Nashville Stitch N Bitch

hmmm, after living in the east village (nyc) for a while i've had plenty of lame celebrity run-ins. ("look, that's nicolas cage eating shwarma." "damn, britney spears's bodyguard just stepped on me while ordering brit's amaretto sour.") but my all time favorite was finding myself in the same shmancy restaurant as madonna and guy ritchie one night, running into madge in the ladies room and somehow getting into an extensive conversation about how, for a pretty damn expensive restaurant, you'd think they'd offer better than the same circa-1985 pads and tampons you find anywhere. tampons, madonna and a filet mignon all in one night? be still my heart.
a close second is heath ledger allowing himself to be completely mauled by my dog a few months ago. for someone completely covered in golden retreiver drool, he seemed pretty ok with the whole experience. clearly he had no idea where her mouth has been.

Alas, I only have two - both at the same coffee shop where I worked in NYC one summer. Debra Winger was a regular and I was always so embarrassed by my co-worker calling Debra constantly that I never said anything. The other, who I was much more dazzled by, was Martha Plimpton. But then she lost points for complimenting my arrogant manager's cappuccino foam (like his ego needed any more inflating...).

Now if you had said you'd run into Bruce Springsteen...well, then I would've been impressed. ;-)

Working/living in NYC I've run into too many stars to count. Mostly I just leave them all alone, but I did tell Martin Scorcese to keep up the good work. Really and truly - I am that lame.

first off...Hi! I'm a member of Stitch n' Bitch and live in Nashville/grew up in Columbia, TN.

second...i work here in Nashville as a graphic designer for a record company! where did you work? --you can e-mail me that info if you don't want to reply here! those were some good encounters you had!

third...my story...
so my boyfriend is an audio engineer @ Starstruck Studios (Reba's studios)...last september-december he was helping to work on Bo Bice's record that just came out in December! and...he is the coolest guy...southern, humble. and...I not only got to meet him, but we had dinner @ his house with his wife & new baby! and we're probably going to do that again soon. eek! how neat!

also, one day...I was in Starstruck, hanging out...and Reba walked by & waved @ me! I about died from excitement inside, while outside trying to play it cool. haha.

I actually have a lot more myself, but those are the first ones that came to mind!! :)

.♥.

When I lived in LA, I would see people at the movies all the time: Billy Crystal & Sigourney Weaver at the same showing of Joe vs. the Volcano (they were there separately); Steve Perry at Working Girl, Gene Hackman waiting outside the theater when I went to see Bob Roberts. I saw Kareem Abdul Jabar walking down the streets in Westwood on a date. Passed Alec Baldwin on that very same street.

Once in Sacramento I saw Joe Jackson taking a walk before a show. I turned to my friend and said (loudly), "That guy looks like Joe Jackson!" He turned to me and shook his head. I have eaten breakfast across from Tracy Chapman a few times in the Mission District of SF. This summer in NYC I saw Michael Badalucco & Mr swore we brushed passed Chloe Sevigny.

It's driving me crazy because I know there are others! Oh, a couple of years ago I followed Michelle Trachtenberg around May Company in LA while there for a conference. Very exciting nearly Buffy encounter!

My redhead worked for Holland America Lines as a Stage manager and has had more run-ins than I, but strangely enough, my favorite PERSONAL celeb-shoulder-rub occured on a cruise ship as well!

My dad was USMC, and when we got orders to go to Japan for 3 years, Mom arranged it so that we crossed the Pacific on the old USS Cleveland. I was ten; it was a blast. But the big thrill-o-rama was that BOBBY SHERMAN was onboard in all his tan, toothsome "JudyJudyJudy, do ya love me?" heyday. I was so nervous that I only remember making some kind of sarcastic smalltalk with him whilst ogling him playing shuffleboard, but it's a memory that's stayed with me!

Mine is a NYC moment as well. My husband and I lived on the Upper West Side for awhile and several times saw them shooting Law and Order. (I sat across from Chris Noth on the subway once) but that was not THE time. "THE time" was when they shot a scene on the sidewalk DIRECTLY BELOW our apartment. Jerry Orbach, sitting in a chair, one floor below me (we lived on the second floor). Well you can bet your britches I was hanging out that window watching for as long as I could. But I had to go to work. I had a quilt hanging on the wall, you could see it from the street, and I left the light on in the apartment so that if they were shooting into the evening, my hope was that my quilt would make it into the shot, and of course I'd be totally famous. (The scene was probably cut, because we never did see it.)

I went to college with Julie Louis-Dreyfus and she was BWOC, very talented and high profile. Anyway we were both lap swimmers at Patten Gym and I guess I can say I saw here naked in the locker room. But then I gues she can say the same about me.

Another near celebrity experience....the mister and i shared a small plane with Joe Cocker and his band flying out of Telleride and into Montrose. It was very stormy and I joked with the drummer who sat next to me that I was nervous flying with a rock band (in case it was a jinx and we crash) and he said he was nervous too and always preferred touring in a bus rather than flying.

Another Nashvillian here.

My two favorite encounters were both bizarre, and both happened in grocery stores.

When I was a kid, my mother and I ran into Billy Carter (his brother was president at the time) and Tom T. Hall having an argument about which cold cuts they needed at the Franklin Kroger deli counter. Bizarre.

A few years ago at the Melrose Kroger (you know, where Franklin Road becomes 8th Ave.), I came across a very confused Brenda Lee at the meat case. She was searching in vain for veggie burgers and muttering out loud about how frustrated she was. I offered to show her where they are, and lead her to the frozen foods section. She explained that one of her kids told her at the last minute they'd be bringing a vegan friend to a cookout, and she was flustered at having to adjust the menu last minute to have options for the friend.

Did massage on Ronnie Dunn, Clint Black's wife (can not for the life of me remember her name, Lisa something I think), Raul from the Mavericks.
Went to college with Parker Posey, very nice and very sarcastic sense of humor. Those are the only ones I have had actual contact with. Others I have just been in restuarants with or spotted them somewhere.

WOW! All these encounters make mine pretty lame, but living in not a big city in Virginia makes celebrity sightings rare. "Venus Flytrap" from WKRP in Cincinnatiaka Tim Reid lived down the street from me. One night I had walked out to my car and he and his wife Daphne were out walking. I spoke as I passed them and then I realized who it was! They also filmed part of the movie Asunder on our street right in front of our house. A guy on a walkie talkie kept looking up and waving at my son and I. Oh...and many many years ago when I was in 4-H our club served a HS Reunion dinner. I ended up serving the REAL Elizabeth Walton who had married a boy from my county. Not much. But not too bad for a girl that grew up in the boonies and lives in a very small town/city.

Congratulations on the Long Arm! That will take care of that quilt!

When I was a teenager my dad took my sibs and I to New York for a vacation. Strolling around Manhattan I spotted Sting with his wife. I had all the Police albums and had been to a couple of their concerts. In other words I was a BIG fan. I didn't have any writing materials, so I dashed into a nearby store and begged for a pencil and paper and then ran back to ask him for his autograph. I stood there speechless while he signed his autograph for me. My dad explained to Sting that I was a big fan and asked his permission to take a photo of me standing with him. Sting replied in his very
British accent "No, that would be too much like work."

Well, she's wasn't in the music biz, but would Princess Diana and the princes count? I used to be a swimwear buyer in a downtown San Francisco department store and Di and the boys were in town on the way to rafting down the Colorado river. Diana was shopping and bought 2 swimsuits. I remember that she was wearing a little black linen sheath dress with black flats and looked very rich and pampered. And buff! That woman had muscles.

To make a long story short, Di's body guards had to clear out our buying office so that Di could try on the swimsuits (it was next to the dressing rooms). I had an armload of files to take out and was passing through a swinging door at the same time Princes William and Harry were coming in and there went the files! They were very nice and helped me pick them up after getting a mom look from Diana and they called me ma'm.

when i lived in nyc i used to see celebrities all of the time but never interacted with any of them. but in boston, they're aren't that many of them. but one time i was in anthropologie shopping and i was humming to the music playing -- which was "i'm in the mood for love." and standing right next to me was steve tyler of aerosmith, singing along. to the music. not my humming. he didn't notice me, but i thought it was pretty funny -- i was singing with steven tyler!

Okay, this is so not fair. There are some VERY memorable celebrity sightings, etc. that I cannot tell about. But a few I can..Let me preface that I grew up in Malibu and while my family is not in the business, well they are business (Hollywood) affiliated. Ready- here goes:
Spent a weekend in Palm Springs with my family and Cary Grant when I was 8.

Swam in Bob Dylan's pool (with all the kids and my family) when I was I think 10- whenever Desire came out...

Met Fred Astaire & Helen Hayes when I was 12...

Met Joe Namath and OJ (when he was cool and before he murdered anyone) many times.

Neighbors were Olivia Newton John (a nicer woman you will never meet), Dick Clark, and Johnny Carson.

Saw Carlos Santana in the supermarket once.

Stood next to Pierce Brosnan at the Cross Creek Starbucks. Can I tell you how fabulous this man smells? OMG. Growing up in the Bu, I am not easily star struck. I could not say a word. He is better looking in person than n the screen. And the charisma? Oy.

And this is so cheesy but I think it may be my favorite. I watched my God Mother get eaten by a water demon on a repeat of Charmed the other day! Hee!

Over and Out!

ps: Angela- I still want to trade or swap. I am not ignoring you- I am UNDER water

xoxoxo

I hung out drinking with Gilbert Godfried once in a dance bar in Richmond, VA. He's either as weird as he acts on tv, or just stayed in character the whole time. Kinda creeped me out. No offense intended if he's your Uncle or something!

My favourite celebrity encounter was in an airport waiting lounge in Philadelphia en route to Seattle. I was wearing my Bastard Nation shirt, as I was on my way to a conference. I was sitting there knitting, watching the cutesy couple across from me play hangman. The guy eventually came over, offered me his hand and introduced himself as "Eddie". We had a few minutes to chat and I had an inkling of what was going on when he said his mother had some involvement with Bastard Nation. He ended by asking if I'd ever heard of Pearl Jam. When I responded affirmatively, he said that was his band. Yep, Eddie Vedder.

Michael Jackson once awoke me up from a dead sleep.
It was 4 o'clock in the morning and I was drooling in deep REM on my desk at work.
When I awoke he was under a sharp flourescent light with a furlined hooded parka (hood on) beckoning me to help find his body guards. You can imagine my surprise. Disoriented, I wiped the drool off my face and tried to decide whether this was a dream sequence or a hoax of some kind. I mean ... I have never fallen asleep at work before and I was told Michael Jackson did not want to fraternize with the "help". As I realized this indeed was happening, I tried to formulate what I thought might be a word appropriate under these circumstances. But alas, it was too late, the body guards appeared as if from nowhere, shouted, clapped their hands and whisked him through the doors into the night and to the safety of a black tinted windowed suburban ... away from the perilous clutches of a drooly, sleepy and apparently mute night studio manager.

I really want the oven mitt.

Mine is a Michael Jackson story too, but mine is actually real: I sat on his lap when I was 12 years old! My whole family met him in his hotel room in 1984, during the "Victory" tour in Detroit, MI. I swear! I've met other celebs, but that's absolutely my best brush with fame story.

Jacob Dylan.
I was just drunk enough to talk to him.
I am working on a movie about Bigfoot hunters and wanted to know Jacob's take on the matter.
He told me he thought there might be a Bigfoot out there but that he didn't think he lived in Texas.
When I asked him what he thought about the abominable snowman ... I said "you know the white one"
He says to me ... "Now let's not turn this into a black/white issue"
And that is my Jacob Dylan/Sasquatch story.

um ... Excuse me ... my story is real ... no names or places have been changed to protect the innocent.

Weird Al Yankovick came to my going away party in Los Angeles.

Robin Zander (cheap trick) walked in on me while I was trying to teach myself how to play "Surrender" on the guitar. I only knew 3 chords at the time ... so he showed me the "easy" way to play the song as he kindly sang back up to my extremely slow chord changes. We went through the entire song 3 times. When it was all said and done, I looked up at my friend, Dave who had just witnessed the whole event ... I guess I was smiling a little too gleefully ... because he proceeded to asked me never ever to attempt another cheap trick song on my guitar while the band was in the studio.

I worked at an Outback Steakhouse in the 90s...the Hagar twins from Hee Haw were my regular customers. They always called me "Lovey."

I have many others, but that one really takes the cake for weirdness.

I grew up in NY so I saw a lot of celebrities growing up but my father always told us to leave them alone. My most prestigious brush with fame would be being introduced to Princess Margaret while at a party on Mustique. My most grotesque brush with fame was a dinner in Paris when I was 13 with Mick Jagger and Nick Rhodes (from Duran Duran) at the next table with a bunch of models who all kept running to the bathroom to do coke. Ick.

I grew up in Nashville and I still live here.

I went to McGavock H.S. and Lee Greenwood's daughter was in my graduating class.

OK, I actually shoot more than sheep shots, occasionally it involves brushes with fame. I spent a weekend in Chittenango NY (birthplace of Frank Baum) with the last 8 surviving Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz, to do a group portrait of them for an entertainment mag. The most charming octagenarian midgets I've ever met, but one of them pinched me on the ass! He copped a feel higher up too,but it was disguised as an accidental brush. How can you yell and act indignant at a horny little old man that is sweet as can be and is less than 4 feet tall? And fer gods sake was a real original movie MUNCHKIN?

In another celebrity incident, while photographing Phyllis Diller, we didn't like the prim setting at an inn and decided to fill the bathroom's huge tub with bubbles and percht her on its edge. She put a big robe on over her undies, but the edge of her bra was showing. I kept asking her to shift around. Finally she roared her famous laugh, stood up, handed my assistant her robe, stripped off her bra with a flourish, handed it to me and said "OK, how's' that." I stood there thinking" I'm holding Phyllis Diller's bra!And she's almost naked!".

FYI she is too cool, and one of the smartest people I've ever met. Her persona is all performance art.

My Celebrity Brush:

I email with Ann and Kay from Mason Dixon Knitting! They actually write to common knitters like me! They seem like really nice people given they are so famous now with their new book coming out and all!!!!

Well, Since your post starts with Long arms, I guess that's where my brush with fame memory emerged from!

I can't breach confidentiality, but a certain famous Chicago Bull basketball player was taking his newborn home from the hospital. I was a student in nursing school and was walking the baby out to the front door with him. THis was over 20 years ago, I'll admit. Anyhow between us : my 5 foot 2 frame and his nearly 7 foot frame. Holding up his baby to him, while he stretched his arms down to meet mine was a funny sight. I told him I'd never felt so small! He laughed and said he'd felt smaller than I, to be sure, many times. Babies humble us eh? It was a sweet moment.

My ex-husband met Senator Paul Wellstone. In a bathroom. At the urinal. It's the best I can do.

I was a high school cheerleader - in this small, small, celebs hide out in their enormous oceanside homes state. Our girls basketball team was excellent, and often they made it to the state championship. In order to get to "the big game" they had to work their way through all of the quarter and semi-finals and often the girls games took place before/after the boys games of the same caliber. That being said, Steven King's son was on a basketball team that played before our team one night - I spied him in the stands, but he didn't appear to be paying any attention to the other team's (opposite sex) basketball cheerleaders.

It's too bad, really. (does this even count?)

When I was a preganant 16 year old I was craving the S.O.S (chipped beef & gravy) from the show boat in Las Vegas. My very kind mother took pitty on me and we went to Vegas for the weekend. She was playing black jack for a few minutes before we went to see a show. I remember I was looking a some kind of display and I heard them page Bill Cosby to the phone. He came into the lobby in his tennis whites, racket and all. He took a phone call and when he was done, he turned around and saw me gawking at him with my big ol' baby tummy, and he stopped and asked me how I was, was it a boy or a girl and he wished me luck. It was so cool.......then we went to see his show that night and he was hilarous!!

And yes, I did get some S.O.S. that weekend.

I also went to school with Dick York's son, (from bewitched) But he was elderly then and in a wheel chair and on oxygen, but he was nice and would talk to us if we saw him at the store.

And my mom, used to work at Vons (grocery store). Some of the girls who bagged the grocieries were the girlfriends of they Motly Crue guys (pre fame) and she knew them by name and she knew them. I always thought it was funny to see her watching MTV to catch their videos because she knew them when they were young...she didn't even like rock and roll when I listened to it. But it was fun to say - "My Mom knows Motley Crue"!

I meant, she knew them by name and they new her too.....duh

My favourite celebrity encounter was watching the British magician Paul Daniels buying a Rumtopf. However, that's probably invalid outside the UK. Hmmm. I met the very first ever guy to play James Bond (Bob Holness) when I was in London at a music competition. Hmmm. I've seen Prunella Scales (Sybil, in Fawlty Towers) drunk. I've seen Barry Manilow outside a hotel. I've made out with a member of the Arlenes, and used the loo on the Levellers' tour bus.

I think my Dad has the best celebrity encounter. He met Mohammed Ali at the luggage claim in Minneapolis Airport. The poor guy was standing at the wrong claim...and wondering where his luggage was. Dad pointed him in the right direction.
~x~

I have entirely too many of these to recount them all here but the following are some of my favorites:

1) Frank Sinatra sang happy birthday to me and my former mother-in-law at a restaurant in LA one night (he knew my former father-in-law and was there eating dinner at the same time as us).

2) Lorraine Bracco (sp?) told me my dress was gorgeous in the bathroom at the Academy Awards the same year she won best supporting actress for Goodfellas (and I was able to honestly say - "this old thing?")

3) I helped David Byrne find his way down to Greenwich Village on the subway one very rainy Friday night when there were no cabs to be found. I got on the subway heading uptown and he got on the same train and looked very confused. After a couple of stops, he gets up from his seat across the car from me, comes over to me and asks me if this train stopped at one village station or another. He sat down and I told him how to get where he was going. I never acknowledged I had a clue who he was.

4) Billy Joel asked me what time it was on a street corner (at Central Park West) on two different occasions!

5) I grew up in Nashville too and went to school with one kid who was a regular on Hee Haw, Waylon Jennings daughter, and several members of the Cash/Carter clan. I worked at Opryland (amusement park) and even kissed one of Al Gore's nephews. Oh yeah and Kenny Rogers nephew was my partner in an acting class at college.

6) I sat on the side of the stage at the Hollywood Bowl during an Alman Brothers concert and Greg Alman's sweat actually got on me (I was sitting next to his son from his marriage to Cher).

There are still more since I've lived in NY, Chicago, and LA plus was married to a guy whose family was all in the music biz.

Phew . . . I've led one heck of a varied life, huh? Wouldn't trade it for the world...

One more thing - I'm about to start knitting a beanie for Ace on American Idol for Southwest Trading Company to send him!

1. I know Rhett Miller and the other Old 97s fairly well. I always run into the ones still in Dallas at Home Depot.

2. I once stood in line at Burger Kind behind Charley Pride.

3. I worked sound and light for The Bangles. Ditto The Police. Ditto conductor Zubin Mehta. Ditto REM. Michael Stipe kept coming up to the sound booth to tell us wierd facts.

4. Peter Buck of REM spilled a pitcher of beer on me and got mad at me for being in his way.

5. I used to live down the street from a guy who was in a punk band that later became The Black Crowes. He used to have interesting parties. Can't remember which guy, though.

6. I was helping with a petition and we knocked on one door and it turned out to be a former member of Kansas. His living room was lined in gold and platinum records.

7. I used to do my laundry at the same laundromat as Emily Saliers of The Indigo Girls.

8. I played pick-up basketball with Danny White (Cowboys quarterback) when I was in junior high.

9. I sat next to Morgan Fairchild at our local Tex-Mex joint. She is impossibly tiny and impossibly beautiful. TV does not do her justice. I'm sure she's had work done, but, if so, it's very subtle.

10. I sat behind Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn at the movies.

11. Lucinda Williams sat next to our table at dinner one night.

I got Bob Pollard (Guided By Voices, anyone?) to TRY to knit a row on my bar scarf last year at the GBV Hoot Night at SXSW in Austin. I even got a picture. A knitting brush with fame.

What a fun contest! It's a hoot to read all the entries.

My best brush-with-fame would be during a summer internship 10 years ago at a political publication. During that time I got to speak not once, not twice, but three times by phone with JFK Jr. (Yes, he was even hot by phone.)

Hmm - I live in Tulsa, so there are a few - Roy Clark can occasionally be seen around town. Garth Brooks - I've seen him at Wal-Mart, Burger King, and on various soccer fields (w/ & w/o Trisha). And my all time best celeb brush - I peed in the stall next to Reba McIntyre when she was visiting the law firm my mom worked for (she was getting a divorce).

I was a "Summer Assistant" at a record label, and so I have a few relating to that time during college:

1. I took a call for my boss from Roberta Flack.
2. I got a ginger ale for Julian Lennon --did not bring it to him however.
3. Chatted nervously with Paul Shafer in the elevator--I was a big Letterman fan.
4. Met Elliot Gould at my bosses banker's office. After I left, he said I was charming.

non-record label related brushes..
5. Went to the wedding ceremony of a member of Foghat (he married a friend of my mom's daughter). Other members of the band were there.
6. At a previous advertising job, answered a call for one of the creative director's. His friend Maxwell Caulfield was on the other end (he was in Grease 2, and is married to Juliet Mills).
7. Had a very brief weather-related chat with Ruby Dee in the elevator at my current job.
8. Told "Dr. Ruth" Westheimer that I admired her work --again, in an elevator. Many elevators in my stories!
9. Sat next to Kate Hudson at Purl in NYC. I was getting help on a knitted bear, and she asked me "did you get it all figured out?"

Can't think of a tenth. Mind you, I've SEEN many, many others. But I don't consider those 'brushes with fame'.

I worked at a Starbucks here in Seattle, and I used to serve Tom Skerrit (the dude from Picket Fences and Top Gun) every day...then Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillipe came in one day, with their new baby (Ava, I think?) and I had to go hide in the back room so I wouldn't say anything stupid.

I have a tendency to make a fool out of myself in front of important people.

Oooh, fun. I have a few good ones.

1. I worked for Wally Shawn typing a script for him of a movie he was writing. I lost it on a NYC bus, and had to call him in Europe and tell him. I think he said "Incredible!" (for those who aren't sure, he's a writer & actor, but maybe most popularly known as the short whiny bad guy in Princess Bride).

2. I worked at a theater company where Charleton Heston was performing, and at a press conference I was assisting, a light popped behind him and knocked his "hair" off-kilter.

3. Back in the 80s I once sat next to Billy Idol backstage at a Divinyls concert.

4. I once waited on a pro wrestler named Hillbilly Jim, but had to be told who he was. (I worked at Denny's - how glamorous).

5. This one's for Cara. Similarly but not, my mom ran into Bruce Springsteen at her local deli but she had to be told who *he* was. The wrestler is one thing, but not knowing Bruce Springsteen when you're from New Jersey? Sad, Mom.

I live in Nashville and used to work at a large hotel here, so I saw a few famous people there--some I'd rather forget.

Liza Minnelli stayed there and came through the lobby in the wee hours of the morning to walk her dog.

Clint Black strolled through the lobby on his way somewhere.

I got cussed out by some of the members of The Statler Brothers. Long story short: They messed up and showed up on the wrong night. We were full, which I politely explained. They cursed me out, and I told my manager to handle it. He smoothed it over by giving them rooms that were already booked by other people and generally kissed their butts. I received no apologies from the ignorant "stars," even after they found out it was their mistake. I've loathed them ever since.

Nelson (Gunnar and Matthew) arrived in their tour bus late one night. This was the early '90s, so they were as popular as they were ever gonna be.

I used to live down the road from Hank Williams, Jr., but I never saw him. I went to Fan Fair last year and saw some people but only got close to Montgomery Gentry because they ran through the audience on the way to the stage.

i once called dennis kucinich's cell phone without realizing that's what i was doing - he picked up and he was very very nice - i, on the other hand, was mortified. i've had lots of weird political brushes, especially since i worked in planning political events for a while - i've had my picture taken with: howard dean, hillary clinton (twice), jesse jackson, al sharpton and a handful of other pols. i've heard john kerry drop the f-bomb. i've also been in john travolta's vacation house (pre-pulp fiction return to glory). i saw danny aiello on the street filming a movie in boston last month, too.

I used to work customer service/tech support for a wireless phone company, and talked to several celebrities on the phone. Being a hardcore sci-fi geek, I almost peed my pants when Gillian Anderson called. Then there was Andy Dick, who lives up to his last name. Oh, and when I lived in Orange County there were lots of icky Dennis Rodman sightings. One time in Vegas I saw someone who had been on an episode of Taxicab Confessions. :)

My brush with fame is the fact that the above-commenting Ann talked to JFK Jr. three times, and she and I have the same name. That makes me practically a Kennedy.

12 brushes! Whoa, that may qualify you for your own celebrity status. Let's see, I served Ann Richards a non-alcoholic beverage at a private party I worked when I was between jobs. Of course, she may only be a celebrity in Texas, but it was big for me. Oh, and I waited on Madeline Murray-O'Hare when I worked in restaruants, of course, some may consider her a bit infamous, god rest her soul. Oops, she probably wouldn't appreciate that. Oh yeah, and Richard Avedon and his entourage came into a little diner I worked at in a small back-woods tourist town and I was too star-struck to approach the table with a pot of coffee and nobody else in the entire establishment knew who he was. Okay, this is my last one and it's a real light brush, but my dad taught Ray Price how to hold a guitar. If you know him, ask him about Dick Gregory from Dallas. That's all I got, but it was fun.

my top 10 brushes with fame (makes me feel like David Letterman, not a brush of mine)
1. Bill Clinton - US Olympic Training Center, handshake and chat about rowing
2. Fidel Castro - PanAmerican Games medal ceremony, Cuba - another handshake, but I received a kiss on the cheek
3. Julia Child - Star Market, Somerville MA, a gaggle of shoppers were following her around to see what she was buying while I hid my mac & cheese box
4. Paul Wylie - same Star Market, different visit
5. Mike Eruzione - sat in front of him at a women's college hockey game
6. William Hurt - while watching a high school theartical production where I coached
7. Natalie Portman - burger joint, Bartley's, in Harvard Sq, Cambridge MA, isn't she a vegetarian?
8. Madeleine Albright - graduation speaker 1997
9. Alberto Salazar - while working finish line of Boston, marathon he won by a few feet
10. Gloria Steinam - food co-op in Ithaca, I actually asked for her autograph

In 1996 at O'Hare airport, while with my hubby, 3 year old daughter and 6 month old daughter and an older couple on an airport golf cart, being shuttled to another terminal to catch a flight to mt y youngest's baptism in NY, the shuttle was blocked by Little Richard's entourage. They tried to boot us all off because Little Richard had a toothache. Amid the Armani suits and dripping gold, there he was, staring at us, holding his right cheek, waving his other hand for us to get off and looking pitiful. The airport shuttle guy just ignored them and drove away. Since then, I've had no respect for the man.

I got words six fer ya:

Rod Stewart buying peanuts at CVS.

Whoo! I was in high school and would be attending his concert that night. His big ole bodyguard denied it was his Rodness. When I asked, he said, in a thick British accent, "Yeah, he gets that a lot." How precious.

I also saw Warren Beatty at a hotel in DC, but the Rod Stewart one wins, because of the peanuts.

Julie!

Right before Christmas, I was driving down a back road in Columbia, TN. An ambulance came up behind me and ran me off the road. Needless to say, my tire was shredded.
I pulled over and pulled the spare tire and jack out of the trunk and was muttering bad words when a red pickup truck pulled up behind me and stopped.
STERLING MARLIN got out of the truck and asked if I needed help. STERLING MARLIN changed my flat tire and offered to take it back to his house to see if it could be patched. When he turned it over, he realized that it was shredded beyond repair but still offered to follow me to a tire dealer in town to make sure I made it there without a problem.
Pretty good pit crew, don't you think?

I lived in England during middle school. One year the minister at my church was invited to speak at St. Paul's Cathederal on Thanksgiving day. My mom and I went into town to attend the service and since we got ther early, ended up on the front row.
Charlton Heston sat in behind us. The entire time I kept thinking "Crap, I've got to pay attention, Moses is right behind me!"

I could tell a number of stories but will stick to a straightforward one: Trey Anastasio, the guy from fish is wearing a shirt that I suggested and sold to him the picture from the liner notes to the last Phish album.

I once met Alice Cooper in a mall in Scottsdale AZ. He was with his wife and young son, who was dressed in denim and leather - too cute. He said "Hi" to me and I said "uh-huh". I am a great big dork.

I used to supervise a telephone fundraising bank for a nonprofit group in Philadelphia. We had a girl come in who was relieved that her tattoos and piercings weren't a problem. After a couple of shifts, she flaked and didn't come back.

A month or 2 later, another employee came in with a "People" magazine profiling descendents of noteworthy people, and we recognized the tattoo girl.

I had briefly supervised Stalin's granddaughter!