Hello Matt, how are you today?

Last Wednesday, Mo and I had another celebrity sighting. This time, Matt Dillon walked by us at the intersection of 81st and Columbus Ave. He waw hurrying down 81st towards CPW. I must say that Matt is much broader and more... ahem... buff than I thought he would be. He does make for lovely eye candy for the ladies.

I figure that he must live around 81st and CPW because there was nothing but Central Park and residential buildings where he was heading - Which is cool because we might be neighbours!

"Good morning Matt! Yes, I'd love to come by for a cup of tea, thank you!"

For some reason, Mo and I have been lucky enough to have more celebrity sightings than anyone I know. I'm sure this is due to Mo's keen ability to remember faces, as well as actually pay attention to what goes on around him. As opposed to my crappy memory and my tendency towards tunnel vision when I walk. (Purely an instinct to ward off unwanted male attention).

Just for prosperity, let's do a quick of recap the faces we've seen around NYC in our 3 years and 7 months living here (In chronological order):

1) Julia Roberts - Our first sighting in New York. Memorable because she took my cappucino!

2) Woody Allen (twice) - The first time, he was leaving an Italian restaurant in midtown. The second was a filming (one year later, but ironically only one block from the initial sighting). He looks exactly like in his movies. And no, he was not there with Song Yee.

3) Kelsey Grammer - Passed him in a taxi in midtown east. He was having dinner at a cafe.

4) Rosie Perez - Walked by her in LaGuardia airport.

5) Sandra Bernhardt - Yacking (that's talking, not puking) outside of my office building.

6 ) Michael Douglas - He sat at the table beside us while we were having lunch. Mo kept staring at the little hole in his sweater. And no, Catherine Zeta-Jones was nowhere to be found. We think he was meeting with a wedding planner though because it was only about two weeks before his wedding.

6) Renee Zellwegger - Walked by her while shopping on Madison Avenue.

7) Lilly Taylor - West Village sighting. She looks so much like a normal person that I almost didn't recognize her. But Mo did of course.

8) Julianne Moore - She was waiting for the train at the 72nd street 1,2,3,9 station with her three kids and her husband. I thought it was so fabulous that she actually takes the train. We rode with her all the way to 14th street, where strangers played with her kids on the ride. Very down to earth.

Mo's sightings (sans moi):

Joaquim Phoenix - Union Square, outside the United Artists Theater. He was too cool, on his cell phone and trying not to make eye contact.

Diane Wiest - Walking her dog in the Upper West Side. Mo stopped to pet her pup.

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Hmm... come to think of it. That's quite a lot of sightings above. Especially considering that I'm not in an industry where I should bump into them so often.

It's great how actors, musicians, etc. love to live in New York. It's so easy to blend in here because most New Yorkers tend to have tunnel vision and not even look at the people who pass them on the street. But what's fabulous is that even when they get recognized, no one hassles them. Residents here are too cool to acknowledge them. The general attitude is "Look, there's so and so. How cool... Anyway, then he said to me, how come you never call me... blah blah"

Of course, they all secretly love the celebrity sightings. It reinforces the view that New York is the best place to live in the world.

(And it is too... heh!)

Posted by theressa at September 2, 2003 02:40 PM