Okay, this is totally off topic, but I just had to share. Actress Emma Watson, of Hermione Granger fame in the Harry Potter movie franchise, has spent the past few years cramming at Brown University, just down the street from where I live ... and now shes has gone and graduated. I actually had my celebrity brush with greatness, as David Letterman used to say, with Watson a couple of years ago when I stepped into the Au Bon Pain cafe on Thayer Street at about 7:00 a.m. on a crisp autumn morning, and found myself holding the door open for none other than Hermione herself, who was just leaving with a giant coffee in hand. I am proud to say I was very dignified and did not beg for an autograph or anything. I simply said good morning and she smiled and said good morning back. End of encounter. My teenage kids, unfortunately, still feel that I idiotically blew a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring home priceless Harry Potter swag for them, like a signed Au Bon Pain napkin or such. Too late now. I like to think that Hermione found it very cool of me not to ask. No? Oh well. Oddly enough, that was actually my second coffee-and-Harry Potter-related encounter. Some years earlier, my brother was living in the East Village in New York City, and -- one morning while I was visiting him -- we ran into Ralph Fiennes (a/k/a Lord Voldemort), who lived in the same neighborhood, and frequented the same artsy cafe my brother used to patronize in those days. Same deal though -- in East Village it is the height of unhip to demonstratively recognize a celebrity. So we settled for detached, hearty nods -- once again earning the contempt of the kiddos. Anyway. Theres my story for the day. Happy graduation, Hermione. Our local Hogwarts will miss you. Peace. :-)
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 13:32:31 +0000
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