Celebrity-ish Sighting # I Lost Count

Friday night I met a friend visiting from Austin at an excellent little Eye-talian joint on the UWS. It turned out not to be as excellent as I remember from my first visit, because the maitre d basically told us to get up and leave within minutes of paying the check so he could give our table to the next reservation. Boo. But BEFORE that unpleasantness, I noticed a couple being seated in a corner table, and immediately recognized the blond woman with short spiky (spikey?) hair. I told my friends, "I can't remember her name, but that woman was in Parenthood with Steve Martin."

Holly started laughing and asked the same question she asked when I spotted Charlie the Bachelor (the less-attractive O'Connell brother) in Montauk this summer: "What happens inside your head when there's a celebrity close by? Does a bell ring to alert you to someone's presence??" Why, yes, actually. Cowbell!

We sat and thought for a minute, but no one could remember her name. Finally Holly said, "Isn't her dad a famous writer?" I entered a trance right there at the table and suddenly her name floated up to me. Martha Plimpton! Turns out that actually, she's no relation to George Plimpton, but that's a minor detail.

Then Terry (Austin friend) noticed the guy she was with, and said he looked familiar, too. When I got a look at his face, I started laughing. It was Cousin Ira from Mad About You. Cousin Ira!

I think the funny thing about living in New York, for me, anyway, is that you can run into the most random people, anytime, anyplace. Just like when I saw Blane scolding his son in front of the Time Warner Center a while ago. I immediately thought of Molly Ringwald, but hadn't even figured out who he was at first. Seeing someone who was in a tv show I watched or a movie I loved doesn't just make me remember the show; I remember how old I was when I saw it, what my life was like, and how far away that is now. I saw Parenthood in the theater - must have been 9th grade. Didn't it start with the "When you're sliding into home, and you feel something foam" song? I remember that the song grossed me out but I laughed anyway. And I laughed even harder at the "electric ear cleaner" joke, even though I had no idea what that thing was.
So now here I am living in New York these many years later and one of the kids from The Goonies is just a few tables over. The Goonies, y'all! That was over twenty years ago! Good god. I am officially 300 hundred years old.
Just another Friday night on the Upper West Side, I guess.