Editor's Note 19: Superstars!

I like to hug celebrities.

Now put down the phone and don't call the police... let me explain myself. Charlie McSpadden's celebrity sight-seeing at this year's Sundance Film Festival reminded me of my experience with superstars while at Duke.

I always try to slip in a hug any time I meet a celeb because it is something that most people aren't willing to do. Our A-list and B-list celebrities in America are essentially royalty to the "average" person. I guess getting a hug is my ego-greedy way of hoping that their fame and status will rub off on me. I like to think it is more a way to show that celebrities are normal people. Normal people who just happen to have their face in newspapers and on television.

There are the eclectic celebrities that have made an appearance here-people that are huge... to a niche crowd. I have doled out hugs to two Davids (Eggers and Sedaris), Mo Rocca and Chuck Palahniuk. I think in these cases my hugs aren't desperate attempts for me to grab fame, but rather a hope that I will become smarter and wittier by osmosis.

The other category of celebrities is what I will call name celebrities-the ones people have actually heard of. Getting the chance to meet Ben Folds, Andy Samberg of "Dick in a Box" fame, cult-film director John Waters and Lewis Black. Sure they may give you an annoyed "Not this crap again" look when you tell them you love their work, but you always feel slightly more important after meeting them.

I think the "coolness" of the opportunities we have to meet important people while at Duke didn't fully hit me until today when I had lunch with American Psycho-director Mary Harron and then had a class with a guest appearance by a Grammy award-winning producer. I guess its enough to make you realize where the wonder of the Gothic Wonderland comes from.