Friday, August 17, 2007

A Magical Evening :o)


Can you tell who that is?

That, my darlings, is Duane "Dog" Chapman, as seen from seat 105, row DD. (Actually, I could see him better than this photo indicates.) I have such a thing for Dog, I just can't even tell you. This is where we went Monday night, and here it is Friday and I'm still giddy. I lined up a babysitter and bought tickets within about 10 minutes of finding out he was going to be in town. Then I had a few days to wait (impatiently) and wonder if I had lost my mind (likely).

When the big night arrived, I began to think for the first time about what types of people might also be going to see Dog. There are aspects of his persona that would appeal to a wide range of different people. And there was a wide range of different people represented, baby. One couple came dressed as Dog and Beth. There was a woman who looked like Secret Service. The woman who sat directly behind us was 71 years old and talked to Dog throughout the speech as if they were across the kitchen table from one another. "I know that was hard, honey, I know....You TELL them how it is, Dog, you TELL them...", etc. And the man sitting next to Scott actually barked when Dog took the stage. (I laugh every time I remember the look on Scott's face on that one!)

Dog was everything I expected as a speaker--personable, funny and very inspiring. He talked about the hunt and capture of Andrew Luster and the next four years between then and his "capture" by US Marshals. For more than 90 minutes, he talked story with no notes, and his theme was consistently that God allows trials to build our faith. (He was so direct in this that he even got several AMENS throughout the night.)

I had wanted to get a copy of his book and get it signed, but they sold out too quickly. We had to leave after the "formal" part of his talk, before Q&A, and before autograph signing. That was a bit disappointing, but I had told the sitter we would be home about 10:00 and it was close to 11:00 when we rolled in. I would be curious to know how long Dog & Beth (who is jaw-dropping gorgeous, by the way) stayed that night. We left a little after 9:00; it wouldn't surprise me if they were there until midnight.

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