Hollywood!

I really had nothing to write about today, and I don' t want this blog to turn into some sort of "I just gave the dog a bath" kind of Twitter information. So, I had essentially blown off an entry today and decided to walk up to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. I have blogged about that place before. It is usually full of writers who need to be seen writing on their computers to feel complete. Sometimes I can find inspiration there and this time I did find something to write about.

As I walked in the door there was a guy walking in with me who looked familiar. We go through this recognition ritual all the time in LA; do you know this person because you know them or do you just know their work from movies or TV? This is also my neighborhood and I'm never sure if a familiar face is a neighbor, or the clerk at another store or exactly who it is at first. The unwritten rule states that you never say, "Don't I know you?" like you would in Dallas or Memphis.

I executed some covert glances at him as we are waiting to order our Ice Blended Mocha's. He was just too familiar to let it go. I knew I had just seen him somewhere very recently but couldn't place where that might be. I was just about to give up when it hit me. I know this guy from my blog.... yesterday. It is Tony Dow.

Had I not published a recent picture of him on the blog yesterday, I probably would not have even given him a second glance. But there he was in the flesh, looking a little better than the picture with Eddie and the Beaver. In fact what grabbed my attention at first was how distinguished he looked, silver surfer hair not receding as much as in the picture and dressed in a Tommy Bahama shirt. He is about my height.

He caught me looking at him and I immediately knew what he was thinking. I could read his mind, in fact, I think I have thought the same thing several times myself. He was thinking, "I don't know you, and you don't know me... I'm not in the mood to relive my part in an old television show, just let me get my Mocha and get out of here." That is exactly how it went down. I had no interest in proving that my memory was still functional at my age. He had no interest in hearing how long ago "Leave it to Beaver" was on the air. So there was not interaction other than waiting together for the Mochas.

I have not thought of that actor or "Leave it to Beaver" for years. Then in the space of 48 hours I go from "where are they now" in my blog to "Close encounters of the third kind" on a trip to get coffee. Something like that is more likely to happen in New York City than Encino, but experiences always happen where you are at the time. I guess you just have to be looking for some sort of writing inspiration.

It is a shame that none of the writers working on their computers at the Coffee Bean looked up, maybe it would have helped them write. It worked for me.
As you were,
Jay