Stone cold?

I walked right past Matt Stone on the street yesterday afternoon. (Right around Baruch college. I'm sure he was in town post-Tonys -- after winning for The Book of Mormon. I'm guessing he might have been at the People's Improv Theater for some reason. Tall dude.)

I didn't stop him. I didn't say hi. I did not effusively praise him for producing years of one of my favorite shows of all time: South Park. All I did really was mumble: "Hey, that was Matt Stone. Cool."

But why didn't I totally geek out? Was it because I was coming from Walgreen's with a multi-pack of toilet paper? Was I cranky because the check out guy was a bit of a d-bag? Or was it something else? Was I... Could I be...a jaded geek?

In 2005, I went to an animation panel that was part of the annual New Yorker Festival -- Matt Stone and Trey Parker were there, as were Brad Bird (The Incredibles), and Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis (Aqua Teen Hunger Force). It was great discussion and totally worth the time to go and check it out. I would have killed to have a minute to talk to the Matt and Trey back then.

Fast forward several years later and I have been to numerous comic conventions, I've worked on projects that had celebrities attached (more on that some other day), met some of my favorite rock stars (for one reason or another) and now one of my college buddies is a big time actor -- James Kyson Lee.  And, well... maybe I have gotten a bit less starstruck in my years. BUT...



Yes, we've all heard that celebrities are people too. That they have lives and deserve to carry on without being harassed by the sweaty masses. But what about the flip side? We supergeeks who spend our time absorbed in deep contemplation about pop-culture...sometimes we need a day off from our self-proclaimed empires of nerdiosity. Sometimes, we just want to get our Coke Zero and Chex Mix and Mead Envelopes without having to deal with the hassle of running into a famous person!
 
You know, I've learned something today -- it's not essential to my geekdom that I actually geek out ALL THE TIME. It's ok for me to acknowledge the fact that hey, that was friggin' Matt Stone! in my head and have that just be enough as it is. A pure thought. A dragonfly alighting on a lily pad.

A lot of us fanboys have the mentality that we MUST get that autograph or that picture with the object of our geekdom (believe me, I have and probably will again) -- but sometimes it's just ok to have a moment and let that be it. (And yet, here I am blogging about it and making a big deal about how it wasn't a big deal! AND I did it in the style of how a South Park episode ends with a lesson! -- did you catch how meta that was? -- Oh, the irony! Wait, is that ironic? Someone check with Alanis...)

So, Matt Stone (and Trey Parker) I appreciate the brilliance that is South Park's highbrow/lowbrow social commentary/fart jokes. I will forever admire the cinematic genius of Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, Team America, and yes, even BASEketball. And I will unleash my inner drama nerd/a capella dork when I finally get to see the Book of Mormon. Perhaps if my hands were not full with sundry items that day, I may have doffed my cap and said "Hello. I hope you had a good time in NYC. Congrats on the Tonys. You are one step closer to an EGOT!"  And I would have totally taken a picture with you on my cell phone.


 

Sigh... I AM a nerd...and I'm big-boned.







*images sourced from around the Internet. Professor Chaos rules.