Meeting B.J. Novak!

On the second day in October, I visited my sister at Lesley University in Cambridge so we could go to the Brattle Theater and Harvard Book Store. Reading from his new book, The Book with No Pictures, was B.J. Novak, a star and writer on my all-time favorite show The Office. Even better, though, B.J. wrote one of my favorite books that was released back in February, One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories. Obviously, this event was an incredible opportunity. We just had to go.

The Book with No Pictures is a children's book so when reading from it, B.J. invited some children on stage. As tempting as it was, it would have been frowned upon if I went on stage and sat in front of B.J., eager to learn. Although, my sister asked him a question during his question and answer period. They had a really charming back and forth.

Following this, B.J. sat at a table off the stage to sign copies of The Book with No Pictures and One More Thing. He would only be personalizing the former, though, because he was in Cambridge to promote it, after all. One More Thing would simply receive a signature from B.J. and nothing more.
When my sister approached Mr. Novak, his attendant told her that he was really skilled at making conversation from nothing. This was obvious when the two started talking about area codes in central Massachusetts.

Now, my copy of One More Thing, is filled with comments I wrote on it while interactively reading and also sticky notes to mark my favorite stories. When I walked up to B.J. Novak (how crazy is that sentence?), he greeted me and signed the children's book, making it out to "Dave and Friends."
But when B.J. saw my copy of One More Thing loaded with denotations, he flipped through it checking out all my favorite stories.

"Which one was your absolute, top favorite?" He asked.

"I really loved 'The Impatient Billionaire and the Mirror for Earth,'" I told him.

"I liked that one, too," B.J. said, like Dora the Explorer. He continued, "What do the color of sticky notes mean?"

"The pink ones are my favorite stories and when I gave it to my English teacher to read, she marked some portions with orange," I explained.

"You might need a new teacher because you didn't mark any of the same stories," he told me. I laughed as he spoke again. "This really means so much to me, thank you so much. It means a lot," B.J. Novak said to me before personalizing the book he said he wouldn't.

The walk back to my sister's dorm from the book signing was so amazing. It passed by an instant because all I could think about was one mere statement.

My actions meant a lot to B.J. Novak, a literary and comedic hero of mine. To me, that is so cool.