After several sleepless nights and an equal amount of tensedays, “McConaughey Watch 2004” has ended in success.
Last week my quest to contact the Holy Grail of celebrities,Matthew McConaughey, failed miserably. The star has spent parts ofhis summer in Zachary staying with friends, but it was too late bythe time I stood at the doorstep of their home.
Saturday, I awoke to the sound of my secret bat-phone ringingletting me know McConaughey was back in the state of Louisiana.
I spent the weekend celebrating my birthday without McConaugheyby my side, but in the back my mind I struggled with what I shoulddo with my new-found information.
Monday, with my editor Scott Sternberg in tow to protect me andforce me to actually speak to McConaughey, I drove back down thelong and dusty road to Zachary.
We knew today would be more successful when we locked eyes onthe silver Airstream trailer McConaughey allegedly was travelingin.
McConaughey’s friend and employee John Cheney was mowing thelawn. I told him I had spoken with him last week and was informedMcConaughey was back in town.
Cheney said McConaughey was back but currently at the gym — andthis time he elaborated more on the star’s reasons for stopping inthe South.
According to Cheney, McConaughey is training for his role in theupcoming film “Tishomingo Blues” by diving at the Tulane Universitypool and working out.
Cheney said McConaughey wanted to train at LSU, but because ofvarious reasons was unable to set up an agreement.
Cheney said he has been working for McConaughey for severalyears and gladly taking care of him.
Cheney also said McConaughey’s major goal was to catch an LSUfootball game this year.
I left Cheney with a copy of my column from last week and mycell phone number.
Defeated, Sternberg and I decided to stop to get an ICEE andnoticed a suspicious-looking blue truck.
It was McConaughey.
His truck was adorned with multiple stickers, a chrome grill andCalifornia plates. I was blind-sided by his intense, smolderingbeauty as he pulled away.
We went inside the Shell station asking workers if they had justnoticed McConaughey buying gas and looking pretty.
Andrew, a Shell worker, said he had been fishing when he metMcConaughey and his Latin lover Pen����lope Cruz.
“If you didn’t know they were stars you wouldn’t have known thedifference,” Andrew said. “They were really down to earth.”
After a brief debate and the ingestion of our frozen treats wedecided to return to the Cheney’s home.
As we were pulled into the neighborhood, McConaughey was pullingout in a different vehicle.
We hastily made a 180 degree turn and followed him, hoping wewere not going to create a Princess Diana-style car crash.
Despite my horrible driving skills we followed McConaughey to anursery not far down the road.
I watched from the comfort of my car as a shirtless McConaugheydebated garden fountains with one of the store workers.
Finally, I decided it was go-time.
I got out of the car and was face-to-face with the man I hadsearched out for the last 14 days in the boon-docks ofLouisiana.
McConaughey said he did not have time to do an interview, and ifso it would have to be set up through his publicist.
But we did chat for a moment.
McConaughey confirmed his dog, Miss Hud, the 11-year-oldhalf-chow half-lab mix was in fact missing a leg thanks to the fineworkmanship of the LSU Vet Clinic.
Last week reports had surfaced McConaughey’s dog had emergencysurgery at the LSU Vet Clinic in order to save the pooch fromcancer.
“My dog did have her leg amputated,” McConaughey said. “She’sfeeling good three legs and all and cancer-free.”
McConaughey spoke in the exact Texas drawl fans might rememberfrom “Dazed and Confused.” I found myself mesmerized as I stared athis curly locks in an late ’80s-style bandana.
He explained the long road trip he had embarked on.
“I don’t know when it’s going to end, and that’s the wholething,” he said. “It might just go on forever with me working inbetween.”
McConaughey said he liked Louisiana’s leisurely pace oflife.
“Your body clock gets set on the right speed,” McConaugheysaid.
We got the star’s autograph and told him to take care of hisdog.
I felt somewhat guilty about following McConaughey aroundZachary, but I got my story and got to see him shirtless, whichmakes the guilt null and void.
With a note from McConaughey on my reporter steno-pad remindingme always to “j.k. livin” (just keep living), I close the book on”McConaughey Watch 2004,” and ask all of The Reveille’s readers to”just keep livin” as well.