Last night I got to celebrate a friend’s birthday with some tribal members–a much-needed opportunity to catch up with some of my compadres. The hubs was gracious enough to watch the Ladies while I went out for some Korean BBQ tacos–so, so good, by the way. A crazy combo, the Asian-meets-and-aggressively-kisses-the-Mexican-food-goodness of the Korean BBQ taco. But… It. Is. Delicioso. Trust.
Anywho, in all the catching up, we randomly started confessing the celebrities we’re all (in my words here) “nerds” for. This is Nashvegas after all, and celebrities the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow devote their blogs to describing the understated fabulousness so many country music stars and we civilians alike have come to love about Music City. In short: it’s a great place to live and raise the offspring. It’s basically a small town with a city vibe and a generous smattering of art and music.
Living here means that we accept the possibility of seeing celebrities around town, like seeing Tim and Faith at the Harris Teeter buying Coca Cola at the height of her Pepsi commercials–I get sentimental about Pepsi, too, Faith! Or going to the farmers’ market and running into Keith and Nicole; she’ll turn to smile and ogle at your babies. You’re sure it’s her this time, unlike the time you questioned: “Is that Nicole jogging on my commute to work?”
In the words of a certain celeb magazine, stars really are “just like us” (at least here in Nashville, but in much bigger houses). And because we respect one another here (and the fact that Jack “the-absence-of-color” really does take his kid to preschool himself), Nashvillians do not approach celebs for autographs. No, siree. We just have too much respect for ourselves and for our celebs to go all “L.A. tourist” on them, demanding pictures and whatnot.
That being said, when we really do get “nerdy” for a celeb, it’s a BIG deal. For example, the hubs would pee himself if Bono were to walk into his favorite two-for-one-Tuesday joint. Me? Well, I’m too embarrassed to even mention the folks I’m a nerdy fool for; though, if you’ve paid attention, you probably know of one. It’s ridiculous at this point.
One of my sister girlfriends was talking about meeting one of the celebs whom she’s been a ginormous fan of for decades. Decades, people. In the last couple of years, she was lucky enough to personally meet Alison Krauss. A dream come true, right? So flustered and starstruck was my sweet and normally hilariously sassy friend, that all she could utter was, “I saw you on ‘Wheel of Fortune’.”
Classic. I love you, girl. And I feel you, yo.
I promise you that my friend is so witty and fun to hang with that Alison, Bono, Jack, Nicole, Keith, Tim, and Faith should all be clamoring to spend even an hour with her. What is it about publicly celebrated figures that makes us quake in our boots with admiration? Not sure, but I think it’s silly. They’re just folks who’ve been fortunate enough to see their dreams come into fruition. That, and they seem to eminate their superpowers when they breathe the air of mere mortals like me.
No, I’d never be able to mutter something worthwhile instead of going “nerdy” for one of my faves. Nope. Couldn’t do it. I doubt that much will ever change. I’d rather just admire them from afar. Or watch their charity stint on a game show.
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My very fave story about a country celeb is possibly one you may have heard before. No names will be mentioned to protect the identity of the said person involved, but this little tidbit is too good NOT to tell. So, this said person was working at a restaurant and good ol’ Kenny Chesney came a strollin’ in. Well, apparently said person didn’t know Kenny, but she sure did notice the fact that he was short. Now, let me also mention that this person is incredibly gifted in the art of making up nicknames for people. Its like a superpower in itself. I don’t remember the particular’s, but let’s just say she called him “Little Kenny” (I’m sure with a country twang) before the night was over. All in good humor, of course. I think he said something like, “do you know who I am?” Well, he wasn’t that fond of being reminded of his short stature, but its good to be reminded every now and then of the little people, especially if you’re one of them. Every time I think of that story, I like to imagine his face once she calls him by that name. It makes me laugh every.single.time.