The Jay Leno Taping & Meeting Tori

Updated May 19, 1998

The following account comes from Ears With Feet Kim H. who saw the taping of Tori on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on May 11, 1998 and who met Tori after the taping. Kim gives us a full account of her incredible day. along with numerous photos, many of Tori meeting fans after the taping. Enjoy! If you want to email Kim, you can do so at zt28@hotmail.com

This page may take a while to load...just start reading the account and the loading will be done before you know it! Most of the Tori photos are toward the bottom of this page.

How to begin to describe an almost perfect day ? :) I guess one just begins.

It had been raining every day in between Tori days. But on the days on which Tori had a concert, involving Ears With Feet standing outside waiting in line for hours, or just plain standing outdoors, as with the Palace parking lot free concert, it was perfect and sunny out. I dunno... you tell *me*. Would this be another example of Tori magic ? I didn't know that i had the stamina to stay up all nite another nite... (if i went to sleep i knew i was so tired i'd never allow myself to wake up that early) let alone stand outside all day in the rain, even tho i did want to be at the Leno show. Hmm. I looked outside... unbelievable. Perfect and sunny, once again. Every day in between, pouring rain.

I drove over to NBC Burbank, "beautiful downtown Burbank" as Johnny Carson used to say... facetiously of course. The show tickets were already all gone (i'd already tried writing in for tix but they were all sold out), so i took my standby ticket, #14. I knew from taking guests to see the Tonight show in the past that standbys almost never got in. The audience had to be completely filled with all possible ticket holders and VIPs first. Then if any seats were left empty, or anyone left, the standbys got their chance.

Oh well... i tried. But before i left i decided to go around to the front of the building and judge how far i'd have to walk later (typically, one picks up tickets in the morning, as early as dawn, then lines up again in the afternoon for the actual taping, beginning at about 3 PM) when i returned. To my surprise, there were *already* Ears with Feet waiting there ! Some had blankets ! I'd expected people to get there at noon or one PM but not this early... i found out some people had slept out on the sidewalk since 10 PM the previous night. Now that's dedication...

I saw Josh, who called out to me and said he knew someone with an extra ticket. Two EWF who i later learned were Jenn and Heather, some very kewl EWF, said they also had extra tickets ! I was getting happier by the minute. Josh came back with his extra ticket-- a bona fide blue Tonight show ticket-- and i sang "I've got a golden ticket !" from one of my favorite movies, Willy Wonka. :)

Then i decided, well, i'd planned to go home in between and rest a bit and change clothes and curl my hair and all that kind of stuff but, was it fair for me to go and come back and expect to be in the same spot as those who'd stayed all day ? No.. i didn't think it was (tho there were some who did just that, to the chagrin of some of the EWF who had to stay on the sidewalk all day !). So i stayed. I just sat down on the concrete with all the other EWF!

We all began chatting.... people were hitting the mid-morning energy flag soon enough and some of us decided breakfast was in order. We decided to walk up Alameda Ave. and see what there was to see... So Jenn, Heather and I took off walking up Alameda. We jaywalked, and someone said, getting hit by a car would not be a good way to start the day. I made a joke about "pieces of me (you've never seen)" which was voted unofficial worst pun of the day. (we made it across the street ok). It was so great to be able to take a walk in L.A. ! As Dale Bozzio sings, "nobody walks in L.A." (well usually it's *not* safe). We were working up a good appetite and chatting all the way. Jenn found a lone purple flower growing on a vine... i was amazed she spotted it as we walked by ! I hadn't seen it. She knew what type it was too ! (i've forgotten that). She put it in her buttonhole like a brooch. It matched her dress perfectly ! Kewl.

After walking a while we saw a lot of different places, some of which looked like they sold some pretty good cases of food poisoning. We chose Bob's Big Boy... i'd never been to one, and it had been their first pick anyway. I had thought it was a hamburger place but it was more like a Denny's. We were upset at first at progress until we found it did in fact still have a "Bob" there. Jenn and Heather posed by "Bob" and i took their photo. *hee* Inside there were a bunch of mini-Bobs in a glass case. We chose a booth and ordered and ate. I ordered the omelet cos it came with a biscuit. I had to ! I've yet to find a decent biscuit in L.A. And guess what... i'm still searching. I kind of ate the biscuit in honor of this "Tori day", but the biscuit wasn't soft and sweet. More like hard and floury. And cold. Oh well.

A little strawberry jam makes up for a lot of things.

When we got back to the NBC building, no one new had arrived.. in fact, this core group of EWF pretty much didn't change til right before the taping. Tourists began arriving at about 1:30 PM but, sad to say they didn't know Tori's music. We told them about her of course ;o) and they said they'd taken the NBC tour and were led through the Tonight Show studios while "some redhead" was practising, "was that her ?" OH migosh... YES it was her ! What was she playing ? Do you remember any of the words ? They didn't. But for once i regretted not taking the NBC tour... (i've done it twice with visiting relatives).

So, Jenn and Heather took out the sidewalk chalk they'd thought to bring ! :) They'd gotten a big ol pack of chalk at the dollar store. Kewl. They passed out colors and several of us began drawing on the sidewalk. Fun ! :) Jenn made some amazing drawings of Tori using magazine covers as inspiration. Jeni, another EWF in our part of the lineup, and Heather, drew a Hopscotch. It had Tori items in it like butterflies, etc. I made a Tori mermaid but i didn't like it, the big pieces of chalk were hard for me to draw with, so i didn't take a photo of it. It was fun tho. Then when the hopscotch was drawn, no one really played hopscotch cos none of the rocks we found would skip ! Plus we were all kind of tired. *L*

Some people played cards and some chatted and some napped on the blankets they'd brought. At one point, Dor got out her Tori photo albums and people gathered round to have a look.

At one point, Jenn had walked up the sidewalk a bit. She came back, and said Shh ! and motioned for me to follow her. I'd told people earlier where i'd noticed the limos park during rehearsal. I'd had to wait in line twice before after all... (never for Tori before tho). I followed her and saw the gate was wide open and a black limo was sitting there. It was rehearsal time. It had to be Tori's limo ! Wow she was inside the building we were waiting outside of ! We all began to get jazzed ! It was real, we were gonna see Tori in a few hours ! Wa-hoo ! :) I took a photo of the parked limo for posterity *L*.

Before too much longer, it was time to line up for the taping ! The NBC pages suddenly appeared en force, and each one went up and down the line repeating the rules over and over again. "No food no drink no magazines no photography..." We began making our own rules when they were out of earshot. "No orgies no painting yourself blue no...." I'll leave it to your imagination. It got pretty creative ;o)

Here's where it got sticky. People who hadn't been there all day suddenly showed up, looking very fresh, and got in line with their friends who'd been holding their place. A few too many for anyone's taste. But, we all decided to not spoil things by ratting on anyone. But suddenly the line which had ended with the original thirty people, got bumped back a few. Oh well.

The pages ushered the first thirty or so people indoors. We still had to go through security search but, we were indoors ! So far so good. We were gonna get in to see the show, for sure ! :) The rules were repeated a few hundred more times, and pretty soon it was time to go in ! Pages and security guards took away people's magazines and posters and such. I'm not sure why, except maybe if a camera caught someone reading a magazine it wouldn't say much for the entertainment value of the show.

Then we began filing in ! I think we had to open our handbags or backpacks but at this point i was getting all excited about the show so i can't really remember ! I'm sure we were searched in some way. As we filed into the studio, i noticed people were looking to their right. And kind of buzzing with excited words. I looked, and through the glass pane of a door, i could see TORI !! She was seated, and a reporter's back was to us. A camera was pointed at Tori. She had on a white top i think, and camera makeup, and looked beautiful. Of course. She was talking, although we couldn't hear what she was saying. Someone said Tori was doing press interviews in between rehearsal and the taping. Ah yes, and Tori herself had said that in a recent interview. That she'd be doing press before taping and after the rehearsal. OK. Hmm. Someone said it was for E! channel. I made a mental note...

I noticed there seemed to be more security than for a usual Tonight Show taping. There was at least one grim looking guard in front of the room where Tori was talking to press. Was this due to us EWF ? I think it was. As i noticed later, NBC really didn't seem to know what to make of such a loudly cheering, yet contained, group. (yes it's possible to be excited AND logical thank you !)

We were led to our seats. Huge chunks of seating were passed over. These were being held for "VIPs" which mostly were friends or family of someone who worked at NBC. Someone who could pull some strings. I didn't see any celebrities in any of the seats. There were actually more regular tourists there than i expected, though. Although what we EWF lacked in numbers we sure made up for in enthusiasm ;o)

I'd asked one tourist when they got their tickets, cos when i wrote in they were already sold out, and they said THREE MONTHS ago !! Wow. No wonder there weren't too many left for us EWF. And a really big block of seats seemed set aside for VIPs this time, too. OH well ! You'd never have known it from our cheering ! I'm not really sure how many EWF were there. Not counting ones who got into VIP seats i'd say at least 50. Not bad ! And i'm sure many of the tourists will be checking out Tori's music next, if only to see what all the fuss is about :)

Jenn and Heather and i ended up in different sections. There was only one chair left on the floor, and someone motioned me into it, i had to make a quick decision... i looked behind me and it looked like the next seats were right behind there, so i sat down. When i looked behind me again tho, Jenn and Heather were being led to seats far up ! Oh no !! I went up and talked to them, and looking *down* i could see tape across the first rows in that section ! More VIPs ? Oh no ! :( But they said, it's ok, go sit. I felt bad, but they said it was ok they didn't need to trade. How kewl can you get ?

Now we were all waking up for sure ! The time was getting closer !!

A guy came out and made some jokes. I knew from before that he was gonna warm up the audience by throwing out free mugs (plastic) and t shirts. It worked last time... would it work this time ? Some of the EWF were saying they didn't really want to see the rest of the show, just Tori ! But between his silly jokes and firing t shirts out of a 'cannon', i looked around and everyone looked happy and relaxed. The adrenaline was flowing throughout the whole audience ! I got a plastic NBC mug. Wa-hoo ! :)

(it's kind of like airplane peanuts. when it's free and people are trapped in a place, everyone wants some !)

Then Jay Leno came out (in casual clothes, before the taping). I'd forgotten he did that. I was hoping for the best for him. I'd even met him once before, when i was in one of those Jay-Walking segments ! Several months ago. He had been really a nice person to everyone, *even when the cameras were off*. He told us he knew a lot of us were there to see Tori (huge EWF cheer) but to try to remember we were also there to see a *show*. He didn't spell it out but, i'm sure he wasn't used to feeling like a warm-up act *hee*. He was the host of the Tonight Show after all. I vowed to laugh extra hard at all of his, and everyone else's, jokes. Let it not be said EWF have bad manners ! :)

When he'd done speaking, (and taking Polaroids with audience members who asked to), in just a short time the opening credits began rolling on the monitors ! Eeee... getting close to time ! Yikes ! I still get all shaky just typing about it !! We'd waited all day, some of us, longer, and now the time was almost here ! During downtime they'd been playing highlight clips, mostly musical, of past Tonight Show episodes. I got squirrely and began 'dancing' in my seat and making faces back to Heather and Jenn, who returned the favor *L*. It was fun.

I looked around and all the EWF looked smiley and excited. The people in the wooden chairs were swiveling back and forth. Some of them could even make them rock !

When Tori's name and image popped up in the opening credits, the EWF *CHEERED* !! In the studio, it's ambient sound, and our cheer was deafening ! Each time we cheered. They must have adjusted the sound while they taped, cos, when i saw the show on tv you could hear what Jay was saying during our cheers. *L* You couldn't from the studio ! The people who had mikes, the sound went into the tape, it wasn't amplified. So whatever was louder in the studio was what people in the studio heard. And every time anything with Tori's image or name came up we cheered our heads off. Poor Jay and others had to kind of shout over it at times. We did contain it to those times, though. I was proud of us that no one just shouted things out at random times. (except the de rigeur "I love you Tori" while Tori herself was talking with Jay).

So, if you see that show, know that we were really cheering MUCH louder than that ! And it's loud even on the tape. :)

So, Jay did his monologue, and it was genuinely funny in parts, i'm not huge on jokes, but it did make me laugh. I did try and punch it up a bit tho, cos it was like, i've seen him do the show before and this time he did actually seem a bit nervous, as if, he wasn't sure if we were gonna sit there like bumps on a log and make him look bad. But, he seemed to loosen up as it became apparent we were there to have a good time and we were laughing. At one point, during the 'headlines' segment, an ad actually had a zebra in it ! I just had to say "Mr. Zebra" but not nearly loud enough to be heard over the laughter or on mike. It was a sign Tori was on the way ;o) a zebra ! Of all things !

The first guest was Don Rickle. I actually do respect his talent. He's been a successful comedian for a loong time, and also is a good dramatic actor, in films such as Innocent Blood and Casino. The buzz is also that he's a very nice person in real life. I enjoyed his segment. He got up and danced during the commercial break, to the Tonight Show band's filler music ! It was cute. Unfortunately he sat down quickly right before the cameras came back on.

The next guest was Katie Holmes from the tv show Dawson's Creek. Here is where my total lack of sleep began to catch up to me. She had a very soft voice i could barely hear (remember, the voices did not sound amplified to us) and i have never seen her show. I began stifling some yawns. One interesting note is that one EWF said they read her lips during the break and she had asked Jay, "will i get to meet her ?" Since she and Tori later talked a lot, during the show and after, well, not a LOT, but often enough, one can only assume she meant Tori !

Then the 'bump', or, what they show to get people to stay tuned in... it's always something about what is in the next segment ! In this case.... TORI !! :) A clip from the "Talula" video. The *cheer* was like a roar.

I'd asked around beforehand, and found out that Tori would sing from a little disc-shaped stage behind a backdrop. And sure enough, after Jay Leno introduced Tori to another huge cheer from the audience (the pages and security looked utterly baffled) the drop raised and there was Tori and her band ! Performing "Spark" ! I'd hoped for a different song than the same one done on Letterman but it was ok ! I was so thrilled i didn't know where to look. I noticed Tori was wearing a pink and black sweater, her hair was a deep but bright maroon color, and she wore some kind of black leggings and black strappy shoes and a sheer metal-grey skirt over the leggings. Unique and beautiful.

Click Here If You Want To See Screen Shots/Photos From The Actual Show.

Tori switched back and forth between the pianos as she sang, and glanced out at us sort of in her peripheral vision it seemed as she did so, but mostly she sang into the cameras directly. Well it *was* a tv show after all so that was ok. It would have looked odd if she had kept looking off to someplace the tv viewers couldn't see. I mostly put my head down and just listened. I figured i would see it later that night on tv... for now i just wanted to soak up hearing Tori live for the last time until at least September ! So i drummed along on my Doc Marten boots. Too soon, the song was done.

I did notice the band looked a bit stiff. Were they really nervous or was the stage just small ? I didn't see much movement on their part.

Then after the song was over, Tori got up and walked over to the main stage and sat down in the chair next to Jay's desk. She seemed totally relaxed ! She did say "hi" to the audience, if i recall correctly. Someone yelled out "I love you Tori !" to which she said something i couldn't really hear (on the tape i made of the tv show, it was, "Love you back"). Then of course a million other people yelled it out too. She talked with Jay. I heard her say, could i just hold it ? Meaning, the microphone. There wasn't anyplace to hook it onto, on the outfit she was wearing. It had kind of a high neckline. So she held the tiny microphone out in front of her, which looked adorable. I heard her ask if they were on yet and Jay said, "we're already on !" He mentioned her marriage, which got a huge EWF cheer, and asked her if she'd been proposed to before. She replied that Robert Plant had once proposed but then he asked twenty girls a day so....

It was pretty funny. Then too soon, Jay went to a commmercial. During the commercial Tori and Jay leaned in toward each other and talked. No one in the audience could hear any of it. Pretty soon, the cameras were back on, and Jay wrapped things up. At some point i did notice Tori and Katie kind of shaking hands and chatting.

After the taping was over, all four of them (Jay, Tori, Katie, Don) stood together while Jay taped some short promo spots. He said things like "tune in tonight" etc., in different lengths of time, for NBC to use later i suppose. Tori mostly just stood there and smiled. Not much else *to* do.

After that was done too, an EWF had extended his hand out to Tori from the edge of the stage. Tori went up and shook it. Of course, then a lot more people began to rush over there. Tori shook a couple more hands before security backed her away from there, and formed a barricade between the audience and the stage. Actually, they'd done that during commercial breaks too, even though not one person had caused any kind of disturbance. And before Tori's song,during the commercial break, they went around with the pages, telling us, "don't anyone shout out during Tori's song" it was kind of ridiculous. I mean, to be fair, it must have puzzled them that we could actually be really excited, but not frothing at the mouth loonies, but all i've got to say is, we're not Elvis fans. We *don't* want a piece of her jacket. We're in control of our faculties... we just have good taste that's all. And we are/were just being supportive of our favorite singer. We weren't there to cause any problems. Oh well. It was kind of humorous in a way. Heaven only knows how nervous all our cheering made them. But we were just trying to, like i said, be supportive, and maybe make others wanna look into the music too, by our enthusiasm.

Joel came out, Tori took his hand, and they kind of skipped-ran off into the exit ! It was so darling ! Tori looked pretty happy. She waved to us as they left. As she ran by, a guy reached down to her from the balcony seating, and she stopped and tried to reach up to him ! There was no way... she'd have to have been seven feet tall... but bless her for trying. Then that was that...

We all looked around at each other, happy that Tori had done so well, happy we had lasted all day and gotten to see this show live which so few had done. Happy to have been there to cheer for Tori.

We filed outside. (As if we needed reminding, the pages and security began barking at us to leave. It was kind of unnecessary. But then that was their job i suppose.)

People began walking to their cars. Most of us were really tired by then. It was beginning to get dark out, a bit. Jenn and Heather were up ahead... i called out but they didn't hear me. Josh and i tried to figure out if it would be possible to get a photo of the limo leaving. A man came up and said that he knew how. He said he often came by to get autographs for his daughter. He told us where they all would exit from. We thanked him and decided to go there so we could at least wave bye, and maybe get a photo of the limo leaving.

When we got there, most of the EWF from that morning were waiting there already. Jenn and Heather said, get over here girl ! I was glad to see they were still there, as we hadn't gotten a chance to say good-bye.

I saw Dor standing there... i recognized her from the Dent photos she'd had taken of her with Tori at meet and greets. And from the Greek voucher lineup and from that morning's NBC lineup of course ! We all chatted and tried to figure out if Tori would have already left. We decided, judging from the number of people from the VIP seating who'd been headed backstage with posters and such, she would probably be there for a while.

Before too long, a white limo came out... i guessed this one was Don Rickles'. And it just kept going, so i hoped it was. Then pretty soon, Katie Holmes came a-walkin' out all by herself ! Some of the younger EWF went over to get her to sign their show tickets (they took our tix at the door but had stacks of fresh ones to take on the way out as free souvenirs). Since i hadn't seen her show, and didn't wanna possibly miss anything, i stayed put. Now i kind of wish i'd gone over too, just for the teens in my own family. Ah well...i was kind of a bit preoccupied. I'd been a Tori appreciator since just after Little Earthquakes came out (i first discovered her music in an Atlantic sampler almost by accident) but had only been online a year or so and had never known about meet and greets or anything, missed all the special events like the House of Blues concert, so i didn't wanna miss anything this day.

Before too much longer... we all saw a black stretch limo approaching. I knew this had to be Tori's limo. I think we were all waving... at this point i was so hyped my memory gets a bit fuzzy. Then... to all our astonishment (i'd been saying, if she would just roll down the window and wave as she went by i'd be so thrilled-- i could finally get a picture of her !) the limo STOPPED !!

We all froze. What did it mean... i was afraid to get too excited and spoil it.... but after a few seconds of the limo just sitting there, i made a motion like 'roll the window down'... i just wanted to wave and get a picture. That's the most i thought would happen.

But then Joel got out ! And he told us, "she just wants to say hi, she's not going to do any signing, blabla..." the rest blurred together cos i couldn't believe what i was hearing... we were going to meet her ? She wanted to say hi to US ??!!

The next thing i knew, Joel opened the limo door and out stepped out.... this beautiful magical person ! TORI AMOS herself. :) It really didn't seem too real.... after all this time was i going to get to meet Tori after all ? I'd been discouraged at the pushing and shoving and masses of people at the club tour meet and greet, and there was no meet and greet at the Palace show. And after the shows on the last tour, there were sooo many people. I'd basically resolved myself to never getting to meet her. Really i just wanted to be able to once tell her thank you in person (for the music), and perhaps even to get a photo. I didn't need one of me with Tori even, just any photo of her. I thought she would be the best photo subject in the world-- with her expressive face, and unique beauty. But all i seemed to have were really distant shots where Tori looked like a red haired ant. *L* Nothing where a facial expression was even visible at all.

Tori got out of the limo. Tori was tiny, incredibly beautiful, and honestly, i'm not usually given to spouting adjectives and superlatives but, there really was an aura of magic around her. She is special.

And she was walking right up to my end of the line ! And what is the first thing she says ? "I just wanted to thank you guys, you guys were incredible". Thank... THANK... US ??

Thank US ?

How humble, how nice, can you get ?! If she hadn't been my favorite singer already, that would have iced it right there. Now her name is down in indelible ink. All this time, i just wanted to thank HER. For sharing the music (cos you know, the way she says it, to take credit for it would be like taking credit for the sunset if you're a painter. it's more like, she is the conduit and she shares it with us.) (what a remarkably talented conduit i must say), for founding RAINN, for helping so many people by sharing her own troubles with such unflinching honesty, in music and in interviews, for all of it.

And the time finally comes and.... she thanks US. It makes me want to cry even now, i was so moved by that.

I really can't remember what i said to her, or she to me ! I was floating about a foot or two off the ground. In fact i'd have sworn to you she was wearing a light pink sweater or at least a light grey... that's how overwhelmed i was. I could blame it on the twilight playing tricks on my eyes... yeh that's it... or maybe it was the glimmer of faerie dust around Tori as she stood that close to all us mortals ;o) shimmering in my eyes... maybe it was the tears....

I seem to remember thanking her. I tried to get at least that much out. Then i gave in and realized i was too moved to form conversation, that my goal was being accomplished and then some, and i was trying to just be passive and i was very cognizant of being at the start of a longish line of people and i didn't wanna somehow ruin the fragile moment and somehow take up too much time or break some unsaid rule.. it was my first-ever meet and greet, so, i just stepped back and instead, took photos as Tori spoke with Heather and then Jenn.

I overheard some of it although i was trying not to (well we *were* all standing really close-- we EWF on the sidewalk and Tori and Joel on the blacktop) but i won't repeat any of it. I will leave it to Heather and Jenn to tell it, if they want to. I will say that when Tori laughs, she's laughing, when she listens, she is really listening. I saw close up how she really does mean it in interviews when she says she thinks of her EWF as friends to have a chat with, and as people. She treated everyone with respect, one person to another. I didn't once see any fakeness, or ego, not at all. I used to work at a tv station some years ago, and part of my job was to act as go-between, between the visiting celebs and the staff. To make sure any problems were ironed out. OK, it mostly involved getting them water. *L* But i did get to see who changed when the little red lights weren't on, and who treated everyone with dignity and who was a jerk. Mostly people were nice... but i did get pretty good at spotting 'phonies'. And if that means anything, i can vouch, Tori is no phony.

In fact i was almost shocked, when one EWF burst into tears and couldn't regain control enough to speak, Tori's eyes actually teared up also and it looked as if she might join the EWF in crying ! I had *never* seen something like that before. *I* don't even do that... i've built up more walls than that just by virtue of age (and i'm about Tori's age) and being female in this world. By rights anyone famous should have even more walls up. That's why i was so surprised, but even more so, MOVED when i saw this. I get teary even now thinking about it. This was one heck of a testimony to compassion for a fellow human being.

You know, for someone who doles out superlatives, usually, like the Miser doled out thousand dollar bills, i can't find enough of them for describing Tori. I just can't.

And all too soon... yet it was more than i'd ever hoped for, and i felt dizzy with the magic of the day... meeting some very nice, kewl EWF, and hanging out all day and getting to know them, some very talented and kind people in their own rights, to watching the show being taped, to actually.... oh my... meeting Tori, of her own choice yet, and being able to take photos... oh how i was wishing i'd saved more film... yet i was glad to have the photos documenting the whole day as well, and glad to have as many Tori photos as i had. But... if ever there was a girl who wished she'd gotten a roll of 36 not 24... *L*. Tori was indeed a great photographic subject. I could have snapped photos of her all day... her expressions were quicksilver, and genuine, and so expressive. I snapped off the remaining photos in the roll very quickly... and all too soon....

I put my camera down, i was out of film, (it was probably just as well, the last thing i wanted to do anyway was make a pest of myself) and watched other EWF meet Tori. Just as she was about to move down the line... i asked her, (the third dream i had) "can i have a hug ?" In retrospect, i think, oh how could i do that, that was so forward, but at the time... i just wanted to have a hug ! And this was my last chance. I would have understood if it had been "no". But.. she reached out her arms and hugged me ! Then she went down the line, stopping briefly to chat with each person. Before too long, Joel and Tori made their way back to the limo. Just before she got in, i thought, someone should thank her... and i called out, "Thank you so much for stopping !" to which she turned around and, smiling and waving shyly, stepped into the limo and Joel closed the door. We watched the limo drive off, we all waved as it drove away.

I can only say that the "Tori hug" affirmed the sense i had gotten through the whole meet and greet. That here was a gentle, compassionate, humble individual. Such a soft, gentle, magical presence. As she'd spoken with Heather and made lots of hand gestures, i'd noticed that Tori had little diamond-like gems pasted onto her hands ! As well as to accentuate her eyes. This only added to the magical aura about her. That and the fact that with the maroon colored hair and brows, and tiny physical stature, (she is so petite and delicate looking in person), and unique but incredibly stunning-in-person beauty, she looks like a life-size faerie ! By that i mean, you know in Finnegan's Rainbow when something happened and the leprechans and faeries grew to the size of humans ? But there was still something tellingly magical about them ? It was like that. She had a glow around her it seemed.

Now, as i say all that, i'm aware that now, as then, i struggle(d) to see her as human, which she of course is, and in fact it was her humanity and compassion and kindness that bowled me over more than anything, what i could tell of it from her chats with people, which was evident in plenty, and not to project my own wishes of how to see her, onto her. But it's not easy. I mean, i'm aware of all that, but, darn it, she's still special and seeing her in person however briefly only accentuates it. Her talent, her wisdom, forthrightness, all of it, i saw no contradictions to it in that brief time, and meeting her for that brief moment only added to my esteem for her.

Living in L.A. for seven years, and seeing celebs from Tom Cruise to Bruce Springsteen out and about around town, and never having spoken (by choice) to a single one of them, nor felt their proximity added to their magic, (usually just the opposite-- it can be downright disillusioning, occasionally you discover they are not very kind to others and whatever) i can tell you, i'm not starry eyed. But Tori is the real thing.

Well, everyone felt just as awestruck after the meeting, and we didn't know what to do with ourselves to kind of hover back down to earth frankly, so we decided to go to the restaurant across the street called Acapulco. And we had some "Tori food" (absent friends); strawberry margaritas for some ... i don't like alcohol so i stuck with juice... and we all shared some nachos. We chatted with each other, and every once in a while someone's eyes would glaze over, and the rest of the table would pull them back down to earth. We kind of had to say sometimes, "that didn't just happen".... it was so unexpected, such a 'gift' to meet her.

As we all went our separate ways to our cars, Heather called out to me, "We'll always have Bob's Big Boy !" and we all kind of chuckled. It was the right kind of incongruous statement, to break the ice that was our final shield back to reality. Time to get back to our usual lives... but this memory will last a long long time. Even if the next day, as Tori left for Europe, the rains came again, the magic spell had worn off, and the chalk drawings melted in the Los Angeles storm.

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