Exactly WHY am I a Conan fangirl?

People who have known me my entire life have known me not to get too excited or obsessed with celebrities. I mean, I never developed an obsession with them. For instance, I have a friend who is in lurve with Josh Groban and has seen him in concert several times. She has all of his CDs, DVDs, and even a pillow with his image. (That last item was a gift). I am friends with a couple who follows Phish and they go to see them any and every chance they get.

Now, kittens, as you know, I'm a huge Carol Burnett fan, but I never was obsessed with her. Ok, well, a huge fan, but never a rabid, drooling, obsessed, gotta Google-her-name-for-the-latest-news kinda thing.

And then...

He came into my life.

Yes, kittens, if you are a regular reader of this blog, you know of my Conan obsession. I must confess that I was a fan of his during his Late Night days, but did not become the rabid, drooling, obsessed, gotta Google-his-name-for-the-latest-news fangirl until June 1, 2009.

That was when his version of The Tonight Show debuted. I stayed up late to watch the whole thing out of pure curiosity. I could never stay up late enough to watch a full Late Night, but with all of the hype and hoopla surrounding Jay Leno passing the baton, I had to watch.

And I fell in love. Hard. I mean, I've always had a thing for redheads, I will admit, but...my God, I had to tune in and watch the next night, and the next, and the next.

What was it about him that made me go from a mild-mannered, stay behind the cover of my books all day girl, to an "is it 11:35 yet" woman? I must admit that I go crazy whenever he does the string dance. And I've always loved and appreciated goofy, off-the-wall type of humor. I absolutely love it whenever he pulls out his guitar and starts to sing. He may not be the best singer in the world, but there's something about it that's so endearing, like your boyfriend singing to you outside your bedroom window.

Conan very quickly became a part of my life. On the nights I could stay up late, he tucked me into bed. After I got DVR last August, he and his crew became a part of my morning routine. I'd watch the monologue as I ate breakfast; I'd see the rest of the show after NBC Nightly News. I loved it especially when he'd talk about his family; he didn't do it often, but those little stories he'd tell about his little kids were so charming.

Yet during all of this, I always had a sneaky suspicion that he wouldn't last long. When I heard that Jay Leno was moving to 10 pm, I had a really bad feeling about that move. Call me paranoid or delusional, but when I kept seeing Conan's ratings go down, I had a feeling that NBC had a plan B in place to get The Tonight Show back up to pre-Conan levels.

Needless to say, I was devastated when Conan left the airwaves, and actually cried during his last episode. I still am a little embarrassed by my reaction. Me, cry at a TV show? One that is ending too soon? It was so atypical of me; before DVR, I rarely watched TV. Now I have three or four shows I follow religiously, and am emotionally involved in all of them. This really is quite the change for me.

So, in dealing with my Conan withdrawal, I joined the "I'm with Coco" page on Facebook and started following members of his old crew on Twitter. Again, this was atypical of me. I entered a Google alert for his name. Yes, I know, this is borderline sick. And finally, when rumors were abound that he was about to tour, I recruited BFF and Sister Kitten and asked if they would join me. If the price was right, and the time was right, they agreed to go.

Well, the rumors were confirmed, and in March, the day tickets went on sale, Sister Kitten sent me a madcap E-mail. She sounded more excited about the prospect of seeing Conan than I did! I knew she liked him, but didn't know she was that much of a fan!

So long story short, we got three tickets, and the three of us (and possibly BFF's little bro) are going to see Conan. As excited as I am to see him, I must admit that some of this is a little anticlimactic. I've been reading his tour blog, so I know about some of the numbers that are going on, and I just really, really hope this all lives up to the hype. Ok, I can't start feeling regrets now!

Am I nervous that Conan won't live up to my expectations? Yeah, you could say that. I didn't feel that way with Carol Burnett, though; I had more like nervous butterflies and giddy anticipation when I saw her.

So, in conclusion, I'm not exactly sure why I'm a Conan fangirl. I know I've explored some of the reasons above, but there's nothing really conclusive about what draws me to him. I just really dig him. Maybe it's as simple as that.