Mar. 30: I saw Dooce

Heather Armstrong, more widely known as Dooce, is on a book tour promoting her new book It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita. Tonight was a stop in Portland so I met up with Erin for dinner and we walked over to Powell’s.

There was a line to go up the stairs to the Pearl Room, where the reading/signing was being held. Erin and I were fourth and fifth in line with about 20 minutes until showtime. We were sure to get good seats, right? Then some guy announced overhead that the Pearl Room had reached capacity and they would have to turn away any additional customers for Heather Armstrong’s reading.

What???

We were confused—was he saying there were enough people in line to reach capacity, or were all available seats already taken? Is she more popular than we ever imagined? The guard at the bottom of the stairwell said that there would probably be people leaving because the Pearl Room gets very hot, so we were welcome to wait for seats to open up.

Erin and I decided to wait, and it was just a few minutes before we got past the velvet rope. Heather was at the top of the stairs, about to be announced, and because all the chairs were occupied, we ended up standing near her until just before she went up front. I didn’t want to stick my camera in her face, so here’s a very blurry picture of her taken from behind one of my purse straps.

She read a couple of chapters from her new book and then started a Q&A. I couldn’t hear the Qs so the As didn’t mean much. It was god-awful hot up there—that guard wasn’t kidding—and I quickly decided I didn’t want to stand in line for two hours to have her sign my book. I went back downstairs and another person in line went up in my place. The line was still to the back of the store. Crazy. Not crazy like “why would anyone want to see her?” but crazy like “an awful lot of people really want to see her!” Erin came down soon after I did, and we escaped to the fresh cool evening air. Ah.

Dooce was entertaining, and the things she read were amusing. Erin and I both said her accent was much more southern than we expected, but because she occasionally posts videos on her blog, it wasn’t a complete surprise. She said lots of girly-parts words. She’s tall. She apologized for her hair, saying she got a little carried away with the curling iron—but it was cute and she knew it.

I’m glad we went, but big crowds at these events are always frustrating to me because I hate waiting in those horrific lines. At the same time, not getting my book signed means I don’t actually have to speak to the author. I’m never quite sure what to say to them when it’s my turn. “Hi. I like your book.” Memorable.

Also, for the author’s sake I always hope for a good turnout. I can’t imagine what it must feel like if no one shows, and you know that’s gotta happen sometimes.