Soaking In the Scenery

The Skimmer and I were hanging out in the living room, each just doing our own thing. Him, watching Ghost Hunters. Me, pondering things. Which he must've been doing, too, because even though the young Robert Deniro look-a-like had just talked to a ghost! He piped up, "What all celebrities have we seen?"

"What?"

"You know, over the years. Who have we seen in person?"

I said, "Oh, um, Meg Ryan. We passed each other on 5th Avenue. I didn't make eye contact. I was totally cool. Had my whole New York thing goin' on."

He said, "Abe Vigoda, up by Elaine's."

I said, "Aw, yeah. He was alone, just shufflin' up the street. Roseanne Barr! Upper West Side, the night we got engaged."

And we continued back and forth. Me first.

"Debra Messing, Central Park South. She was jogging."

He said, "She was jogging constantly, same time I always was. I saw her everywhere."

"I know! She looked just like herself."

He said, "Sam Shepard. Greenwich Village at that little French place for breakfast Thanksgiving morning."

"He was a good one. Looked great sitting there reading the paper with his glasses on in that oatmeal sweater, scarf around his neck."

He said, "Billy Bob Thorton. Soho. Having a beer at that outdoor cafe."

"The guy from Letterman's show. Paul Shaffer! Upper West Side one morning at breakfast."

He said, "Harvey Keitel."

"What?!"

"Harvey Keitel. Remember? He and Henry Winkler were coming out of that Broadway show?"

"No! I don't remember that!"

"What's the matter with you?"

"I don't know. Ok, maybe I have a tiny glimpse of a memory now. Can't believe I don't completely remember Harvey Keitel! Henry Winkler, too? Geez."

He said, "The actress from Harry Potter."

"Yeah. At breakfast in Brooklyn. What's her name?"

"Um... Mrs. McGonagall..."

"Who?"

"... Mrs. McGonagall... Maggie Smith!"

"Yeah, Maggie Smith! At the bar, having a Bloody Mary."

He said, "Robert Shapiro in Central Park."

"Does he count?"

"Nah, doesn't count.

He continued, "Matthew Perry. LA. La-La-Land."

"Chenandler Bong!"

"Dyan Cannon."

I said, "Yeah, that was a great scene. Pulling up in front of the restaurant, grabbing bottles of champagne from the passenger seat of her Porsche and handing them out to the valet guys, her long, blonde hair blowing in the wind. Fabulous! Dennis Miller!"

"Dennis Miller, you're right."

I said, "Robert Shapiro was in that restaurant that night. We saw him there, too. He was drunk. Remember?"

"Still doesn't count."

"You're right. Doesn't count!"

He said, "We saw Richard Holbrooke in Central Park, too."

"Ha! We did."

He said, "Yeah, I saw him first and whispered Who's that? and you said Who?! too loud and he heard you."

"Tourist! You know, Dennis Perrin's in New York and he wrote that at least tourists are looking up, soaking in the scenery. New Yorkers all have their noses buried in their smart phones now."

"Yeah, well, with our phones, we'd still be soaking up the scenery."

I said, "I know, it's still dumb phones for us. I need to get back there. We'd still see everyone. Although when I've got my whole New York thing goin' on, they'd never know it."

Comments

[Kevin Wolf]

Ah, NYC. Saw Joe Jackson walking (loping) down Canal ST. when I lived there.

[blue girl]

I can totally see Joe Jackson as a loper! :)

[Ken Houghton]

Yes, the tourists are back. The ones with smartphones are the most dangerous.

Woody&Mia (Broadway in the Fifties, midday, street basically empty except the three of us). Bruce (at a Broadway show). A bunch more, obviously.

Fewer now, since I can look at a smartphone instead of Ed Koch these days.

[Jennifer]

that at least tourists are looking up, soaking in the scenery. New Yorkers all have their noses buried in their smart phones now.

LOL! I think it's that way everywhere. In Chicago, the tourists were looking up and walking too slow! We have places to go, people!!

[Michael Bains]

"...Me, pondering things."

I love you, BG! LOL

Jimmy Carter looked right at me and waved from the lime after mass at a church in Lorain. And a fist bump and a few friendly words exchanged with Josh Cribbs are my too most memorable brushes.

[Michael Bains]

from the lime?! Perhaps it was from the Limo instead. Yes. I'm thinking that that was what he was waving from within.

:))

[yaya]

You live the life! You guys have to make it back to New York to keep adding to your list of "i-cees" Very cool....I could actually picture Dyan Cannon doing that with the champagne bottles...Was Debra Messig before the nose or after? and Billy Bob was that pre or post Angelina, kind of effected the way he looked, trying to get a visual...too Cool.....

[ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©]

Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall at Nobu.

(I believe Harry Keitel or some such was also there, at another table, but details are sketchy.)
~

[Larry Jones]

Just sayin': In his prime Winkler was way bigger than Keitel. Still is, come to think of it...

[zombie rotten mcdonald]

Dennis Miller is no longer a celebrity.

Also, I can NEVER see Maggie Smith in anything without remembering her kicking the shit out of Burgess Meredith in Foul Play.

[zombie rotten mcdonald]

In his prime Winkler was way bigger than Keitel.

not in physical terms.

[blue girl]

Dennis Miller is no longer a celebrity.

We saw him in 1995. He had yet to flip his lid. Looked just like himself, too.

And ZRM? Not sure how to take your comment about Fonzie. lol Such intimate knowledge!

yaya, don't know about Debra's nose. And not 100% positive about Billy Bob Thorton. He was NOT wearing a vial of blood around his neck, though.

And MB, "from the lime" -- when I read that I thought, Man! Now what does THAT mean? lol I'm always having to look up stuff on the Interwebs. Sounded *very* proper. :) I read it in my best British accent!

Woody, Mia & Mick. Great "i-cees" as yaya calls them!

[Kathleen]

I love this post. and that is quite the list of celebrities too.

[scribbler50]

I saw Blue Girl in New York once, can I call that a star sighting? Hell yes!

(Ditto on Dennis Miller, the waste of a once great brain.)

[Mimi Weisel]

I was just trolling my son Al/JonSwift's site. I like to read My Mother is a Terrible Person, and I clicked on your site. You certainly have seen a lot of celebrities. I always get tongue-tied and try to act cool if I see anyone. I saw Bob Hope in Washington, DC, when his son graduated from college. He was walking down K Street. I saw Carol Channing in NYC once when I was still married and we saw Joe Namath in a restaurant there too. Your blog made me want to remember everyone I've seen doing things like normal people do. I like the way you write. I'll be back.

[blue girl]

Hi Mrs. Weisel, I still remember how much I got a kick out of reading My Mother is a Terrible Person! Made me laugh! You've had some pretty good celebrity spots, too. Thanks for the compliment about my writing and I *do* hope you'll be back! I think about Al often. Hope you are doing well.