. I said, "Idol fans are fickle" and he replied, "Of course they are!"

A funny image popped into my head so I said, "Just please don't do John Travolta's role in Hairspray!"

Here's a photo if you don't remember:



His people signaled to him just then that it was time to go, so he hopped off the table and said, "Don't worry!" *grin* "there are no cross-dressing roles in my future! *laugh* Hey- thanks for coming, you guys!"

I thought it was really sweet of Taylor to just slow down and chat with a couple of fans. Wednesday was a busy day for him, too so it was especially nice of him to indulge us.

I wasn't going to type this up, but I realized Taylor's fans need a balanced view of what he's like with us (all of us, I mean). So often we're afraid to post a good experience with him online because it can make you a target. I've been called a liar and an attention whore in the past, so I know what I'm talking about.

But folks, relax. It's all good. Taylor's a nice guy who's trying to find his way in the entertainment industry. If you're a fan, the only thing you need to worry about is supporting him.

(Havingfun: seriously, I'm sorry I didn't quote you in this. If you'd like me to add anything, let me know!)