Alas, no picture of Hayden and I. I had to say the bad news straight off the bat. They didn't allow cameras into the auditorium.

So...let me recount this story step-by-step. It bothers me when people give long-winded stories in blogs about their daily life, etc., because I usually get bored reading it. Yet I feel this is the only place where I can share my tiny escapade and have people actually empathize with me as opposed to thinking I'm just a little strange.

Tickets for the event went on sale at 6 and my friend and I were there at 4:45. Yes, we're crazy, but the thought of maybe not getting any tickets because we are not enrolled in the college gave us the incentive to get there early. Yet when it came close to 6 o'clock the organizer announced that students would get tickets first (and they all were allowed two per person) and then the tickets would go to the general public. We were kind of upset because there were only 500 tickets and the line was so long. Also, we had gotten there so early (I think we were about 15th in line) and now that all seemed to be for naught. I moved out of the line to go into the general public line being a little downhearted and nervous. What if we didn't get a ticket? I guess I'd be ok but I really wanted to see Hayden. While I was moving out of the line, some boy giving out tickets thought I was a student of the school, and without even asking for my ID, handed me a ticket. I was ecstatic! Realizing my friend still did not have a ticket, I calmly went up to another vendor and said, "Hi, I only got one ticket instead of two. Can I have another?" The woman looked annoyed and seemed like she wanted to ask for my ID and as I was thinking of trying to pull of a Jedi mind trick, she handed another ticket over to me. Clearly not a Toydarian. Score one.

After eating dinner, my friend and I headed back to the line to actually get into the presentation. It was long when we got there but by the time we were actually being let in, it was even longer behind us. As we were going towards the door we looked to our side where all the paparazzi were and lo-and-behold: there was Hayden Christensen. I think my mouth dropped to the floor. We weren't allowed to go take pictures though, we were ushered into the auditorium at lightspeed. As we got to our seats, security guards told us to put our cameras into our bags and that no photographs would be allowed during the presentation because they were showing us unreleased footage from Hayden's new movie "Jumper." I turned to my friend Emily and said, "They can't be serious. The only reason I came was to try to get a picture of him!" I sat there thinking to myself how I could get a picture. I leaned to Emily and said, "I'm going out in the hall to try to get a picture of him with the press." Now, I knew this would probably be impossible because not only were there security guards but also only the press was allowed pictures at that point.

I left through the opposite door we came in and as soon as I even peeked my head through the door a guard was on me, "Where are you going?" I had to think fast. "I'm looking for the bathroom, I really have to go." I answered smoothly. "Bathroom is straight ahead." He pointed nowhere near where Hayden was standing. Ugh. But as I headed to where he pointed, another official looking girl jumped into the bathroom. Alas, I guess I couldn't go to the bathroom and would have to stare at Hayden instead. What a shame. I sidled up next to the guard and casually began to chat and joke around with him. At first he was stony but eventually he gave in to my casual banter. Within a minute I was able to ask him, "Since I'm just standing here... do you think I could take a picture of Hayden? You know, I won't be able to once I go back inside because they've banned cameras." I was extremely nervous but managed to pull off some puppy dogs and a pouty face. He sighed, smiled and said, "Ok sure. Fine. Not too many though!" Score two for me. I jumped into the crowd of press and took as many pictures as I dared. Only two turned out alright, but just the fact that I was the only non-press person there added to my excitement. Once Hayden walked off, I actually did go to the bathroom before going back to the auditorium to keep up my whole pretense.

Director Doug Liman and Hayden

While back in the auditorium and waiting for the presentation to start, Hayden walked down the aisle past my friend and I, and no one seemed to notice! He just looked so...normal. Like a nice-dressed college kid (wait, that's an oxymoron). I noticed and nudged Emily a billion times before she figured it out. I was looking at the back of his head since he was sitting about 6 rows in front of us and debating if I should run up and ask for a picture of him. That could possibly lead to me getting kicked out so I was still pondering if it was worth it when I saw a girl run up and do just what I was thinking. "Oh no way," I said to Emily. "I'm going down there and getting a picture. If she didn't get kicked out, neither will I." But I really feel like that other girl caught them off guard. Even though I was only the second girl to run down there, they were ready. "I'm sorry miss but Hayden is not accepting pictures with anyone." His publicist said to me in a nasal voice. "And you're not even allowed to have cameras here." She reiterated what everyone had already said a billion times. "But I'm a huge fan," I said. "Please, I just want one picture and I'll be out and you'll never see me again." She said (how predictable), "No." This went on for a while, with her getting increasingly more impatient and me beginning to look more and more like a stalker. And then, out of nowhere, while she was arguing with me, three other girls came up while her back was turned and got Hayden's autograph and picture. I could barely get the words out when I pointed it out to the publicist. She turned around to chase them off and I thought I had my chance but another official person stepped into her place and warded me off. I swear, I was about 3 feet away from him...and have nothing to show for it. I finally left disappointed because I was keen not to get a restraining order. Minus one.

The whole presentation was boring and very involved with physics. It had to do with the movie Hayden was promoting: "Jumper." youtube trailer Renowned professors discussed about whether or not teleportation was possible...and half of it was completely over my head. I think more than half went over Hayden's head too from the way he looked. During the Q&A session, I did ask a question and Hayden did look at me (yay). That was nice. Someone asked a Star Wars question too, which was fun. I think it's the only question Hayden perked up at. He made some mention of speeders or something.

At the end I ran up with about 60 other people trying to get a picture with him but it didn't work again. Minus one again for me. But I did get an amazing picture as he was walking away and guards were holding everyone back. It's very casual and Anakin-esque. I'm proud of the spontaneity in it, check it out:

The good picture

So sorry it took so long to write this whole ordeal. Overall, I did have fun and it was exciting. My friend Emily was the perfect person to take along for this star-stalking adventure. She didn't complain once like other of my friends would have. In fact, she told me she really enjoyed it. She got some great pictures of Hayden as well. Sometimes all I could think was, "I'm such a teenage girl...except I'm not a teenager. Shouldn't I be over this?"

So no restraining order and some good pictures...I think it went fairly well.