"I swear I've seen a lot of things in my life, but that... was... awesome! But sorry about your car, man. That... that sucks."

So last night Carol and I went to see Tom Farley, brother of the late Chris Farley, speak about his book "The Chris Farley Show." He was funny, as one might guess. After mocking one teen boy about his improv performance, he said, "As far as you know, I'm joking." ha! I laughed a lot at that.

Afterward I got my program autographed. His pen hovered above the paper as he contemplated what to write. I told him, "'You're awesome' will do just fine." Cuz I'm cheeky like that. Instead, he wrote, "To April: HOLY SCHNIKIES! -Tom Farley." It was perfect because Krista and I used to quote Tommy Boy all. the. time. in college. I bought a copy of the book as a Christmas present for Krista, but I won't tell you what he wrote inside since I have to let her have some surprise when she opens the present. It's perfect, though. And in the copy Carol got for the library, he wrote, "No library fines on this book! Just donate heavily to your public library."

Also, when Tom saw my "Living in a van down by the river" T-shirt, which I even forgot I was wearing because I was all excited to meet him, he just grinned. "Great shirt!" he said. "Love it! Great, great shirt!"

Then I passed on a story to him about a girl I knew from college who had met Chris when he frequently came back to the high school (where she went as well) guidance office to talk, and how he tried flirting with her but she didn't know who he was. Tom nodded his head. "Yup, that was Chris. That's where he was comfortable, where his roots were. That sounds exactly like Chris."

I walked away smiling, but it was sad, too. Chris Farley was my idol. In college, Krista and I were the dorky girls (sorry, CK, but it's true) whose idea of fun wasn't partying and drinking, it was watching Tommy Boy and saying each line at the same time it was being said. We were in love with every moment of that movie, and each time we watched it we'd find something new to crack us up. I've heard people say that Chris Farley only did the same character over and over, but it wasn't the characters that we loved. It was him.