File under: Life, Silly

I see famous people. Everywhere.

I can’t help it. I’m not a big celeb-follower, and I tend to think that I wouldn’t know most modern celebrities (soap stars, pop acts, etc) if I was squished up against them in a crowd of people calling their name.

Famous people (as distinct from celebrities) are another matter again - some I recognise but can’t name. Some I can even go as far as placing in a particular context (TV show? Sports? A film?), but if they’re not in that context when I see them, I’m left hopelessly clamming. I’m constantly being teased in our household for referring to people as “that bloke from, y’know, that programme about houses” or whatever.

That being said, I’ve noticed recently that in the course of my new commute and working environs, I’m seeing many more famous people. For example, in the last twenty-four hours I’ve seen Chris Barrie, Keanu Reeves, Billy Connolly, Kristin Scott Thomas, one of the Bee Gees, Andy from that Little Britain sketch and David Caruso.

Of course, it’s just possible that I might have seen people who bear a resemblance to the above, and my pollution-affected brain is filling in the rest. There must be a word for this: mistakenly identifying people. False-recognition syndrome. Aphasia for faces. Afascia?

I prefer to think that the streets of sunny Clerkenwell are thronged with showbiz luminaries, though.

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