Celebrities and Fashion Designers

I went to Utah this past weekend. Initially I had planned on going, then I made a last minute decision not to go, and then an even more last minute decision to go after all. Because I chose to wait until the last possible moment to decide to make the trip the person I was originally scheduled to go with had made other arrangements and I was referred to two male strangers in LA who were making the drive. I signed right up and agreed to meet them in LA Friday morning at 7am.

The moment I laid eyes on the driver I knew finding common ground was going to be a little rough. A mere glance at the second passenger and I could see I was going to be the car weirdo, which I really didn't mind. The driver is an artist, and presented himself as such by dressing in an eccentrically trendy fashion. I don't know how else to describe that look. The other passenger was the most metro man I've seen in a long time. They probably would describe me as lacking any sense of fashion. We did a round of introductions and hit the road.

I sat in the back seat since the passenger guy is tall and his legs were never going to squeeze in back there. From the backseat I listened while the passenger talked about how he works in "the industry," the celebrities he's met, and his experiences working on "major motion pictures." I call them "movies." I truthfully kept hoping the topic would change to something more interesting, but I hoped in vain. The driver seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the conversation. Finally we stopped for lunch in Vegas. Over lunch I sat quietly and observed the driver ask the other passenger "where do you get your shirts?" I suppose my untrained eye was just not discerning enough to see anything spectacular about the shirt in question. It was a nice button up white shirt, but I figured you'd be able to find something comparable at Target. Again though, I was obviously the fashion retard of the group, so I just sat there and silently listened while they talked about fashion designers, and the best places to purchase name brand clothing.

The rest of the drive there the conversation continued to revolve around fashion designers, celebrities, movies, and music (mostly the kind that makes me question how gifted a person really has to be to produce "music" that seems to lack any discernible melody). There were also the additional breaks in conversation when the other passenger's girlfriend would call. She apparently calls him up to half a dozen times throughout the day, and gets very upset if he misses any of her calls. I was actually really fascinated with his relationship. She asked him a bazillion probing questions about where he was and what he was doing during each call, and apparently these conversations are not unusual. I finally couldn't keep it to myself anymore and just had to ask if that bothered him. It would drive me nuts to get one phone call like that, much less six. His response that he and his girlfriend want to be able to share as much of their time together as possible was delivered in such a way that I was left with the distinct impression that he enjoys those phone conversations. Weird, but I'm pretty sure that they both regarded me as weird for thinking otherwise.

I got dropped off in Orem just in time to rush off to attend a little family gathering. As we were leaving the house I asked Sarah where she got the shirt she was wearing, and it was almost a relief to hear her respond: "Oh, do you like it? I bought it online at Target." Just to be clear the ride wasn't miserable, in fact I enjoyed it. I think it's kind of interesting to spend some time with people who I feel are drastically different than myself. That being said, there's also really something to be said for finishing off my day in the company of people who wear clothes they bought at Target, listen to music you can hum, and don't know, or care where you can go to spot a celebrity.