Somewhere in our conversation I told him that he was great, again. When I get into super-babble mode, it seems my only adjectives are “great” and “awesome” and “funny.” I must sound so uncultured. Haha. Anyways, he talked about how the chilly night was nice to perform in, after having been in the South, where the humid heat just sucks out their energy (even though they didn’t fully realize it at the time). I ended up pointing out my dorky fan shirt (I forget why… it wasn’t completely random though) and he seemed to like it, asking if I made it and such. And the other thing we talked about--I brought up his tour journals, and that I really liked them, and thought they were funny… and he explained how his laptop has been crap (I think) and how he hadn’t been able to update as often as he’d like. And then he said, “and I saw this topic on the board the other day, and they think I was being mean? Was I being mean?” [note: He was referring to a recent post on the message board titled something like “Who is Peter M/BMG?”, where a few people were slightly offended by a comment Peter had made in his online tour journal.] I told him how I personally saw it as sarcastic humor, and he was like “yeah, I have to get on there and straighten things out.” He urged me to defend him (as I did), and seemed apologetic (and flustered) that people were offended. Honestly guys, if you think his journals are mean/judgmental, you wouldn’t think that if you met him. He is such a sweetheart and a half, and just has an active sense of humor. I was glad I had a good-sized conversation with him… somewhere in there Bob joined, but I forget exactly when or how. Like Bob later said, he was “riding on [my] coattails,” hahahaha… That’s not entirely true, but it is funny that he said that. Anyways, in an informal goodbye to Peter, I said that I was going to go see Kalen, and he nodded, and I left. I should have given him a “you rock, baby!” hug, but nope, it didn’t happen.

On to Kalen… being a Blue Man, he was surrounded by people. I waited patiently for my turn to “meet” him, and he glanced at me a few times, seeming to recognize me. This was confirmed when I said hi and gave him a hug (which didn’t surprise him, apparently, since he was quick to hug back), as he said “nice to see you again.” By the way, this is a big deal because it means Kalen finally remembers me… although it WAS really funny to have him say, all weirded out, “how do you know my name?” But alas, it seems those days are joyfully over. Anywho, I spent a lot of time with Kalen—he’s so friendly and talkative, and just keeps going, and going… Actually most of the people I talked to that night kept the conversation going for a long while. In most cases I moved on before they got sick of talking to me, because other people were waiting for some time (and I wanted to miss as few people as possible while still spending sufficient time with each). So let’s see, Kalen, Kalen, Kalen… I took a picture of him by himself, and looked to see if Bob or his friends were nearby to take a picture of Kalen and I, but they were still with Peter, so I said to Kalen “I don’t have anyone with me, so…” and he immediately took the camera from my hand, pulled me next to him, cocked his head towards mine (getting blue paint in my hair in the process), and raised the camera high above us to take the picture. We’re looking up, so I look real goofy. Anyways, that was really cute.

I think somewhere around this point I gave him another hug. I told him to come back to Boston, and then said something like “oh wait, I won’t be there, oh well” and I explained that I was going to college in Saratoga. He said that he’d be in Boston for about 10 days between the 2nd and 3rd legs, so I asked if the other 3 blue men were also staying on. The answer was yes—apparently most of the current performers would be back for the next round. I dorkily said something about how that was a good thing since the show is so awesome as it is. Feeling the draw of ignored people around me, I gave Kalen a last hug and said goodbye. I think he said that it was “nice to see [me] again,” again... I’m not sure, though. But I’m sure that Kalen gives good hugs. He hugs back rather nicely, in a way that makes you feel loved. lol.

OK, on to Matthew. I was determined to talk to this guy, so I waited in his vicinity for quite a while, as some guy (who was either his guest or another “real” guest—you could tell because “guest” wasn’t blacked out on his tag like it was for the CD-passes guests) tried to confused him with some coordination trick. It’s something about moving your thumbs and pointers together in a certain pattern. It didn’t look all that difficult but I wasn’t about to try it and make a big fool of myself, haha. Matthew seemed to catch on right away though, and if I’m not mistaken, he almost looked amused that the guy thought it would challenge him. Anyways, this guy (the guest) hung around Matthew for quite a while, so I grew more and more anxious for my turn… but politely waited all the same. Haha. Finally, when my turn arrived, I gave a happy “hi” and a hug. Matthew wasn’t as prepared as Kalen for that, but he didn’t seem to mind. As I’d been longing to, I proceeded in telling him the story about him… For those that didn’t read my first Complex journal: I saw Matthew in Vegas back in February 2001. He was awesome, and also gave me my first blue hug (which I asked for). I saw him at the Wallingford, CT Complex show, and backstage I asked him his name... he said Matthew, and I asked “from Vegas?” He said “no, New York” and so I was slightly disappointed and figured I must have ID'ed him wrong. But a few days later I read some article about the tour and realized he WAS Matthew Banks, which drove me nuts. OK, back to story proper. I told Matthew this little blurb, and the whole time he listened carefully, holding his face close, with those wonderful eyes full of something like confused anticipation. (I don't remember when I took a solo photo of him, so I'll stick it here--isn't he beautiful? heheheh.)

He explained that he started out in New York, which is why he said that. I babbled through the story, so I don’t know if he followed most of it, but towards the end I said something like “so I knew it was you, but didn’t, because you lied” and gave a mock peeved look. At that, he got maybe 3 or 4 inches from my face and said “what?!” with a small grin. He’s so adorable… I don’t know if he meant “what” in a mocking sense, or if he simply didn’t hear me (which is quite possible), but either way it was amusing. Everything about Matthew’s manner just tickled me. He has this cute little smile and chuckle combination, and when paired with his youthful playfulness and sparkling eyes… it’s just absolutely delightful. I enjoyed every second with him. ANYwho, I told him that he was my first blue hug, and he said “really?” with a little chuckle (almost a giggle, dareIsay), and then chuckled more when I said that the surrounding crowd had “awwwww”ed. I complimented him of course, saying something like “you have so much energy… I love the dancing.” Finally, I mentioned how sweet his tour journals were—I think I mangled what I really meant to say… because that cursed “funny” word crept in there, and that’s not really what I meant. I don’t know if the words “free spirit” found their way into my babbling, but they may have. So Matthew went on about how he loves to record happenings and such, but that he hadn’t done much over the summer because of the tour being so crazy… and that he’s just soaking it all in. Or something to that effect... I was too spaced to remember precisely, hehe. Then I got a picture with him, with Bob, who'd found his way over to us.

Bob went to get another picture, and showed Matthew the classic Blue Man “eyes” picture on the main screen of his phone (which he was using to snap photos)—-Matthew chuckled a bit and said, “that’s funny… I’m looking at my boss… hehe.” I think the whole college thing slipped into this conversation too. Eventually, I decided I shouldn’t hog this lovely Blue Man any longer, and made to back away. He shook my hand before I went to say goodbye… um, yay? heheheh. ;)

Next I made my way over to Tom, who was in the midst of mostly young (meaning elementary or middle school) girls wanting his autograph. The same “guest” guy from earlier tried the finger trick on Tom, and Tom seemed to catch on a lot slower than Matthew (no offense man, just an observation), but laughed at it. Out of the three blue men, Tom seemed the most “out of character” as far as how much he was laughing, and the way he was talking and gesturing. But it was cool. So when I got the chance, I walked up to him. He looked at my shirt, pointed, looked up at my face, and said, “are you that person?” I was confused at first because I’m spacey, and he must have noticed, so he repeated, “et-ern-al-ly-blue. Are you that person?” I said yes, and he immediately offered his hand and said “nice to meet you.” That didn’t weird me out too much, but then… After taking a picture, I said “I hear you are Joe’s favorite. Rotcav?” and he nodded and said “and yours is Bryce, right?” Me: *blink. blink.* “um… yeah…” *feeling rather silly* He said that he’d just talked to Bryce the night before. But goodness, how embarrassing… LOL! I mean, I knew the entire message board knew how much I love Bryce, but random Blue Men, too? I guess it’s because Tom is from Chicago (and was probably there when people said hi to Bryce “for me” incessantly, haha)… but still, I was like “oh no…” Still kinda funny, though. *blush* Tom seemed to want to spend some time with the young girls, so I made my exit by complimenting him and bidding him farewell.

I scanned the room and saw pretty much everyone (minus a good number of the guests) still hanging around. I noticed Bob and his friends standing with a band member, so I snuck into their little circle. The guy introduced himself to me as Mike, and asked my name too. I asked what he played, and he said he plays the bass. Very cool. Bob asked him about the lack of southern heat, and he elaborated much like Peter had, by saying that they all hadn’t quite realized how stifled they were until they were out of it. This issue was probably why the band was so hyper and loud that night. lol... On a sidenote, the guitarist to the far right (Dave S.) was absolutely crazy, jumping around constantly. Back to Mike… I ended up talking to him about college as well, and Bob asked about the 3rd leg (if he and the other bandies would be back). Seeing Mike’s backwards nametag, I asked to see his picture—it was normal. I told him that I loved Puck’s (the goofy thumbs-up pose), and he said that he’d wanted to do his over and do something like that, but the people wouldn’t let him. Hehe… I got a picture with him...

...and then Bob got a picture… Mike attempted to ruffle his hair a bit before the second picture, but I don’t think it really did much. It wasn’t going to get any more or less messy at that point. Haha! Sometime while we were talking, Matthew walked by, to leave. When he passed me, he threw both hands on my shoulder and said, all hyper-like, “good to see you!” (I think). He had a crazy glint in his wide eyes… But not crazy as in psycho—just crazy as in hyperactive child. Maybe he was excited to go shower and change. hehehe... After a time, I said my goodbyes to Mike, since I noticed Kalen making his way to the door.

I intercepted Kalen (after he gave a few people kiss autographs), by poking his arm and thus announcing my bothersome presence once again. I nicely demanded a final hug, and he obliged, again. This sparked another conversation which entailed my going off to college. He must have missed my obscure comment earlier, and so he asked where I lived… I think… but don’t completely trust my memory, haha. In parting, we had a final hug (what does that make it, 5?) and he wished me good luck at school. I wished him good luck on the 3rd leg, and said something like “I won’t be there, but I’ll be thinking about it” and he said, with a steady gaze, “you’ll be studying.” It was bordering on creepy, the way he said it. Not like scary-creepy, but it had an odd impact. It was like I was gently scolded by a Blue Man, and it struck me. So many people have tried to give me advice for college, and strangely enough this is the phrase (and look) I remember most. I’m beginning to believe Cyn's theory that Kalen has strange x-ray powers, and has the ability to string people into his following. Haha! So I’m going to be studying… yes… master… *snaps out of it* OK, then Kalen left me, sniff, sniff.

I hung around near Dave S. for a few minutes, but he was busy talking to friends so I didn’t bother him...
When I turned to look towards the door (probably to make sure no-one was leaving, haha), I saw Todd Waetzig there with a man and his daughter. Driven by my mission to get his picture, I went over and asked him for a photo, saying it was for a friend (which was true, by the way!). He looked downright puzzled, but didn’t run away or anything. The man standing with him offered to take a picture of me with Todd, but I said that I thought the friend wanted a picture of just Todd, first… When I aimed the camera, Todd posed...

Then the man took the camera and I got a picture with Todd. We were just standing normally, his arm around me, but the man was like, “oh, you have to get closer than that!” so we bumped our heads together and I gave a super-goofy, overdone smile.

After that we exchanged our names, and I tried to repeat his last name, Waetzig… he taught me, and I thought I had it… We talked about college a bit—same old, same old. Bob and company wandered over, and I tried to say Todd’s name, but I (obviously forgetting) said “Wat-zig.” (I knew it was wrong when I said it... I wasn't like, all cheerfully, "and this is Todd WATzig!") He corrected it, but didn’t seem to mind. He told us stories about how the audience members who introduce the band say it wrong even though it’s spelled phonetically (Wait-zig) on the paper. He said the funniest one had to be “Todd What-Is-This. Like they didn’t even try. What is this?” Hehe, poor Todd. We proceeded to talk about the southern heat (Todd had the funniest way to describe it—by acting it out, how he had to play the drums while drowning in sweat and all that good stuff). I think this is where Todd was about to leave, and I said to Bob “oh wait, do you want a picture?” Hearing this, Todd stopped and turned around, and posed for a picture. But then he didn’t leave… we ended up talking about the 3rd leg. Bob and I both mentioned how we weren’t sure if we’d make it to another show… and that the only feasible one would be Syracuse, which is a couple hours away. Todd jokingly said he’d try to talk to people and see what he could do… I mentioned that I didn’t have a car, and that he should send me one along with some free tickets, and then I’d be all set. He’s like “well hey, give me your number and I’ll try and hook you up.” A minute later, one of Bob’s friends presented a business card and said “you can contact me, and I’ll get to them” [meaning Bob and I]. Todd laughed and put it in his wallet. By this time, Bob and I had already mentioned how it was our goal to be the last ones out, to stay until everyone BMG-related had left… we were kind of joking, but at this point we really WERE the last ones, besides Todd, and a few security guards. I’m so proud of us. Finally, Todd said his goodbyes, and thanked us for sticking around. We did the same, as he was really the one who was going out of his way to stick around. Oh and by the way: TODD IS SO COOL YOU GUYS, HE'S JUST SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME! and, um, I wasn't encouraged to say anything like that... ;) No but seriously, this guy is wonderful. =)

So that’s it! No more BMG people left. I don’t know if Tracy and/or company, and/or Venus Hum were around at any point—I didn’t see them... It was a long, satisfying meet and greet. I babbled to my parents and brother (who were waiting outside for me) all the way back to the hotel (which, fortunately for them, wasn’t a long ways off), and upon returning to the hotel, I jotted down as many highlights as I could so I would remember as much as possible. A few days later, I’m settling into college… I’ve stayed up way too late to finish this, since I have an 8:40 class tomorrow, but heck. It’s done now.
Blink, breathe… don’t hurt me. ;)
Until next time…

*Sigh* Blue Man withdrawal sets in so quickly... must... have... more... ;)