BY: D. Zucco, 2002

We had been in line since 8:00 a.m. We had some problems in the beginning as the crowd got louder in the hallways. The staff at the gallery asked us to leave! Told us to come back, that everyone would have plenty of time. Not one of us wanted to give up our place in line…so we went downstairs, and started a line at the front steps. However, it didn’t take long to notice that a huge part of the line didn’t follow us down. Just the first 20 or so people actually left. Apparently, the staff then told the rest of the group the could stay as long as the were quiet, and stayed against the wall. They moved them to the other side of the hallway, and the line trickled down the stairs. We got back upstairs and had to get the staff to move the line because we had lost our place in front…we’d been there since 8:00 after all, and the four people directly in front of us had been there since 7:30! I’m also reading some other reports that there were two lines, and that people were getting upset about it. The people on the stairs had actually taken the elevators, and were asked to form a line down the stairs, which is why they were upset with the people getting off the elevator who were trying to start a new line. Just thought I’d clarify that…one person from my group who was further down said she had to explain this to quite a few people as they came off the elevator!

Then we waited. And Viggo came up a different elevator, passed the front of the line, and said, “Good Morning!” and went into the gallery. Then they started letting people in, ten at a time. The gallery itself was small, and Viggo sat a table in the corner. I really liked the way they had it set up because it meant there weren’t huge crowds of people surrounding him! He seemed very relaxed.

I bought Coincidence of Memory,which took a while since the gallery did not have a quick way to push through the credit card purchases. And then they charged someone else’s purchase to my card, and I had to wait for them to void it! But while we waited, Pilar passed me and recognized me! She waved, said hello, and came and chatted for awhile. I asked her how the opening went the night before, and she said very well. She asked if we were going to the reading that night, and I said, of course! I said we’d probably go straight from the gallery to the bookstore, and wait there! She thought it wouldn’t be as bad as the line at the gallery, but I was sure she was mistaken! LOL They so underestimate the draw Viggo has on people.

Finally, I got in line for the table, and enjoyed watching Viggo interact with the others in front of me. Then it was my turn: