(Editor's Note: We've turned over this post to Bonnie Yezukevich, a Boston social worker and Norton mom who spent last Saturday on the prowl -- autograph-wise -- for her fave teen band, the recently reunited New Kids On The Block. The following are excerpts).
My NKOTB Autograph Signing Timeline
By Bonnie Yezukevich
9 p.m. Friday -- I feed my 5-month-old son. Afterward, he spits up on my neck. Now I have to wash my hair. I put him to bed, take a shower and pack a bag of stuff I will need while waiting in line – umbrella, playing cards, snacks, breast pump.
9:45 -- I go to bed. My husband stays up to watch TV. He thinks I’m insane.
3 a.m. Saturday -- My alarm sounds. I spring out of bed.
3:05 -- Check weather. 100 percent chance of showers, rain, or thunderstorms. Tropical storm watch. Flash-flood warning. Hanna. These are not words I was hoping to read.
3:10 -- Pump breast milk.
3:14 -- My son starts crying. I wake up my husband to feed him.
3:20 -- I get dressed in the dark and gather up last- minute necessities. ... I get into my car in the garage. When I turn it on, “Summertime” is playing on KIIS108. It’s dark. It’s raining. A lot.
4:30 -- Pick up Laura at her apartment.
4:32 -- Pick up “crazy creek” chairs from friend’s porch on next street over. Curse that she forgot to leave us travel Scrabble and travel Yahtzee as she promised.
4:43 -- Pull up to Faneuil Hall on Surface Road near Orvis in North Market. See that line has already formed. Drop Laura off to go get in line. Laura meets Melissa, who is by herself, and right behind Laura (and me) in line. She is immediately adopted and becomes “one of us.”
4:46 -- Pull up to the entrance for the 75 State Street garage. Idle outside for 14 minutes until the next day’s rates begin at 5 a.m. to save $13. Laura calls to say we are not too far back in line and under an overhang. Sweet!
6:30 -- Go to a bathroom in the basement of Quincy Market to pump.
7 -- After having talked about it for two hours, Laura goes to get a caramel macchiato at Starbucks.
7:04 -- Melissa says, “I can’t believe I’m 34 and still doing this. By myself.” We understand.
7:21 -- A couple walks by with two small children in strollers and gets in line. We are all appalled, and a woman near us in line suggests calling DCF.
7:33 -- We show Melissa our pictures from meeting Joey (McIntyre) in March 2007 at his concert at the Paradise.
7:45 -- The line starts moving. Everyone stands quickly and anxiously gathers up their stuff to get ready to go in the store to buy the new NKOTB CD.
8:04 -- We buy our CDs. I buy the “regular” version, for $13.52, Laura buys the “deluxe” version for $15.62. Melissa buys two “deluxe” versions.
8:05 -- We walk toward the Clinton Street exit and receive our wristbands. We are told by the staff that they are going to cut it off after the autograph signing, but that we’ll be able to keep it as a souvenir.
8:07 -- Get in new line, this time across the street from where we were.
9:04 -- It starts to rain. We quickly open up our umbrellas and others run for cover.
9:45 -- I go again to the bathroom in the basement of Quincy Market to pump. I discover everything in my bag is soaked, including my extra pair of “dry” socks. I refresh my deodorant because the humidity is ridiculous.
9:56 People walking by us – tourists and residents of the North End – stop and ask us what we’re in line for. When we tell them, we get responses such as “Really?!” and “Good luck!”
10-11 -- Various friends call and text us to tease us. We call/text them to tease them back because they are haters.
11:57 -- A KIIS 108 employee begins meandering through the line taking pictures and handing out Mike and Ike’s. As he takes our picture, he says, “look out, Tyra, we got a coupla supermodels here.”
12:10 -- The line moves up. ... Laura and I see two women we work with. They ask us how to get a wristband. We explain to them how we got ours, but that we assume, at this hour, there aren’t any left. They go to find out.
12:38 -- A man and a woman with two children walk by. The woman is trying to explain to her 7-year-old daughter that, for us in line, meeting the New Kids on the Block will be a “blast from the past.” Her husband remarks, “New Kids on the Block? Aren’t they old enough to not be kids anymore.” We glare at him. He keeps walking.
12:51 -- The New Kids on the Block arrive in a dark blue van. They’re here! We run across the street to get ready to take pictures. The band’s entourage emerges first, including bodyguards who tell us not to move from where we are. Donnie comes out first, then Jon, then Joey and Danny. I don’t see Jordan. As soon as I see Joey, I regress to 12 years old and scream. Melissa and I are snapping pictures furiously, having no idea what we’re getting. There is deafening screaming for several seconds as they run in the building, waving to the crowd.
12:59 -- I open my CD. I’m so ready.
1:04 -- Melissa tests her gold pen.
1:06 -- It’s extremely humid and we’re sweating like pigs. We check our hair and make-up. It’s a lost cause.
1:19 -- We see the two women we know from work. They have wristbands, and given that they arrived 7.5 hours after us, this is a teensy disappointing. They are sweating profusely, and they report that they just ran around following the New Kids on the Block assistants to Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks to get drinks for the band.
1:09 _ I call my husband for the third time. He reassures me that my son is fine.
1:25 -- A woman walking by asks “what’s going on?” and someone tells her. She remarks, “but aren’t they not so ‘new’?”
1:28 -- A guy in line says for the 20th time, “I’m here for my sister, she lives in New York and she has two kids.” We still don’t believe him.
1:30 -- Two guys drive down Clinton Street singing “The Right Stuff” and honking. Some guys will do anything for attention. From 1,000 women.
1:57 -- We move forward 3 more steps. (I can’t make a lame ''Step By Step'' reference, but I believe it’s implied.)
1:58 -- A woman who just came from meeting them band announces to the rest of the line that although the band is not allowing pictures, Donnie hugged her! She flashes her autographed CD and tries to catch her breath.
2:25 -- We’re in! Laura, Melissa and I are the first three in our group of 10. We climb the stairs to the second floor. It’s air-conditioned!! We hand our cameras over so that we can have our pictures taken while we get autographs. The woman who takes my camera reminds me that there is no hugging, but adds that if I cry, they might hug me. As I listen to her, I watch my friend Laura hugging Donnie, and my stomach drops. I approach the table, and Donnie smiles warmly at me.
He takes my CD booklet, puts it on the table and extends his arms to hug me. He whispers, “how are ya? Thanks for comin’” and I nearly melt. It is very genuine and sweet. I apologize for being sweaty and tell him it’s been a long day. He says, “but it’s worth it right?” I assure him it is. I say “welcome home” and he says “thank you, it’s good to be here.”
Donnie and I make small talk about the Celtics (I am wearing a Celtics hat). I smile at Danny and Jon as they sign my CD, but I am preoccupied by Joey, who is fourth. He is wearing a shirt that matches his eyes perfectly. ... He looks up at me and my knees almost buckle. ... I take my CD booklet and say “thanks guys” before I turn to go. They both look up, but I am looking at Joey. He meets my eyes and says, “you’re welcome.” I melt AGAIN.
That is what I came for, what I got up at 3 in the morning for and waited almost 10 hours for. I clutch my CD booklet, trying not to smudge it. I retrieve my camera, and start down the stairs. Laura is a few steps ahead of me and turns around. “That was unbelievable,” she says. And she is right. We are giddy like 12-year-olds and have no regrets.
AJÁNLOM AZ OLDALT
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Hát elég viccesen mutat így lefotózva:)
Ha ő is ott lenne akkor nagyon bátor lennék, az tuti!
) de egy konkrét Donnie Danny buliba ahol tudni lehet hogy csak ARRÓL szól...na oda nem mennék
