Hollywood

It happened so fast. If I had been blinking I would have missed it. It was like catching the tail end of a comet that only comes around every 76 years. Or, maybe, grabbing a glimpse of a unicorn through a gap in the trees of some mythical forest.

Well, that may be getting a bit out of hand, but it was like that. It was something that I had only seen on TV, in the movies. In that small instance, through my friend's car window, on Charest in Hamtramck, I saw a unicorn, I saw a comet, and I fell in love.

Yeah, I know, it's really getting out of hand now.

All right, but seriously, I saw Ellen Page. That actress from "Juno," she played Kitty Pryde in "X-Men: The Last Stand," and she's starring in Drew Barrymore's new film "Whip-It!"

And they're filming a few scenes of the latter film in Hamtramck, on Charest, in the high school, where I saw her.

Coming back from dinner at Bengal Masala I told a friend to keep going straight down Charest so we could check out the commotion of Hamtramck-turned-Hollywood. We both knew Ellen Page was in the film. And we were both looking for celebs - of course we never thought we'd see one. You know, like that comet, or that unicorn.

We got to the high school. He was driving a little slower than the speed limit so we could take it all in. Then, all of a sudden, this little girl runs past us wearing black jeans, a black hoody, and carrying a black backpack. It happened so fast. But, when it finally registered, in that half-second it took the image to travel from my eyes to my brain, I yelled out, "HOLY ****!, THAT'S ELLEN PAGE!"

The windows were down; I'm surprised she didn't hear me. My friend tapped his brakes, our heads swung around, and just as fast as I saw her, she disappeared. Truly, we're not sure what happened. Like that unicorn, she ran back into that enchanted forest that is Hamtramck.

I peered up the street as my friend kept driving straight. Cops were around, neighbors were out, there were Hollywood trailers and equipment I never knew existed when it came to making movies all over the place.

We made it back to Caniff without incident. However, it wasn't over.

As we approached Gallagher, where it empties out into Caniff, my friend said, "Hey, those girls look famous."

He was nodding toward a bright, shiny, red car. They did look famous, actually. As we got closer to the red car I couldn't believe what I saw.

"HOLY ****! IT'S ELLEN PAGE!" I yelled out, again.

We passed them, gawking like it was a car wreck. I'm surprised he didn't hit anything and cause one of his own. I watched them turn left, toward Conant.

"Lets follow them," my friend said.

I shook my head, motioning an answer of "No." But, damn, did that sound like a good idea. He turned around and shot up Caniff. We both verbalized fantasies of seeing their car parked on the street outside of Small's and how "sweet" it would be if Ellen Page was getting a beer and how "sweet" it would be if we just happened to mosey on in at the same time.

I thought about marriage and what our kids would look like. I would even take her last name if she asked. I was drunk on Hollywood. Is this what it is like in California? Does everyone walk around in this drunken daze of Hollywood fantasy? With these tax breaks for filmmakers here in Michigan, I better get used to falling in love and not thinking straight.

We lost her. We got to Conant and that red car carrying my future wife was gone. Just as fast as she showed up (twice) she disappeared (twice). My friend drove north up Conant, and then back over to the filming site before he finally dropped me off at my car in front of the Citizen.

She was gone. Frolicking somewhere with the other unicorns that I might fall in love with.