I Spy with My Little Eye

All this time I have been in New York City, and still I hadn't experienced any celebrity sightings. Although, I did see the main woman from "Law & Order: SVU" (Mariska Hargitay) in Central Park my first summer here, but would've never known it if it had not been pointed out to me. I also swear I once saw Jennifer Garner walking out of Central Park while talking on her cell phone. But anyway, now I can say I've seen and recognized two people in the biz. Both sightings are of men who are not the most popular or famous celebrities. In fact, they probably go throughout their days with not many people catching on to who they are. It was fun for me to recognize them.

The first sighting was as I walking up Columbus Avenue (near my apartment) with a friend. A man was walking toward us and I happened to look at him and catch his eye. He looked familiar to me and I couldn't place it at first. A few hours later I remembered that he was in one of my favorite movies of the 80s, "Chances Are". He's been in other things, but this is the one that stuck out to me (the main character is a young, very attractive Robert Downey, Jr. so, duh. Of course I remembered that one). But anyway, this is him, Joe Grifasi!

He's also been on "Law & Order" and movies like "13 Going on 30". More of a TV guy, I think. He lays low.

The second celeb sighting was the one and only Joel Godard, former announcer for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"! Okay, so this one I was super excited about. I was an avid Conan watcher for many years, and for sure remember this guy:


I asked how long he was the announcer on the show and he said 17 seasons! That's a long time. The writers/producers/whoever on that show had him doing some really strange things, at times. He always had this huge, kinda crazy smile on his face, no matter what they had him saying or doing. But anyway, I saw him waiting at my bus stop near my internship on the Upper East Side. He was waiting for the same bus. When I stared long enough to know it was him for sure, I went up to him and asked if he was who I thought he was. He was the nicest man! He asked me my name, and we ended up chatting on the bus for multiple stops. I know, so random, but it was so awesome to me. We talked a little bit about Conan and about the way things ended for him, etc. We talked about New York and California, traveling and school. He mentioned his wife and son. Anyway, it was fun. My favorite part of our conversation was when he said I must've started watching Late Night with Conan when I was pretty young. I told him I must've been in high school, which was in the mid 90s and that I just turned 31 this month. He then said, "Oh, okay. You're older than I thought you were". To that, I told him, "Thank you!"

No, it wasn't Brad Pitt or Tom Hanks, but it was fun to spot these guys out and about. It kinda makes me realize that people are just out there, doing their jobs and living life. At least, these guys get to do that without all the cameras and press in their faces.