Monthly recap: february vs january

Going out of town and then coming back under the weather slowed down my send out's for February (which I will need to make up next month). Like last February, this month was a banner for what I received.

February 2006 autographs

Autographs received (real or believed to be): 14
Out of that number, the amount that were purchased: 0
Pre prints: 0
RTS: 0
Other: 2 In-Person
Total sent out in February: 10


January 2006 autographs

Autographs received (real or believed to be): 10
Out of that number, the amount that were purchased: 1
Pre prints: 0
RTS: 0
Other: 3 In Person (convention purchases)
Total sent out in January: 19

One more for the month

February was a good autograph month wrapping up with a new addition today.

Andrea Gabriel - Sent: 2/13/06 Received: 2/28/06. Andrea is an up and coming actress probably best known (so far) for her recurring role as "Nadia" on "Lost". Andrea has her own web site (with a very cool blog) that you should check out sometime. Definitely an actress to watch.



Andrea Gabriel (click to enlarge)

No (hollo) way!

If you need a refresher in the "Josh Holloway Story" see my blog postings of October 6, 2005 and August 30, 2005.

Josh Holloway - Sent: 12/13/05 Received: 2/27/06. After writing and receiving a Pre-Print, then writing back which resulted in getting the photo personalized but not signed, third time is a charm. I sent my own photo of Josh to the "Lost" set and today it comes back signed and personalized. Mission accomplished! His character "Sawyer" is my favorite on the show (although I'm a concerned they are making the character a little too dark and evil) and I think Josh will become a major superstar in the very near future.



Hey freckles, who's hoarding the Josh Holloway autographs?

Makin' our dreams come true ....

Late last night I had the TV on a channel I normally don't watch. I wasn't paying much attention to it or the commercial that was playing for an area car show until it mentioned "Special appearance by Cindy Williams". That got my attention. I went on their site, learned more about the show which was just a little over an hour from where I live. "It would be fun to go" soon changed to "I am going to go" and so I did.

Cindy Williams - In Person: 2/25/06. Meeting Cindy was a great experience. She was very friendly and fun to talk to. I told her about my favorite "Laverne & Shirley" episode where Laverne & Shirley get high on marijuana brownies and almost marry rock stars under their "spiritual" names of "Star Monkey" (Shirley) and "Lemon Pledge" (Laverne). Cindy told me she had just been thinking about that episode a few days ago. She kept trying to remember which one she was (Star Monkey) and then she said "No I think I was 'Lemon Pledge'". I said no and resisted the dialogue right back to her. She just stopped and watched me do that laughing and saying "Nope your right." Then she said "I'm going to put 'Star Monkey' on your picture!" We visited a little more and when I left she put both her hands on mine and said "Star Monkey will always remember Ryan".



A "Laverne & Shirley" cast photo that Cindy Williams really liked (previously signed by 'Lenny', Michael McKean)




Cindy Williams as "Shirley Feeney" or is it "Star Monkey"? (click to enlarge). The one thing I forgot to ask her when I met her was "What ever happened to Boo Boo Kitty"?


Alec Baldwin - Sent: 2/13/06 Received: 2/26/06. Besides my great In-Person success, in the mail today I received a success from Alec Baldwin. Alec just started a new Broadway play "Entertaining Mr. Sloane". I didn't have a photo to send him (and he must not have had one available either) so he sent me a playbill signed on the front. I wrote to him during his last Broadway show but never received a reply, so it was nice to hear back this time around.



Alec Baldwin signed Playbill (click to enlarge)

Smallville Torch headline: Ryan is happy!

Mail out a letter that you never thought would get a success with. Add in one hell of an actress, throw in a dash of shock for the fact that it's a real signature and you've got the recipe for today's autograph.

Allison Mack - Sent: 1/31/05 Received: 2/23/06. This was a big surprise! I wrote to Allison Mack over a year ago at an untested address in CA. I think she lives in Canada (where Smallville films) so I didn't put much stock in getting anything back. Even though the photo isn't personalized to my name (as I like) I'm just so happy that it's real and not a pre print or a stamped signature. You don't see many successes from her through the mail. "Chloe" is my absolute favorite on "Smallville". I would be so much happier if her character and "Clark" ended up together on the show. You don't want to get me started on the reasons why I want them together, how perfect they are for each other and the episodes where she's gotten hurt by her feelings for him. I have very strong feelings on the subject. I plan to keep trying to get a personalized pic from Allison, but this definitely holds me over in the mean time!



Chloe Sullivan (played by Allison Mack) is like a "cool version of Andrea Zuckerman" from "90210".

Lady in red

Remember when TV shows had theme songs? One of the catchiest ones came from the 1980's sitcom "Family Ties" which launched the career of Michael J. Fox. A success from one of his "Family Tues" co stars was waiting at the mailbox today.

Meredith Baxter - Sent: 1/27/06 Received: 2/22/06. Best known for playing "Elyse Keaton" on "Family Ties" and being a Queen of the Lifetime TV Movies, today I received Meredith Baxter. She sent me this current photo which shows how much she still looks like she did 20 years ago. In addition she returned my letter with some replies and very nice comments written along side of things I wrote to her. In addition to playing Michael J. Fox's mother on "Family Ties", Meredith also played his mother on "Spin City".



Meredith Baxter (click to enlarge)

Getting caught up

I've been out of town the last few days. At the convention I went to, I scored an 'In-Person' autograph and came home to one waiting in the mailbox.

John Corbett - In Person: 2/15/06. I had a chance to meet actor/singer John Corbett in Nashville. He was not only super tall but super friendly. As an actor John appeared in two of my favorites. "Sex & The City" and the movie "Serendipity". John is also known for "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Northern Exposure". He's got a great voice as well and is releasing his debut country cd in April.



In Person from actor/singer John Corbett (click to enlarge)


M. Emmet Walsh - Sent: 1/31/06 Received: 2/14/06. Do you reconise this face? M. Emmet Walsh is a talented character actor who has over 175 shows on his resume. I decided to write to him after watching my "Flash" DVD (where he played Barry's father, Henry Allen). He sent me the photo below with a nice inscription. He also included my original letter back to me and next to the questions I asked him he wrote "The less one knows about an actor the more interesting their work".



TV & movie character actor M. Emmet Walsh (click to enlarge)

From Superman's mom to Spider-man's aunt

Today was another lucky Saturday at the mailbox.

Rosemary Harris - Sent: 12/13/05 Received: 2/11/06. I was really hoping this would come through. I wrote to Rosemary at "The Other Side", a Broadway play she was doing. It wrapped up a few weeks ago and when I didn't have a success by then I was skeptical about possibly getting one. But there was no need to worry. Today my "Spider-man 2" photo and the index card I sent her to sign, both came back signed & personalized. I understand "Spider-man 3" is filming now so I'm sure very soon Rosemary will be filming her scenes as "Aunt May" for the movie.



Rosemary Harris signed photo (above) and index card (below)

The woman is a saint

It's one extreme to another. Yesterday's success took 534 days. Today's took 7.

Eva Marie Saint - Sent: 2/3/06 Received: 2/10/06. Eva Marie Saint is best known for classic films such as "On The Waterfront" and "North By Northwest". I'm excited to see her in this summer's new "Superman Returns" movie (where she will play Martha Kent). Even though the movie doesn't come out until the end of June, I was able to get a 8X10 still photo of her as Martha from the film. I sent it last Friday and received it back today signed and personalized. Eva also campaigns to ban the usage of cel phones by motorists which is probably why a sticker that read "Stay off the phone or stay off the road" was placed on my return envelope with my autograph.



Our first look at Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent from the upcoming "Superman Returns" movie.

Designing woman

Autograph successes like today's are not only fun but they give me new hope for my long standing pending requests.

Dixie Carter - Sent: 8/24/04 Received: 2/9/06. You haven't been told off until you've been told off by Julia Sugarbaker, the character played by Dixie Carter on "Designing Women". What a wonderful surprise to get my "Designing Women" cast photo (already signed by Annie Potts) back today. I have to admit that this success surprised me as I figured it was long gone. (It had been 534 days after all). Delta Burke recently wrapped up a Broadway stint (she was signing through the mail there) so I will have to wait for another via venue opportunity for her to sign this photo. As for Jean Smart I guess I will have to wait for any working address I can find. You don't see a lot of successes from Dixie through the mail so I am very happy to be able to add her to my collection. "Designing Women" has a "Complete First Season" DVD scheduled for release this summer which will be a must have for me.



2 down. 2 to go. Dixie Carter joins Annie Potts in signing my "Designing Women" cast photo. (click to enlarge)

Autographs lost at Mel's diner

I remember last February being a very successful month for me and this month is shaping up to be the same.


Diane Ladd - Sent: 11/9/05 Received: 2/4/06. Diane Ladd spent two seasons on one of my favorite shows "Alice" playing "Belle". (The waitress who replaced "Flo" after Polly Holliday left the show for her own spin off). I loved "Belle" as much as I did "Flo" on the show. (It should be noted, as confusing as it could get, that Diane Ladd played "Flo" in the TV movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" which ended up being spun off into the sitcom "Alice"). Finding "Alice" photos with "Belle" on them are few and far between but I did have one (already signed by Linda Lavin "Alice" and Phillip McKeon "Tommy") so I sent it to Diane Ladd. Today it came back signed along with 2 4X6 b&w pre-prints. Beth Howland "Vera" is my next goal, but finding a working address for her is not that easy.




(above) Diane Ladd's signature on my 'Alice' cast photo (below) one of 2 Pre Prints she enclosed with my photo.





L. Scott Caldwell - Sent: 1/10/06 Received: 2/4/06. L. Scott Caldwell plays "Rose", a recurring character on "Lost". You almost don't reconise her in the photo she sent as her hair looks a lot different on the show. Besides being kind enough to send this photo she also wrote me a quick reply to my letter. I hope they make her character a regular next season on "Lost".





(above) L. Scott Caldwell signed photo and reply to my letter

His name is Earl?

Just a quick update to the last post. I read today on Star Archive another user received the same success from Cynthia Watros that I did. A Pre-Print with a handwritten note on the back. Interesting. And now on to today's mail.

Jason Lee - Sent: 6/21/05 Received: 2/3/06. I wrote to Jason to add him to my "Incredibles" collection. I already have signed photos of Holly Hunter and Craig Nelson in character, so I sent Jason a photo of "Syndrome" (the character he voiced). I received the photo back unsigned today with one of his own photos that was authentically signed but not personalized. I would have preferred the "Syndrome" photo signed but this is better than no success at all. Jason currently stars on the TV show "My Name Is Earl".


Jason Lee (click to enlarge)

An autograph opportunity that was 'lost'

A very weird way to start a new month of autograph collecting.

Cynthia Watros - Sent: 10/1/05 Received: 2/1/06. Cynthia Watros is one of the new members of "Lost" ("Libby"). I was well aware of her talent before she joined the show because I watched "Guiding Light" at the time she was part of their cast, playing "Annie". I was excited to open my envelope to see a success from her. It's the first one I've seen come in from the "Lost" set address. But then I was disappointed to realize it's a Pre-Printed signature on the photo. Pre-Prints suck! When I went to scan it I saw handwriting on the back. In blue ball-point pen it's written "To Ryan Thank you so much for your continued support. XXOO" but she didn't sign it! ARGHH!!! This is so similar to the Josh Holloway incident (see my October 6, 2005 posting). ARGHH!!! If only she would have signed it authentically on the back at least it would have been something. ARGHH!!! So close to having an awesome success.



Cynthia Watros (above w/a pre printed signature). Below the back of the same photo with her handwritten note to me (minus her signature)



(click to enlarge either)