star gazing

Since moving back to the Village two months ago, Bob and I have spotted a few celebrities out and about in our neighborhood. The following list isn't even good shameless name dropping, since we simply saw these people on the street or in restaurants, just as anyone else could have. It's not like we were invited to the same party or went on the same private school admissions tour with them. Other than helping Victoria Jackson find a cab and shaking hands with Cory Kahaney, we didn't speak to any of the rest of them. So I won't be slinging the words "my friend" in front of any of the following, but here they are:

Meryl Streep on the corner of 13th Street & Broadway.

Parker Posey in Veselka's on 2nd Avenue at 9th Street.

Scott Speedman (from Felicity) stepping out of a movie trailer on 8th Street near 5th Avenue.

Victoria Jackson (from Saturday Night Live) at the Union Square Theater on 17th Street off Park Avenue South.

Cory Kahaney (from Last Comic Standing) previewing her new comedy review at the Union Square Theater on 17th Street off Park Avenue South.

Mario Batali (Restaurateur with three restaurants and an apartment within a five minute walk of our apartment) he's ubiquitous.

David Karger (from the Today Show and Entertainment Weekly) in Mexicana Mama's on Hudson near 10th Street.

I'm no stalker and I hate to bother celebrities when they're just trying to go about their daily lives. You won't see any paparazzi photos from me. However, I was very tempted to speak to Meryl Streep. She is a true acting luminary and I adore her. But she was huddled with what looked to be her daughter, conversing intimately as they stared from across Broadway at the Union Square Stadium theater marquee.

Still I will confess that Bob and I have connected with celebrities in the past. There was the time that Billy Baldwin caught Bob checking out his crotch, which reportedly was packed pretty damn nicely in his jeans as he walked with his girl friend toward Bob on the sidewalk outside the Arts Club building on Gramercy Park South. Billy just smiled and winked at Bob, who didn't know whether to be totally embarrassed or flattered.

Or there was the time I saw Ed Harris coming out of a shop and before I could stop myself I called out "Ed Harris?" It wasn't a yelp from an adoring fan. It had more the tone of an old friend saying "Ed? Eddy Harris? Is that you?" I didn't say it that way on purpose. It just came out that way.

He turned and smiled quizzically at me with those adorable blue eyes, as if to ask, "Do we know each other?" But he simply replied, "Yes?" This forced me to come up with something nice but unobtrusive on the spot. I ended up thanking him for his work and leaving him to his own life quickly, though I only narrowly escaped my impulse to blurt out how much I loved his muscular hairy chest.

Anyway, these all simply serve as reminders that we're back in the Village. Granted, when we went home each evening to our old apartment in Brooklyn we usually stayed in and watched TV. Maybe if we'd gone out more, we might have seen some of Brooklyn's celebrities, like, um, say, pugnacious Borough President Marty Markovitz or gay porn star Donnie Russo (link not work-friendly) who we did see now and again. Supposedly there are a few stars and several writers who live in Park Slope, and Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams lived not far from our old place in Boerum Hill, but we never saw them.

You just plain see celebrities more often in the Village, without having to go looking for them. So, I'll keep you posted on who's on the street.