Author Event: Lemony Snicket!!

For me, "The Series of Unfortunate Events" were the books that you remember reading ravenouly as a child, getting them as soon as they came out and finishing in a day.  I had never heard of Lemony Snicket touring.  Of course he had to have at some point since there are signed books by him available.  Anyways, I was super duper excited yesterday.  I had gotten all 13 books in their first editions sent to me to get ready for the event.  Apparently, Mr. Snicket would only sign 2 books from the series per person, so I dragged my family along so that I could get all of my books signed.

This was the most famous author I'd ever seen, so I was curious about the turnout.  You had to get the bracelets at 5:30 when the event started at 7:00.  The store was also really odd in that every book that you didn't purchase at the store had to be stickered.  Oh, how I feel terrible for the person that had to do all 26 of mine (American and British editions).

7:00 rolls around and it was presentation time!  Adults had to stand in the back and children had to sit in the front.  It just turned out that I chose an area that needed to be kept clear to stand and was left to quickly snag a spot in the children's section.  Yes, I was the jerk that sat in the front row, completely towering over the kids behind me.  The one girl next to me told me that the grown-ups had to sit in the back.  Wow, did I feel old!  This was so odd for me because every other book signing I've been to, I've been the youngest there.

I think I need to find some friends my own age.

The presentation was on Lemony Snicket's new book, "Who Could That Be at this Hour?".  Somehow, I chose the worst possible seat in the one second I had to choose.  What are the odds?  The laptop with the presentation was not folded down so I got a great view of it's logo and about an inch of the projection screen.  Daniel Handler/Mr. Snicket was great.  He was enthusiastic with the audience, engaging them though he kinda had to keep them active as they were all kids with short attention spans.

Somebody asked me today if the guy was mean.  I don't know if I would say mean, but he is allowed to be pessimistic and very sarcastic since he never actually claims to be Lemony Snicket.  He simply says that he is just some handsome man that is on behalf of Lemony Snicket.  It was kinda cute that the kids were trying to figure out his identity.  This guy is hysterical.  I think the parents were laughing more than the kids.  Now, I'm intrigued to read his adult stuff.  I imagine that they are very witty and intelligent like he is.   

There weren't nearly as many people there as expected despite the fact that the same event in NYC sold out and people were turned away.  The whole "only 2 books" things got thrown out the door.  I got all of my books signed and was a happy camper:)  In the end, I didn't need my family to come at all, but it was cool to have them there.  Family, I hope you read this after all of the times you said "I
hope you appreciate your family."  Seriously, even Daniel Handler commented on how many times my parents said that line.

Here's him singing and playing accordian.  This is the kind of strange things that you will find at a Lemony Snicket book signing.
*If you want to see someone fall on her face, I managed to catch it.  Check it out on Youtube: