It was around 11pm last night and Matt and I snuggled in to watch Frank.  I had just turned off my ringer when my phone lit up; I didn't see it, but Matt said, "Looks like someone's calling you."  I really hate talking on the phone and was about to dump the call when I noticed it was my BFF Patty (the writer) who lives in L.A.  Patty never calls (we both hate talking on the phone), so I figured I'd better answer it because something's gotta be pretty damn important for her to call me at 11pm on a Saturday night.

"Hello?"  (I could hear she was someplace crowded.)

"Jill-Maaaaan! Guess what? I'm at Beatlefest right now!" (Patty is a HUGE Beatles fan.)

"No way! Is it amazing?"

"Yeah! But dude... someone wants to talk to you on the phone. Hang on."

"Wait! What? What's happening? Who?"

[*shuffle shuffle shuffle*]

"Hello, is this Jill?"

"Yes! Who do I have the pleasure to be speaking to?"

"This is Mark Rivera! Patty told me that you were sad that you couldn't be out here at Beatlefest, so I told her that we should give you a call!"

"HOMINA HOMINA HOMINA. Oh my god, this is crazy! Thank you!!"

"Calm down, calm down. It's just me!  Now Jill: Why aren't you here?"

"I live on the east coast!"

"Yeah? Well so do I!"

"Yeah, but you're playing in Ringo's band. I've got studio time."

"Where are you based out of?"

"I live in Delaware; just 25 minutes south of Philly."

"You said you're in the studio?"

"Yeah, we were there earlier today. We're working on our second full-length album."

"Cool, cool."

"Hey Mark, I've got to say, I've been a fan for as long as I can remember."

"Aw thanks, really."

"Yeah, but I need you to know, that I naturally love your work with Billy Joel, but I also picked up your solo album and I really love it. It's great to hear you out in front, man."

"Really? You picked up my solo album?"

"Of course! It's really great!"

"Thanks Jill, I really appreciate it."

"Well, I really appreciate you."

"Thanks! OK, I'm gonna give you back to Patty now. Have fun!"

"You too! Thanks so much, Mark-- you really just made my day, week, month, year!"

"Hahahaha, no problem at all. Take care. Peace and gratitude."

"Right back at you, sir. Thanks again."

It went by so fast, and I felt like a goober. Part of me felt like, This is just a guy, and he's a musician and so am I.  I can talk to him. We have things in common. I'm not implying I'm remotely in the same ballpark as him, but we speak a similar language, and that's cool.  And part of me was like, OH MY GOD BILLY JOEL'S AND RINGO STARR'S SAX AND PERCUSSION PLAYER! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!  

I tried really hard to straddle the line between being composed and professional and "this is no big deal, we're just people" and giving him the fangirl-squee "I'm gonna make this girl's day" freakout that I imagine he was hoping for, and also being understandable considering he was on a crowded expo floor. I think I did OK. 

Patty called me back a few minutes later and said that she ran out to her car and gave Mark a copy of (our album) 39 Summers. She only had the disc (not the CD case or the insert), but she said he was really flattered and promised to listen to it. 

She went back to Beatlefest today, and she texted me to say that she brought the jewel case / CD insert with her to BeatleFest today hoping to bump into Mark again so she could give it to him.  They saw each other, and as soon as he saw her he said, "Where's Jill?"  So she said, "She's still out east, but here's the jewel case that goes with the CD."  He still had the CD in his murse so he put them together. I doubt he'll listen to it, but ya never know. 

It's just so silly. 

I can't tell if he's the kind of guy who gets stalked a lot, or if he's the kind of guy who wishes he got stalked, y'know? 

I'm just kicking myself for not asking him questions, like, what kind of mouthpiece does he use, how the hell does he get his altissimo sound so perfect every single time, etc etc etc. But at the same time, it was a 3 second jokey phone call; it's not like I was gonna interview the guy FFS. 

I'm gonna be in NYC on Friday to see Matt's play and I'll likely have a few hours to kill while he's doing director and playwrighty things... so I hit Mark up via Twitter and asked him to coffee. It may come as a total shock to you that he hasn't replied. 

Anyway. 

It is exciting / interesting to see that I've come a long way from my 1985 total and complete meltdown when I talked to Billy Joel on the phone and all I did was cry my face off, and the Z-100 Morning Zoo made fun of me mercilessly. (Billy was sweet, though.)  I can think of no greater humiliating moment in my life. My brother taped the conversation and would torment me with it over the years, which in retrospect is hilarious, but at the time I was horrified as any good 9th grader would be. :)  This is what brothers are for. 

Allrighty, that's my exciting story for the weekend! Time for bed. I have to get my body clock back on schedule... I'm traveling / teaching for the next 3-4 weeks waking up bright and early, and it's gonna be a big ol' adjustment. It'll feel good though, too.  Looking forward to the home stretch of the year.

(x-posted to xtingu.livejournal.com)