michael and me

i waited on michael stipe last night. you know, REM.

i usually don't mention anything like this on the blog. everyone should be allowed their privacy. plus once you wait on someone who's become well known, you realize how unexciting it is. they ordered food like everyone else?! no way! they were polite? they weren't? big deal. you deal with all versions of that every evening.

mostly you're left with the feeling that the most memorable part of so and so's day wasn't that you waited on them, so it's a little sad that the reverse is true.

but since mr. stipe was featured on apartment therapy where he showed the inside of his house, what's a little name dropping here? besides, the reason i mention him, isn't to mention him, it's because his visit left me thinking about fame, wealth, luck of the draw, and circumstances.

i think about those things anyway when i'm stuck. i mean, this was the line i waited in to see Harry Potter.

this was ticketed people, mind you, arriving early for a good seat. (i'm happy to say i was far ahead in the line, haHa!) so as i'm amidst this giant line, i can't help thinking: man, JK hit it out of the park. and when i go home, i'll still be struggling with my dramatic such and such scene at the end of my novel. which might or might not be the one that gets out there.

yesterday, i couldn't help thinking about all the other food michael stipe has eaten in his life. the delicious, the foreign, the french, the sublime, the street food. and i felt a little jealous, because i want to eat that food, but more than that, i want to have a reason to be in those other places eating that food.

yes. it does all come down to food for me.

you can't have thoughts like this living in NYC or you'll go nuts. last night i should have joined in the off-key singing of Losing My Religion with the other servers and left it at that.

but thanks to such thoughts, this week i'm forcing myself to apply for fellowships. even though the effort it takes to apply for one (where your chances of rejection are 99%) is about equal to the time it takes to write a book, because i don't think you need to be michael stipe to lead an interesting life. you need to be curious. you need to pry into the world. you need to live like you are michael stipe.

but maybe a little neater.