My brush with celebrity

To give some perspective to the following story, I don't watch any reality shows. Well, not since the first couple of seasons of the Real World 10+ years ago. In my opinion, "reality show" is a misnomer anyway. How real can someone be when they're being followed around by TV cameras? Plus, I think most people on those shows are just wannabe actors trying to catch a break, so how "normal" and "real" can they be? And if these shows are so real and unscripted, how come they have writers listed in the credits? As for the reality matchmaking shows, how true of a love can you hope to find in a contrived situation crunched into a 2-3 week courtship? Gee, how surprising is it that only one of those shows has ended up in marriage, and I'll be shocked if that one lasts more than 2 years.

That being said, last Monday I attended a viewing party for Average Joe 3. No, I haven't gone over to the dark side of reality show watchers. My friend Hollie was one of the hosts, and part of the evening involved auctioning off one of the average Joe's from the first season (Joe Fabiani, for those that watched the show). The prize included a fabulous dinner for two at Al Biernat's in Dallas, and the proceeds were donated to the Fuzzy Wuzzy Orphanage, a no-kill shelter that rescues animals from other shelters in the Dallas/Ft. Worth before their time runs out. Joe, who is also in this season of Average Joe, was very nice and only slightly nervous about letting the ladies in the crowd bid on him. I volunteered myself to be auctioned off, but there were no takers. :)

Hollie met Joe because she was actually going to be on Average Joe 3. She was selected to be on it and had already started filming some parts for the show. She was dressed up and ready to go to the first elimination ceremony when the executives pulled her and 3 other girls from the cast. Apparently, the NBC lawyer was uncomfortable with the fact that Hollie had been involved in a hit and run accident over 10 years ago, eventhough she was the one hit. To cover their butts, they pulled the four girls from the show. Not only was she disappointed, but so was I (and aren't these posts always about me anyway). I told her before she left that when she became famous, I was going to tell everyone that we once dated, which was only a slight embellishment. After all, we did go on a blind date almost 15 years ago, and that particular event has the word "date" in it. Actually, it was a triple date with me, Ron, our best friend Greg, Hollie, her sister Crissy, and their cousin Michelle (who was our friend from back home). And with both me and Ron there, you can imagine how little talking anyone else got to do. But I digress.

Eventhough I can't brag about dating a celebrity, I did have fun that evening. I haven't been that close to a "celebrity" since that time I saw Samuel L. Jackson at a comic book store in Hollywood. I still remember that touching thing he said to my girlfriend's son: "No, I ain't no Denzel Washington!" (That's a true story, by the way.)

One other thing ... while Hollie was in LA, she filmed an infomercial with her friend Christine for an anti-wrinkle cream. It's supposed to start airing in the next week or so. Here's a picture of Hollie and me at Monday's event (http://donyoung.us/images/don_hollie.jpg), so if you see her face on the TV, you've probably stumbled upon her infomercial. If you see my face, you've probably stumbled upon an episode of Cops.


NOTE: You can send a donation to the animal rescue group at the following address:

Fuzzy Wuzzy Orphanage Animal Rescue
P.O. Box 531693
Grand Prairie, TX 75053-1693