HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!!
Tis the end of summer, and a most interesting summer it has been.
My first question…
HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU???????
I KNOW you guys back East have had a delightful time of it, in the 102 degree sauna you have occupied for most of the summer. We here in Ojai were smugly sympathizing from our 75 degree back porches while you melted, enjoying a June that promised to last till 2012, but then…… SUMMER decided to slam into us. 108 degrees in my back yard. Don’t care if it IS a dry heat, it was NASTY!!!!
The only thing to do was grab a fan and a cool drink.
And ponder these words of summer wisdom.
“If you watch Jaws backwards, it’s a movie about a shark that keeps throwing up people until they open a beach.”
I like that! JAWS is my favorite summer movie. Actually, it is my favorite movie of all time, truth be told. Well, in my top five…right up there with , ALIENS, ET, PULP FICTION, and GUNGA DIN. Does that tell more about me than should be told?
My favorite quote about the movies…
Never judge a book by its movie.” – J. W. Eagan
It has been an INTERESTING few months, doncha think? Between the oil spill, the up coming elections, Glen Beck’s adventure in Washington DC, the banks’ reluctance to help ANYBODY do ANYTHING….whew.
These words of wisdom bring me comfort, when I go to these head-grabbing places:
A wise man once told me that we are all God in drag. I like that. Sometimes when I’m in a public place or sitting at a stoplight, I’ll watch people walking by and I’ll silently say to myself, “He’s God. She’s God. He’s God. She’s God.” Before long I always find myself feeling a warm sense of affinity for these strangers. The experience is even more powerful when I do this while observing a person who is clearly suffering. On occasion I’ll test my little spiritual practice by turning on Fox News. Within minutes I become an atheist.
There have been wonderful moments interspersed with moments of despair, which , I guess, is one definition of life.
We did go to Amish country to spend a week with dear, dear friends amidst the impossible green that is Pennsylvania in the summertime. A week where we laughed from the moment we woke up until we went unconscious listening to the crickets and watching the lightning bugs dance their dance of love on the lawn.
I did get a chance to see the National Tour of South Pacific, when it came to LA, starring the astounding Rod Gilfrey as Emile Lebec. To listen to a full orchestra playing that music is a moment of grace. Hit after hit after hit in the first 15 minutes. I throw in my song writing towel and bow!
A wonderful moment after..I. got to meet the fabulous young Mauri woman who played the best Bloody Mary I have ever seen, and as I am gushing she throws her arms around me and tells me THE ROSE reunited her with her estranged mother after twenty something years. I LOVE moments like that!
Also saw an absolutely GLORIOUS production of KING LEAR at the Anteus Theatre in Hollywood starring the astounding Harry Groener as Lear. I swear it has never been done better!
This photo is from a slumber party we had before he started rehearsal..him and his divine wife Dawn Didiwick and me in our PJ’s.
Then there was the trip to Shambala, Tippi Hedron’s ( you remember her…starred in THE BIRDS and several other Hitchcock extravanganzas) big cat rescue preserve out in the desert near Palmdale.
What an astounding place! Her mission is to rescue big cats…lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, bob cat, mountain lions, even a Liger, from roadside circuses, cases of abuse, and people who buy a tiger cub for their children in Malibu, and then don’t know what to do with when it starts eating the furniture. She has 60-something animals beautifully housed in this amazing place in the desert outside Palmdale. I met ber because one of my students in Tuscany is the chairwoman of the board of her foundation, and took me there. I have never been four feet from a black leopard before. (Behind a sturdy fence, thank you.) Did you know lions and tigers can’t climb, as they are too large for it, and leopards and jaguars can’t roar because they don’t have the vocal chords for it?
There is a KOA campground just down the road from Shambala. I wonder what the campers must think at twilight when the roaring starts!
It is a wonderful place . I joined, adopted a cerval, and hope to go back many more times.
Now I am into the pre-production prep for DANGEROUS BEAUTY at the Pasadena Playhouse. Re-writes , new songs, fixing old songs, the hard part. Heading to NY Sooty next week to start the casting process.
And we have a new member of the family. I was taking an old printer and fax machine to donate to our local humane society, and I can home with Marley, the cat. Here he is with Spats, the demon-from-hell-cat who can’t figure out why Marley is not afraid of him. Lots of hissing, no blood. It bodes well.
And here is my favorite cat tattoo.
And that’s MY summer!
And here’s my favorite summer recipe.
Summer Solstice pesto is so easy. Of course, you can only make it in the summer.
Blend in a small cuisinart mixer; a few bunches of fresh basil, fresh cilantro, (you can also add fresh mint if you have some around), roasted red peppers (I get the pimentos in a tall glass container at Rainbow Bridge), peeled garlic, however much olive oil you want, fresh lemon juice, a squirt of Bragg’s liquid seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. It takes less than a minute. It’s best to make it a day ahead of time for the flavors to marry but fresh made is still fantastic.
My favorite book – THE WELL AND THE MINE
Music – BRIAN WILSON REIMAGINES GERSHWIN….A MUST HAVE!!!!!!! I have smiled throughout every listening so far.
Movie – INCEPTION (seen it twice.)
Joke:
Well, I lost the trivia contest at the senior center last night by 1 point. Not only got the last question wrong, but was immediately asked to leave.
The question was: “Where do women have the curliest hair?” Apparently the correct answer is Fiji .
My favorite Tweet ( I can’t believe I actually typed that!)
Peter Tatchell:
“Looking back on my 43 years of human rights campaigning, my advice, for what it’s worth, is this:
Be skeptical, question authority, be a rebel. Do not conform and don’t be ordinary.
Remember, all human progress is the result of far-sighted people challenging orthodoxy, tradition and rich, powerful, vested interests.
Be daring, show imagination, take risks.
Fight against the greatest human rights violation of all: free market capitalism, which has created a world divided into rich and poor, where hundreds of millions of people are malnourished, homeless, without clean drinking water and dying from hunger and preventable diseases.
Don’t accept the world as it is. Dream about what the world could be – then help make it happen.
In whatever field of endeavor you work, be a change-maker for the uplifting of humanity.
To quote my fellow sodomite and socialist Oscar Wilde:
‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.’”
And my favorite true story:
One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 19 60′s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.
She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached.
It read:
“Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away… God Bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.”
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole.
Stay well! Be kind! Happy September!
Much love,
Amanda
