First off, I owe a ton of thanks to moxie, susan, EH, sora, and TLK for chaffeuring me around Scranton, picking me up each morning from my hotel and taking me back at night, being great pals, and even helping me sneak into one of the corporate events (more on that later.) Also, thanks to macolly and IHT for being my non-corporate pass buddies.

Some of my stories may sound repetitive because they happened to others as well…

The coolest thing happened very early on the first day. We got on the elevator and who is there but Craig Robinson. I had just said “Dinkin Flicka” before the elevators opened, and susan repeated it when we got inside and then Craig, with great excitement said, “Dinkin Flicka!” Awesome.

The first night was a bit of a bummer because everyone went to the Casino Event and there was no separate major event going on for the non-corporate people. Therefore, I just basically hung out at the hotel and chatted up IHT.  There was one highlight, though. The following exchange happened when I visited (just to watch sports, because I don’t drink)

Drunk Lady: Do you work on the show?
Me: Uh, no.
Drunk Lady: (channeling Meredith at her creepiest) Well, you should.

We did visit Poor Richard’s, which was a bit of a disappointment to be honest.

Day two was pretty cool. We had lunch at Cooper’s and then hit the Cast Q&A. Before the Q&A they showed a blooper reel that was completely awesome (especially the Alfredo’s pizza scene). Then the Q&A was outstanding. We really got some good info out of it. Ed was clearly the star and relishing his moment in the spotlight. He was so cheerful and funny throughout the whole convention and it was really infectious. Craig did a joke where he kept coming up with reasons to kiss Mindy, but I think he went to the well one time too many. (That is NOT a euphemism.)

Later that night was the lookalike contest. The contest was fun, and the Michael, Jim, Dwight lookalikes were very good. Leslie, Phyllis, and Andy were judges and they gave the lookalikes audition style questions. Some of the responses were pretty bad and I wondered if the people had even seen the show. Also, Angela and Ed came on stage to judge their own lookalikes, with Angela calling the contestants “skanky”.

After that, the Scrantones played and that was a blast because cast members took turns performing with them. Best of all was Kate Flannery who absolutely rocked “Hit Me With Your Best Show”. I also saw Ed Helms and Creed perform and they were both awesome.

Day 3 started early for the bloggers breakfast, which was a total dud. However, the writers Q&A followed that and that was awesome for so many reasons. First of all, some totally awesome person (who will remain nameless because I don’t want to get her in trouble) managed to finagle me a leftover corporate pass that allowed me to sit up front at the Q&A and also go to the follow up cocktail party.

The Q&A was definitely informative and they revealed a ton of information about the writing process. I got the impression that they were as excited to be in Scranton as we were. After the Q&A, we got to see a sneak preview of the 1st half of Thursday’s episode. I won’t reveal any spoilers, but it looks like a great episode. Can’t wait to see what happenes in the 2nd half.

After that was the final cocktail party, where I was able to meet and talk to Jen Celotta, Greg Daniels, and Gene and Lee. This was the high point of the convention (other than the elevator ride with Craig) It felt surreal when I was sitting there thinking, “I am talking to Greg Daniels!”.

People started departing at this point, but that night Moxie, sora, and I went to see Dan in Real Life, which was really good.

Then it was time to say goodbye and I cried like Dwight in the Coup. And Susan said, “Hug it out, bitch”. Okay, that didn’t happen, but she did say many mean things to me throughout the weekend. At least she kept the physical abuse to a minimum.

So overall it was a blast and I can’t wait to go again. I’ll definitely be getting a Corporate Pass, too.

More clips after the jump.

WARNING: There was a “WOO” screamer sitting right behind me, so you may want to monitor your speaker volume.

 http://unwritten007.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/saturday-day-two-of-the-non-stop-party/

Dammit. Where are the surly people? Where are the divas for celebrities and over-inflated egos of the brilliant writers? How is it possible that these people are so damn gracious, and in some cases, seem almost as happy to see us as we are to see them??? It’s just not right. But man is it thrilling.

I’ll let you know now that this is going to be another long one. (TWSS!) But I’m doing this just as much (if not more!) for me than you – I don’t want to forget this weekend. When I’m in a nursing home in a couple of years, I can have the lanky nurse’s aide pull up the blog and read it back to me after he gives me a sponge bath. This is for posterity, peeps. If it makes you happy to read all my gibber, than that’s just icing on the cake.

Yesterday was a stupendous day. I said I could go home and felt like I’d done something wonderful. Then today came, and it’s like I must have cashed my lifetime advancement of karma points to have the opportunities I’ve had. I have never had the luck of being in the right place at the right time as much as these last few days. I’m sure Susanita and EH and Sora and Larry must all have stashes of karma in stores that they traded in as well.

Started the day by staying in to blog Friday and relax. Sora – our wandering cutie – went out in the rain to catch the ribbon-cutting and wonder around. She was a doll texting me updates on what was going on down there and who was doing what. She was the first to see Andy Buckley in person, and as I recall, her exact word was “Yummy.” (And boy was she correct!!)

We decided to ditch the autograph session and instead go to Cooper’s for lunch. I know some people might have thought we were crazy for missing that opportunity, but I’ll try to explain my reasoning. There was a vibe of crazy running through some of the convention attendees. By that I mean that I really feel like they were there just for the pretty (the celebrities) and not because they had an appreciation for what The Office is all about. (I know I’m sounding like an elitist snob with this, but so be it. I guess I am an Office Elitist and I wear the title proudly.) These are the people that rushed the actors at Casino Night even though they were asked not too. Standing in line like cattle to get a signature like it was a prize just didn’t appeal to me. Especially when the alternative this weekend was random meetings in person, where you spent a moment or two talking to them like they were people. I just didn’t want to be “that person”. (Disclaimer: This is just MY opinion, and I don’t mean to offend anyone who was here and took the time to get the autographs because it meant something to them.) I really only ended up talking to two of the actors because of it, but I’m totally fine about that. That was the trade-off I was willing to make.

Anywhoo – Cooper’s is like a big fun house. The decor is almost impossible to describe, but imagine a maritime museum decorated with pop culture references. There’s a whole corner of a room decorated with game boxes from the 60s and 70s. I nearly squeed when I saw they had the original boxes from What Shall I Be? and What Shall I Wear? on the wall. Those two games are partly responsible for who I am today.

Micro-review on Cooper’s: Great visual experience, food surprisingly mediocre, prices too high for the quality. If I lived in Scranton I don’t think I’d find myself there too often.

After lunch we jogged back to the hotels to dress up for the cast Q&A and reception afterwards. Here’s where we had our next celebrity encounter: Andy Buckley – aka David Wallace. We saw him in the lobby as we were getting off the elevator, and there were only about four or five people around him so we went over.

I know it’s already been mentioned by others, but he clearly seemed delighted (and a little surprised) over his popularity given how little screen time he’s had. He seemed shocked when we told him about his fan base at MTT – especially when we told him how excited we got to find out he was going to be at the convention.

Very personable, and very much like the guy you see on screen. I should have asked him how much of a hoops fan he really was. He even remembered us when he saw us at the Q&A – he as walking off the stage he shouted “you guys got good seats!” I definitely hope we run into him tomorrow so I can ask him if he felt the love of all his fans after his reception at the Q&A. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Best quote from him?

Susanita says (loud enough for him to hear): They need to make an episode dedicated to David Wallace.

Andy: Make it three!

I also heard him telling people to start that letter writing campaign to keep David Wallace on the show.

Then there was the Cast Q&A. I earned my name when we arrived at the location and found a huge line of people already formed. Being a corporate ticket holder, I was concerned when I saw the line and didn’t see a separate line for us. We had been promised the best seating (we certainly paid for the privilege), and given the way the night before had gone down – I was concerned things were going to end up screwed up.

So I found someone to ask about where corporate people were to go, and at first I was told we just needed to get in line and it would be sorted out inside. I surprised even myself by rejecting their answer. I was polite but firm in that this was just not acceptable. Amazing how people respect you when you act like you’re someone important. Anyway, as they were inside trying to figure out how to appease me and my entourage – a few of the people at the front of the line were grumbling. Understand that these people were NOT corporate ticket holders, and so where they were sitting and where we were sitting did not affect each other.

I was not trying to have us cut in line – that’s not what this was about – it was about being lost in the crowd when the powers that be got overwhelmed by the number of people. These weren’t professional organizers, these were volunteers. And it was easy to see how this could easily go into chaos. Anyway, it ended not mattering because they opened the doors before they could decide what to do with us anyway. That’s how we ended up front row center. I wish I could tell you that I feel some guilt if this meant I had pushed ahead of other corporate people – but I really can’t. Because honestly, this was what I was there for, and if I’m going to hell for being a bad person, then this was worth the price.

The place was packed – an averaged sized gymnasium with an estimated attendance of 3500 people. We saw a blooper tape at first and then the cast came out. I hope that blooper tape makes it to the DVD because it was dawesome.

It was so much fun to see the cast lined up across the stage like that – they took turns answering questions and they played off each other so well. It was evident that they were having a blast, and as they commented through out the presentation – how awed they were by just being a part of this. Angela said it best in that no matter what they do after The Office, this is always something they’ll be proud to have been a part of.

Without a doubt, Ed Helms stole the show. I’ve loved him since Daily Show days – but in person, he is charm personified. Funny and gracious and so clearly delighted to be a part of the phenomena, he wowed everyone. Sorry JK, but even though I’ll be a Hussy until the day I die – I did not feel feel your absence because Ed was AMAZING! [/Kelly] Mark my words, Ed Helms is the new John Krasinski.

Running jokes during the session included Ed’s “Root-ta-doot-doot-do” and Craig Robinson feeling the need to kiss Mindy Kaling on the flimsiest of excuses. We found out that most of Andy Bernard’s catchphrases/catch-noises are really just Ed Helms-isms that he brings to the character. Like he wasn’t adorable enough already. Craig’s kissing was cute at first, but toward the end even Mindy looked like she wanted to say “enough already!”

I know other people have commented on what was said, and I know that susanita has an awesome audio recording of it, so I’m not going to delve into it here. Just go listen to it for yourselves.

Our one true Stalker Alert moment was after the session. Larry had managed to get on the other side of the barrier as it ended, and we begged/threatened him until he went over to the tables and brought back the water bottles the cast had been drinking from. (They were just left behind and none of the staff blinked an eye when Larry did it.)

So I am now in possession of one of the water bottles Greg Daniels drank from. It’s still half full, and I will never open it, but there it is. The centerpiece of my GD shrine. And I make no apologies for my delight in having it. Just a message to Greg though: Don’t worry, I won’t make this a habit. Honest.

We decided to grab soup at Cooper’s before going to the reception, but it was a disaster in that they couldn’t bring out our simple order quick enough, despite our initial request that we needed to be served quickly. We ended up boxing up half our food because we were late for the reception.

Turned out it didn’t matter because the cast was not even there yet. I talked to some volunteers while we waited, and they were so cute. Again, more nice Scranton people – what is UP with that???

At one point Angela was walking past me (being lead upstairs to judge the costume competition) and she saw me. I offered my hand and she took it and said “I saw you in the front row!” So that was my Angela moment.

What happened next could never have been predicted in a million years. Never.

The writers appeared, and the first person I saw was Greg Daniels. I just sort of watched him from where we sat, and hoped maybe to get a photo later when the crowd thinned. Then Michael Schur appears standing right next to us and we started talking to him.

Greatest thing about that? We introduced Mike to MTT. Seriously. I wish I could have taped his conversation. We were talking about on line things (since that’s how we met, etc) and he said “Television Without Pity is so mean!!” We told him that’s why we were all at MTT now. He said he likes to go on line to see what the fans really think about the show, and he promised he’d look us up. I really think he will.

Also: Swedge’s name came up, and he recognized it (from his postings over at TWoP). Michael Schur knew of Swedge. I was so proud of Swedge at that moment – even if Michael’s comment about him was “He can be harsh!”

Later, Greg was with TLK and Kari, so I went over. I got to talk to him for about 5 minutes, and he was just so classy. So natural, so sincerely interested in what we thought of the show and its direction. A truly wonderful guy. I asked if he was nervous at the Q&A because at times he looked it. He replied that he was more overwhelmed – how it all started when he wrote down the name Dunder Mifflin and thought it was a funny name for a company – to all this and all these people.

I pointed out how he’s ultimately responsible not only for the convention existing, but we would have never met each other (gesturing to all the MTT’ers gathered around him to get tidbits of his wisdom), and he said he had really hoped that the internet would play a part in bring people together over The Office.

I had my pic taken with him – the only office person I’ve asked. I just couldn’t resist. As I was standing there talking to him, Michael Schur came up behind us and shoved his notebook and pen at Greg at him and asked for an autograph. Without even thinking I playfully pushed Michael away and told him he had to wait his turn in line. They actually laughed at this, and the craziness is just hitting me now. I joked with Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. No, you don’t understand – I joked with Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. Like they were two usual guys (think Swedge and Larry) that I automatically trade cracks with. WTF was I thinking? Obviously I wasn’t. But then again, maybe this whole weekend just proves to me that thinking is overrated. Colbert is (once again) right – it’s a good idea to just go with your gut.

But much like the start of an academy award speech, I just need to add again how much of this has all be made possible by Susanita and EH and Sorano (and yes, even you Larry!) – because I’ve done nothing but laugh in their presence, and they’ve done nothing but make me feel really good about myself. We were talking tonight about how strange it is that we are so comfortable together – we really have hit it off so well. I’m glad we’ll be able to keep chatting together at MTT without missing a beat, but I’m really going to miss them being close at hand like this. They’re fabulous people, and it only makes me want to try and plan some sort of MTT event were more of us could get together and geek out over the Office and other things.

But I’m driving off on a tangent here, aren’t I? After my Greg Daniels Lovefest (did I mention that I had my arm around him? That he looked directly into my eyes when he talked to me like he really listening? He clearly didn’t feel like he was in his element playing the celebrity, but he was so gracious and in some ways GRATEFUL to us for supporting the show that I wanted to say “But don’t you know who you ARE?”) I talked to a few more writers.

(Oh! I almost forgot to add that I gave him my Colbert IS Gould key chain and when he read it he smiled and said “That would be interesting.” Then he asked if I knew of Jon Oliver and when I said yes he suggested he’d like to use him too. So I joked about him swiping all the Daily Show people. Since it was my key chain, on the flip side was my Squirrel McPants logo. I didn’t say anything about it, and unless he googles it he won’t know what it is – but have to admit I’m more than a little pleased that I know first hand that Greg has seen the name Squirrel McPants. Susanita ended up giving Jen Celotta her colbert/squirrel key chain and when Jen saw the back she squealed “Squirrel McPants??” and we told her not to ask. I just hope one of those key chains ends up on the writer’s board.)

Next were two of the newer writers, Justin Spitzer and Ryan Koh. You’d recognize Justin as Meredith’s doctor – the one with the immortal line “So that’s where her uterus went?” Ryan, working the cool and trendy glasses reminded me so much of Masi Oka. They really seemed to be enjoying the night.

We talked to Jen Celotta – she laughed when I told her how impressed I was that she’d worked on Greg the Bunny! When Sora brought up her playing Jim’s sister on the show she said she wants to play a Shrute but they won’t let her.

When we brought up the “who was there first” question, she agreed that she didn’t do enough research in the Pam and Jim time line, (HUGE props for her “Yeah, I might have made a mistake there” face. Adorable.) I asked about the writer’s strike and she said there were a total of 5 unaired episodes on paper – up to the Christmas episode. We brought up the Christmas card and if it would ever make a reappearance and she said there was a scene written/discussed where Pam asked about the Christmas card and he said he’d never, never tell her what he wrote. I suggested she should ask again because there nothing Jim would deny her these days.

The evening was completed with a Gene Stupnitsky sighting and a chance to talk to Mari Potis again – she is the Chamber of Commerce rep who works with supplying the show with all its Scranton-related needs. She was just a doll, and so nice to me given how important she is.

I think I will end Saturday on that note. Sorry I’ve talked/written your ear/eyes off, but the memorable moments were literally non-stop. It was a good day.

 http://unwritten007.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/friday-day-one-of-the-non-stop-party/

It’s already been mentioned but I just have to say it again – this convention has already exceeded my expectations. There is an incredible vibe of familiarity here – and I’m not sure I’ve ever really witnessed such a thing before. EVERYONE – and I mean EVERYONE – has been sooooo frakkin’ nice you almost have to wonder if they put Prozac in the water here. It is so strange that even I’m being nice to random people – actually initiating conversation with random people I see – and I *hate* people. It’s like Bizarro World for me. But I have to admit it’s been fun.

In many ways what’s making this convention exceptional is hanging out with my core Dork Squad – larry, sorano, susanita, and EverybodyHurts. It has truly felt like this is our own private party, despite the number of people here. I’ve also had a chance to meet So Tawdry and McGigi ( what cuties! Both of them!) as well as meet a few new people. I’m not sure I’m going home.

But enough on that – you want the dirt, right? Well, here’s my experiences:

First celebrity sighting was Phyllis and Leslie in the hallway of the Radish Inn as I was taking my luggage up to my room. Strange thing was that when I first saw them, my reaction was “Oh, there’s Phyllis,” – in such a comfortable way as if I had seen a friend or family member. Then it hit me “No, that PHYLLIS! I don’t really know her in real life!!” It was freaking and familiar to see them standing there all at the same time.

The next sighting was Craig Robinson. We had dawdled in our hotel room for a while before the opening reception, and as we were joking in the hallway waiting for our elevator, larry said “Dinkin Flicka” as a response to something silly susanita and I were doing. Soon as he said that, the elevator doors open and a handful of people are already in the elevator – one of them being none other than Craig Robinson. We all grinned like idiots to ourselves, and then susanita (I think) finally said out loud “Dinkin Flicka” – and Craig’s face just lit up. He asked how we were doing, and then I remembered it was his birthday so I wished him a happy birthday. He said thanks, and then just as the doors opened to the lobby, I looked back at him and said something like ‘Yeah, and isn’t scary that I know it’s your birthday?” (More with the intonation that I was a huge dork and not a creepy stalker!)

The reception was the start of a realization for me: People can get stupid around celebrities. Craig, Angela, Creed, Oscar, and Brian were at the reception, and the hordes of people flocking around them made me want to run the other way. What do people think they are going to get from a 3 second interaction in such a mob?? So we eventually went into the bar, where we met I_Heart_Toby and her sweet mom. We sat at high table near the doors, and after a little while, who comes up to the table behind ours but Kent Zbornak. I had seen a photo or two of him before, and that with his Dunder Mifflin jacket and confirmation from Sorano – we sat around for a few minutes whispering (OMG, that’s Kent!) The beauty was that since he wasn’t an on-air star, he didn’t have a crazy crowd around him. And after a few minutes (and the realization of when in the hell would I ever get a chance to do this again in my lifetime??) I turned around and approached him.

I asked him for a photo (long story that will become apparent at a suitable time) – and he was just wonderful. After the photo he made the mistake of asking me (of ALL people!) “So what do you think about Jim and Pam this season?” Poor guy never stood a chance.

I suppose if I’d really been able to process who I was talking to, I would have been unable to form words. Fortunately (for whom is uncertain at this juncture!) I just naturally slipped into what I call MTT Jam Mode and babbled away. I told him I thought they were doing it right, and that less is certainly more. I said something about Jim and Pam being such private people that we aren’t going to see a lot of overt PDA stuff, and that was totally cool. It’s good to be able to imagine for ourselves what’s happening. Blah, blah, blah – go back and read my posts, and I’m pretty sure I said it to Kent.

Much more important were the things he said to me – he said that “a character” was coming back next episode and there was going to be some stress on the Jim/Pam front. I told him that wasn’t even an issue, because they would have to do a hell of a lot of good writing to get me to believe that these two aren’t meant to be together, not after all they have done to write them as they are. I also said that they had a wonderful opportunity to be the first television show to actually show a realistic HAPPY couple, and that is a something they shouldn’t pass up. Then I went on about how it’s normal for them to have stress, (did I mention how much I talked?) – and basically he agreed with me.

He talked about how much effort is put into the stories – first the write the story line, then they go back and add the jokes, then they look at from the point of it being a “documentary” and figure out how it should be shot to look that way, and then they move into interpretation of each scene and line. He said they are aware of different levels to the scenes. I told him that we (at MTT) do much the same dissection, only it’s after the episode airs and we do it for free. Case in point was the beds pushed together snippet in Money – he said that was a deliberate little tidbit, but you had to be watching really closely to get it. I assured him we watch very closely.

I did ask him about the Pam/Jim continuity error. He said (and maybe this is the party line, or maybe it’s the truth, I don’t know – ) that they’ve always believed Pam was there first. I said “So this means it was Jim’s first week at Dunder Mifflin when he asked her out to Cugino’s and then found out about Roy.” He nodded his head and said yes. So I guess we are going with that story. Heaven help him if we get another switch down the line.

The Casino Night adventure was reasonably well done – though I think they should have sold about half as many corporate tickets than they did. Also, I truly believe you should have had to take some sort of test to even be able to buy the damn ticket. Something that proved not only your understanding of the show, but demonstrate your ability to follow simple directions, act like a considerate human being, and generally know how to behave in polite society. Oh, and know that the actors are people, too.

The biggest thing they stressed to us when we got on the bus to go to the casino was NO PHOTOS. That apparently is a casino house rule. In addition we were asked to NOT ask the cast for autographs, as this was a night just to mingle, have fun – and for them NOT to be mobbed. Well, everything was nice until the cast actually show up, and then people (some people) completely disregarded everything they were told and out come the cameras. I didn’t get to a chance to talk to Ed, but that’s probably because the poor guy was trapped taking photo after photo with people. Of course he was incredibly gracious, but I felt so angry at these people for doing the very thing they were asked NOT to do. And the staff at the casino clearly wasn’t enforcing the rules, which only made it worse.

I did sit at the poker table next to the one Angela, Ed, and Craig were at for a little while, and actually talked to Craig at least twice while we were there. I’m sure he remembered us from the elevator encounter, and at the end of the night he came over to us and (clearly drunk!) said he did his best tonight, whatever that means. I know he seemed to try his best when taking photos with the busty ladies. He’s actually quite a big guy – and the coolest brown suede jacket on, which I got a chance to feel under the disguise of telling him I liked it. Not that he was sober enough to notice.

I talked briefly to Angela, but like every other encounter last night – I just sorta walked into it. I was talking to EH and susanita, and I turned around to look back at Ed again. Well, when I turned around, who was right next to me but Ms. Kinsey? God, she so tiny. “Fancy meeting you here” my dorky self said, and she chatted to us briefly. Then she noticed th badges I was wearing and asked where we got them, and susanita proudly told her we’d made them. Then susanita and EH gave her badges (and she asked for an extra beesly/halpert 08 to give to Jenna – which totally made susanita’s LIFE) and I suggested that maybe she should have just keep walking past us. The only downside to this interaction was the crush of people around us, and the fact that band was really too loud for any type of conversation.

I’m pretty sure that Kent was stalking me that evening, because every time I turned around, he was nearby. Talking to other people, of course, and not usually looking in my direction, but I could tell he was following me. I know stalking. At one point EH and I went outside to get some air and he was talking to some guy out there (actually the guy was talking to him about the film industry in Scranton or something – and I felt bad for how trapped Kent seemed but was so polite nonetheless.). How Kent knew I was going outside at that point amazes me. He’s just that good.

Oh, and I had the surreal experience of having not one, but TWO people with corporate tickets looking for me last night. Two fanfic fans. They were both super sweet, and I hope I run into them again over the course of the weekend, but it was just so weird to me. One of them even took a picture with me, (while Kent watched!) and it was clear this was some sort of big thing to her. I am not saying that to imply that she was stupid – it’s just that I had no idea people really could give that much of a crap about what I’ve written.  Oh, and what’s even crazier?  Tanster (of Office Tally fame) was asked about my whereabouts last night.  Tanster!  On the Office celebrity hierarchy she’s a good 10 slots higher than me.  And she’s directing fans to me.  It’s a fucked up world, people.  (And it was great to finally meet Tanster!!!)

But the strangest event of the evening did not occur until we were leaving the casino. We were on our away out the door when I became aware of a older, dark-haired woman who was walking alongside us, her camera phone open. It looked like it was pointed at us, but I didn’t know her so I assumed either she was just texting someone or taking a picture of something else. Well, I’m walking out the door when she jumps in front of me and says:

“Wait – I need to take a picture to prove I saw you.”

Then she snaps a photo with her camera phone and darts back into the building. No indication who she was, nothing. I had my MTT Moxie badge, so I assumed I was who she thought I was, but I guess I’ll never know. Maybe I have my own stalker now.

I’m just glad sora, EH, and susanita were to there to witness it, because it was without a doubt, the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me. And I’ve lead a pretty strange life. Oh, and I hope we run into the Oompa Loompa twins again at some point over the course of this weekend, so I can get a picture. McGigi will know what I’m talking about. We shared a deep bonding “what the FUCK was that?” moment over it. (Did I mention what a cutie she is?)

We ended the evening at Chick’s Diner – I’d gone the whole day on (as I posted earlier) 1 can of red bull, 6 pretzel sticks with cheese, and 4 jumbo cocktail shrimp. To me, going to Chick’s was a given since it was a “landmark” – Jim and Pam went there for breakfast toward the end of Squirrel McPants. Given that it was never actually mentioned in the show mean that it was NOT crowded, and that was a relief. I’m really happy to be where ever the crowds AREN’T. Again, ran into super friendly local people who didn’t sneer at us for being dorky Office fans. And they wished us a good weekend when we left. I think a letter to the newspaper is in the works when this is all done, complimenting the locals for their manners. Manners some of the Office visitors clearly left at home.

Okay, so today is rainy, which is a shame because the street fair is today. We’re probably going to miss most of that simply because we do want to make it Cooper’s, and it would be nice to just hang out together instead of fighting the crowds. The Cast Q&A is later today, and another VIP reception is afterwards. I brought a digital voice recorder to try and tape the Q&A. Susanita did as well, so hopefully between the two of us we’ll have a recording of that to share with you all.

We do wish you all could have made it this year. I’ve been picking up random things that I’ll sort out and send to those of you that couldn’t make it. Nothing too exciting, I’m afraid. Just little mementos to know we really have been thinking of you.

There really weren’t a lot of people around tonight, which I guess isn’t surprising given the fact that Casino Night was going on and the rain was not fun to be out in.  Boo to that!  Too bad the front desk told me that they’re expecting 50,000 people to be here this weekend…I find that hard to believe, but ok.

My two friends and I did happen to walk to the Radish Inn right when the cast was walking out to go to the casino, but we were too far away to get good pictures.  Sorry!  But all three of us got passes to go to the autograph sessions, so *fingers crossed* we’ll get some pix tomorrow afternoon!

Poor Richard’s is pretty great, and they are pretty serious about Halloween I’ve noticed; there are decorations everywhere in town!  And Alfredo’s is thisclose to Poor Richard’s, which was perfect…and the pizza isn’t hot garbage but is very good [/Jim].

We drove by Penn Paper, the intersection of Mulberry and Washington, Cooper’s, The Bog, Paper Magic, Farley’s and the pictures were terrible, so I’ll be going back to get better ones!

 Hope everyone is having fun and I want to see you all out and about tomorrow!