Teenage Dream Come True

Record Store Day - April 16, 2011
Rasputin Music - Berkeley, California

I have been a Duran Duran fan since I was a young girl.
When I was in elementary school,
I had a friend who was obsessed with John Taylor,
which was probably my first introduction to Duran Duran.
I remember secretly watching their videos on MTV.
[Particularly Wild Boys and A View To A Kill.]
During my teenage years, my bedroom walls were covered
with posters and pictures of the band.

So when I saw that Rasputin's in Berkeley was having
an in-store autograph signing with two members of the band,
John and Roger Taylor, I was SO there!

If I was able to go back in time, to tell my 13 year old self
that one day in the future, I would be meeting two members
of my favorite band, I seriously doubt I would have believed myself!

I arrived a couple hours early and anxiously waited for
my teenage dream to come true! The line was long,
but thankfully not as long as I expected it would be by the time I got there.

I squealed with excitement [as did several others], when we caught
a glimpse of the guys as their car drove slowly down the street.

When it was 1:30, I thought the line would start moving, however it felt like it took FOREVER for the line to finally get a move on.
I felt like Inigo Montoya from my favorite movie, The Princess Bride.
"I do not suppose you could a speed things up?"
 

But once I finally got inside the store, my excitement went into overdrive!
Which was then dampened a bit when it was announced that time allowed
only one item to be autographed...and I had brought three items! Bummer!
However I had an idea on how I could get two items signed.

As the line inched closer and closer, to the point where I could see them,
I wasn't sure if I'd be able to contain my excitement.
[That usually leads to a bad case of the giggles.]
I was so giddy, I felt as if I had transformed into the teenage version of myself.

At last, my turn arrived and there I was, standing right in front of John Taylor!
SQUEE!!!

I somehow managed to keep my cool and was able to speak coherently.
I said "Hi John!" and handed him the Notorious album to sign,
telling him it was the first album I owned.
John smiled and asked me my name and signed the album cover.
I know we talked about something else, but tragically,
I can't recall what else we said!

Then I said hello to Roger and I handed him their latest CD to sign.
After signing it, Roger gave me a smile as he quickly passed it
over to John for him to sign.
I smiled back and thanked Roger for that kind [yet sneaky] gesture.

There were a million and one things I would've loved to say,
but alas, all I really had the chance to say was thank you and
tell them how wonderful it was to meet them.

I wasn't ready for this more-than-likely-once-in-a-lifetime moment
to end quite yet, so after leaving the store, I hung around outside,
along with a group of other fans with apparently the same idea,
of hoping to catch another glimpse of the guys before they left.

Now I just need to meet Simon and Nick!