so i ran into clive owen the other day

i was in a dinky little stamp shop in greenwich village when i noticed him off to the side. he was kind of standing behind his family. they must have been on vacation, but i was still able to sniff him out. of course he was wearing the celebrity camoflague outfit of a baseball hat (yankees, natch) and big sunglasses. nobody really dresses like that outside of LA, so i knew it was somebody trying to be inconspicuous.

i was there for legit reasons and at first the girl at the counter was dealing with his wife and daughters' questions about rubber stamps. t first i assumed they were just some touristy family and in my impatient way i was mentally hurrying them up. he kept looking at me, even from his hiding place behind them, which i guess is a celebrity thing, where they need to anticipate if someone is going to approach them or not. kind of just being on guard. or perhaps it was a way of physically hinting "guess who i am, mate? celeb in your midst!".

anyway, seeing he was with his family and all i was reluctant to approach him. however, after i took care of my business with the cashier, i stalled and hung around to get my nerve up. sure, i'm actually a fan of his and all, but i'm also a little jealous that my wife has a thing for him. knowing that, however, i was compelled to bring her a souvier of the meeting. waiting for my opening, i sidled up near him and in a clear, low voice asked if i could bother him for an autograph. "sure, no problem," he said. i told him it was for my wife and he wrote it out to her. he was very cool and gentlemanly. i think it helped that i didn't scream when i saw him, or ask if he was who he is. it was no big deal, and it happened so fast, his family may not have even noticed.