NYC Part 4: Saturday Night Life (Jude!)

I know you’re going to skim down the post to see Jude. Feel free. But then come back up and read the rest. :)
So after shopping and a quick Jamba Juice (we didn’t refuel much in NYC–too much fun) we went back up to The Purple Room and got ready to meet jonnyskov for dinner.*

*ASIDE: I’ve know Jon for a couple years online in various writerly groups and via email. We’ve swapped fantasy manuscripts and are good friends. However, we have never met In Real Life.

So Jon buzzed me (okay, fine, it was a text) and Laurel and I zipped down the elevator to meet him. We were all excited and bouncy because when you know someone online they are sort of like mind-characters that pop into real people when you meet them IRL and it is just SO SO cool. What I’ve found–especially after my Gothic Girl Retreat in Savannah–that my writer friends are even MORE awesome then I thought they would be. Such was the case with Mr. Skovron.

A former NYC man, he knew where to go and took us to this place called Vinyl in Hell’s Kitchen.
http://www.vynl-nyc.com/ that had record covers for menus!

Jon & Linda

Heidi & Blondie

Jon invited his friend Ryan to meet us for dinner too. I suspected he invited a wingman in case we turned out to be psychos. Little did he know we were indeed psychos, but LIKABLE psychos.

This is Ryan. He is straight out of an indie film. He is a commercial photographer who spent two weeks in Vermont photographing a woman’s lamp shades. He spoke of it ironically. Obviously, we loved him instantly.
The conversation was hilarious. The company electric.
Then it started to snow!

Can you see the snow behind the wreath?

After dinner, we stumbled out into the snowflakes and headed toward Broadway to see Hamlet starring Jude Law. YES. I know. Could this night get any better? Just wait.
Jon and I lagged behind as he pointed out various joints he used to hang out in when he lived in the city as theatre person. We parted ways with Ryan promising to meet up with him later at a bar. (Apparently in NYC the night begins around 11 p.m.)
The three of us made it to the theatre right on time.
The play was amazing.
Jude’s performance was incredibly physical. He had a gesture for pretty much every line, and the staging was gorgeous. They used lighting for the scene changes instead of changing the set around, and our seats were great. Lower mezzanine with an excellent view. Of Jude. :)
It was incredibly hard not to whisper during the 3 hour show, so some fidgeting ensued.
We gave Jude a much deserved standing ovation and headed outside to a MOB SCENE.
I remembered that Mitali Dave (intern extraordinaire and fellow Jude-as-Hamlet fan) told us we could hang out outside and wait for his autograph. But I hadn’t expected this. NYPD shone flashlights into cars getting them to move on down the road. Fans were going nuts flashing their cameras and holding out their playbills for Mr. Law to sign.

Jude! Jude! Jude!

We were way far back, because we hadn’t come straight out of the theatre so I thought there was NO way I’d be able to get an autograph. I stood up on a rail and held my camera up to take some pictures and we sort of stood around chatting. Then I was like, “I’m going in!” and elbowed my way toward the barriers with my program.
Jude went from one side to the other, and when he was on my side again I said, “Jude, please!” in my sweetest voice ever and he looked up at me and SMILED. True story. Right at me. Yes, my hands just started sweating retelling it. He grabbed my playbill and scribbled his name on it.
He is so so HOT.

Jude Law signing my Hamlet Playbill. Photo by Laurel, fellow elbower.

Very jealous that he didn’t one signed, Jon tried to lick my playbill. Is that a mint on his tongue or a ring?

THEN, Jude gets into this giant SUV and it starts cruising down the road.
What to do?
Well, walk along with it of course and wave to Jude. What else would we* do?
*This was all me. By this time Jon and Laurel thought I was a lunatic

So eventually, my heart stopped racing and we headed to this bar via “the shuttle” as Jon referred to the subway to get me on it. It turned out to be fine. We were only mugged three times instead of the four I was expecting. ;)
We didn’t get to the bar place until 11:30 or the kitchen was closed.
Sadness. I was suddenly starving because I was talking all through dinner and hardly ate.
So Laurel and one of Jon’s friends Chris (an aquarium designer) went and got us McD’s cheeseburgers around the corner. Then we played this game called Shaky (I think?) this guy is the king of shaky. He is also a clown. Seriously, that’s his job. How cool is that!

Shaky

Laurel and I loved Jonny’s friends. They were so welcoming and cool. We ended up closing down the place. Thank god I was on Cali time so it was only midnight or so. Man, NYC is seriously the city that does not sleep.

Laurel attempting shaky. Me laughing.
There was a lot of laughing.

Finally, we bid each other farewell on the corner. Four of us got into a cab and headed back toward Times Square, me with my evening’s prize…

Signed Hamlet Playbill

…dizzy and grateful for new friends and fresh possibilities awaiting us around the every corner.

Stay tuned for Sunday: Books of Wonder signing, Barry Lyga joins the crew and more shenanigans!