- STAR SNUBS: My request for stories from people who have failed to recognize a celebrity drew some interesting responses. So far my favorite example of a big cheese getting fed humble pie was mailed in by Michelle Seamons.
Michelle is a flight attendant. She says a couple of years ago a man in first class asked her to get him an aspirin. He told her he had sinus trouble and it always disrupted his singing."You may have heard of me," he said. "I'm Lee Greenwood."
Michelle shrugged and said she hadn't.
"Then you've probably heard of my songs," he said. "Two are up for Grammy Awards, `I.O.U.' and `God Bless the USA.' "
Michelle just stared at him. "Sorry," she said.
When Greenwood came to the Utah State Fair, however, Michelle did slip out to see the show.
"He came out in the audience and walked right by my chair," she says. "And guess what? He didn't recognize me, either."
- IN SOCIETY, THAT'S A MORES: I've never understood. When I sing to myself around the house, it's a sign of my stable nature. But when I talk to myself around the house, people think I'm nuts.
So I've tried to come up with a happy medium. I now perform entire scenes from Act II of "Evita."
- SEASONED ADVICE: A member of our copy desk thought I might like to take a few moments and coach people on writing Christmas newsletters that are not self-serving and do more than brag about how well the kids are doing.
A noble thought. But futile. I don't think I've met a person who actually believed anything I had to say about writing.
Instead, my advice to newsletter readers is the same advice I give TV sitcom watchers. If you feel annoyed before you get to the 10th line, hit the "off" button.
- ONE TRICK MIND: When Donald Trump reads the Christmas story this time of year and sees the word "thou," do you suppose he thinks they're talking about "a thousand bucks?"
- WORDS OF WISDOM: And while on Christmas, here's a quote from C.S. Lewis about Nativity scenes on public property.
Just a hurried line to tell a story which puts the contrast between our feast of the Nativity and all this ghastly "Xmas" racket at its lowest. My brother heard a woman on a bus say, as the bus passed a church with Crib outside it: "They bring religion into everything. Look - they're even dragging it into Christmas now!"