Who is Ken Jennings?

During winter break I learned from The Twitter that +Ken Jennings had spoken at Google. I watched his talk in the living room while the older boys were playing games or something, and Aaron watched bits and pieces with me. Ken's one of my favorite mormon celebrities, someone I would invite to my birthday party, and the smartest guy I pretend to know, so my family knows of the bromance I have with him.

When I saw that Ken was coming to Portland, I marked it on my calendar and asked Aaron if he'd like to go. He jumped at the opportunity (Aaron and I also had gift cards to spend at Powell's, and Aaron has been begging to visit the legendary store ever since we moved back to the area). We rode the bus into downtown and enjoyed a leisurely walk to Burnside.

The store might not seem that impressive from the street, but once we were inside, Aaron slowed down and was overwhelmed trying to take it all in. We spent a little bit walking around the first floor in the children's section before heading upstairs to reserve our seats for Ken's presentation. We arrived about 30 minutes early, and a pair of seats in the front row called out to us. After finding a copy of Ken's new book--which I decided we might as well buy, as the library still hadn't gotten a hold of their copies (I was first in line, too)--Aaron wandered over to look at books about Frank Lloyd Wright and returned with a huge copy dedicated solely to Falling Water (and he didn't just look at the pictures). We also ran into Aaron's primary teacher from church.

Notice the angelic light blessing Ken?

Unbeknownst to the audience, Ken's presentation started on mormon standard time (i.e., late). When he eventually escaped from what I assume is the author's lounge--kind of like the teacher's lounge at high school--my first impression upon seeing him was that he was taller in real life (for some reason I had always thought he was like 5'6" short, but he was about as tall as me). My next thought was that I hoped his talk would be different than what he presented at Google (it was different). For being such a nerdy guy, Ken does a good job of public speaking and keeping a large and diverse audience engaged (although Aaron was the only kid there).

After Ken finished speaking and answering questions from the audience, we stood in line for 20 seconds to get our book autographed. Aaron greeted Ken with a handshake and referenced a joke that Ken had just tweeted; I wanted to ensure Ken remembered us so he won't feel too awkward when he receives am invitation to my birthday next month. He seemed very personable and kind, and he was even willing to chat for a little bit (maybe because we were first in line).

After paying for the book, we walked a few blocks north to Ben and Jerry's and enjoyed a few scoops of ice cream. Aaron made sure to wash his hands afterwards so he wouldn't taint our new book. He insisted on carrying the book as we walked back to the bus stop and quickly became engrossed in its pages while we rode home. We decided to keep the book in the bathroom in the reading basket so that both of us could share in its humor and wisdom--which is exactly where Ken recommend we store and read it.