Celebrity Radar

For some reason, I've been blessed with a particularly acute celebrity radar. This often comes in handy living in Los Angeles. One day, standing outside of a restaurant, I saw a giant, old, black Cadillac (or some other car of that sort) pull up to the valet. I noticed the person getting out of the car and almost instantly recognized her as Drew Barrymore. She was with Fabrizio from The Strokes. I saw Julianna Marguilles at Coffee Bean, Jamie Lee Curtis at Blockbuster, Kristin Davis walking down the street in Santa Monica, Kobe Bryant at a hotel, and just this weekend I saw Gary Sinise at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego. For some reason I'm always the first to spot them. I've seen celebrities at places you would expect them to be (movie premieres, parties, awards shows), but there's something disconcerting and surreal about seeing a celebrity walking down the street. I suppose seeing celebrities as normal people is always difficult. I know they are actors playing parts, but to me Drew Barrymore IS Josie Gellar with a little bit of Charlie's Angel thrown in. I mean, I knew her when she was a little towhead in pigtails. So seeing her hunched over her Italian dinner, whispering to her boyfriend just seems so odd. Perhaps this is why celebrity breakups affect me so much. I feel like I know these people. The news of Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson's divorce bummed me out. I chose not to believe the smattering of headlines on the tabloid covers. I don't even particularly like Nick and Jessica, but for some reason I was rooting for their marriage to work. Brad and Jen. John Stamos and Rebecca Romijn. Same affect. Maybe it's just the ending of a marriage that makes me sad. It just seems like if anyone should be able to keep things together, it should be a celebrity. They have beautiful clothes, homes, bodies, and can afford excellent therapists. I guess it just makes me realize how empty those things are. Not only are celebrities real people with real problems, but no matter how perfect things look on the outside, perfection is an unattainable goal. It makes me thankful for a God who allows for failure and mistakes. Grace is one thing that no amount of money could ever supply. Knowing that fulfillment will never be found in fame, riches, beauty, or another person is, in the end, encouraging.