excuse me as i have a complete, goony, teenie moment: WE SAW NICK TODAY!
wouldn't say 'met', really too strong a word. ;-) although i did talk to him for the first time in my life only to have him not really respond. *sigh* luckily alot of other people came up so i just blended back into the background. i so don't need to be on the boy's radar screen. nope!
actually, he kept looking over at my friends and i because none of us wanted a picture with him. it was like he was checking us out and making sure that we weren't going to come up, like 'are you sure?', 'now's your chance'.
no, that's okay. i really don't need to see myself in the same frame as him. his beauty -- even with the entirely too short hair! -- is too overwhelming.
the whole 24 hour stalking adventure started out pretty well. when he was on z100 yesterday to premiere the new single, we were on our way up from philadelphia and literally on the dividing line between the philly 100.3 and nyc 100.3 stations. we heard every 5th word the boy said! it was completely frustrating! i had the bright idea that if we called the station from the cell phone, the live feed might be the hold music.
so we called and called and called and after about 5 minutes, it rang. we decided we'd just request that they play 'help me' again in 15 minutes when we were in range and they ended up putting us on air. i totally cracked the woman screening the calls up because i started by explaining 'we are in a call on the nj turnpike halfway between philly and nyc and we hear every 5th word nick is saying, so can you play 'help me' again in 15 minutes when we're in range?"
but because 1) we couldn't hear what was happening on the radio and 2) i was on a crappy cell phone in a moving car on the nj turnpike, i didn't know if i was talking to nick or not. all night we engaged in 'revisionist history' and i deluded myself that i did talk to him at some point! but when i saw him today, i asked if he was still in the studio when we called in. he said he didn't remember. dork! either you do or don't. it wasn't that long ago and you aren't that blond! *sticks out tongue*
when we finally got to nyc, we checked into the hotel (were making a whole trip of it and had Rent tickets for the next afternoon) and ran down to the Hudson Theatre to see if the awards were that night (they weren't, they were in the afternoon) and then went to dinner. walked by the hotel and kinda hung out for a bit, but there was no movement, so we figured he was out for the night. (according to fans we met the next day, he was in on Friday night and didn't go out. hmmm...)
saturday, we got up, checked out of the hotel and bought breakfast we could eat while hanging out across from the hotel (it borders the park, so it was nice to sit there in the shade and have a muffin). as we approach the hotel though, we see some fans hanging out near a black SUV, i look over and whisper, 'that's tony.' sure enough, tony was going somewhere, but he was alone. hmmm... now comes the quandry. did nick already leave? was tony going to get breakfast and coming back? well, we're not there for 20 minutes (beth hadn't even finished her breakfast!) when we see movement across the street.
fans are talking to 2 guys in bright yellow shirts. i know that one, don't i? okay, his hair is way too short but i know those mannerism. 'it's him,' i state and suddenly i am at the corner and walking across the street. what? I had friends? where? ;-) i get a little self-absorbed and single-minded when my pop star is in the same space as me!
when we saw him i just wanted to watch him, not really interact with him. but i was forced to almost because there were only a few women there and he looked over to me when he stopped signing and posing for autographs and it was like 'you're on!' i didn't want to be rude and just start taking his picture! <go here for pics>
no deep meaningful conversation and what i said kind of fell flat (see above), but that's okay. because i was standing in front of him and he was listening to me. wow. his eyes are really blue and he'd shave that morning but it was hot and there was sweat on his upper lip. (the things i remember are strange!)
but i realized afterwords that he was kind of stalling so the other fans could get there. he's walked up to the hotel from down the street, had the new haircut and people didn't notice him at first. there were only a couple of women by the entrance, so he could have just waved and gone up, but he didn't. he stopped and talked. and i really believe he lingered to make sure everyone got across the busy street safely.
my friends told me later that he so knew i was coming over to him, he watched me crossing the street, kind of noted where i was (I stopped by the transhcan on the corner to finish my coffee and throw away the cup!).
when we were all there and he was signing things, he kept scanning the crowd, making eye contact and... it's hard to describe, kind of making sure that everyone got something. at one point it was funny, kinda like 'meet nick carter assembly line' - one woman would go up and photo would be snapped, she'd walk away and he'd stand there with his hand by his side and kind of motion another one over. pose. snap.
there was an article somewhere recently that talked about the women waiting for him outside the hotel and what happened when he came up. they described it as a "joyless giving of joy" which i think is pretty apt. at least the first time we saw him. don't get me wrong, he was sweet and nice and all that... but you could tell he was tired or something (I have to wonder now if he'd read the NY Times article - a girl can dream that he reads the newspaper with breakfast!!! ;-). even so, he didn't just slip inside the hotel. he stayed for a few minutes each time and was just nice to everyone. i think he understands what that means to the fans.
he went back to the hotel after making the eternal promise of 'i'll be right back.' what the hell? why does anyone continue to believe any of them?
well, hope does spring eternal... so we went back across the street to wait and dissect every moment of the meeting and encounter. i swear this stuff is such a rush! "he was right there!" "he talked to me!" "i shared his air!" i almost like just watching all the other fans afterwords!
after about another hour, tony comes back and then a bit later there is more movement. his car is waved over and bags are brought out. he was waiting in the lobby for everything to be ready, i think. i really don't think he was actively checking out of anything... just sitting there kind of watching all of us as cued up and waited for him to come out.
what an ego boost for the boy.
he did come out and we all got more pictures. there was more 'assembly line picture taking' and i thought to ask him to show his tattoo again (he'd done so the first time, but it was up near the doors and i knew we didn't get a good picture). of course, by the time he lifted up his sleeve, there were a bunch of women in front of me and i didn't get a picture of it. but i did get to see it up close and i don't entirely hate it anymore.
okay, that might be because he was RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! (okay, another teenie moment, sorry!)
and that was it. all stalking complete in under 2 hours, giving us plenty of time to hail a cab and get back down to time square to see joey in 'Rent'.
He's
sooo pretty, even with the short hair!
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 Hey, you're taking my picture! |
 Anyone know who the friend is? Nick hugged him when he left, it was adorable! |
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 Semi-getto hand motion going on there. The sharpie really destroys the indie cred, man! |
No, not me or
anyone I know. But this is a great fan picture.
If it's you and you want a copy, just email me. And congratulations!
Note about the pictures: I'm not one of those fans that feels the need to retain credit for random shots. I don't tag over their faces or anything. If you would like to use anything, just email me, okay?
the obsession begins... Philadelphia, PA (07.03.01) Hotel
concert
reviews... Cincinnati, OH (08.25.01)
East Rutherford, NJ (09.06.01) |East
Rutherford, NJ (09.07.01)
Las Vegas (10.19.01)
misc.
sightings... Nick at MTV Rock&Jock Game (02.08.02)
Nick in NYC (08.16.02)
updated: 08.17.02
