Many people asked me to write my experience of meeting Adam for the very first time. The week before all this happened was a terrible one. I had a bad day at work and had broke down on Monday & had to take a leave of absence for medical reasons I do not care to discuss. Before all that I had really been looking forward to the week, which was already so exciting as Adam was set to perform on Jay Leno and Ellen. As if that wasnt enough I saw the radio station 99.7 tweet that they were having a Meet & Greet with Adam as part of his Trespassing promo in SF. It would be a call in contest. So I did what any good glambert would do, I told some of my bay area twitter friends about it including MissNisha and even asked some NON-local twitter friends to help me call in. I had to wake up at 6am!!! to listen to morning radio. Yuck! I was babysitting my niece the night before and she has her own sleep pattern so I didnt get to bed until around 1am. I woke up at 730, my alarm had been going off for over an hour!!!! I woke up and frantically ran to the computer to listen to the broadcast. I had missed 2 chances to be the 99th caller, I had one more chance coming and I was ready with my cell phone and the landline phone. My Aunt also would be calling on her cell. I was caller 18, 39, 61, and 85. So close!! they said there would be more chances the following day so I was not going to give up.
I heard the caller who had won talking on the radio and her name was Tanisia (@MissNisha6849) I had been following her on Twitter & met her for a brief moment at The Music Box show in LA I was genuinely happy for her as she was a true glambert. Her mother passed away a short while ago and she had relocated to the Bay Area. My mother passed away when I was 18 years old so I am all too familiar with the loss of such a prominent figure in ones' life. I congratulated her and asked who she was taking. A moment later I was looking at a DM from her saying she was taking ME!!!! I flipped out and ran and told my aunt who said that it was incredible. I sent her my phone number and she called me so I could then flip out over the phone. Apparently she was with another Glambert Melody @randommedley whom I had also met in LA for the last shows of the US leg of GlamNation tour. Melody would be out of town for the weekend and was helping Tanisia to win that morning. It was @randommedley's lucky finger that dialed the 99th caller spot. She was with Tanisisa on the phone to celebrate the moment. It was officially official; I was going to meet Adam in 2 days!
My first thoughts were; what the hell am I gonna wear? What do I even say? All of the amazing & awful moments in the last few years came rushing to the surface. I thought about the times I was too outspoken for many others. From RT'ing the infamous Danielle Stori butt signing pic, to the GlamNation preparty in SF, to my trip to LA & meeting Raja(Sutan), who had just completed filming her stint on RuPauls Drag Race. In LA I snuck into a certain rich, & entitled Adam fan afterparty which I was escorted by security out of. Although the lady was very mean and had privately messaged many people who followed me on Twitter over the last year, getting kicked out was actually a blessing in disguise as my friend and I then snuck into the official afterparty where my friend ended up meeting Adam at Club Nokia!. Recently I received so much slack for creating the Superbowl Twitition which had many articles written about it. It was all so much to process. I began thinking about if Adam even wanted to meet me. I also had so many friends who didnt win I felt guilty for getting to go. So I began belittling the situation down so that I wouldnt become overwhelmed. I told myself oh its just gonna be a handshake and a quick pic and thats it. I thought maybe the Glambert who invited me would be contacted by my haters and change her mind. I decided to let all of that go and just be in the moment. My dedication to Adam, his family & fans is unwavering and nobody would impede on my moment with him.
On Thursday I went shopping for a gift for Adam & Sauli. I went to several piercing and jewelry parlors to find the most extravegant and unique pairs of earrings I could find. I wrapped them delicately and put a SMALL note of thanks and admiration along with a couple quotes in the gift. I watched the Better Than I know Myself performance on ellen the night before the meet & greet with my family. We all cried and I just decided the ONLY thing I was gonna tell him is that I loved him & thank him. I went to bed around midnight and tossed and turned like a kid going to Disneyland the next day. I finally fell asleep around 230am. I had to be on Bart to head in to SF by 530am. I thought about how tired I was and how Adam has to get up this early and do a whole day of work! I got to the Embarcadero around 645, it was still dark, and waited for Tanisisa to meet me. Thank goodness there are plenty of Starbucks in downtown SF. We talked about him & the inspiration that comes from following a man of such depth & character. We walked in the rain to the radio station to be a little early for our 755 sharp call time. The sun was rising on our walk and the rain was down to a drizzle by the time we arrived.
There were a few smiling people in line and we asked if they were waiting to meet Adam too. Of course they were. I introduced myself to everyone in line and it was clear we were already a family. I was excited to meet a few Twitter people who had been following me for the last 2 years. Everyone was so happy and there were even people who were happy for me to be there!! A woman from the radio station came down to check the names and Tanisia;s name wasnt on the list. uh oh! we found out that there were 2 lines for the 2 radio stations having M&G's that morning. We were in the wrong line. The PA had collected the 99.7 line at 730 instead of at 755. For about 2 minutes we almost died. They rushed us to a separate entrance and we were checked in at the security desk and up in the elevator we went. The PA for the station said Adam had just got there and not to worry. We ran (literally) down the halls of the radio stations to a little room where there was another very small group of Glamberts casually munching on pastriies and coffee, The sound mixing borad was to the right of us and we could see through the little window to the interview that was taking place. All I saw was the tips of Adams hair and it was enough to stop my heart. The fact that he was less than 10 feet away and there was virtually no crowd was a lot to handle. We could hear the interview and they were talking about SPORTS!!! A couple ladies then asked me if I was going to ask him about the Superbowl petition. I was like I dont know what the hell Im gonna say. I took off my coat and backpack which was holding the wrapped gifts and was shaking a little. We could sense the interview was coming to a close and the anticiapation of him coming through that door any moment had me wanting to throw up or go # 2. The interview was done and we saw Adam stand up and shake hands and take a couple photos inside the booth. Then the door opened. He was beaming when he walked throught that door.
He is so tall and was at least 5 inches taller than anyone else there so when he came out into the room there was no denying that this man had a serious presence. He smiled at all of us and scanned the crowd. He cheerfully said Good Morning! The group responded in unison. He thanked us for getting up so early and asked how we all were.Literally less than 5 feet away I could sense that he was comfortable and happy and because of that, so was I. They had us line up along the side and put Adam in the center of the 99.7 background. I was going to be 5th in line. OMG!!! He genuinely greeted each person with such love & immediately made everyone completely comfortable. I have no idea what the 4 people before me even said to him cause I was staring at him interacting with each person thinking holy shit im about to talk to him! holy shit Im almost next! holy shit hes right there!!! oh my gaaaah IM NEXT!!!!! All I could do was smile so hard that my cheek was twitching.
The path was clear and there he was... the most gentle giant put out his arms I walked into them and he squeezed me. I looked up at him and said 'thank you so much'. I handed him his gifts and said they were fragile & there was also a little something in there for Sauli. He said 'aawww how sweet' He handed them to his assistant who told me 'Im gonna put them in my purse'. he said thank you & I hugged him again. I said 'i know you didnt choose to be an LGBT leader on the frontlines but Im glad you are' he said 'well someone's gotta do it!' I responded with 'it will be many years until we know what affect you have had on the indusrty and gay youth but I think youre doing an incredible job' he thanked me again and we took the picture. I moved off to the side to watch Tanisia meet him Again! She was on the Talk last year, where they had a game show she was in, and as soon as Adam saw her he said 'Nice to see you again.' They chatted for a moment and then Tanisia was done and we just held eachother and watched as, one by one, the remaining 10 people had their dreams come true.
After the pics were all done he was still in the middle of the room when he said 'you guys are gonna love this album, I worked so hard on it' A lady yelled out 'its your baby'. He said theres dancing and ballads. You could tell it was his work he was talking about. as it was wrapping up I couldnt help but blurt out "Adam I made the superbowl twitition and got a lot of slack for it, I just wanted to hear you sing it, & it came from the heart. He said it was sweet and he loved that song! Someone mentioned the juice cleanse and he said 'no juicing when were in San Francisco' he then said he was starving & eyeing the cinnamon roll and leaned over to get a pastry and just before he did a true pearl clutcher shouted 'NOOOO adam! you dont need that cinnamon roll' Some people gasped and some laughed. Adam stood up proudly with his napkin wrapped Cinnamon Roll and intently & delicately tore off a piece and put it in his mouth as he began his walk away down the hall. Many people said Thank you & we love you. He towered above everyone else as he walked away in true entourage fashion.
We waited outside of the station for another chance to say hi, with just a few others. I met the first journalist who posted a story about the Superbowl petition while outside. It was so great to see other adam fans and there were about 4 guys total in our group. We also chatted with someone we thought was a fan but it turns out it was the paparazzi and he was fishing for stories. Tanisisa and I sensed what was happening and headed on our walk to brunch at Stacks. Amazing breakfast. It seemed even food tasted better after this experience.
When my goal of the last 2 years was to meet adam and thank him, I quickly sat down with myself and made a new list of goals. I also thought of how long and hard many of Adams days are & I hope the best for him and this year! I am so excited for the rest of this year (it just started!) and cannot wait to hear the Trespassing album, tour, & hopefully I'll throw a big SF party when he comes back into town.
The reason that this even happened is due to Tanisia and Melody's kindness and generosity and for that, I am eternally thankful.
Be good to yourelf, and be yourself. You never know who's watching.
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