I happened by the Schnitz downtown that afternoon, right when she was outside the theater greeting fans. Tori's show? I thought; I then added Yeah, like I'm on a first-name basis with her. I briefly detoured from my trip towards the downtown library, and wandered around the edge of the small crowd. Took some doing to spot her (my thought: Ah, the challenge of finding the small person), but spot her I did, thanks to the orange-y brightness of her hair.
I should've gotten in line, blast it. I didn't have anything for her to sign, except a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, plus I'm not a signature-getting person anymore, but c'mon: I could've just gotten in line to say "hi" to her! Was I worried I'd impose? Was I worried my mouth would lock up? I CAN TALK TO PEOPLE. And SHE LIKES TALKING TO PEOPLE. Likes hugging them, too.
Sometimes I have hangups.
But still: I was only a few piano-lengths away from Tori Amos. One of my favorite singer-songwriters, and an early lesson for me, and that lesson was When even the straight girls have crushes on a woman, she's likely a worthy person and a worthy crush. I could've even told her how a running joke in my college dorm was that her line "I should have" (from her song "Icicle") sounded like "Hi, Shithead!" Hey, she has a mouth, she can swear, she'd be amused that. I also could've asked her how entertaining her daughter is.
Tori! I'm still smiling about her being in town.
P.S. I'm still re-learning blogging now that I'm also posting to Twitter. I mentioned this on my Twitter feed but remembered it was worth mentioning here. Seemed wrong not to mention it here, in fact.