I Was Home

For three days, I was among those of my kind. "Bakit? Alien ka ba?" "Hinde, die-hard fan lang." :p

Though somewhat fleeting now that it's finally over, Neil Gaiman's visit sealed a very personal bond with followers of his works in each of his book-signing venues. Most present, if not all, has photos, signed works, and memories etched their hearts and minds forever (and that's not even classifyable as an overstatement). Words of thanks fail to contain and quantify what we all must feel to have, as what Ainna would describe, one of the greatest minds of our time here and now in our tiny corner of Gaea.

Here are shots of the Rockwell event of anticipation. Just look at the crowd, and imagine the mixed smell of excitement from all those cramped in the tent. Believe me, it's migraine inducing.

The next shot is from the Promenade signing where many lined up in the scorching heat of our noontime sun without even much of an assurance that they have something to look forward to by day's end. This was taken minutes before my turn on the table. You could still make out the line outside, which winds up inside the mall, up the stairs to the second floor, then down the winded Fully Booked stairs to the shot image.

Then we head off to the Gateway Mall on Monday, where the line was thicker and longer and impossibly chaotic. I had these shots taken by a kind young lady organizer. I'll post these pics here primarily because I promised some young Gaiman fans who I overheard saying these at earshot "If only we had a cam or a camphone..." whom I directed to this site today so they may download the following.

And so it ends. The sacrifice of waking up early on a weekend and going on partial leave the following Monday, the young generation of varicose veins who would grow fast and conquer our lower extremities, the tickets-for-a-book which were not used, the hunger and thirst which went unquelled for hours, the broken hearts for not being there early enough to get in line first, the ones who weren't in Manila and who would have done anything to be in Manila even for a while, the pittance at bouncers who threw more than their weight to the more-than-willing-to-get-anything-just-to-get-their-stuff-signed even though their point was way off the line, the burnt skin of those in line much more those directly under the sun, the time spent listening to unwelcomed fans-turned-minstrels who's idea of music were more off-key than pleasant, the ones who got sick at an unfortunate time of the year, and all other stories much like that which transpired at World's End but which are more tangible and characteristically Filipino. We all have our stories to share of the moment. It was fun and worth it, even if the sacrifice were magnified three-fold.

posted by Fritz @ 5:58 AM