The Fangirl Experience is a monthly column suggested by Jaime Heller, featuring contributions from both our staff and our readers. Everybody has those moments when being a fangirl feels like the world has become perfectly balanced. It's those moments when you feel a stir in your heart that maybe you've made the right decision in falling down the fandom vortex. When, in the words of my good "friend" Zachary Levi, your "unbridled passion for something, or things, defines who they are as a person without fear of other people's judgment." It's that moment you want to share with the whole world, scream to the rooftops, about what happened. Maybe it's a small moment, maybe it's a big one. But every fangirl has one--or will have one--and we would like to share ours with you. Because our Initiative would be nothing without the Experience. 

______________________________________________

By Amanda Horn

“Every man has his daydreams

Every man has his goal

People like the way dreams have

Of sticking to the soul

Thunderclouds have their lightning

Nightingales have their song

And don't you see I want my life to be

Something more than long....”

As a person who has loved Broadway and the theatre for a long time, I’ve been wanting to go see a Broadway tour for a while.

On February 21st, 2015, I saw the Broadway tour of the musical Pippin.

As a girl who almost lives under the stage lights, I was looking forward to this for months. It had been my birthday present in the summer, but this show didn’t come on tour nearby until almost six months after, so it was a long wait.

But the day finally came! The first stop we had to make was to pick up my brother from school, but then we were on our way to the theatre. We ended up getting there quite early, so we found some stores downtown to walk around for about a half hour and then we headed back to the theatre. We were in the theatre district, so we passed other theatres around there as well.

But we FINALLY got to go in and find our seats. We were close to the back, but we were on the main floor and I think the balcony went quite a bit farther back.

We only had a few minutes to wait until the overture started and the house lights went down. I think my mouth was open during the whole first song and scene. It was properly dazzling and, quite honestly, a dream come true. All of the dancing and acrobatics and singing and acting quite took my breath away and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Pippin is a story within a story. A troupe of circus performers (this is why there was crazy acrobatics) are putting on a show about a king’s son named Pippin and his search for fulfillment in life. Not a complicated plot by any means, but that doesn’t take away from the show at all.

This show was very special-effects heavy. There were several moments where I was thinking, “Whoa! How did they DO that?” There was a running joke involving fire throughout the show and when they finally brought out the pit of fire at the end, it was AMAZING. (I promise that all of the fire had a point and it wasn’t just there for the sake of having fire.) Technical brilliance.

But what I really loved most was the acting. The current Pippin, Sam Lips, really embodied the spirit of his character with a lovely simplicity. That’s the kind of acting I want to do someday. Not dazzling or showy, but simple and real.

For me, seeing Pippin was a dream come true and I’m so glad I got to go. It made me want to be on a stage even more than I did before, if that’s possible. Hopefully this will be the first of many Broadway tours and shows that I have the privilege of seeing.

“Rivers belong where they can ramble

Eagles belong where they can fly

I've got to be where my spirit can run free

Got to find my corner of the sky”

Of course, The Fangirl Initiative wouldn't be complete without the help of you, our readers. We want to hear and feature your stories and tales. If you have a fangirl experience you'd like to share in this column, let us know!

Before I get into the post, let me say… I'm grateful my aunt is in my life. 60 years of bringing love, light, support, culture, and literature to our family. What a blessing. This post is in honor of her, on her birthday.


So, January was a big month for my parents and I. But, if I mustbe honest, it all started in December…

Pre-Christmas: I found my dad wrapping gifts for his older sister… what were they? Seasons 1 and 2 of a certain little show most of you know and love, called Sherlock. Shocked and more than a little jealous, I told him I'd love to see them with her sometime! Fast forward to when she received it, Christmas Day: When I expressed my intense interest to see them and spend time with her, and my parents had expressed curiosity, she said "Why don't we all have a Sherlocknight?"  I was a little annoyed that I had to "share her", but figured "Oh, why not?!"

Fast forward again, to January 3rd, the four of us in the living room watching season one. We adored it, and so, seeing as some of us had been sleepy and missed details, she left them both at our house. (so we could rewatch, and see the next season) Before I get on with the post, and my further delving into the show, let me say this…

Wow… I had always figured I would love it, but… wow! Even to this day, I struggle to properly describe my reaction to it. I guess the closest I can come is… brilliant. Crazy. Fast paced, and beautiful. And I found myself wanting more. As I told a friend later, "It's a thinkin' show.", which is something there is not a lot of, and I desperately look for. Don't get me wrong, I love action and comedy and such as much as anyone. But what is the most fun and fulfilling for me, are the shows and films that make me think. So, in the course of a very short time, I became more obsessed with, and immersed in, all things related to Holmes than I ever had been before.

I knew about the character, of course. There were different adaptations, be they film or television all over the place, my whole life. I admit I haven't read the stories too much, and have barely even touched the myriad of adaptations out there. But I vividly recall the times Data, Geordi, and even Captain Picard would go on the holodeck and enter his world (yay, Star Trek: the Next Generation!) And I've followed Elementary with great interest, as well. So, again… me liking this came as no huge shock. What shocked me was the extent it overtook me!

Anyway, for months because of commercials, I had been aware of the fact that the International Sherlock Holmes Exhibition was at the Science Center. (from October to guess when!). I had wanted to go all along, but health had prevented me from doing so. But by Christmas, I figured it was now or never… it was packing up and leaving January 5th. It took some pleading and figuring, but lo and behold, on January 4th, my parents and I set out for the adventure of a lifetime.

Am I being a little dramatic? Possibly, but being a story person, and by extension, a theatre person… let's just say it's in my personality makeup to get overenthusiastic about cool things and events. So sue me! :P (I had only had one similar experience before… for "Star Trek: the Exhibition". For my thoughts on that, go here.)

Author's Note:
Remember, all of this was over a month ago, so my memory could be a little foggy. Please bear with me, and I will do my best to recount what I experienced. :) Also, pictures are limited, as I didn't think we were allowed. Later I found out we were, so all I have are the few my mom took. :(

Anyway, when we walked up the sidewalk, you could see footprints. We followed them to the building, and outside saw this...

Anyway, we walked in and got our tickets, and got in a long line. The line moved decently quickly, though was long enough for that dang T-Rex to keep staring at me, just as when I was a kid. As we got closer, we saw some things in the distance, but before getting there… we saw Star Trek Barbies in a case (ahhhh, I want!!!), and a real life axolotl like we had learned about in VBS last summer!!

Then, we saw…

Finally we were inside the Exhibit's area.

The first thing we noticed, was there were a whole bunch of displays talking about the history of the author. And more interestingly, about someone he knew, who he later based Holmes on! It was very fascinating stuff to me, though most people didn't pay too much attention to all of it. I was different, and scoured everything because a) we wouldn't get another chance and it was cool, and b) you never knew what would be important later on. ;)

We even got to see some first editions of the books, and some pages from letters and stories in the author's own handwriting! For a budding writer, and lifelong bookworm, this was especially and awesomely cool!


So, there was a lot of this, and then following all of the in-depth history, was the part that we all can admit is the reason we went. See, we (me and everyone else that bought tickets) wanted to be like/work with Sherlock Holmes, right?!

Yep, that's right… we were gonna work to solve a murder!!!

Holmes wasn't there, obviously, but he had left us recordings and notes. It was cool, we had these little books. And every stop of the interactive thing that we hit, we would get a stamp for our books. I'd love to go super into detail, but on the off chance any of you can go, I don't want to ruin it. But I willsay, that I did NOT expect what really happened, and was only a tiny bit close in probably one or two aspects. (which really confused me, as I had paid tons of attention to everything I saw and heard in that whole exhibit.)

Following the interactive portion, was the place where you could see things from… pretty much every adaptation you can think of! Old movies, the new movies, Elementary, Sherlock… it was crazy, man! I got to see a really cool old typewriter…

And what was really weird, was when I found myself standing in front of something very familiar, but it took me a minute to place it. (turns out it was from Sherlock's brownstone in Elementary!) Talk about surreal… an actual prop (I think) right in front of me, from something I see every week!


After exploring all of that, was the "gift shop" part of the exhibit. Mom got a white hat, I got: a hat, scarf, two of the three pics they took of us at the beginning, and the Official Exhibition Guide. (Hey, I had saved up! Luckily, since it was right after Christmas, and was the last day, things were super marked down. That's probably a good part of why I was able to get all that!) I have pictures of them, and the little book I mentioned from the interactive part… but I don't have them uploaded on my laptop yet. Hopefully I can get them uploaded and on here soon, so keep checking back!

In the car, when leaving the parking lot, they pointed out that on the roof of the one building (which kept changing colors), it had Sherlock's silhouette! Wish we could have taken a picture of that!

Right, so, when we got home, the three of us watched season 2… which… THAT ENDING! GAH! And a few weeks later, on the 26th, we watched two of the three episodes of season 3. (what, did I forget to mention that I had bought season 3 at best buy sometime in between there? Hehe, oops!) Now, all I have to do, is find a time to sit down with my parents and watch the final episode available. I'm sure I'll like it too!

Hope this was an enjoyable post, if a little on the long side, and that you can get a chance to see the Exhibit! If not, and you want to learn more about what I kept hidden about the murder mystery… message me! Until next time… notice everything, and enjoy life!

The Fangirl Experience is a monthly column suggested by Jaime Heller, featuring contributions from both our staff and our readers. Everybody has those moments when being a fangirl feels like the world has become perfectly balanced. It's those moments when you feel a stir in your heart that maybe you've made the right decision in falling down the fandom vortex. When, in the words of my good "friend" Zachary Levi, your "unbridled passion for something, or things, defines who they are as a person without fear of other people's judgment." It's that moment you want to share with the whole world, scream to the rooftops, about what happened. Maybe it's a small moment, maybe it's a big one. But every fangirl has one--or will have one--and we would like to share ours with you.

Because our Initiative would be nothing without the Experience. 

By Jaime Heller

The first time I heard about Owl City was when “Fireflies” became a chart topping hit. Everybody knew it; everybody was singing it. It peaked my interest, but I wasn’t convinced it was “anything special.” Until my sister bought his CD, Ocean Eyes. She’d listen to it and so would I.

And I was enchanted.

It wasn’t “Fireflies” that swept me away into a whimsical world of daydreaming and song. Yeah, it was one of the songs that contributed and to this day I’ll sing it loudly while listening to it as I drive down the road. But it was almost everything else by Owl City that caught my attention and tripped me head over heels.

I memorized all of Ocean Eyes, becoming a bigger fan than my sister (though she definitely shares in the love for Adam Young and his talent). I eagerly anticipated new music, listened to old music, and become a little bit of an obsessive fangirl. I hadn’t known I loved music that much.

All Things Bright and Beautiful arrived and I didn’t think I could fall any more in love with Adam Young; but I did. In fact, I cherished ATBAB more than I ever did OE. Every song spoke to me, made me feel like dreaming, and jumpstarted my imagination. From “reality is a lovely place” to a song about the “saving grace of the galaxies” and even to the half-rap, half-singing of “Alligator Sky” I was smitten. Owl City easily became my favorite musical artist.

Adam Young released a CD for his old band, Sky Sailing, with old songs. These too swept me away and I sat in the back of my high school math class writing lyrics on the side of my paper and daydreaming about a story based on the songs (Yes, I know, crazy. But hey, I did it. And it’s become something special to me that I keep close to my heart).

But listening to his music, poring over his lyrics and their meanings, and relishing the wonderstruck feelings I gain over and over each time I listen to him wasn’t enough. I wanted to see him in concert because I knew it would be nothing less than perfect.

There was a concert near where my sister was soon after the release of ATBAB. I wanted to go so badly, but a four hour drive wasn’t really an option for my sixteen year old self. So instead, I bought my sister a ticket and sent her money to buy me a shirt (and gave her a knitted owl hat). She went with a few friends and said it was a magical night.

Because the concert was held at a Christian college, Adam had the opportunity to speak more freely about his faith, and thus, he played my favorite song of his “Meteor Shower.” My sister tried to describe the experience to me, which was amazing. Apparently, the “Meteor Shower” performance had extra sound effects, such as what was like meteors or shooting stars whooshing by. I can only imagine what it must have sounded like.



Thus, I still longed to see Owl City in concert. A few years passed, and I had kind of lost my hope that it would happen. Life happened, I got busy, I graduated from high school, and college was just around the corner.

As was Owl City’s next and latest CD, A Midsummer Station. I had to buy it before I moved into the dorms of my college but couldn’t until later. Much to say, my first semester of college was deeply lived out with this CD as the soundtrack (not that my life in any way reflected it, but I was constantly listening to it).

And then came the day that I saw his next tour line up.

He would be two hours away. The closest he’d probably ever be and it was reasonable driving distance if my sister came to visit. And it was only a week or so after my birthday.

I thought I was seeing shooting stars.

I begged for tickets for Christmas. My sister wanted to go. She would drive up to take me. I had a friend who has a birthday a week after mine, who incidentally adores Owl City just as much as I do.

We had to go together. The three of us.

But I didn’t get tickets for Christmas.
I thought my chance had gone past. I would have to wait until the next time. Again.
But then my mom, out of the blue, nonchalantly said something about my sister and me going. And I *internally* screamed. It was happening! I was going to see Owl City!

It was a cold day. We—the three of us, me, my sister, and my friend—stood outside in line for while freezing. My tummy was flopping all over the place with excitement. Only a few more minutes until we’d enter. Only a little while after that until he’d be on stage. Only, only, only…

I remember the lighting was dark, we were in the middle of the crowd (standing room only), it tightly packed, and my sister had hold of my arm. There were a few more obnoxious people in front of us with signs that blocked the view during specific songs and also they were being pushy and dragging their friends in front of us (aka cutting in front of us rudely). But we were content.

We stood for a long time waiting. We stood as the opening band played. I can’t remember their name or if they were good because once Adam Young and the Owl City band stepped on to stage I was lost in a dream.

It was a beautiful experience that my words fail to describe to the capacity that I would like. I know I was exhilarated to be there. It was the best concert I had been in a while—or perhaps ever.
He played mainly songs from A Midsummer Station, which was okay—not my favorite, but still amazing to hear. I was floating among clouds, rocket ships, and dreams. ‘

When it was over—my life changed forever—I returned to my dorm room and wrote about the experience. Here are a few words I penned that night:

“I just came back from the best concert of my life. It is one I have been dreaming of for a long time now, and it has now come true, which is fitting for who it is. The band is Owl City, the singer is Adam Young, and my heart is soaring high on clouds and happiness. It was pure loveliness. Pure joy. Pure hope. 

[I am not sure I can quite express just how magical and beautiful and astounding the concert was.] I go to a lot of concerts with a lot of variety of bands. I have been to many amazing concerts with fun songs and breathtaking moments, but this was a whole different level. This was THE ONE. THE ONE concert I have always wanted to go to. The concert I have been waiting to experience since I first fell head over heels in love with Adam Young’s voice, his style, his tempos and his upbeat optimism. [The dreaming and the joy and the imagination expressed in his songs is more than magical. It is incredible and unique and enchanting. Enchanting. I am wonderstruck. Completely and utterly wonderstruck.]

It was not only beautiful because I believe he makes beautiful music, [the whole atmosphere was beautiful. The light show, the other band members, my sister and my friend beaming at me from both sides… it was all fantastic. But my favorite part of it all was the little quirks and smiles and faces and interjections Adam Young made during the songs. He laughed. He smiled. His eyes wandered up the stars that were not quite viewable with the ceiling in the way, but it was almost as if I could see he was starting up at them. There was the crazy dancing that made me laugh hysterically and feel warm inside as I realized I probably look exactly the same when I try to dance around to music (I am highly uncoordinated). Looking up at the stage at him singing, I saw a little boy living a dream. I saw a kid on Christmas looking around with big eyes at the presents. I saw a man truly blessed and humble about where God has placed him in life. And that was the most incredible thing of all.] 

[The magic and wonder of the night will eventually fade. It already has. I am exhausted from the excitement and the heat of the moment. The feelings and the memories will fade back. The ideas and songs and the beauty of it all will become just a dusty old memory that is hidden away into the cobweb corners of my mind. But the knowledge of what I felt, what I experienced, what I saw and what I dreamed will live forever. I have been struck with a lightning bold of inspiration. Looking up at the stage, hearing words of gratitude from his lips and knowing only a few years ago he was a kid making music in a basement and now he is standing on stage surrounded by a crowd of people who know the words to every song, I see a glimpse at dream come true. And I want that dream. I want that dream with my writing. And I am not going to give up. I’m going to be that girl who a few years back was writing stories in her dorm room late at night, scribbling scenes and ideas down on paper in chicken scratch handwriting, and I am going to tell the world what my heart and my head can I agree on. And that is dreaming and not giving up on that dream. 

I’ll follow the light through the dream and disasters and I will shine brighter than a shooting star.]”

Maybe Owl City isn’t for everybody, but for a daydreaming girl from a small town, he is every inspiration I need. I proudly declare my “Hoot Owl” citizenship and listen to his songs without shame. The only thing that could have made the night better was if my favorite song, “Meteor Shower,” had been performed.

But there’s always a next time, right?

By Sky Destrian

There's always that first fandom. The first time you found yourself completely head-over-heels for something. In many ways, Owl City was one of my very first fandoms.

My love for Owl City has been around for so long that I almost can't remember when it started. But of course, I know it started with the ever-popular hit, Fireflies. I heard it, and while everyone else was getting sick of it, I was playing it a million times on YouTube. I branched out into other songs after that (one of my favorites was Rugs from Me to You). When it was time for Owl City to release another recording, I pre-ordered All Things Bright and Beautiful. That's about when the hardcore fangirling began. The moment I got it, I ripped open the package and ran upstairs to listen to it. It was magical, really. That's still one of my favorite albums, and those songs have made their way into my subconscious.

I was a hardcore fangirl, I have to say. I watched all the videos and all the songs on repeat. I ordered a pack of Owl City t-shirts with one of my friends (and still wear them! You can see one of them in my bio photo here). I had dreams about the music. I read his blog and soaked in the words. I wrote my own blog posts about him. I was obsessed. 

I suppose it's no surprise that I had to see him live.

A couple years before I found Owl City's music, I had heard of Mat Kearney and Owl City touring together. They had come to my state. At the time, I didn't think it was possible for me to go, so I didn't pay much attention. I regretted that later in life when Mat Kearney and Owl City became my favorite artists ever. So when my friend messaged me saying that Owl City would be coming to Denver in the summer, I knew this was my chance. I knew I had to go.

We were very nearly late. Car trouble and general delays made it seem like we may not make it there on time. We made it to a family member's house to scarf down some dinner, then left for Bluebird Theater. Once we got there, the parking was atrocious. We had to walk quite a ways till we got to the theater, and as someone with a chronic illness, it wasn't easy. Add to that some confusion over whether we could bring our water bottles in, and by the time I got into the cramped, hot theater, I was exhausted. I very nearly cried as Owl City's opening act was playing, because I was exhausted. And would it all be worth it?

Oh dear past me, you shouldn't have worried. It. Definitely. Was.

The stage got quiet and a gorgeous instrumental song started playing (I think it was Umbrella Beach or Hello Seattle?). The lights started to flash. They were all sorts of colors and shapes, projected into the darkness. Honestly, the way Owl City sets up his shows are exactly befitting to his music: they. are. magic.

Every song was beautiful. It sounded just like they did on my CD player, that very first summer that I fell in love with his music. When I get sad, sometimes I still think about how beautiful the vocal riff in "Gold" sounded when Adam Young sang it live. I also think about screaming along to WAKE ME IF YOU'RE OUT THERE at the top of my lungs. I cannot express what a good feeling that is. 

After the concert, my friend and I took pictures next to his luggage, true to our fangirl form. As we left and drove along the highway, with the city lights bright against the dark, I was... well, "wonderstruck, blushing all the way home."

While some of the concert has faded from my memory, the mark of it indelibly remains. I would go so far as to say I was changed by the experience. That had been one of the hardest years of my life, but because of Owl City, I forgot about it all. After wishing for years, one of my greatest dreams had been fulfilled. I had seen a glimpse of something beyond myself. And for just one night, magic was real. 

In conclusion, this is what happened: I was able to rest assured... 'Cuz dreams don't turn to dust.

P.S. - Thank you, Adam Young, for your music. In times of sadness and pain, you have helped me more than you know. I was a little girl who dreamed, and because of you, I continue to. Thank you.

Have you ever had an out-of-this-world fangirl experience? The Fangirl Initiative wouldn't be complete without the help of you, our readers. We want to hear and feature your stories and tales. If you have a fangirl experience you'd like to share in this column, let us know!

The Fangirl Experience is a new, monthly column suggested by Jaime Heller, featuring contributions from both our staff and our readers. Everybody has those moments when being a fangirl feels like the world has become perfectly balanced. It's those moments when you feel a stir in your heart that maybe you've made the right decision in falling down the fandom vortex. When, in the words of my good "friend" Zachary Levi, your "unbridled passion for something, or things, defines  who they are as a person without fear of other people's judgment." It's that moment you want to share with the whole world, scream to the rooftops, about what happened. Maybe it's a small moment, maybe it's a big one. But every fangirl has one--or will have one--and we would like to share ours with you. Because our Initiative would be nothing without the Experience. 

By Paige Kelly

The Lord of the Rings has always been near and dear to my heart, and thus, always a dream of mine to work on the movies in some way. My chance for being an extra in Middle-earth came and went, but I got to meet someone very involved with The Hobbit while studying abroad--and I wasn’t even anywhere near NZ!

I studied for an academic year at the University of Ulster, Magee, in Northern Ireland. During my first week there, we were given a schedule with orientation events, things such as field trips to scenic and historical sites, lectures, city tours. At the end of the week, a special meet and greet in Belfast (about 2.5 hours away from where I lived in Derry/Londonderry) was on the schedule, and from what I can remember, I think it was only a day or two before that we only found out who the mysterious celebrity was--only known as the “Chancellor” of the university. I had met my best friend a few days previously, and when we discovered that it was, in fact, James Nesbitt, we had a major bonding session over discovering we were both Tolkien fanatics. Nesbitt is a Northern Irish actor from the Coleraine area, where he still lives, and played “Bofur” in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit film trilogy. Not only was I ecstatic about meeting someone who’d worked on these movies and met everyone involved, I had also been a fan of him earlier on in his career when he played “Leo” on the Irish television show, Ballykissangel, which I grew up watching. Meeting an actor who was involved in two of my favourite fandoms on earth?! I was thrilled and was trying to think of questions to ask all week.

Before Nesbitt, I’d never really met anyone who was a major celebrity, so I always thought that people getting starstruck was quite stupid. I mean, they’re normal people, really, as normal as me, right? So normal that they live in tiny places like Coleraine, which is not on anyone’s radar unless you’ve been in Northern Ireland a decent amount of time. But my friend and I, we just plain got excited. We couldn’t sit still the entire bus ride, and she’d stayed up the whole night before inking a drawing of Bofur for him to sign (oh how I wish I’d thought of doing that! I just hastily grabbed my closest Tolkien book and went with it). I think it could safely be said that we were the most excited out of our entire group.

At the campus in Belfast, they had a nice area set up with tables and tea and biscuits, which we were too excited to eat properly, and the room was absolutely packed out with other internationals--basically wall to wall crowds. All my friend and I’s photos are blurry and jumpy both from excitement and bouncing on our toes to see him up front at the podium. Nesbitt gave a nice short little speech, in a Northern Irish accent (I mean, duh, but most things you see him in they change it to a lighter or more English or southern Irish one), about how proud the university was to welcome new international students and what it means to them, although I know my friend and I were both thinking, That’s nice!! Now, describe, IN GREAT DETAIL, what it was like working on the set of The Hobbit. And all the people you met there.

Afterwards, he walked around taking photos and shaking hands, and my friend and I were the nerds walking around the crowd, trying to follow him, not wanting to be pushy and rude but determined not to leave without a photo. When we finally got to him, he turned around and greeted us, asked where we were from. I did most of the talking and told him how I was from North Carolina, and that I was studying in Derry at Magee. He was just as nice and pleasant as could be, very easygoing and smiling the whole time (much like Bofur, I suppose!), and told me how he was just in Derry the previous day and what a wonderful city it was (I believe he commented something along similar lines about North Carolina, but I can’t remember that part). He was very busy with lots of other photographs, but I think--and can’t remember details clearly--I told him how excited I was about The Hobbit, as he was signing my copy of The Fellowship of the Ring (I know, I know, not the same book, but like I said, it was the first thing I grabbed), and how I had loved Ballykissangel. He took a photo with us as well, and then he was off, greeting other students.

All in all, it was a fabulous day. I think my friend and I both walked off a little starstruck, giddy with the fact that we got a picture and autographs and I shook the hand that shook the hands of Peter Jackson, Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Richard Armitage, Aiden Turner, Dean O’Gorman, and the list goes on and on… you know how that six degrees of separation theory thing goes? Yeah, I guess I could only say I’m 1 degree away from all those people now.

The funny thing was the local reaction to all this. My friend and I shared it with our church and new friends as a huge highlight, which I’m sure they respected, but their reactions were great--just like “Oh, Jimmy? Aye yeah, he’s just up near Coleraine.” Being such a local, his celebrity status doesn’t really affect them, regardless of the level of celebrity. I think we provided them with quite a bit of amusement and a good laugh over our fangirling. One of my friends who worked at the university there would periodically send me text messages after that notifying me whenever “Jimmy” had just poked his head in the office. It’s nice, common thing that the Irish don’t get too starstruck by celebrities and really just see them as some of their own--I guess when it’s such a small place with relatively few famous people, that’s the way it goes. Whether it was getting excited over meeting actors or bands like Rend Collective Experiment, you’d just get a shrug out of a local with a “that’s all? Sure everyone knows them, like.” They can teach you a good lesson in not getting a big head!

All in all, regardless of whether any more Lord of the Rings related films get made and I get to help out with them, I’m just glad I met one member of the cast who was just as fantastic in real life and one I’m proud to have as the chancellor of my university there. Even if I suddenly forgot every single question I wanted to ask him about filming The Hobbit. But, I remind myself, there’s always next time.  

Of course, the Fangirl Initiative wouldn't be complete without the help of you, our readers. We want to hear and feature your stories and tales. If you have a fangirl experience you'd like to share in this column, let us know!