Now I remember what happens when I write about Jennifer Connelly. Everyone gets so pissed off.
I should swear off writing about our local movie star girl. I get the nastiest comments when I do. And it was all so innocent — I was walking up Prospect Park West with my neice, Sonya, and we strolled by J’s stoop and…
I don’t feel guilty at all. I was actually more interested in the dogwalker who thanked the gardener for fixing the garden. There was something so Park Slope about that – the way we’re house-and-garden-proud about houses and gardens that don’t even belong to us. Because they’re in our daily vision, they belong to all of us.
I don’t think the dogwalker made that comment because it’s Jennifer’s house. I think she made the comment because, whoever owns that house, she feels, owes it to the neighborhood to keep that garden up. It might be a sentimental thing (I forgot to mention that she lovingly described the old garden to the busy gardener.) Maybe she knew the people who lived there previously.
It’s my job to be the eyes and ears of the Slope; to observe what goes on around me. Whether it’s weird, funny, uplifting, strange, sad, even stupid: no matter. I take it all in and sometimes give it back out. That’s what I love to do and if I seem like a stalker (stalking who? The dogwalker, the gardener, Jennifer?) so be it.
Everytime I write about Jen I have to defend myself. Some of those comments made me feel sleazy and I’m probably one of the least sleazy people I know. I should probably stop writing about Jen, her house, her garden, her attitude toward the Slope…
But I don’t think I can.
I think you and your husband should publish a book of photographs of Key Food with accompanying text about Jennifer Connelly. Reserve one for me.
we are not alone being obsessed by movie stars – Hell, a whole industry thrives upon it – “People”, “Us Weekly”, ” The Star” – and online, there’s Gawker, Wonkette and other blogs who just love to talk about the rich and famous. So I guess, It’s in our blood to wonder about the icons of our culture – So call me a stalker, if I wander by J’s house and want to know what kind of window treatments she’s put up, or what kind of plants she’s planting in her garden… And indeed, I believe the new landscape design seems a huge improvement over how it has looked for the last year. Indeed, it seems that J’s here to stay now that she’s puts some new plants in the ground. Yes, it looks like she’s hear to stay…at least for a little while anyway.
The people who are making those comments are akin to being anonymous as you don’t have access to their blogs. There was nothing sleazy or stalkerish in your posts.
You are not at all sleazy, just a tad obsessed with Jennifer, her garden, her kid, her house.
The world is full of judgemental arseholes, ignore them and do what is right.
No, don’t ever stop. You know, if you are a stalker, you’re a pretty bad one. You’ve never even seen Jen, have you? On backstreets they call stalkers “sidewalk sniffers”. I like that better, somehow. Keep on snifin’.