I've been working on a piece about how embarrassing I find meeting admired celebrities.

I find acting like a fan incredibly embarassing -- it makes me feel vulnerable. I'm relatively okay with getting something signed when someone is there specifically to do that, but if (e.g.) Michael Stipe was sitting in front of me on the train going home tonight, I would be utterly paralyzed between not wanting to bother someone in his private life, my desire to talk to him, the fact that I doubt I have anything to say he hasn't heard at least 500 times before, and my knowledge that I'm not a cool person, and would be unlikely to handle the interaction in anything but a geeky fangirl fashion.

Luckily, I don't tend to bump into celebrities, so the issue doesn't come up often.

I've been working on a piece about how embarrassing I find meeting admired celebrities.

Hee! I talked to Bob Mould last year and I'd be embarassed about how I acted except I think it was funny, too. I was all,"OHMIGOD BOB MOULD I LOVE YOU BOB MOULD I QUOTED YOU IN YEARBOOK BOB MOULD I DO PILATES BOB MOULD I SAW YOU AT ELK'S LODGE BOB MOULD A LONG LONG TIME AGO BOB MOULD."

I had a reason for telling him about the pilates...um...oh I said I saw husker du eons ago at the Elk's Lodge in Philadelphia and he said somebody else who'd been to that show had just come up to talk to him to and I said, "dag we're old." And he was like "if you're old think how old I am." And I told him how super-fit he was looking (he was! looked way fitter than he did 20-ish years ago). So he was telling me about his workout regime. So, it was funny becuase he was having a fairly normal conversation and I was all bug-eyed, sputtering, over-sharing fangurl.

My friends were laughing and laughing at me. Then I bought everything he had for sale.

You should've talked to him about professional wrestling. Mould was a writer for the WWF (or one of those groups) for a while.

t edit World Championship Wrestling

Mould was a writer for the WWF (or one of those groups) for a while

That's hilarious! If I'd known I'm sure I would have brought it up.

Yep, I'm torn between wanting to connect with the celebrity (because that connection between their work and my life is why I'm interested in that celebrity in the first place, y'know), and embarrassment at acting like that. When I talk to a person like that, even though I should know better, I find myself trying to interest this person in talking with me. It never occurs to me until later that there's guys like me in every single damn college town these people visit. It's hubris to think that I'm such a world-historical fun guy to hang out with, but it's absolutely debilitating to my creative outlets to go around thinking of myself as small fish/small fry. I think a lot about trying to live by the Tao, but, unfortunately, sometimes I'm an ego monster (consider the number of appearances in this paragraph of "I" and "me") and sometimes I'm meek as a country mouse. Hell, I'm embarrassed about this kind of navel-gazing -- it surely isn't good for anyone -- but, by the same token, if I don't indulge in some navel-gazing occasionally, I'll never figure anything out. And the fact that this type of narcissistic ego-watching is set off by unsuccessfully trying to connect with a minor celebrity says quite a bit about how much I need to figure out, I think.

Damn, I'd be completely thrown for a loop by meeting Bob Mould. Mike Watt's the only punk rock hero I've met who's ever been human enough to make me feel at ease.

I do indeed work at the Coffee Company That Ate the World's headquarters. I'm in the Benefits department.

I wasn't embarrassed. I was pleased that I was able to form a coherent sentence, and I was obviously extremely gleeful to be talking to and hugging the man, but embarrassed wasn't the word. I wasn't even embarrassed when I ran back down to my department and bounced and squealed up and down the cubicles for an hour!

Alicia, that's so cool! Dude! And it's a great picture of the both of you.

I once broke down crying in front of Nerissa & Katryna Nields. That was pretty damn embarrassing.

Alicia, you look unembarrassed in that picture. In fact, you look very, very happy.

And I told him how super-fit he was looking (he was! looked way fitter than he did 20-ish years ago). So he was telling me about his workout regime. So, it was funny becuase he was having a fairly normal conversation and I was all bug-eyed, sputtering, over-sharing fangurl.

He's talked a lot about his workout regime in his blog.

Like Lyra, I would tend not to approach celebrities because I wouldn't have anything to say to them. I tend to get all shy with even actors I know when I am in awe of their work. I once worked for four months on a show with a guy who did one of the best performances I have ever seen on stage, and I always felt too embarrassed to tell him how great I thought he was.

The thing is that all the performers I know never tire of the compliments. Maybe the big, big stars do, but the regular working performers love it.