My Al Birthday Scrapbook

Tera Doty got this idea to put together a scrapbook, put together by any and all Al fans who wished to participate, for Al's 40th birthday. Because of its enormous size (and weight) that this scrapbook would be, each person was limited to only 2 pages. Now knowing me, I LOVE to participate in anything that gives me an 'excuse' to use my artistic/creative talents, but the problem is always the same:

Which meant that 2 pages wasn't gonna 'cut it' (no pun intended) for me, especially since: we had about 5 weeks until Due Date, we *only* got *2* pages, the idea I had in mind couldn't possibly be squished into 2 pages, and I couldn't reach all of my non-amw-a Al fan pals in time! And to 'make matters worse,' I was going out of town with my Dad for about 10 days! well, the trip wasn't a *bad* thing, just ate up time for the scrapbook...

So time went by, and the deadline came and went. Tera's scrapbook had about 50 contributors and was hand-delivered backstage on Al's birthday, October 23rd. This meant I had until November 21st to do what it was that 2 pages and a 10-day vacation/business trip couldn't do. So I immediately went to work on my scrapbook.

The concept I wanted for those 2 pages was a sort of a 'quick tour' of the American Southeast's (where I live and where Al rarely ever tours) Al fans who were also friends of mine. Due to many circumstances I won't mention, I couldn't reach *everybody* so I had to improvise (no big whoop). I treated the making of the scrapbook the same way I treat any other project of mine: lots of creativity, aristry, prescision, Coca-Cola, and The Graveyard Shift. Unfortunately (for everyone, myself, and my parents), I'm a procrastinator. But I vowed to have the book done *not* at the last minute, but the night before (hey that's a big stretch for me!).

Well, I pulled it off. What started as 2 pictures, a birthday card, and an elaborate idea turned into *10* (12 if you count the covers) of the finest pages I've ever done! I finished it the night before the concert and went to bed (a.m. as usual) real tired, but satisfied and very happy with the way the book turned out. The only sadness I had, was that as an artist, it is usual for the artist to keep the original piece of artwork. In this case, the original would be leaving me and I'd never see it again, except in pictures.
<smartass and whimsy mode>Ah, the dewllings and emotional dramas that consume the consumate artiste!</smartass and whimsy mode> Ok, I'll spare y'all the rest of that...

Morning came. Time to take pictures! Unfortunately, I had totally run out of all sorts of glue and there were a few persnickity pieces that began to come off (although they'd been stuck there for days). So on the way to the concert in Greenville, we stopped somewhere for dinner, glue, and tape. Another potential catastrophe was in the works: the pages were seperating! I was sticking them back together while I should've been eating dinner, then I was eating dinner when I should've been resting before the concert, then I was *at* the concert! At least we'd been smart enough to bring some flat stuff and some heavy stuff to help the scrapbook finish gluing (besides, I had something else that needed that stuff anyway).

All in all, the belated birthday gift made it into Al's hands safe and sound. But there's one thing about it I forgot to tell you: The scrapbook itself is actually an accordian! (sorry, no pic to prove it- all paper anyway)

Here are some pix of me with the scrapbook the morning before the concert, and the birthday card that started it all! (...and as much as I love the artwork on that card- no I did *not* do that myself!)