Day 403: At the Convention

I added a new photograph to Creative Journey in my Photography section, Aladdin Books

Ah, my home away from home. Here's where I spent the largest chunk of time during the convention. That's my buddy, John, doing his "all business" thing. Surrounded by his wares. Makin' deals on the cell phone.

Not a lot of customers in this photo ... there was one just to the right looking at the books, but I cropped him out. But there were plenty of times when the booth was full o' folks, looking for interesting and unusual DVDs (the best sellers of the weekend), movie posters, books about film, photographs, and digging through the other memorabilia.

By far, the most fun was when the other dealers would stop by and pay their respects. John's been in business for quite some time and is well respected by his peers. It was fun to meet the other dealers ... and explain over and over, "I'm an old high school friend. Came down from Idaho to help John out and spend some time with him."

By the end of the Hollywood Collector's Show, the show owner, Ray Courts, even stopped by, gave me a kiss on the cheek and quipped, "I didn't know John had any friends!"

When I wasn't helping out in the booth, I got to wander around the convention. The main hall had the stars. The headliner was Patricia Neal. When she was present, a long line of fans would form waiting for her signature. Among others present were Linda Blair (teeny), Lou Ferrigno (smaller than you'd think), Morgan Fairchild (another small trim creature), Johnny Whitaker (huge), Rip Taylor (walked to the bathroom a lot), Ken Berry (kind, old and crumbly) and my personal favorite, Barry Williams. I even ended up getting a hug from the former Greg Brady!

Really was fun to see the stars-that-were and be around the Hollywood scene. It was quite a change of pace from my homemaker's life in Idaho!