I had my 15 minutes already. I was in the 4th grade. I landed place in a national TV ad. It was for O’Henry candy bars. The main thing I did was take a bite out of a candy bar and say O’Henry. It was just before Hank Aaron made it to 715 Home Runs. The ad ran for a very long time during the late 70’s & early 80’s…
It was at the 1995 World Science Fiction Convention (“Worldcon”) in Glasgow, Scotland. The Mail had sent a reporter whose proclivities were entirely of a piece with his employer’s, and he sought out the most flagrantly outré cooperative (and presumably naive) attendee that he could find. I happened to be that person. I was wearing a skintight very femme cat-ish outfit with black high-heeled boots. He proceeded to stage a photo in which I was featured, and then built a damning article to go with it, entirely fictional in every respect including the misspelling of my name in the photo’s caption. The subsequent Glasgow Worldcon committees reportedly have not forgotten this.
Interestingly, this was also the Worldcon at which my daughter became one of the youngest participants to ever take a major award (Best Presentation) in the adult section of the Masquerade (costume contest), at the age of 6. I made the costume and wrote the script for her voiceover tape, which was recorded the night prior on her Fisher Price tape recorder with surprisingly good results. She pulled off the lipsynch seamlessly. I count her achievement as being several quantum levels greater than my own, FWIW.
@PhysAssist One part of it was very odd at the time. The kiddoes led the event, and as soon as the last of them was offstage, the emcee blathered for about a minute and then started prepping for the announcement of the winners in that segment. At that point, the rest of the kiddoes were shepherded back up to step out and get their Awards, but we were kept backstage and told to just sit tight. We had no idea why, but we remained as instructed with no additional input through the entire sequence of adult entries and the while-the-judges-deliberate comedian, and then the adult awards started to get announced - and as they got to the most important ones in that list, we finally found out what was up when Blair got ushered over to step out onstage to get an award in that division. I had not figured out why we were still sitting there until that happened.
The fact that the judges had evidently reached a preemptive conclusion about Blair before any of the adults came out (other than at the rehearsal, which the kiddoes didn’t participate in) spoke volumes. I later figured out that since the show didn’t provide a way for live mikes to be used, Blair’s voiceover tape made her the only entrant of the evening with something to present beyond just walking on and maybe doing a couple of precarious dance moves. She nailed it. The script was short, targeted to the audience, and funny. And it worked splendidly, thanks to her hitting every mark. All I had to do was stand around and look anxious and then perplexed. That, I could do.
I’d be famous for being an imposter country singer. We often stay at a fancy hotel in DC about a block away from the White House. I always wear my cowboy hat and earrings and everyone always assumes I’m a country singer. My wife gave me the country singer name of Whitney Morse. My mom’s mom was a Whitney, and her mom was a Morse
I was sitting at a bar and a lady sat next to me and asked, ‘You look so familiar. Where do I know you from?’ I replied, ‘Ma’am… I’m a nobody.’
She said,’ I don’t believe you, but I’ll respect your privacy’
Hah!
@capnjb That could be the best and most awesome story I’ve read on this forum! The close cropped beard and the sunglasses – worn indoors, of course, as any trying-not-to-be-recognized celebrity would do – just make the whole look complete.
@ItalianScallion Heh… I also now use a guitar case for luggage. It adds to the mystery But I will never lie about anything… I’m pretty good at diverting direct questions
Q: Are you a singer?
A: Well, I do own a few guitars (I have three)
Q: Are you playing anywhere tonight?
A: It’s a private thing
Q: Are you really a cowboy?
A: Well, I own a saddle and can jump a fence (on a horse). Both true.
Q: What’s your name?
A: Whitney. (it’s actually my middle name so, no lie there)
@phendrick It is a fun dance to dance. Fun to let people make assumptions. When we arrived at valet I pulled in front of a green Lamborghini. There was a couple who pulled in a few minutes later and were behind me waiting to check in. There was a judicial conference that weekend and that evening as we walked past the ballroom that couple came out and introduced themselves. He was a state supreme court justice from Oklahoma. My daughter was with us, and she is as tall as I am, and he said ‘Your daughter is so tall, how does she fit in the back of a Lamborghini?’ Again, I don’t lie, so I tend to misdirect I just responded, ‘It’s a long story’ People in DC don’t know how to deal with a cowboy hat
@capnjb@ItalianScallion that’s a mighty fine hat and boots! Reminds me of one of my all time favorite humans and he was a true cowboy! He didn’t play guitar but he was the kindest, hardest working human that has walked the face of this giant ball of dirt and water. In fact when I fly from NY to New Orleans in a few weeks, I’ll be saying goodbye to the last of the farm I spent all my summers, weekends and holidays workin and playin. It’s going to be bittersweet. You should make sure the hat and boots make their way to your daughter for sure! I’m still trying to procure those very items from some of my family members. They will most definitely be cherished later on!
Well my daughter would say I was infamous for keeping a Grand Caravan 25 years and 3 months (threw an engine bearing so I sold it to the junk yard). It was my only vehicle. That’s likely close to the record of how long they last. She called it the ghetto van as it was the era of the peeling paint and looked terrible because of that.
She swore she’d never drive it. She lied. I had had the ignition kill fixed (shop asked me who would steal that wreck - I said my daughter and they said good point). Best $25 I ever spent. Prior to even having her license, about 3 weeks after that, she came to me and told me that the ghetto van was broken. I asked her how she knew that. Her hand flew to cover her mouth, eyes wide. She had told on herself.
@phendrick lol no. Although we used to play some 1973’s era quarter electronic game. It wasn’t pawn it wasn’t Pac-Man it wasn’t Space Invaders for asteroids or something else that I can’t remember the name of the damn thing
My only claim to fleeting fame was a National Ford car commercial in the 70”s. Couple of local tv productions in the 80”s. Other than that I’m only famous in my own mind for birthing and raising my son. That I consider to be my greatest accomplishment.
@Kyeh I was in 3rd grade. I was super famous at school! But nowhere else. I had no lines or anything. It was all music and voiceovers plus a catchy jingle I’m sure. I’ve tried to find the commercial on YouTube but it’s just too old and/or I don’t have enough identifying information. I remember it was fun and only took a day. Plus I got paid with a real life check! More money than I’d ever seen before. Into savings it went after we made a photocopy of it. “Kids first paycheck”
My most unique personality thing is that I will stop whatever I am doing to bend over and flip over a face-down penny, leaving it there for someone in the future to find a lucky penny. I have done this for decades, and I am pretty sure if you asked someone “do you know someone who flips over dirty pennies in the middle of a sidewalk based on some lucky superstition that most people don’t even believe/know of?”
I think everyone who doesn’t know me would be WTF? The hundreds of people who may know this would instantly respond “knmeh,” as I am pretty certain that is something only I do.
@milstarr
That’s my approach to face-down Lincolns as well.
I guess I might be [in]famous for channeling my inner cart-boy from my first job in high school working at the local Loblaw’s [then later on Bells] grocery store by corralling and bring in the carts that people leave out in the parking lot at our local Aldi’s’ stores.
Hey. a quarter is a quarter… and i figure it’s my pay for the effort and msking the parking lot afer…
But FYI, I don’t take the quarters out of any carts that have been returned and left unchained for others to use- I’m not a monster.
If I’m famous, my face won’t be. I would never allow myself to become well known to the point people on the street know me. Just noticed this is a necropost.
@OnionSoup
My forensic examination indicates that it was @phendrick who exhumed and resuscitated this [necro]thread on Monday with the “Oh Henry!” video post.
I met Jimmy Buffett while working as crew on a schooner (“tallship”) in Key West many years ago. He motored his sailboat along side, tied to us, came aboard and gave us a private concert on a cheap guitar that someone had aboard. He sang for about 45 min (taking requests), steered the schooner for a while and then got back on his boat, motored a distance from us, then put up his sails and sailed off. Some of the other crew had seen him at his bar there the night before (I had deck duty so couldn’t leave). It was really cool!!!
Who says I’m not famous!
@jst1ofknd
Being the most mediocre person in the world.
@medz
Being famously snarky.
@therealjrn
I hear you.
(Not that we don’t tend to congregate here.)
/giphy hiding
@f00l
either for saying “fuck” a lot, or for not getting hangovers.
Notorious, eccentric, and enigmatic. That’s me.
The world’s most famous librarian. We are an elite group.
@luvche21 best group though.
Can I be famous for being not famous, or would that cause the universe to implode?
@djslack And can you be famous for imploding the universe?
I had my 15 minutes already. I was in the 4th grade. I landed place in a national TV ad. It was for O’Henry candy bars. The main thing I did was take a bite out of a candy bar and say O’Henry. It was just before Hank Aaron made it to 715 Home Runs. The ad ran for a very long time during the late 70’s & early 80’s…
@rtjhnstn Also, during the duration of the ad’s play, the Braves moved to Atlanta.
I still don’t have a copy of the ad.
Damn 5 minute edit window.
@rtjhnstn Your timeline doesn’t add up. The Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1967 and Aaron hit home run 715 in 1974.
@DrWorm ‘66, not to put too fine a point on it.
@rtjhnstn
I looked for you on YouTube, but didn’t have a whole lot to go on…
@jst1ofknd @rtjhnstn
dis u?
@jst1ofknd @phendrick @rtjhnstn I don’t think that is it as the kids didn’t take a bite out of it.
@jst1ofknd @Kidsandliz @phendrick @rtjhnstn
Maybe he was the surprisingly older-looking 4th grader on the right of the checker board?
I’ll come back later to say … procrastination!
@chienfou Tradition!
@chienfou @therealjrn I was going to write this, but then I got distracted and figured I get to it this weekend.
I guess my “fame” was an embarrassment in the Sunday Mail in 1995.
@werehatrack
Dish out the details?
@PhysAssist Sigh.
It was at the 1995 World Science Fiction Convention (“Worldcon”) in Glasgow, Scotland. The Mail had sent a reporter whose proclivities were entirely of a piece with his employer’s, and he sought out the most flagrantly outré cooperative (and presumably naive) attendee that he could find. I happened to be that person. I was wearing a skintight very femme cat-ish outfit with black high-heeled boots. He proceeded to stage a photo in which I was featured, and then built a damning article to go with it, entirely fictional in every respect including the misspelling of my name in the photo’s caption. The subsequent Glasgow Worldcon committees reportedly have not forgotten this.
Interestingly, this was also the Worldcon at which my daughter became one of the youngest participants to ever take a major award (Best Presentation) in the adult section of the Masquerade (costume contest), at the age of 6. I made the costume and wrote the script for her voiceover tape, which was recorded the night prior on her Fisher Price tape recorder with surprisingly good results. She pulled off the lipsynch seamlessly. I count her achievement as being several quantum levels greater than my own, FWIW.
As in, her achievement was positive and mine was not.
@werehatrack
Yet, I am sure that you managed the event with aplomb and grace.
Thank you for sharing.
@PhysAssist One part of it was very odd at the time. The kiddoes led the event, and as soon as the last of them was offstage, the emcee blathered for about a minute and then started prepping for the announcement of the winners in that segment. At that point, the rest of the kiddoes were shepherded back up to step out and get their Awards, but we were kept backstage and told to just sit tight. We had no idea why, but we remained as instructed with no additional input through the entire sequence of adult entries and the while-the-judges-deliberate comedian, and then the adult awards started to get announced - and as they got to the most important ones in that list, we finally found out what was up when Blair got ushered over to step out onstage to get an award in that division. I had not figured out why we were still sitting there until that happened.
The fact that the judges had evidently reached a preemptive conclusion about Blair before any of the adults came out (other than at the rehearsal, which the kiddoes didn’t participate in) spoke volumes. I later figured out that since the show didn’t provide a way for live mikes to be used, Blair’s voiceover tape made her the only entrant of the evening with something to present beyond just walking on and maybe doing a couple of precarious dance moves. She nailed it. The script was short, targeted to the audience, and funny. And it worked splendidly, thanks to her hitting every mark. All I had to do was stand around and look anxious and then perplexed. That, I could do.
@werehatrack
Too cool for you both!
Thanks again for sharing!
I’d be famous for being an imposter country singer. We often stay at a fancy hotel in DC about a block away from the White House. I always wear my cowboy hat and earrings and everyone always assumes I’m a country singer. My wife gave me the country singer name of Whitney Morse. My mom’s mom was a Whitney, and her mom was a Morse
I was sitting at a bar and a lady sat next to me and asked, ‘You look so familiar. Where do I know you from?’ I replied, ‘Ma’am… I’m a nobody.’
She said,’ I don’t believe you, but I’ll respect your privacy’
Hah!
@capnjb That could be the best and most awesome story I’ve read on this forum! The close cropped beard and the sunglasses – worn indoors, of course, as any trying-not-to-be-recognized celebrity would do – just make the whole look complete.
POPSOCKETS! SPROCKETS! DAVY CROCKETT! AWESOME!
@ItalianScallion Heh… I also now use a guitar case for luggage. It adds to the mystery
But I will never lie about anything… I’m pretty good at diverting direct questions 
Q: Are you a singer?
A: Well, I do own a few guitars (I have three)
Q: Are you playing anywhere tonight?
A: It’s a private thing
Q: Are you really a cowboy?
A: Well, I own a saddle and can jump a fence (on a horse). Both true.
Q: What’s your name?
A: Whitney. (it’s actually my middle name so, no lie there)
This is how I travel now
@capnjb @ItalianScallion I remember when you got that hotel upgrade and they thought your wife was your daughter.
@ItalianScallion @Kidsandliz And the funny thing is she’s four days older than me
edit - ‘I NEVER SAID THAT!’ 
@capnjb @ItalianScallion You better hope your wife doesn’t see that as you might never live to her age.
.
EDIT - oh wait. You can complement her for looking so much younger than her age that those folks thought she was your daughter.
@capnjb I’m a nobody.’
Definitely look like a somebody there.
@phendrick It is a fun dance to dance. Fun to let people make assumptions. When we arrived at valet I pulled in front of a green Lamborghini. There was a couple who pulled in a few minutes later and were behind me waiting to check in. There was a judicial conference that weekend and that evening as we walked past the ballroom that couple came out and introduced themselves. He was a state supreme court justice from Oklahoma. My daughter was with us, and she is as tall as I am, and he said ‘Your daughter is so tall, how does she fit in the back of a Lamborghini?’ Again, I don’t lie, so I tend to misdirect
I just responded, ‘It’s a long story’ 
People in DC don’t know how to deal with a cowboy hat 
@capnjb @ItalianScallion that’s a mighty fine hat and boots! Reminds me of one of my all time favorite humans and he was a true cowboy! He didn’t play guitar but he was the kindest, hardest working human that has walked the face of this giant ball of dirt and water. In fact when I fly from NY to New Orleans in a few weeks, I’ll be saying goodbye to the last of the farm I spent all my summers, weekends and holidays workin and playin. It’s going to be bittersweet. You should make sure the hat and boots make their way to your daughter for sure! I’m still trying to procure those very items from some of my family members. They will most definitely be cherished later on!
Making adult animated movies.
/showme Fritz the Cat
@therealjrn Yo! Long time! Hope all is well with you
@llangley Hello! I’ve been spending more time with the 3D people lately!
It kinda smells out here.
@therealjrn good to hear! And yes, it does
Well my daughter would say I was infamous for keeping a Grand Caravan 25 years and 3 months (threw an engine bearing so I sold it to the junk yard). It was my only vehicle. That’s likely close to the record of how long they last. She called it the ghetto van as it was the era of the peeling paint and looked terrible because of that.
She swore she’d never drive it. She lied. I had had the ignition kill fixed (shop asked me who would steal that wreck - I said my daughter and they said good point). Best $25 I ever spent. Prior to even having her license, about 3 weeks after that, she came to me and told me that the ghetto van was broken. I asked her how she knew that. Her hand flew to cover her mouth, eyes wide. She had told on herself.
I went to college with Greg Brady does that count?
@Cerridwyn Only if he remembers you!
@phendrick lol no. Although we used to play some 1973’s era quarter electronic game. It wasn’t pawn it wasn’t Pac-Man it wasn’t Space Invaders for asteroids or something else that I can’t remember the name of the damn thing
My only claim to fleeting fame was a National Ford car commercial in the 70”s. Couple of local tv productions in the 80”s. Other than that I’m only famous in my own mind for birthing and raising my son. That I consider to be my greatest accomplishment.
@milstarr A national commercial sounds pretty famous!
@Kyeh I was in 3rd grade. I was super famous at school! But nowhere else. I had no lines or anything. It was all music and voiceovers plus a catchy jingle I’m sure. I’ve tried to find the commercial on YouTube but it’s just too old and/or I don’t have enough identifying information. I remember it was fun and only took a day. Plus I got paid with a real life check! More money than I’d ever seen before. Into savings it went after we made a photocopy of it. “Kids first paycheck”
@milstarr That’s a pretty cool way to earn your first paycheck for sure!
For not wanting to be famous!
Or maybe for making the food. Or the art with the lasers and tools. But probably not.
@sillyheathen Making food with lasers?
@sillyheathen But you do want to be famous as an award-winning chef, I thought!
@Kyeh nah. Just the chef part. The contest is already outside of my comfort zone.
You mean like MTG using her Jewish space lasers to make soup for Nancy Pelosi’s gazpacho police?
My most unique personality thing is that I will stop whatever I am doing to bend over and flip over a face-down penny, leaving it there for someone in the future to find a lucky penny. I have done this for decades, and I am pretty sure if you asked someone “do you know someone who flips over dirty pennies in the middle of a sidewalk based on some lucky superstition that most people don’t even believe/know of?”
I think everyone who doesn’t know me would be WTF? The hundreds of people who may know this would instantly respond “knmeh,” as I am pretty certain that is something only I do.
@KNmeh7 I kick them around til they flip over to heads for someone else to get lucky. Thought if I touched them I’d get the bad juju.
@KNmeh7 @milstarr I think that’s a really cool thing to do!
@milstarr
That’s my approach to face-down Lincolns as well.
I guess I might be [in]famous for channeling my inner cart-boy from my first job in high school working at the local Loblaw’s [then later on Bells] grocery store by corralling and bring in the carts that people leave out in the parking lot at our local Aldi’s’ stores.
Hey. a quarter is a quarter… and i figure it’s my pay for the effort and msking the parking lot afer…
But FYI, I don’t take the quarters out of any carts that have been returned and left unchained for others to use- I’m not a monster.
If I’m famous, my face won’t be. I would never allow myself to become well known to the point people on the street know me. Just noticed this is a necropost.
@OnionSoup oh I’m with you! I enjoy my privacy.
@OnionSoup agree, no one here has seen my face, and they never will!
@OnionSoup
My forensic examination indicates that it was @phendrick who exhumed and resuscitated this [necro]thread on Monday with the “Oh Henry!” video post.
@phendrick @PhysAssist It’s intersting that it actually has more replies now in 2025 than it did in 2018.
@OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 I wish I could say the same but face is in various places in the forum.
@OnionSoup @phendrick
I thought so too.
@PhysAssist I assumed a spammer resurrected it and their post was disappeared, but it attracted new replies before that happened.
I met Jimmy Buffett while working as crew on a schooner (“tallship”) in Key West many years ago. He motored his sailboat along side, tied to us, came aboard and gave us a private concert on a cheap guitar that someone had aboard. He sang for about 45 min (taking requests), steered the schooner for a while and then got back on his boat, motored a distance from us, then put up his sails and sailed off. Some of the other crew had seen him at his bar there the night before (I had deck duty so couldn’t leave). It was really cool!!!