If you’re a Neil Gaiman fan, you probably heard about his event at the House on the Rock on Halloween in 2010. They were celebrating the tenth anniversary of his novel ‘American Gods‘, I believe. (No, not an affiliate link. I’ll tell you if it’s an affiliate link.)
Here’s the thing. My friends are HUGE fans, but I haven’t read very much by him. And it’s ridiculous, because I follow him on Twitter, and I keep up to date on what’s going on with him and his family (in spurts, because I do everything in spurts), but I haven’t read his major works. Huge fan of him as a successful author though, because he’s just classy and I want to be like him someday. Both as a successful author and to be as gracious as he is!
My friends camped the tickets website for this event and bought as many tickets as they could the instant they became available.
Then the debating began… they were one ticket short for the group, a group they had automatically included me with because the assumed I had read his work. (And because they’re awesome friends. ) To be fair, I have read a little. But one friend, the one who had purchased the tickets, mentioned we were short one to me, and I took a deep breath and told her I didn’t need one so they were fine.
She was shocked. I was bummed because I really wanted to go with them, and everyone was coming in from out of town, but I thought it was fairest.
But they went without me, and here’s where it gets interesting. There was a costume contest, and most of my friends spent months preparing.
Months. Even before they had the tickets. JUST IN CASE.
One friend, my best friend from college, was too busy and just snagged a neat dress from her time in the Peace Corps and some face makeup the day they left so she would at least have SOMETHING.
I’ll give you three guesses who won.
The friend who had not had a chance to prepare. She has a real sense for what can be striking, and that sense won her… A CHANCE TO RIDE THE CAROUSAL AT HOUSE ON THE ROCK.
I was SO JEALOUS. I’ve wanted to ride that thing for decades, ever since I first visited as a kid.
(And keep in mind, I have permission to post the one friend’s photos, but no one else has given permission, so most of the video and such I can’t share simply because you can see people’s easily identifiable faces in the shots. The shot below I felt wasn’t a problem because one woman has her back turned, and the other is in extensive make up.)
Here she is getting on! But all of the moving shots are blurry as all get out, sadly, and the video you can see her on has all sorts of people in it.
And just to give you a general idea of what the Carousal is like, there are NO HORSES on the Carousal. They hang all over the room, at least 100 of them, but the Carousal itself is full of animals and mystical creatures like this:
And this:
So she got to ride it, and there was much envy all around! So there’s a fun story for your day. *smile*
And one last photo with Neil Gaiman himself in it:
Such is my friends’ awesome story!
Have you ever been to The House on the Rock? Are you a Neil Gaiman fan? What do you think of my friend’s costume? Inquiring minds want to know! *smile*
Side note:
Why haven’t I read very much of his work?
It’s stupid. So stupid. An ex started reading his work out-loud to me, and that ex was… let’s just say I had to have some serious therapy after I finally woke up and dumped him. It was awful. And when I read Neil Gaiman’s work I HEAR THAT EX’S VOICE.
All except for ‘Click-Clack the Rattlebag’ which Neil Gaiman recorded himself and was a freebie for some event… that one I have the audio file of and have no problems with (can’t find it on Amazon to show you?). Oh, and the Sandman series because I read those LONG before I met the ex.
I keep trying though, because I’m seriously missing out here!
