Earlier today, when I was going up to Hollywood for the Viggo and Jude signing, I hadn't really planned on writing a review for it. Then I ran into the guys from Houghton Mifflin and Harper Collins and realized that an almost immediate review was not only expected, but was actually anticipated. So, after finally getting into the store, then having some dinner, then the long drive home, here is my review.

I got up to Book Soup rather late today, arriving just as the event started at 3:00pm. The line snaked down the street, around the corner, down the hill and into the back alley. Luckily, I knew loads of people in various spots in line, but opted to line up with my boyfriend. Good thing too, as I had all his books in my car, so he would have had to buy a new book or two if I hadn't gotten there. The first person to have gotten inside to get Viggo's signature was Renee Zeilweger (sp?), who stopped by before heading to a special event for Chicago. How cool is that?

Anyhow, back to us normal people. We stand in line for a few hours, I go feed the parking meter gods twice before getting inside, and the sun goes down while we are still outside. Thank the heavens this was Los Angeles and we had a mild Santa Ana wind condition. It was nearly 80 degrees today, otherwise this could have been a very miserable afternoon. So, with the nice weather, and the nice friends to chat with, time passed peacefully outside for several hours. Around 6:30pm, we finally get to the head of the line outside, and just need to wait a few more minutes before we can go inside and get out of the wind. It was at this point that one of the bookstore employees mentioned how very strict West Hollywood can be on parking enforcement. We found out that two people in our party had parked on a street that will end up with their cars towed at 7:00pm, precisely. He promised to hold the spots for those two so they could go move their cars, and for that, we are very grateful. Thanks Booksoup, we really do appreciate the way this signing was run.

We finally got inside the store just before 7:00pm, and were given little sticky notes to put our names on, so the books could be personalized. We were told that there was a limit of 4 items, but it seemed everyone was on the honor system, as no security or store employee really seemed to be enforcing this. Then again, it had been 4 hours by the time I got in there, they may have just been too darn tired to deal with it. We were also told that there were no pictures, but I saw one person take a photo shortly before I got to the desk, so I got my camera out as well. No one else was taking them, so I figured it was a rather casual, case by case instance on yes or no with a picture.

Before we got to the desk in the back of the room, Jude Fisher started walking down the line to sign, as she was having to leave early. She seemed like a really nice lady, and was glad to meet some of the fans of the film and the book she had worked so long and hard on. She is actually out here, along with the Houghton Mifflin and Harper Collins people, to begin work on the Return of the King books. Woohoo, more cool stuff to look forward to later on this year.

7:45pm, and I finally get to the desk to see Viggo. I had decided to challenge Viggo and have him sign my name in Chinese, which he did. Kudos to Viggo for attempting it, there are some very complex characters in my Chinese name. I also asked him to sign a postcard for a friend overseas, which he did. And because I wanted her to know he was really signing it, I asked if I could take a picture of him signing it. He said yes, and so that is the only picture I got at the event. I didn't want to push my luck with the security guys, so no other pictures were taken. Now, because it was the first shot on the roll, it will be a little while before I get it developed, sorry I can't add it now. I can describe what Viggo was wearing, which was another one of his homemade shirts with a political statement written on it. Similar, but not the same, to the shirt he wore on the Charlie Rose show. He also had on his cowboy hat, and was looking rather bohemian, as usual.