Auld Lang Syne

So here I am at the end of another year, reflecting on the events of the last 365 days.  So many pictures, so many memories, so many stories, and I can't help but feel grateful.

I'm grateful for a second chance to meet Sean Hayes, since I below the first chance, backstage at Promises Promises, with my wildly overenthusiastic anxiety about seeing Kristin Chenoweth.  (The only time I've lost my shit with a celebrity, and not one of my finer moments, as my boyfriend reminded me yet again tonight at dinner.)  I'm also grateful Sean didn't recall that first encounter.

I'm grateful that I didn't have to buy Never Play Music Next To The Zoo to snap pictures of John Lithgow reading children's books, complete with sound effects, at Books of Wonder.

I'm grateful that Gavin MacLeod was kind enough to stop for a photo on a cold morning when his publicist clearly didn't want him to,

and that John McEnroe stopped to sign a few autographs, even if he wouldn't look up.

I'm thankful that there's going to be an Entourage movie, and that Jerry Ferrara was as cool as I hoped he'd be,

and that there's going to be one more season of Vampire Bill and Tara on True Blood.

I'm thankful that Chrissy Tiegen signed the photo I took of her at Heidi Klum's Halloween party like she said she would,

and that the people at Macy's weren't dicks when I asked her to.

I'm grateful that a line like 'Can I get a smile while you're signing?' still works on Liv Tyler 

and Juliette Lewis.

As I look back at the (many) photos I've taken this year, I can't help but be grateful to the friends I've made along the way - the folks who've kept me company in the bitter cold or scorching heat, shared tips about who's going to be where when, or snapped the 'photo with' so I didn't have to settle for a 'photo of.'  And I'm thankful to you freaks reading this blog for coming along for the ride this year.  You've indulged me in my lunacy, helped me find my footing describing what this craziness is is all about, and kept me going long after I would have given up on someone like Pete Wentz

So here's to 2014!  My camera is charging, I've got a new memory card, and I'm ready to hit the pavement.  Bring it on!

And The Oscar Goes To....

We interrupt your regularly scheduled dose of Housewives and has beens for this important announcement: A-list, award winning actors do appear on this blog every now and then too.  They tend to draw a bigger crowd of fans and autograph seekers, and are a hell of a lot more work, but as I've told my friend Ashleigh many times, never underestimate me.

James Caan was at Sirius in September to promote some TV show that's already been cancelled, and I'm just now getting around to posting the picture, but since it took me twenty three years to see him in Misery (where Kathy Bates stole the show, looking disturbingly like my coworker Siobhan) and I've never seen The Godfather all in one sitting (I know, I'm a bad Italian), that's not so bad.

Sir Ian McKellen was at Today to promote something that wasn't X-Men, and the dude must save all his energy for the camera because he has zero personality in real life.

And I'm not sure who thought putting Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline in a movie together was a good idea, but more people saw their Today Show interview than saw their bomb Last Vegas.

I even managed to snap a few shots of Shirley MacLaine at a Hudson Union Society event before the fat bitch sitting next to me announced that she thought it was rude and I had to get all Bon Qui Qui on her ass and show her what rude really is.  Next time, she'll pick another seat.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress.

A Truly New York City Moment

Yesterday, in one of those 'only in NYC' moments that make the city so magical, punk poet queen Patti Smith paid tribute to French novelist Jean Genet with a 90 minute set of spoken word, poetry and music in the atrium of the Museum of Modern Art to celebrate what would have been the political activist's 103rd birthday.  I'm not familiar with Genet, and as familiar with Smith as I am with vagina (which isn't much), but to hear this NY icon sing an acoustic 'Because The Night', lit only by the grey December sky, is a haunting experience I'll never forget.  Lunch hours in New York can be so cool!

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!

Forget about Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life, the best Christmas movie of all time is A Christmas Story, the wonderfully demented saga of Ralphie Parker's quest for 'an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two hundred shot range model air rifle.'  I remember my dad taking my brother and I to see it at the theater when it first came out (that's right bitches, I'm old) and howling with laughter at Ralphie's schemes, humiliations and the objections of others warning him 'you'll shoot your eye out.'  I must have seen this movie a hundred times since, and it's as much a part of Christmas for me as Santa, Rudolph or Jesus, so it was really cool to meet Peter Billingsley, the original Ralphie Parker, today at Rockefeller Center, both eyes intact.

There Goes My Hero!

It's not every day you get to meet one of your heroes, but tonight I got to meet one of mine, legendary paparazzo Ron Galella!  Considered the most controversial celebrity photographer in the world, Ron is most famous for his pictures of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (below) and the court orders imposed on him to stay away from her.  His subjects have included everyone from Sonny and Cher, Elvis and Michael Jackson to anyone who ever stepped foot in Studio 54, and he's had his jaw broken by no less than Marlon Brando.  He is an inspiration to me every time I pick up my camera, and it was an honor to meet him tonight.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

Screw Christmas, I'm talking about the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which airs tonight at 10PM on CBS.  It's my annual date with Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel, the one who supposedly banged Bieber, the one engaged to Maroon 5 and the other one who's probably dating Leonardo DiCaprio, and I can't wait, and I can't explain why!  Maybe I get joy from watching girls who haven't eaten in a week trying to balance 90 pound angel wings while trying to walk gracefully down a glittery catwalk in their underwear without passing out from starvation?  I'm pretty fucked up like that.

Anyway, here's Karlie Kloss, Adriana Lima and I last night at Victoria's Secret in Herald Square.  And ladies, if the show doesn't give you self esteem issues, the fact that Adriana has two kids and looks like this should.

All The Divas To The Dancefloor!

Kelly Rowland is best known for being a backup singer in Beyonce and the Pussycats before Beyonce said 'fuck this shit and these latch on bitches, I'm gonna go blossom on my own cause I'm a goddess' and left her and that other chick scrambling for careers because their dad wasn't the manager while she went on to make millions with brainless songs I used to dance to in the clubs when I was high.  With the exception of 'When Love Takes Over' (which I can hear in my head right now just by typing the title), Kelly hasn't had much success on the music charts, which makes her the perfect person to sit on the judge's panel of The X-Factor, Fox's Family Dollar version of American Idol.  Let's face it, if anyone knows how to sit on the sidelines and help someone else get famous, it's Kelly Rowland.  She's the best part of the shitty show, giving me a weekly dose of beautiful face and House of Dereon style while I endure two hours of bad karaoke because I love my boyfriend and it's his favorite show.

Speaking of The X-Factor, British X-Factor winner Leona Lewis is in town to promote her new Christmas CD (which is what lazy people do instead of coming up with new music of their own) and help light the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.  You remember 'Bleeding Love', Leona's one big hit about rough sex and vaginal tearing, with it's insufferable chorus 'keep bleeding, I keep keep bleeding' that will get stuck in your head for the rest of the night even if you're forced to watch The X-Factor like me, and you can thank me now for the early Christmas present of that song on infinite loop in your brain.  Happy Holidays!

But wait!  There's more!  Original diva Gloria Gaynor (I KNOW!) is also in town, and was at the Today Show this morning promoting something that wasn't 'I Will Survive', although they still made her perform the song so that every overweight, undersexed, elderly lady on the plaza could sing along to the biggest gay anthem in the history of music ever.  Every time I hear the song it bends me over the table and fucks me in the ass.  It's THAT gay!