Our Celebrity Encounters
We have not met many celebrities in person, but the ones that we have met are listed here.  Most of the pictures were taken at the time that we met each person, and any autographs we received are linked below.
Amy Wynn Pastor (carpenter on Trading Spaces)

Amy Wynn PastorWe met Amy Wynn in April, 2004.  We had heard that she was going to be appearing at Gardiner's Home Furniture, and so we decided to go.  However, we only just made it because we had a family event to go to earlier that day.  Our timing was perfect though, because we did not have to wait more than five minutes in line, and everyone that was there got to have a nice long conversation with her.  Amy Wynn was incredibly nice and down to earth, and it was very nice to meet her.  A little girl in line in front of us liked the balloons on the back of Amy's chair, and so Amy gave her one by breaking the string with her teeth!  She was very open and friendly, and let us take our picture with her.  She had a stack of photos to sign for the people that came, but we had brought a couple of our own because we were not sure if she would have any.  She spent time looking at both the photos we brought and told us about when they were taken.  She said that her favorite designer on Trading Spaces was Frank, because he is the nicest guy ever.  She also signed two of her own photos for us.  On Trading Spaces, Amy Wynn came across as very fun and nice, and she was exactly the same in real life.  It was a lot of fun to meet her, and we are very glad we got the chance!


Click to view autograph(s):



Sean Hannity (radio and TV host)

Sean HannityWe met Sean Hannity in March of 2004, although our parents have met him a couple times at book signings and concerts.  Sean was doing a book signing at our local Costco and there were a ton of people there.  Although we got there on time, he was very late in arriving so we had to stand in line for several hours, although we did leave to go and get lunch.  Our mom stood in line to hold the spot, but it was mainly for her that we were there because she is the fan.  The annoying thing was that not many people seemed to get in line behind us, so we were basically bringing up the rear the entire time.  The line zig zagged through the aisles of one whole side of the store.  When we finally got to him, he signed our three books and let us take a picture with him.  He was very nice, just very rushed and he seemed tired.  It was good to meet him, but the line was just way too long for a 20 second conversation.


Rupert Boneham (Survivor: Pearl Islands and All-Stars)

Rupert BonehamWe met Rupert in August, 2004 at Six Flags America, where we heard he was going to be speaking.  Rupert did a question and answer session followed by an autograph signing.  We did not know that there was going to be a Q&A session first, so we ended up getting there a little late.  He spoke for a while about the Survivor show, and then had everyone come outside and line up for autographs.  We stood in the rain for an hour and then finally we were next in line right after one family in front of us.  Of course, the line was cut off in front of them so he could go and do another Q&A session.  The people with him were very rude to us and the other people in line, who were all a little annoyed that we would have to wait another half hour to see him.  While our dad held our spot in line, we went back into the arena to watch the questions.  There were around 20 people inside and no one wanted to ask anything, so he came back out shortly after.  He was very nice and apologized for the wait to all of us.  He let us get our picture taken with him, and he signed the photo we brought, as well as two of his own for us.  We got to shake his hand and Rupert was really very nice.


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William Joseph (pianist)

William Joseph is an extremely talented pianist who we saw when he was the opening act for Clay Aiken's Joyful Noise Tour 2005.  He also stayed on stage throughout the show as part of the band.  Every night after the show, William signed autographs in the lobby of the theater for his fans.  I (Jennifer) met him at the Washington DC concert and both of us met him at the Baltimore concert the next night.  After the DC concert, he was out in the lobby signing autographs and taking pictures, but the security guards at the venue were being really rude.  They were yelling at everyone to get out because the venue was closing, but William wanted to make sure that everyone got an autograph.  The whole crowd and William ended up getting shoved like cattle out of the building and onto the street.  He was a trooper, though, and stayed outside in the freezing cold (without more than a suit jacket to keep him warm) until everyone was happy.  The next night was better in that he was able to stay in the lobby until he was done.  We asked him to sign two pictures we had printed and got a picture with him.  He is a really nice guy (so is his bodyguard), and seems to care a lot about his fans.


Click to view autograph(s):



Josh Groban (singer)

This one is a little different because we did not directly meet Josh, but we did get his autograph in person.  We were at his Awake concert in Washington DC in March, 2007, and had amazing (sixth row) seats for once.  Before the show, a man came up to us and said that after Josh sang "Weeping", that people in the first six rows would be able to go up to the stage and Josh would sign autographs.  We weren't sure if we were going to go, but once other people started going up we decided to try.  He sat down at the front of the stage and signed a few autographs and accepted gifts from the fans before singing "Not While I'm Around".  We couldn't believe how close we were able to be while he was singing, he was literally no more than two feet away from us!  When he finished the song, there were still quite a few people that were hoping to get his autograph, so we all held our programs out to him.  He laughed because there were so many people still there and he had to go onto his next song, but he did sign everyone's stuff.  Since he didn't have much time, his signature is basically just a 'J' on our program, but we were thrilled to get it!  He could have easily just ignored all of us left, but he didn't, and made sure everyone at least had his marker touch their program.  It was a really great concert and probably as close to Josh as we'll ever be able to get!


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Colleen Clinkenbeard (voice actress)

We met Colleen Clinkenbeard at Otakon in July, 2007.  We were wandering around waiting for a panel that we wanted to see and saw that the autograph lines were very short.  Since we had heard her voice work in "Fullmetal Alchemist", we decided to give it a shot and join the line.  We didn't have to wait very long because nearly everyone at the convention was in line for the Dealer's Room (the line for the room, which was on the first floor, began on the third floor!).  We didn't have anything other than our program book for her to sign, so we each opened it up to a different page.  We hadn't planned on getting her autograph, but we are very glad that we did.  She was really nice and was more than happy to sign everything that the fans brought and answer their questions.  She had a whole pile of permanent markers next to her and was having fun picking a color for each of the fans.  She seems to really love going to all the different anime conventions so we will most likely get a chance to meet her again at another one in the future.  Hopefully we'll make it to her panel next time, too!


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Maki Murakami (manga-ka)

We were very excited when we found out that Maki Murakami was going to be at Otakon because we are huge fans of "Gravitation" and it was her first convention in the US.  The line for her panel started hours before it was scheduled and we were lucky enough to get a good seat.  When she came into the room everyone was saying how adorable they thought she was and we were surprised at how young she was.  She was very funny in the panel and said her favorite character is Shuichi, that her dream is to make 100 volumes for Gravitation, and that she enjoyed seeing the fans dressed up as her characters.  There was even a person dressed up as Shuichi dressed up as a banana, and a few Ryu's cosplaying as Kumagoro!  They showed a lot of pictures of her workspace and pets and even a new picture from Gravitation that no one has ever seen before!  No cameras were allowed in the panel or autograph session, though, which is why we don't have any.  The autograph line was very long and we waited for two and a half hours before we got into the room.  Only five people were allowed in the room at a time and then we would each go up individually to get an autograph.  She had a stack of Yuki and Shuichi pictures to sign or she would sign an item that you brought.  Since there were two of us, Jennifer got the picture and I (Elizabeth) got volume 11 signed.  Her and her translator both laughed at the picture of Yuki in the manga and she even drew a little musical note on the page.  All in all, it was a great day and we are thrilled that we got a chance to meet her!


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Clay Aiken (singer)

When I (Jennifer) found out that I won a Meet and Greet with Clay through his fan club, I was in complete shock.  It was to take place before Clay's Christmas concert in Washington D.C. on December 2, 2007.  Since I only received the e-mail one day before the concert, I didn't have that much time to think about it, but I was still really nervous and excited.  I was especially nervous when I went up to the ticket window and they had a meet and greet pass for "Adam" with my last name.  After that mishap, Clay and everyone associated with him (especially his bodyguard Jerome who is such a nice guy) made the whole experience run very smoothly.  Clay Aiken is exactly how I thought he would be: extremely nice and really snarky!  He talked with the four other Meet and Greet winners and I for about 20 minutes, signed one item for each of us, and took a picture with each of us.  I brought my copy of his book "Learning to Sing" to get signed.  As for the picture...I went into an "Aiken fog" and can't remember much about it at all.  I think I need a do-over!  Everyone who meets him says that Clay is just a normal guy with a great voice, and it was so amazing to get to witness that for myself up close and personal!  A more detailed recap of the meet and greet can be found in Clay's music section here on our page.


Click to view autograph(s):