Sublebrity Sighting

Earlier today I was at Costco with my co-worker Jb, fetching many a snack, drink and sundry item for the many porn models we employ (so needy, these models are with their requests for special toothpaste and specific juice flavors!), when I spotted a man who I swore I'd seen on TV. I looked at him a number of times trying to figure out what I'd seen him in. An image of him running came to mind so I thought it might've been in something action packed. Perhaps he was a recurring guest on Law & Order SVU, the show my boyfriend Christopher Meloni stars in? Jb confirmed that he looked familiar and urged me to ask him who he was. He was clearly not so famous that he was instantly recognizable, so being recognized would most likely be a flattering experience, right? So when he was standing opposite us in his checkout line I said "Excuse me, but are you an actor by any chance?" To which he replied "yes, I am" and then shook my hand and introduced himself as Ryan, which I thought was quite gracious. When I asked him what I might recognize him from he said "Well, I was just on Top Chef." And I immediately remembered him from the show, realizing the image of him running in my mind was of him dashing about the kitchen like all the other competing chefs.



He wished me well and was off on his way, perhaps a little happier that someone recognizes him from his brief time on television. A few points of interest about Mr. Scott in person:

1) He is gigantically tall. He seemed tall on the show but I felt seriously tiny next to him.

2) He is actually pretty hot despite my not thinking he was so hot on TV. And I think that's good, right, thinking someone looks better in person?

3) He seems to shave or wax his chest hair to some degree. He had a kind of v-neck shirt on and I could see this little patch of hair near the top and then a bunch of stubble. That was a bit of a bummer, cuz I think he'd be way hotter with it grown in.

4) He is either gay or pretty metro - he was all stylish in this way that said "Summer in the Castro".

5) I thought it was odd that he answered "yes" to me thinking he was an actor. Maybe he really is and that's why he didn't do so hot on the cooking show.

When I lived in NYC I used to see celebrities so much that my friends called me The Celebrity Magnet. Now in SF I only see gay porn guys on the street who freak me out with both how incredibly short they are in person as well as almost always being fractionally hot compared to how they look in photos and movies. So seeing this vaguely famous, non-porn person gave me a bit of a grounded, familiar feeling. Sure, it's not as fabulous as seeing Linda Evangelista looking statuesque and gorgeous as she glided down 6th Avenue or as hilarious as seeing Kyle McLachlan in what I hope was a mullet he had to grow for a role. But it's still a bit less disconcerting than seeing Michael Brandon looking all worn the fuck out at the Walgreens on the corner of Castro and 18th.