I saw Millie and it made my evening

I maintained my demeanor.

I made no faux-pax.

But I TOTALLY had my Sundance experience last night, and I'm still beaming.

Some people scream when they see George Clooney.
Others get a boner when they see Pamela Anderson.
But what do you do when you work at a gallery and someone famous walks in to admire art?
The rule is: You do what you would do when any other prospective client walks in to admire art.

Okay. Damn? I can't ask for autographs or anything? Okay. Easy enough. Keep cool. And I did.

Luckily, there's no rule as to what you can or can't do after they leave!

Let's backtrack. This moment needs a preface.

Since its debut in 1999, I have loved the show Freaks and Geeks. Many stars got their start there - the ever popular Seth Rogen and James Franco. Linda Cardellini is pretty hot stuff now, too. Though it only lasted one season, it was brilliant in its themes and characters and I miss it everytime I re-watch an episode. As epic as it was for me, rarely can I strike up a conversation about an episode or reference it without people having no idea what I am talking about.

That being said, had Seth, James, or Linda walked into the gallery, most people would acknowledge the awesome experience. But my awesome experience is only going to be acknowledged by true F&G fans.

The chick who played Millie, the super-Christian, nerdy childhood friend of Lindsay, came into the gallery last night with a fella. I talked to her about a few of the pieces, not that I was presuming or expecting her to be qualified client, because frankly I didn't know, just as I don't initially know if anyone is --- but honestly, I went over to talk to her just so I could a) make sure it was her and b) say that I spoke to her. I told her to let me know if she had any questions. She didn't have any questions, but she did say goodbye when she left. The actress' name is Sarah Hagan and apparently she's in a movie that's showing at Sundance also starring Amy Poehler. I only learned of her name and resume after she left the gallery and I "IMDB'd" her. But I know for a fact that it was her. And I got to talk to her about art. Totally awesome.

the Sarah Hagan, that walked into the gallery

As excited as I am, not many people know who she is, but that makes my Sundance experience all the more tailored and awesome. I think that while celeb-gossip and star-gazing is kind of ridiculous, I definitely fall under the spell, especially when its a chance sighting. Even when not in a professional setting, such as the gallery, I find myself torn as to how I should act when spontaneously confronted with fame. Part of you wants proof - a photo, a signature - something to show off and keep for years to come, but in actuality, its a really lame interaction that just blends in with every other encounter that the celeb has had. Another part of you wants to remain cool, - they're human, there was once a point in their life that they weren't famous - so you don't want to make them upset or embarrassed, just as you wouldn't want to assault a stranger. It's not something you can really plan for, though if you do you should probably reassess your priorities in life, so I would suggest keeping your cool because as much as you want to be able to show how you made an idiot of yourself in front of John Stamos by standing next to his forced smile, its way cooler to tell the story about how you stood in line for coffee and happened to place and order after Julie Delply.

Its true that hype is relative to how famous you are; i'll leave it up to you to decide the unit with which fame is measured. Really famous people are kept in the shadows for protective measures - for the five people that love you there is the one jerk who probably wants you dead for some sick reason. Really famous people are among the untouchables, meaning the likelihood that you will cross paths with Brad Pitt is microscopic. So the real, more relevant question to all of us, is what happens to B-movie actors or people possessing a level of fame which allows them to walk the streets without being harassed constantly? How do they feel about being recognized, approached, since, I would assume, it happens less often?

It's a tough call and probably differs semi-famous person to semi-famous person. Some probably love the attention that they get. Others might choose to be only semi-famous in order to be able to preserve what privacy they can muster. (That's an interesting thought, at what point do you lose control over your fame? Does one ever have control over their fame?)

Either way, Sarah Hagan doesn't know that I knew it was her in the gallery last night. I made sure to treat her neutrally, greeting her amongst the few other people that wandered into the gallery at the same time. Though, if she happens upon my blog, I hope that she had a nice time in the gallery and if given the chance to converse I would like to have let her know, though she might not have cared, that I love Freaks and Geeks, and it was truly awesome to get to see a piece of the talent that made the show what it was in person.

:)

I'm such a Geek.