Who's Your Cat Daddy?

Last night Hubby Tony and I went to a book discussion and signing by Jackson Galaxy, a cat behaviorist and host of the Animal Planet show My Cat from Hell.   He was promoting Total Cat Mojo: The Ultimate Guide to Life with Your Cat!

Left Bank Books

If you've ever seen the show you know that Jackson is a colorful character with two full-sleeve tattoos, a shaved head, sculpted sideburns, and facial hair that changes on a regular basis who carries his cat toys around in a guitar case.  He helps families who have misbehaving cats, teaching them techniques so they can coexist with their pets.

The price to attend the event was only a couple of dollars more than the price of the book itself, so I put it on the calendar and Tony bought the tickets. We received an email on Tuesday indicating the event was sold out, and encouraging us to carpool to the venue. The event began at 7 PM, but the doors opened at 6 PM, allowing time for everyone to get their books and a signing line number. Tony and I figured we'd be there on the early side. When we pulled into the parking lot a couple of minutes before 6, there was already a line of people (we guessed about 150) in front of the building who had gotten there even earlier.  However, the doors opened right on time the the event was well organized. 

We were in our seats 30 minutes after we arrived.  I spent the time leafing through the book, which seemed to have a wealth of information about cat behavior and provided lots of practical tips.  The room filled up, and  when the author came out on the stage about 400 people were waiting expectantly.  He spoke for about 45 minutes, answered questions for another 10, then left the stage and got ready for the signing portion.

The line signing tickets were divided into groups, which was a civilized way to handle the large amount of people.  We were in Group 3, so we waited in our seats until it was time to line up.  When it was our turn the line was escorted out of the auditorium, down a short hall, and through the lobby where the signing table was set up.  Halfway through the line there was a person who asked us if we wanted the book personalized. He wrote the information on a Post-It note and attached it inside the front cover.  When we reached the top of the line another person took the book and opened it to the correct page.  Jackson signed the book, gave us a short personal comment, then moved on to the next person.