She's Still the One...Well, Kind Of

From 1998-2000, I was very much obsessed with Shania Twain. It's no coincidence that my obsession occurred during those 2 years--that's right after her huge blockbuster album "Come On Over" was released, which to this day is still the best selling album by a female artist. I kind of outgrew her as her popularity faded and as I got more into pop music, but her music has always provided me a huge burst of nostalgia whenever I hear it. It always remind me of my pre-teen years.

In 1999, a few months before my Bar Mitzvah, I was at a concert of hers at the Hollywood Bowl in the nose bleed seats. She kept taking notes from the audience and reading them out loud and then calling the fans who wrote them up on stage to take a Polaroid picture with. My mom walked all the way down the stage (before 9/11 security was less tight) and handed her a note saying my Bar-Mitzvah was coming up and that I'd love to take a photo with her to have for that. Long story short is that she read the note and called me on stage to take a photo, and also signed it. See:


It was a great moment and the first time I was able to take a photo with and (kind of) meet an artist who really inspired me. Well, now Shania has not been in the headlines as much for her music (because she actually can't sing anymore at the moment, believe it or not) but she has been in the headlines because of her break-up with husband (and also her co-writer and producer) Robert John "Mutt" Lange (who not only broke up with her, but also cheated on her with her best friend!). So Shania wrote an autobiography called "From This Moment On," which was just published.

She appeared for a book signing at the Grove in L.A., but because of my heart surgery, I was able to meet her before and get a photo and personalized autograph in her book (whereas everyone else there for the book signing wasn't allowed photos or personalized autographs). She definitely wasn't as warm as Lady GaGa was, even when I told her about my heart surgery, but it was still a pretty cool experience. Here's the photo:


So basically what I'm trying to say is that I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Shania Twain and she'll always be one of my free bitches, even though I'll probably never care about her quite as much as I did in 1998-2000. She'll always still be the one...kind of.