morrissey frink thread!

A lot of you have already read this, but for those that haven't:
Part 1

Last Friday night I heard from Sarah Tea, a DJ on 103.1 online, that she had seen Morrissey at Amoeba in Los Angeles. My next step was to freak out. Here I've been waiting for him to come back to us for 9 months. It had been so hard living on a different continent from him. I had been planning all along that when he came back I’d spend my Sundays in LA hanging out, hoping to run into him. Now this month I'm working most Sundays and have meetings on other days.....I was so upset at Morrissey for his terrible timing. How could I live knowing he was so close but I couldn't go there?
I debated all Friday night and half of Saturday - should I drive to LA? I really shouldn't, because I had to work Sunday morning in Stockton. To give you an idea of distance - LA is a 3.5 hour drive south of Fresno. Stockton is a 2.5 hour drive north of Fresno. Sacramento is a 45 minute drive north of Stockton. I live in Fresno. I had emailed Jose Maldonado (Breakfast with the Smiths) who works with Sarah to see what he knew. He was sure she had seen him. He also reminded me that the Sweet and Tender Hooligans had a show Saturday night in LA. That gave me two reasons to go, so I closed the clinic, hopped in my car, and drove down to LA. I stopped at the Cat and Fiddle, had dinner, hung around, then drove out to the show. The show was fantastic, but no Morrissey. It was OK, though; just being in LA felt right. I did get to meet Jose in the flesh although he was too busy talking to allow me to introduce myself when I ran into him. I left LA at about 12:30am, had a 6 hour drive up to Stockton, 1 hour nap, then a full day of crazy busy work. Monday was a holiday here and I was working at a hospital in Sacramento, again, crazy busy, then I drove back to Fresno Monday night. I worked Tuesday in Fresno.

Wednesday started with a meeting with a bankruptcy lawyer. Lovely. I was supposed to drive north to Sacramento to talk with the head of a graduate studies program at 4pm. I was sitting in the parking lot of the lawyer's office at about noon thinking that driving north was wrong, because Morrissey was south. (There's a lot of complication that Morrissey had caused already; I was all set to go study in Sacramento in a few months until he arrived with incredible style; then I realized why it was nice to be near LA and decided to f*** continuing education. Nice work, Moz. And the dropping out after first year of college due to the Kill Uncle tour....) Anyway, I called up the office of the guy and requested a telephone meeting instead. Then I started driving south. I was completely unprepared for stalking Morrissey. I was wearing flip flops and a Morrissey T-shirt. Generally I'd avoid a Moz T-shirt for the awkwardness factor when trying to approach so that he won't turn tail and run, but I had nothing else with me. I also had left my backpack at home. I really had nothing with me but the sharpie I'd put in my pocket the previous Saturday night and my driver's license. I PMd CG who lives in LA to see if she wanted to hang out.

I got to LA around 5:30ish, having stopped at 4pm just north of LA for the phone conference. It only took 20 minutes so I was really glad that I hadn't driven all the way to Sacramento for that. I parked across from Amoeba records. I slipped on my jacket (and it was far too warm for it, but that T-shirt...it was so OBVIOUS.) I went in there, looked around, almost bought a Moz interview promo disc but figured it was on youtube or solow somewhere. There was going to be a Scissors Sisters in store concert so I took off. Next I stopped at the Cat & Fiddle to use the restroom. I eat there every time I’m in LA, partly because of Morrissey, partly because I know they’ll have something I can eat, and these days, partly out of habit. I then caught a bus down to Book Soup. I looked at some Bukowski books and almost bought a couple but refrained I read some of his poetry and found it really funny and a bit sad. I laughed out loud in the quiet bookstore. After I left Book Soup, I walked up Sunset and then up Sweetzer because I'd never seen his old house. There was a security guard parked on the side of the road and within about 5 minutes the cops came to shoo me off. I saw what I think was his old house, but I was actually on the phone with CG for the bulk of it so didn’t see much other than a cul de sac fronted by some garages.

CG headed into town while I just walked around West Hollywood. I got some water at Trader Joe’s and watched a bit of tennis on the outside TVs at one restaurant Federer was just starting his match against Soderling. CG arrived and picked me up and we decided to go back to the Cat and Fiddle for dinner. I had been walking around for a couple of hours and was starving (and always eat there anyway), so figured, "why not?" We shared Moz gossip as we drove back to the Cat and Fiddle. When we walked in, I noticed that all of the patio tables had little reserved signs on them. CG had brought her dog with her, so we had to sit outside, which was fine because the weather was fantastic. I asked the waitress about the reserved signs, and she said that there was a wedding reception going on inside in the private room. Odd, the only wedding people we saw came out to the patio to smoke; nobody sat at the tables. There was a really low not really a table place to sit (more of a really low bench) so I grabbed that. I had dinner (the rigatoni with mushrooms, spinach and garlic; I had discounted running into Moz, otherwise I never would have ordered anything with garlic or onions) , CG had dessert. I had a gin and tonic and we talked about.....well, Moz of course. After a bit I started talking about Inception and what a waste of Marr's talent it was, and this guy Rob sitting at the next table started talking to us, asking which movie I was talking about. He was from London (Brixton) and was in LA for a couple of weeks. He is in website engineering and CG does graphic design so they did some networking while I watched. It came up that CG and I had actually just met, having known each other online, and Rob asked which website. This very awkward silence descended as here we were in the Cat and Fiddle and we were from solow for Chrissake – not something I wanted to advertise too loudly. Rob took our awkward silence to mean that we’d met on a romance site and tried to backpedal. To put off his even more erroneous conclusion I unzipped my jacket to show my T-shirt and explained that, as with everything else, it was all about Morrissey. After that, I talked more about Moz (I'm fairly predictable in this way) both current news and a bit about the whole fandom thing. We talked about what would happen if we met him. I said I’d ask him to tea, ask after his family. I said it would be my life's fulfillment if I got a signature tattoo. It got to be about quarter of 10, I was getting tired, so decided to call it a day because I knew I had to drive back and work in the morning. We got our check, paid, and went to leave. Apparently, while I was in the restroom, CG had offered to give the British stranger a ride to the airport. OK.... She was going to walk me to my car and then go back to him.

The layout of the Cat and Fiddle from the street backwards: sidewalk, about 6ft of grass, a 10ft high iron fence with large central gate, a 20ft long by 8ft wide outdoor corridor running between 2 buildings, which opens onto a very large patio area surrounded by a 3ft fence. The restaurant itself is behind the large patio. We had been up against the frotn inside of low fence at the front of the patio.
 
Part 2

We walked down the corridor to go out, and just as we passed the large gate at the very front, Morrissey and three men walked past us to go in. At first it didn't register consciously, but it must have registered unconsciously, because I stopped, turned, looked, and freaked out. It was HIM. OH MY GOD. They were walking slowly by. I said, "Morrissey?" He was facing down the corridor, so I saw him in silhouette with his head tilted slightly downwards. His eyebrows lifted and he paused. I asked "Do you have a minute?" He stopped and turned toward us and gave a half smile. He was standing in the perfect location for the light to hit him and he glowed. It was so surreal. He was stunning. His quiff and hair is mostly grey. He wasn't wearing his flat cap, and he was at the most predictable of locations, so he must have been ok with fans tonight. He was wearing beat up jeans, brown shoes, a dark grey blazer. I couldn't tell you the color of his shirt. He was wearing a very large silver ring with a large rectangular black stone on his right ring finger. He looked fantastic. I said to him "We were just discussing how it would be my life's fulfillment if you would sign me." He said, "Then by all means, let me sign you." I pulled my sharpie out of my pocket and said, "I've been carrying this around for this very purpose. I actually have a few tattoos I'd like to you write if you have time." He shrugged as if to indicate he didn't mind. Gustavo, his new keyboardist, caught a glimpse of the top of my T-shirt and commented that I was wearing a Morrissey T-shirt. Urgh. Gustavo seemed to think it was pretty cool, Moz was kind of like, "Oooh." CG was off talking to Jesse. I held out my left wrist and asked him to sign. First he ran his thumb and forefinger from the elbow down to the wrist and asked "this way" and then ran on the other side of my arm from wrist to elbow "or like this?" I told him that I had previously wanted that, but was starting a new job and needed it to just go across my wrist. He outlined what I said across my wrist, then complained "There's not much space for me to work with" but went ahead and started writing. :D He didn't notice my ring with his name on it. He was concentrating very hard. He wrote pretty neatly for him. I think he asked me what I did, and I think told him I was a veterinarian, and that he already had my business card. I think he, rather bizarrely, said "You do a very good job." He has no way of knowing as far as I can tell. (Was this his foresite??) After he was done with my wrist, I said, "Next, you have a choice of lyrics - either 'I'm here and here I'll stay' or 'I'm here I will not move.'" He said, "Those are terrible lyrics!" I said, "Really? You think they're terrible?" He said "yes." (I don't care, I still love them.) I didn’t get a chance to ask him which lyrics he liked. Some random girl borrowed my sharpie and had him sign an empty bottle of midol of all things. Jesse was getting antsy (CG says it was Jesse, I couldn't tell) and said "We need to get going, we're meeting someone here." I said to Moz, "Can I hug you?" He said, "But of course." *aaaah heaven* I hugged him and told him he smelled great and looked fantastic. He made non committal noises. Then I joked "you know how we go on about how wonderful you smell." He said, "Yes but you're all mad." I replied, “yes, yes we are.” Then, of course, I told him, "I love you." Jesse was insistent that they get going, so off they went into the patio.

Things I wish I’d said: “Welcome back to our police state.” “I missed you.” “How’s your mum?” “Did that cat really sit on your head?” “Are you working on a new album?” But the time was so short and my brain wasn’t working so…I also had a zip drive of the lyrics book in my pocket which I had meant to give him but didn’t. The worst part was that I was so stunned it was like my senses weren't working at all - i remember the whiff of his cologne, staring at his beat up jeans, Gustavo smiling, but all the rest of it is a blur.

I was pretty stunned afterward. I stood on the sidewalk with CG and said, "Oh my god - did that really just happen? Did that really happen?" I wandered around aimlessly a bit so much so that a security guard in the next doorway was laughing at me a bit (good-naturedly). We asked him where a tattoo parlor was, and he pointed us down the street. We went down that direction, but the parlor was closed. We walked backed past the Cat and Fiddle - CG said she had to go tell Rob that it was going to be a bit longer as we had to find another tattoo parlor. So we walked back into the patio area and were standing leaning on the low fence to talk to Rob who was still sitting at his table inside the fence. Morrissey and his posse were sitting at the front corner table right next to Rob! Rob seemed clueless, but so was CG! She was yakking at him about the tattoo parlor and Morrissey and I had to say to her quietly, "he's just to your left". She glanced over and gave a startled look that he was right there. I was starting to feel awkward because I didn't mean to keep bothering Morrissey, it wasn't really my fault that they sat next to our new friend, but I quickly went away as soon as arrangements had been made. I'm wondering now if Morrissey hadn't called ahead and requested the reserved labels so that he could have the patio to himself.

CG and I went walking until we found an open tattoo parlor. I kept having spasms of "omg omg omg omg". The first person I emailed about meeting Moz was...Alain Whyte. Don't ask me why. Then I called Lottie (whose phone was off). We found a tattoo parlor and I proclaimed to the guy who said they were closed (open doors and lights on...but one guy did have his bicycle helmet on and the girl had her bags on her shoulders) that "It's an emergency" and thrust my wrist into his face. "I need to have this tattooed now." He agreed, and 20 minutes later, it was done. I was playing HSIN because the tattoo artist had said he didn't know who Morrissey was - he at first thought a friend had written on me and was wondering why I wanted it tattooed on - so I played HSIN and of course then he recognized it. Want to talk about adrenaline? I didn't feel the tattoo. At all. Not a single needle poke of it. It was utterly painless. Pretty good high, huh?

I talked to Toni on the way home - I had to tell someone and Lottie wasn't answering and I don't have anyone else's number. I also got a speeding ticket on the way home because I was too excited to pay attention to driving, but I got home safe.
It was frickin' AWESOME. And now maybe I'll go to school in Sac since I don't need to wander around LA anymore looking for Morrissey. He was incredibly sweet and accomodating; a genuinely nice man. And incredibly handsome. I’d love the chance to actually hang out with him without Jesse pulling him away. He said in the Guardian article that he still has cats – I wonder where they live – my veterinary service offer still stands.
 
Part 2

We walked down the corridor to go out, and just as we passed the large gate at the very front, Morrissey and three men walked past us to go in. At first it didn't register consciously, but it must have registered unconsciously, because I stopped, turned, looked, and freaked out. It was HIM. OH MY GOD. They were walking slowly by. I said, "Morrissey?" He was facing down the corridor, so I saw him in silhouette with his head tilted slightly downwards. His eyebrows lifted and he paused. I asked "Do you have a minute?" He stopped and turned toward us and gave a half smile. He was standing in the perfect location for the light to hit him and he glowed. It was so surreal. He was stunning. His quiff and hair is mostly grey. He wasn't wearing his flat cap, and he was at the most predictable of locations, so he must have been ok with fans tonight. He was wearing beat up jeans, brown shoes, a dark grey blazer. I couldn't tell you the color of his shirt. He was wearing a very large silver ring with a large rectangular black stone on his right ring finger. He looked fantastic. I said to him "We were just discussing how it would be my life's fulfillment if you would sign me." He said, "Then by all means, let me sign you." I pulled my sharpie out of my pocket and said, "I've been carrying this around for this very purpose. I actually have a few tattoos I'd like to you write if you have time." He shrugged as if to indicate he didn't mind. Gustavo, his new keyboardist, caught a glimpse of the top of my T-shirt and commented that I was wearing a Morrissey T-shirt. Urgh. Gustavo seemed to think it was pretty cool, Moz was kind of like, "Oooh." CG was off talking to Jesse. I held out my left wrist and asked him to sign. First he ran his thumb and forefinger from the elbow down to the wrist and asked "this way" and then ran on the other side of my arm from wrist to elbow "or like this?" I told him that I had previously wanted that, but was starting a new job and needed it to just go across my wrist. He outlined what I said across my wrist, then complained "There's not much space for me to work with" but went ahead and started writing. :D He didn't notice my ring with his name on it. He was concentrating very hard. He wrote pretty neatly for him. I think he asked me what I did, and I think told him I was a veterinarian, and that he already had my business card. I think he, rather bizarrely, said "You do a very good job." He has no way of knowing as far as I can tell. (Was this his foresite??) After he was done with my wrist, I said, "Next, you have a choice of lyrics - either 'I'm here and here I'll stay' or 'I'm here I will not move.'" He said, "Those are terrible lyrics!" I said, "Really? You think they're terrible?" He said "yes." (I don't care, I still love them.) I didn’t get a chance to ask him which lyrics he liked. Some random girl borrowed my sharpie and had him sign an empty bottle of midol of all things. Jesse was getting antsy (CG says it was Jesse, I couldn't tell) and said "We need to get going, we're meeting someone here." I said to Moz, "Can I hug you?" He said, "But of course." *aaaah heaven* I hugged him and told him he smelled great and looked fantastic. He made non committal noises. Then I joked "you know how we go on about how wonderful you smell." He said, "Yes but you're all mad." I replied, “yes, yes we are.” Then, of course, I told him, "I love you." Jesse was insistent that they get going, so off they went into the patio.

Things I wish I’d said: “Welcome back to our police state.” “I missed you.” “How’s your mum?” “Did that cat really sit on your head?” “Are you working on a new album?” But the time was so short and my brain wasn’t working so…I also had a zip drive of the lyrics book in my pocket which I had meant to give him but didn’t. The worst part was that I was so stunned it was like my senses weren't working at all - i remember the whiff of his cologne, staring at his beat up jeans, Gustavo smiling, but all the rest of it is a blur.

I was pretty stunned afterward. I stood on the sidewalk with CG and said, "Oh my god - did that really just happen? Did that really happen?" I wandered around aimlessly a bit so much so that a security guard in the next doorway was laughing at me a bit (good-naturedly). We asked him where a tattoo parlor was, and he pointed us down the street. We went down that direction, but the parlor was closed. We walked backed past the Cat and Fiddle - CG said she had to go tell Rob that it was going to be a bit longer as we had to find another tattoo parlor. So we walked back into the patio area and were standing leaning on the low fence to talk to Rob who was still sitting at his table inside the fence. Morrissey and his posse were sitting at the front corner table right next to Rob! Rob seemed clueless, but so was CG! She was yakking at him about the tattoo parlor and Morrissey and I had to say to her quietly, "he's just to your left". She glanced over and gave a startled look that he was right there. I was starting to feel awkward because I didn't mean to keep bothering Morrissey, it wasn't really my fault that they sat next to our new friend, but I quickly went away as soon as arrangements had been made. I'm wondering now if Morrissey hadn't called ahead and requested the reserved labels so that he could have the patio to himself.

CG and I went walking until we found an open tattoo parlor. I kept having spasms of "omg omg omg omg". The first person I emailed about meeting Moz was...Alain Whyte. Don't ask me why. Then I called Lottie (whose phone was off). We found a tattoo parlor and I proclaimed to the guy who said they were closed (open doors and lights on...but one guy did have his bicycle helmet on and the girl had her bags on her shoulders) that "It's an emergency" and thrust my wrist into his face. "I need to have this tattooed now." He agreed, and 20 minutes later, it was done. I was playing HSIN because the tattoo artist had said he didn't know who Morrissey was - he at first thought a friend had written on me and was wondering why I wanted it tattooed on - so I played HSIN and of course then he recognized it. Want to talk about adrenaline? I didn't feel the tattoo. At all. Not a single needle poke of it. It was utterly painless. Pretty good high, huh?

I talked to Toni on the way home - I had to tell someone and Lottie wasn't answering and I don't have anyone else's number. I also got a speeding ticket on the way home because I was too excited to pay attention to driving, but I got home safe.
It was frickin' AWESOME. And now maybe I'll go to school in Sac since I don't need to wander around LA anymore looking for Morrissey. He was incredibly sweet and accomodating; a genuinely nice man. And incredibly handsome. I’d love the chance to actually hang out with him without Jesse pulling him away. He said in the Guardian article that he still has cats – I wonder where they live – my veterinary service offer still stands.

:clap: Wow, that's some seriously awesome detailed account. :p I am sooooooooooo elated that you had so much contact with Morrissey and got him to sign you. You were seriously a different person afterward. Peaceful and stunned, this coming from soneone who was stunned a bit herself. I mean not that you were aggressive before, you just seemed like you were bathed in light or whatever. I know that sounds hoity toity religious, but when you wait an almost entire lifetime to meet somone and when you do and they are kind and gentle, it's a remakable experience and I feel kinda honored to have been with you. :sweet: You should show us a picture of your tattoo! ANd when I went back to get Rob it was beyond awkward, I felt like a stalker so I sat there tensely when I realized I wasn't giving him a ride. I got another beer before because he was waiting to get his drugs, so then I wasn;t okay to drive and I sat there at his bench next to MOrrissey but Jesse was in between. I heard him speaking, conversing though. It was nice to just be there in the same room, but it was weird so I summed up the situation and told Rob I was outsie and took off. In short you missed nothing but awkwardness. :p
 
Conversing? Tell us what he said!
And this is unfrinky, but here it is:
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Absolutely gorgeous dailyalice and what a story. I'm so glad you had such a nice encounter. A lifetimes waiting, and then the moment is there, and now you have the perfect memory etched upon you. I't was lovely that you had Crystal there to share it with you. :guitar:
 
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:clap: Bravo, Alice!
Congrats!! I'm having heart palps just reading your encounter (course I've had too much coffee today, too :p)

Cool tatt, but who is Yessirrom? :confused:;)
 
:clap: Bravo, Alice!
Congrats!! I'm having heart palps just reading your encounter (course I've had too much coffee today, too :p)

Cool tatt, but who is Yessirrom? :confused:;)

It's Morrissey's loving and happy and generous doppleganger that he reserves exclusively for fans, friends and family.
 
Can't watch the video at the moment, but thanks dailyalice. So he shops in vintage jeans stores, no wonder they have so many holes ;) Nice to see some new piccies. :guitar:
 
I love the old jeans and plaid shirt combo more than you can imagine. :horny:
 
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