There hasn't been any snow in New York this winter yet. A flurry the
other day didn't stick and turned to rain.

So I was surprised to walk down Fifth Avenue today and find piles of
snow along the street curb from 8th Street down to Washington Square
Park. Perfect snow that upon closer inspection was synthetic, some kind
of cotton wad discarded yet obviously carefully placed for some sort of
effect.

Closer to the park I noticed trucks and crowds of people milling around
and the familiar presence of the film crew. "The Stepmother" with the
actress Julia Roberts someone said to somebody else who asked, though I
wanted to know as well. You grow accustomed to film crews in my
neighborhood whether they are students from NYU with a camera and some
reflectors or the massive entourage of NYPD Blue that comes twice a year
to shoot exteriors at the Police Station on 5th. They always have food
somewhere and people picking at it. These intrusions should be
irritating but they're not.

The fake fake snow stopped a half block from the park replaced by real
fake snow that covered the park and Washington Square North. The real
fake snow was dirty and melting and I suppose that was the reason to use
it–the validating patina of history–fake fake snow does't melt
attractively. I wondered what they would do with it after the shoot and
if some homeless people had already managed to smuggle some of it away
to line where ever they find to sleep that night.

Even though film crews seem to have a large number of people who are
simply hanging around they always seem too busy to answer questions. Or
maybe the people who are hired to interface with the public are worried
about their jobs and so hesitant to take any sort of personal
commitment. Maybe they just don't know anything. It was enough for me
anyway to know that it was a film starring the actress Julia Roberts and
I stood for a few moments on the corner of the Park and the end of 5th
Avenue (outside the building where both the AIDS activist Larry Kramer
and his enemy the former mayor Ed Koch now live) with real fake snow
crunching under my feet waiting for a glimpse of the actress. But I soon
grew impatient and moved on so didn't see her. If I had I'm not sure
what my reaction would have been. Perhaps waving my arms above my head
and yelling "hey Julia, it's me" is one possibility but not likely given
my profile.

Many years ago I spotted Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis walking uptown and
shortly after that a friend of a friend introduced me on the street to
an actress who at one time portrayed the former first lady in a movie (I
don't remember her name, unfortunately). I would often see Andy Warhol
leaving The Factory when it was on Union Square on my way to the gym,
but that was a long time ago and I never spoke to him. That's about it
for my brushes with fame. I would like to meet the actor Matt Damon
after seeing him on Charlie Rose the other night. He's an attractive
young man, of course, but he's also smart and articulate–sort of like
the me I should have been twenty years ago.