Celebrity sightings in everyday life

After my Steve Carell sighting last year (see previous entry), a friend of mine (in Seattle) suggested that I keep a blog of all the celebrities that I have seen.

My first question is what makes a person enough of a celebrity that I should note them in my blog? I admit that I have seen a few bona fide celebrities around town, but I live the average person's life and do not frequent celebrity hotspots, so I rarely see actual celebrities. Instead I see actors who are or had been on television or in movies. Should I judge somebody's celebrity status by the number of people who recognize the name? Almost two years ago, after I moved here to L.A., I saw Geraldo Rivera. Most people know who he is so I think that makes him a celebrity. I would say that he is a lower list celebrity because Geraldo almost ran over an old man riding a bicycle with his car. His behavior didn't make me feel warm and fuzzy about him.

I think what people really want is interesting circumstances around seeing these people. For example, my friend Randy told me his story of how Brad Pitt almost ran him over. Randy was crossing an intersection off of Sunset Blvd by the windy hilly roads when a blue Suburban was slowly navigating down the hill and had a hard time stopping at the intersection. Randy looked over at the driver as he bit into a big egg-roll and saw that it was Brad Pitt slunking down trying not to be seen. He saw Randy with the egg roll in his mouth and Randy saw Brad barely miss hitting him with his big truck. I think most celebrity sightings are about recognizable people doing everyday things like running at the park or walking their dogs. I think the reality is so much less glamorous than what people expect.

My 'biggest' and most exciting celebrity sighting was Jack Nicholson getting out of his car (black convertible) in Idylwylld, CA and walking to the Bank of America ATM. I spotted him, and Aaron suggested we go in the direction of the Bank of America because he wanted to get a better look. It sort of felt weird and stalker-ish to follow a person just to get a longer glimpse of them in everyday life. But I did it anyway ;)

People at work see lots of famous people all the time. Evangelia saw Keanu Reeves in front of the UCLA hospital a few months ago. She also saw and got pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a convertible from the bus as they drove past him. Mila has seen lots of people around town--Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, Nicolette Sheridan, and Harrison Ford while getting ice cream or going out to dinner. Don't worry my dear friends, I plan on blogging about their and other friends' sightings because it would be really boring if it were just the people that I see!

Some of the celebrities that I remember having seen in the past two years:
Kyle MacLachlan (from Sex in the City)-- seen him twice! Once touring the Getty Museum, and once while waiting for a plane in Aspen (he was in line behind me)
Jack Nicholson (see above)
Dave Matthews on the sidewalk in Seattle (he said 'hi' to me about two years ago :)
Jennifer Gardner (Alias) at the theater (no Ben Affleck with her)
Laird Hamilton (super sexy surfer) along the beach with his buddies in Waikiki
Steve Carell (see previous blog)