Oh Sandy, oh Sandy … “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!”  Sandra Bullock is 100% one of America’s true movie sweethearts and one of my personal favorites.  I’ll watch her in just about anything. 

But WTF with these wacko stalkers?!?! Her 911 call when one of them had broken into her house was so scary.  The line between celebrity and familiarity has become too blurry for too many nowadays.  I don’t think being her kind of famous is as fun as people think it is! 

She has that thing known simply as “IT”.  She’s loveable, watchable, relatable and has seemingly effortless star power.  I called it when I saw “Demolition Man” in 1993.  I think it was the first time I saw this goofy, sweet, cute girl with great comedic timing and turned to (whomever I was with) and said, “She is going to be a superstar”.  I love her in just about anything she does, so I don’t need to roll credits – except for the shout out in the outstanding against-type performance as the unlikeable wife in “Crash”.  Oh, Sandra, don’t make us hate you!!! 

Now the one thing I DO hate about Sandra Bullock is trying to authenticate her autograph!!!   

Nowadays, if anybody is lucky to get one, it’s the quickly scrawled and easily forgeable SB.  No full signature for you!  I have 4 different signatures of Sandra and they are ALL different.  But then again, so are her exemplars from people who’ve gotten them in person or bought them from a reputable dealer.  She is one of those celebrities whose signature has not only changed/diminished in length over time (which is normal as they get more famous) but also a person who seems to have signed in multiple different ways even before she was uber-famous.   

There are so few consistent stroke marks or telltale signs because she has so many ways of autographing.  I’ve printed a handwritten letter for comparison against the autographs in my collection.  Of course, a handwritten note when sitting down and taking your time to thank somebody you know usually has a much cleaner autograph than signing for fans.  But I think this letter helps me to identify that the two photographs I have COULD be authentic, the black pen index card is iffy and the blue pen index card is probably a forgery.  I throw my hands up on this whole shebang! 

Regarding Sandy’s male co-stars and THEIR autographs: 

Keanu Reeves.  I love this guy.  Not because of “The Matrix” or “John Wick” franchises, or his fantastic screen chemistry with Sandra in “Speed” or Swayze in “Point Break”.  Or because of his goofiness in “Bill and Ted”.  Or because of his great hair.  I really have a fondness for Keanu Reeves because he comes across as a truly GENUINE and nice person.  He’s lowkey, doesn’t play the fake Hollywood game, ages normally, and just generally comes across as being real.  His interaction with fans is usually extremely cordial and there are plenty of videos showing how gracious he is.  It’s jacked up when aggressive “fans” (aka SELLERS) can push someone like Keanu to the edge.  It ruins it for everybody.  The two autographs I have of Keanu are (1) authentic – the check and (2) show you what lengths someone will go to write ALMOST exactly like him.  Except that it slants the other way “to the left, to the left”. Or maybe somebody with his Power of Attorney signed his check and the OTHER autograph is real.  Ummmmm   

And then we have Sandy’s “Gravity” co-star, George Clooney. Hollywood Royalty.  “Facts of Life” alum, beautiful wife, beautiful Lake Cuomo life and grown-up jokester.  Yes, “ER” was cute and threw him into the stratosphere of “Batman” and “Oceans”.  I like some of George’s films; but it’s “From Dusk Til Dawn” that’s my favorite.  The autographed photo here is from that movie – when he still signed nicely.  The way that he signs now is basically unreadable; fans are lucky if there’s more than a barely legible G and/or C.  “Hail, Caesar” (P.S. I really did want to like that inside-Hollywood film….)  UPDATE: A great story from “An Evening with La Toya Jackson” where she talked about doing USO tours during the Gulf War with Bob Hope.  Apparently, Rosemary Clooney (also on the USO tour) was determined to setup La Toya with her nephew, George, and actually passed the phone to Latoya at one time, with George on the other end.  La Toya was like … “ummm hi?”.  I loved that story! 

Finally, we have handsome Mr. Tim McGraw, playing Sandra’s husband in her Oscar-winning role from “The Blind Side”.  Perhaps overlooked as an actor because of his country music legacy, Tim always keeps it tight!  He and Faith Hill make a great looking couple.  Although he can rock a cowboy hat, I also think he could rock a shaved dome.  His autograph is so neat and tidy.  Can you tell I like him?  Well, like most Tim McGraw fans, it started with his music.  Truck Yeah, I loves me sum country!  “Do You Want Fries with That” is one of my McGraw favorites.   

But THIS song is my honest-to-God motto and I tell people all the time to let shit go, forgive yourself and others, there is no benefit from dwelling on regrets and guilt and WTF are you worrying about when you have no control over things?!?!?  In other words, follow the advice Tim gives in this song ….