Retrospectacle: A Neuroscience Blog

This morning I received a one-in-a-million phone call from a friend:

“Shelley, you’re going to hate me if you don’t get this. Your one and only love of your life is at Angelo’s right now.”

Now, Angelo’s is a little cafe across the street from my lab. But, could it be? Could my one true love REALLY be there?

As I walked past Angelo’s and looked into the window, my young heart skipped a beat. Imposing profile…….well-shined head…..booming Shakespearean voice???? It was him! Jean-Luc Picard!

i-3ef7cc6f45f51af3a953090d00ff0450-picard 3.bmp
Well, actually, Patrick Stewart. Ever since I was a kid I made no bones about the enormous crush I’ve had on Mr. Stewart, and to have him in my town only feet away from me was almost more than I could bear! So, what did I do? Well I was way too shy to go in and bother him during his lunch so I just skulked around outside by the window, catching furtive looks at his gleaming noggin when I could.

All that separated us was a bit of glass, and yet, so much more. ::sigh:: Make it so.

Comments

#1 J-Dog
November 1, 2006

Cool! But did you at least ask him to vote for you?!
#2 Shelley Batts
November 1, 2006

Somehow in all my drooling and fawning, I forgot.
#3 J-Dog
November 1, 2006

Doh! You march right back there young lady, and approach that gleaming noggin. Don’t think of him as Captain Picard, think of him as King Richard in Robin Hood – Men In Tights.
#4 386sx
November 1, 2006

Oh you should have gone in there and met him. I’m sure he’s used to that sort of thing. And who knows, maybe he reads the scienceblogs!
#5 Joseph j7uy5
November 1, 2006

I guess that’s pretty cool. But be SURE to let me know if Gates McFadden shows up in town.
#6 Orac
November 1, 2006

In Angelo’s? Cool.

Geez, I haven’t been to Angelo’s in at least 15 years….
#7 Aerik Knapp-Loomis
November 1, 2006

Good job not letting your crush get the best of you. Which is more than I can say for the member of the Conan O’Brien fan-club in this animated re-enactment of their forums.
#8 Shelley Batts
November 1, 2006

Oh man, Aerik! Hopefully I’m not THAT pathetic. Eh, I just figured he’s a guy that deserves to enjoy his lunch just like everyone else, with no annoying interruptions. Sure, he might have been good-natured about it, but I just didn’t want to impose that upon him.
#9 Aerik Knapp-Loomis
November 1, 2006

hehe. You can’t sink any lower than a fan club like that. With that animation and their “letters from the internet” trilogy, I really appreciate the ability to be skeptical about the apparent tone of people’s comments online. They also did a fine job with the character representations based on screen names. “Retard in a Lobster Bib” was pretty obvious lol.
#10 Rob Knop
November 1, 2006

Top #1 reason why Picard is better than Kirk :

Picard is bald!

(Well, at least, Picard is openly bald.)

Why, but there’s many a man hath more hair than wit. — Antipholus of Syracuse, Comedy of Errors
#11 Roy
November 1, 2006

You should have plenty of chances to catch him away from lunch- he’ll be in Ann Arbor through the end of November, with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Best of luck!
#12 Alice Duffy
November 1, 2006

Hey Shelly, You should have told him you were a scientist studying hair follicle regeneration. (Skip the part about where.) You might have gotten an audience! I’m a big PS fan too and I’m making a trip to Ann Arbor from Oregon just to see the great one on stage. Now I know where I’m going to have lunch!
#13 CanuckRob
November 1, 2006

A 3rd year Neuroscience Phd candidate and you didn’t take advantage of an opportunity to meet Professor X? Shame on you.

Picard IS better than Kirk, even though Shatner is a Canadian:)
#14 The Science Pundit
November 4, 2006

Shelly,

Wow! You got to meet Sejanus.

I know this may sound shallow, but as a big fan with a passing resemblanse (above the ears and eyebrows) to the British actor, this post broke the impasse and I’ve decided to vote for you.

–Javier