Dancing with the Stars (And Shakin' in My Boots)

Tonight, Shelli and I went to a live taping of Dancing with the Stars, courtesy of her friend, Donna, who knows the executive producer.

We'd never seen the show before last week, when Donna invited us to come and see if we could make any connections to help us with One Wee World. We ended up going last Tuesday and had a great time, but unfortunately didn't get to speak with the person we had hoped to meet.

So, we were back again this week, in hopes of getting another chance to meet him, but, alas, we missed our elusive person yet again. However, we did get a couple of other great opportunities.

Down on the floor some of the celebrity guests tonight included George Lopez, Eva Longoria, and Oscar de la Hoya... can you imagine?

Shelli and I looked at them and then looked at each other.

I started fumbling with my purse to get the DVDs we'd brought just in case an opportunity exactly like this came up. But, I was still wasn't committed to doing it. I asked Shelli if she thought we should give them to them and, of course, she said, "Yes." (Thanks, Shelli, for not saying, "Duh!")

Then, I bought myself time by dithering about debating whether or not I should give the programs to them before or after the show.

At this point I felt an incapacitating wave of nervousness engulf me. Whenever I feel this certain feeling of nervousness, I know that I have to do whatever it is that has made me so nervous, if for no other reason than to conquer the fear I'm experiencing.

So, I rocketed off my seat ( I was glad I'd bought a pretty, new dress earlier that day... it helped that I felt cute) and barreled on down to their table.

As a quick aside, this has got to be an awkward position that celebrities must constantly face, a stranger in close proximity to them, obviously wanting their attention and the celebrities' having no earthly idea as to what's about to happen.

Once they were all warily looking at me, I explained, "I created a children's DVD about celebrating diversity, and I'd like you all to have one," while I pushed DVDs across the table to each of them.

Not wanting to be a bother, I bolted on back to my seat.

Shelli and I spent the next ten minutes craning our necks to see if they were actually looking at the DVDs or not. We thought we saw George Lopez looking his over and felt hopeful. Then we saw Eva checking it out and felt even better.

Then, we realized we should have included a note asking what we'd hoped they might do if they liked the DVD, like endorse us, or give us a testimonial, spread the word and talk about us on talk shows, or even introduce us to others who might be able to get our project off the ground.

Oh well, ever since starting this project the learning curves on a number of subjects has been precipitously steep.

The whole rest of the show I worried that they'd just leave the DVDs behind on the table, but when they got up and left, the table was clear. So... who knows? It'd be so great to hear something from them.

And they weren't the only ones we got to give our DVD to. We got to visit the green room where we saw Leeza Gibbons and gave her a copy, too.

I have to say, she was WAY cool! We were very gratified that she really listened, engaged us in a brief conversation, and complimented us on what we were trying to do. I was really impressed by her graciousness and sincerity.

And, a shout out to Connie, who we also met tonight. Connie worked on one of the segments on the show and she was a pleasure to talk with in line and later on in the green room.

Boy, I just want One Wee World to be everything I know it can be, a movement for peace and unity and a joyful celebration of diversity. And I'd love to see everyone be a part of it.

I am an optimist, so I shall fall asleep tonight hoping, hoping, hoping.