Dear Ellen: Kathy Griffin, My Other BFF

Dear Ellen, I'm so sorry I skipped out on last week's letter - it was just a terribly busy week!!  I'm writing this letter from the Barnes and Noble in Easton, PA, because my parents don't have wireless internet and I needed my internet fix!! Last Tues was completely insane because I was getting ready to leave SF to go home to PA for a visit because my sister graduated high school!  There was a ridiculous drama at the airport and basically an un-named airline (US Airways) wouldn't let me bring Harley on the plane, which caused me to miss my flight and have to fly the next day.  I meant to write on the plane but I ended up working on "full time job" work the whole flight and then my laptop battery died.  Ugh! ANYWAY, I have some AMAZING news to tell you!!!  I'm not sure if you guys are friends or not, but one of my ultimate dreams of dreams came true on June 1, 2010: THE DAY I MET KATHY GRIFFIN.   Not to be a debbie downer, but I don't like many people. I say that with a grain of salt.  No, really... there aren't many people celebrities who can genuinely make me laugh - and I respect those who can.  My very short list in no particular order: My friend who is an ice skater who I know on a personal level who I might tell you about sometime, Kathy Griffin, Bette Midler, Bea Arthur, Lily Tomlin and Amy Sedaris.  Oh, and you of course. Yes, I realize they're all women except one LOL, and I know they're all "gay friendly".  ...It may be coincidence (or not), or the simple fact that the fruit flies are the funniest, or it might just be my childhood giving me hints about my future, LOL!  But overall, these are the people I relate to, plain and simple. My favorite movies growing up were Beaches and Big Business, and I watched Golden Girls religiously with my dad on Saturdays.  I watched your show in my high school years and then I fell in love with Kathy and Amy in my late college years.  Since then I haven't really been able to move on, I'm stuck in the 90s and the people who I like now are the same people I've been following for years. Thinking back, I actually saw you perform at the State Theater in Easton, PA back in 2000.  That's how far back our friendship spans... pretty incredible, right? I know a lot of people don't like Kathy because she's so raw and uncut, but that is precisely why I love her so much and think she's so great!! I know you started your career off like that too, and so did Bette, Lily and Amy! (want to see my "shortlist" of people i like? click here. So yeah, Wednesday, June 1st was a pinnacle moment in my life - the day I met Kathy Griffin.  She announced a San Francisco book signing at Book Passage in the Ferry Building on Saturday, May 29th on Facebook.  I marked it down on my calendar and started counting down the days and hours until the big day.  Tuesday rolled around and I took a late lunch to go get in line at Book Passage before the big crowd arrived.  I was the first person there.  Then Havilah came to "take over" because I had to go back to work... I ran back over after work and the line was HUGE!  At the last minute I decided that this was my big chance to "woo" Kathy, so I put together a little goodie swag bag for her.  I gathered a bunch of stuff, all of my business cards, wrote her a letter and kept my paws crossed that she would accept it (she did, yay!). I'm so lucky my GF was there, she took a video of our reunion... check it out!! I was really excited because KATHY GRIFFIN LAUGHED AT ME not once, but TWO times!!! OMG, it was one of the most thrilling 45 seconds of my life.  For realz. Here's the pic that was taken of us!  I have to say, I was really happy that Kathy wasn't offended that I wanted to include you in the pic... I ran it though my mind over and over how I would ask and if I would even try asking... If it was my book signing I dont know how I would feel if someone brought a cutout face of someone else.  What would you think?  ...I'm glad I did it though, and I'm extra glad she thought it was funny, whew! So, that was last week's excitement.  No dogs since I've been traveling but I have some photo goodies to share with you next week when I get back to SF.  Looking back, I really surprised myself how starstruck I got with Kathy, but I tried to keep my cool and be normal.  I've met "famous" people before, but never anyone of Kathy's D-List calibur... I will never forget it! Hope you're having a great June so far! Grrl Power! Kira