there's a world of shiny people somewhere else

Last Saturday we set out for some serious star-stalking at Sundance, which is too much alliteration even for me. As always, the parents laughed. As per usual, we kids proved them wrong. This weekend round was our best yet, with a full list of names any paparazzi could be proud of. Collectively, we spied:

:::Chris Ashworth (from The Wire)
:::Ashley Judd
:::Emma Roberts
:::Jay (from The City)
:::Michael Richards
:::Andie MacDowell
:::Robby Krieger (The Doors)
:::John Cleese
:::Dominic Monaghan
:::Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth director)

Plus, the long day was entirely educational. Aside from recurring life lessons such as when it's this cold in Salt Lake, it will be doubly cold in Park City, and wear hats and scarves, I learned:

1:::Keep close the the guys with the cameras. Not only do they lead you straight to celebrity, they're also perfect fodder for story + dialogue (it's a blessed thing I had my creative writing journal with me).

2:::Ms. Judd wears waaaay too much makeup. You can stop being envious of her beauty now.

3:::As shallow as it is, this star business is scarily addictive. And try as I thought to understand it, I still don't know why. They're people, we're people, we should all move on. Yet I'm there too, caught in the throng of fans outside the Film Lounge, desperate for only a glimpse. Much inner reflection and evaluation this weekend, though not enough to stop me when it came to Mob Mentality.

So: star-studded, educational, and thought-provoking---I vote Sundance a winner. And word on the Main Street says John Krasinski might be making an appearance this weekend . . . anyone up for Round Two?

ps: I have pretty sisters. And pretty, pretty friends.