Saturday, April 29, 2006
Martha Graham and Agnes De Mille“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action. And because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you.....no artist is pleased…there is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than others”
The great dancer and choreographer, Agnes De Mille, wrote about what the great Martha Graham said to her in her Biography. Those words above, are that quotation....there is more to this, I believe, but this is all I've ever seen....
In 1984, my dear friend Betty Garrett was in a beautiful Tony nominated play called “Quilters” here in Los Angeles at The Mark Taper Forum, (part of The Los Angeles Music Center Complex.) This is a wonderfully inspiring play honoring the indominability of the American Pioneer Woman and all she had to endure to survive. The play involves seven women. An “every mother” and her six “every daughters”. In this production, Betty played the ‘every mother’ role. Combining songs, music, dance and dramatic scenes, this play pays eloquent tribute to the courageousness and the spirit of our nation’s pioneer women. Each scene is defined by story blocks in a quilt presented as a backdrop for the show and it is based on actual oral history’s of American frontier women in the mid-1800’s represented in a ‘Heritage Quilt” that the ‘every mother’ character prepares for her ‘every daughters’.
The production at The Taper was exquisite.
It was moving and original in its concept and staging and all the actresses were first rate. I saw the show three times and was deeply moved by it each time. This is one of those shows where the cast bonded in a fantastic way during their extended rehearsal period and because of that bonding and the great love and reverence they all had for this material, they began this special ritual before every performance. The seven actresses would meet in Betty’s dressing room about 15 minutes before curtain and stand in a circle holding hands, almost like a meditation, and each night one of the actresses would share something inspiring with the others…something that gave them a sense of community as ‘artists’ together. These moments before the curtain, were used as a way to drop the days stresses and trauma’s, to leave behind the cares of the day as preparation for the work they were about to do, and to become again, the superb ensemble that they had become during their ten-hour-days-six-week-rehearsal process….needless to say, this nightly ritual served the show beautifully. Part of the ritual was that whatever was shared was then written down in a “Quilters” Diary so that there was a record of what had taken place…weather it was a poem or a song or an inspiring piece of writing such as this quotation from Martha Graham to Agnes De Mille…
Betty invited me to come down to the theatre one night to be their ‘inspiration’ for that performance. She wanted me to sing a particular song from “Spoon River” that she felt would 'center' the group and be a lovely way to contribute to this nightly preparation ritual. I was quite honored to say the least. It was pretty awesome to be a part of this beautiful show in whatever way possible. And it was a bit daunting and it felt like a huge responsability to know that whatever I did would set the tone for that performance. But, I felt very privelaged to be participating. So I was in Betty's dressing room before it was time for all of the women to get together, and as Betty was doing her make-up, she showed me the “Quilters” diary so I could look at it and also so I could write down what I was going to do before the performance on that particular evening.
I began leafing through the diary after I had written down what I was contributing that night and came across that quotation of Martha Graham’s, (Incidentally Betty G. had studied with Martha Graham when she first went to New York and had performed in her dance company on Broadway, as well) . I had not been aware of this quotation before. I’d never heard it or read it or anything. I found it so moving and important to me personally, that it brought tears to my eyes. As an artist, as a creator this quotation reached right into my soul; right into the core of me.
Betty felt the same way as I did and so did the rest of the “Quilters” cast…I could see why one of the cast members had brought this quotation into to their circle for inspiration.
I copied this quote on a small piece of yellow note paper, right there and then. And when I got home that night I put it on my bookcase in my bedroom where I could see it every day of my life and be reminded of these profound words. This piece of note paper has been sitting there on my bookcase for these 22 years. It is frayed and kind of faded but for me it is just as fresh and deeply inspiring as it was, the first time I read it.
Martha Graham was a fantastic innovator. American Masters said about her: “Martha Graham’s impact on dance was staggering and often compared to that of Picasso on painting, Stravinsky on music, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s on architecture. Her contributions transformed the art form, revitalizing and expanding dance around the world. In her search to express herself freely and honestly, she created the Martha Graham Dance Company. As a teacher, Graham trained and inspired generations of fine dancers and choreographers.”And The Kennedy Center had this to say about Agnes de Mille:
“Although Agnes de Mille seemed destined to perform on Broadway, since her paternal grandfather, father, and Uncle, Cecil B. de Mille were all successful writers and actors involved in the theatre, she avoided the easy path to The Great White Way. Instead, she struggled in obscurity and poverty, courageously pursuing a career as a dancer and choreographer. When her amazing talent was finally recognized, and she made her way to the stage, she transformed the world of musical comedy and ballet forever.”Both these great great woman artists lived a very long time. Martha Graham was 97 when she died and de Mille was 88. How many women—how many people have both these artists inspired and touched and enlightened with their great talent and their wise understanding of what it is to be an artist and to live the life of an artist…? How very many people have read those words of Martha Graham’s and said to themselves, ‘yes’….I must never forget the importance of these words.
I have shared this quote with so very many young people from time to time over the years, especially when I see someone struggling with what to do with their lives and/or being discouraged by how difficult what they have chosen to do or be, is….The struggle and discouragement that faces artists is so very difficult and often depressing in it's lonliness and sometimes very killing to the spirit…these words of the great Martha Graham remind you that you are unique….”there is only one of you in all of time”, and further, that “if you block it, it will never exist through any medium and be lost….”. If we are to cherish something let us cherish ourselves. Let us nurture ourselves and honor that which would not exist if we do not do this, and by cherishing this, we allow who we are and what we are to grow and to be expressed in whatever way is true to ourselves. Amen, Amen.
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 11:41 AM
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Classic Arts ShowcaseThe top floor of this Apartment Building are the offices of the Lawrence E. Deutsch & Lloyd E. Rigler Foundation. This foundation funds the television show called "Classic Arts Showcase", among other things. I can see this building from my deck and I've been up in those offices a number of years ago, because I knew Lloyd Rigler before he died, and I know his incredibly talented nephew Jamie Rigler who is really responsible for the fantastic Classic Arts Showcase programming, which is usually found on your local PBS station when that station has nothing else happening...I hope you have this incredible program where you live because it is like a Classical MTV. Jamie, who puts this together, edits 8 hours of programming each week, which represents about 150 clips. A HUGE undertaking, and especially because there is so much material to choose from, but with his love of the arts, (He was an Opera Singer as a young man...) he gets to pick and choose what we see, putting it all together in the most artful manner....There are film clips of Opera, Theatre, Films, Concerts, Singers, Instrumental Soloists, etc., etc., etc.
You might see in one ten minute or so segment, Maria Callas, Renata Tibaldi, and Kiri Te Kanawa...ALL singing the same Aria....this is a true feast. And if you don't like opera, the next segment might be Van Cliburn or some other great pianist-in-concert or perhaps that great young Violinist Joshua Bell...
then there might be a segment of a Ballet with Baryshnikov or some other great great dancer...And it's very hard to stop watching because you never know what the next clip will be and, speaking for myself, I always wait to see what the next clip is and then end up watching that! This is an amazing chunk of programming and as far as I know, there isn't anything else like it on the air, anywhere, and, the best part of this is---it is free! The Foundation pays for the air time and of course pays for the editing and the satellite, and as I understand it the clips themselves are donated with no fee required by the record company's and film company's who are as committed to attempteing to create new audiences for the 'arts' as The Foundation was to begin with through Lloyd Rigler's personal vision about making this available on a free basis to everyone by 24 hour Satellite Service and this then is made available to our Public Broadcasting Stations throughout this country and many other country's throughout the world.
Lloyd Rigler made his fortune with Adolph's Meat Tenderizer...yes, that simple idea which he and his business partner Larry Deutsch (who died in 1977) discovered and bought from an Italian Chef in Santa Barbara, California named Adolph, created the kind of fortune that is what the American Dream has always been about...Lloyd was born in 1915, in North Dakota in very poor circumstances. This man truly lived out that american dream by hard work and diligence and being in the right place at the right time. They indeed, made a fortune and started a foundation so that they could do 'good works' with this abundance of money.
It is what these men did with their fortune that is so wonderful.
Always committed to the 'arts', their Foundation helped to build The Los Angeles Music Center, including their great gift of the Jacques Lipschitz sculpture which they commissioned expressly for this monument...it is 29 feet high and it stands in the Plaza of TMC today as it has since it's dedication in May of 1969. (I understand there are members of the Board of TMC that want this sculpture removed and something more modern put in it's place...no sense of Art History I'm afraid...). Over the many years of the life of the foundation it has supported so very many arts orginizations, probably hundreds, like The New York City Opera, The Los Angeles Opera and The Joeffrey Ballet, to name just a few.
One of the more recent projects that Lloyd Rigler was involved with and almost single handedly responsible for it actually coming to fruition was the rebuilding and refurbishing of the first 'Movie Palace' in Hollywood, the famous Grauman's Egyptian Theatre---built in 1922, five years before his even more famous movie palace Grauman's Chinese Theatre--now known as Mann's Chinese Theatre...This great theatre had, over the years, fallen on hard times and was almost ready for the wrecking ball when Rigler's Foundation and Rigler himself stepped in and at a cost of approximately 13 million dollars returned this great great Movie Palace to it's former splendor where The American Cinematique now makes it's home. This, was a glorious resurection.
Lloyd was also very involved with a wonderful
organization here in Los Angeles called The Tree People. They are committed to planting new trees all over greater Los Angeles...a mammoth job and one that The Foundation supports to this day, too. The Tree People not only plant trees all over but they oversee the health of the trees they plant. They are very involved in the education of all people to the importance of trees to the environment, and Lloyd was very committed to them in a really big, big way.
I was reminded of all this as I looked out my window yesterday to see what the weather was doing. Of course I didn't see that building where the Foundation is housed in ''close-up', I saw it like this.
And I spoke to the wonderful Jamie Rigler on the phone today...he lives just up the hill from me and was home sick today. I asked him if Classic Arts Showcase, which first went on the air in 1994, is shown in England, or Brazil, or Australia or New Zealand (thinking about my blog buddies)...and he said not at this time...but it is shown all over our country in almost every state....The thing to do would be to look up the schedule for your PBS stations and see if they carry it...you may already know the answer to this and if you do, I hope you are enjoying this wonderful opportunity which is a gift and it really is 'the gift that keeps on giving'. This is a great great way to introduce your young children to the so called 'fine arts'....it is one of the most wonderful programming ideas to ever be executed, and all thanks to the passion and money of Lloyd E. Rigler, who died in December, 2003 at the age of 88. Lloyd was not an easy man in any way, shape or form---in fact at times he was impossibly difficult, but...but...BUT---and here is the thing---he had such a love of the arts and put his money where his mouth is...all thanks, dear Lloyd, for caring about the future of the arts in this country, especially given that there have been such horrendous cutbacks in our Public Schools...Classic Arts Showcase isn't the whole answer to this but it certainly fills a great need...all these great GREAT artists coming into our homes every day or night for all of us to see again, or for many of us to see for the very first time. Like I said....'the gift that keeps on giving'....
Rest well, dear Lloyd, you have left an incredible legacy for all of us, and for our children, and for our children's children....the future generations who will keep the arts alive because they have been inspired by something you created because you cared so very deeply. ***I've had some problems with my email and I HOPE HOPE HOPE they are fixed now...the noreply@blogger mail has NOT been getting through, so anyone who has left comments these last 4 days...I apologize, cause I haven't gotten any of them! UGH! Do try again and I'm hoping that glich is fixed now. Thanks For Your Understanding, and for coming back....*** (2:05pm 4/28/06)
*****I've had to put the comment verification thingy on temporarily because I've had a HUGE HUGE amount of that automatic spam crap...so forgive me...I don't like it either cause I find it is impossible to read, but diffult problems call for pesky solutions, for a time (lol)...Thank you so much for understanding...AND, with the help of the wonderful Jane from JaneLovesTarzan, all of the comments I recieved are now visible....Yeah Jane! (3:52pm 4/28/06)*****
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 1:25 AM
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
TEENY TINY!
These flowers are smaller than the nail of your pinky finger if you are a small woman! And the plant itself is so fantastic in it's complex geometric design. I have two plants right next to each that are like cousins, both in the same family, but different species as you can see from the color of each...one has a yellow-gold tinge and the other has a redish-green tinge.
But right now the yellow-gold one is flowering like mad. In this photograph above you can see the amazing intricate design of these plants, plus the slight difference in their color. These plants are small, as you can see in this next photograph.
These two plants are right in the front bed next to the sidewalk. They are surrounded by some other small plants and then some very very big plants...Here is a slightly closer look at them...
And then, below, another closer look at the little teeny tiny flowers on the yellow-gold plant, that as you can see from the picture above, is bursting with flowers right now as we speak.
This is a very delicate looking plant, but strong, too....Across the street is a beautiful succulant that is flowering right now. I was able to get a lovely picture of this and here it is!
Perfection, thy name is "Spring"....More to come....
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 10:22 AM
Sunday, April 23, 2006
This beautiful plant is beginning it's huge burst of flowers. It looks like this Spring-Summer there will be maybe 1500 to 2000 flowers...the flowers I call, 'The Penis Flowers'....Perhaps you remember this from about 6 weeks or so ago...when I posted a 'close-up' of one of these flowers..well, now, as we move into the last week of April, this is what is happening....
If you look at all the little nubs on these stalks, (and you cannot even see all the stalks, or all of the ALL of the stalks in this photograph) you will understand why I say there will be maybe 1500 to 2000 flowers...in all honesty I think it will be closer to 2500, before the flowering season is over on this 'Old Man Cactus'.Glorious! Glorious! Glorious!!!
And I keep going back to George and the 'Once Upon A Time There Were Buttons...' because I am so fascinated with the time it takes for these flowers/fruit to grow and change. We have been following these incredible creatures now for two months....yes, two whole months and there is still a ways to go, for sure, but here....here is how they looked just a day or two ago....
Buttons, no longer...elongated something-or-others they are, but we can't call them buttons anymore.The signs of Spring are everywhere in my garden---upstairs and downstairs---in the ground and in pots---wherever you look, you see the signs of new growth upon us.
And this little baby s-l-o-w-l-y growing as the weeks pass by....almost imperceptible growth, but none the less, growth...
And maybe my most favorite of all the signs of Spring in my garden, The Euphorbia Lambii Flowers that look like little 'bells'...so delicate and unusual and beautiful....
And this strange and amazing looking plant that has a lot of new 'baby's growing on it---in a pot on my patio...
And, across the street there is this succulant that grows kind of like a weed and produces these very magnificent flowers...talk about your 'bells'...WOW!
And everywhere that I have those Euphorbia Amak Verigated plants (and they are all over my garden--upstairs and downstairs)---they are flowering at this time...producing these very lovely delicate little yellow syrupy-like dears...
More to come as April turns into May which then turns into June, etc., etc.,etc........
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 5:25 AM
Friday, April 21, 2006
SMOKING!Many many many years ago, I was a smoker. As it turned out it was a very very VERY stupid thing for me to do. I should have known how awful it was for me the first time I inhaled because when the smoke hit my throat and my lungs, it hurt like hell! But no, I wanted to be grown-up and sophisticated...so I bore the pain, convincing myself I would get over that as soon as I got used to smoking, which I intended to continue to do, no matter the pain. So, along with almost every one of my contemporary's, I smoked. I began with Chesterfield Cigarette's because my sister Gene smoked them and she seemed very sophisticated to me...and my best friend Alice smoked them and I admired her so very much so, Chesterfields became my cigarette of choice. "I'll have a pack of Chesterfields, please". I remember saying that as I bought that very first pack of cigarette's and really feeling extremely grown up and sophisticated. In truth, I felt none of those things deep inside. But buying cigarette's at the store gave me the 'feeling' of being grown up and sophisticated even if it was just in that moment, and then of course, I would feel that again every time I lit up.
Once I realized I was going to be a serious smoker, why then of course I had to get a cigarette lighter. Back in the day, The Zippo was the most popular lighter and everyone had one. I can still remember the smell of the lighter fluid....(I'm sure that was great for my lungs, too...)
There was a particular sound to the flipping open of the lighter top, and then the sound of the lighter 'lighting' up...a very distinct sound as you put your thumb on that roller thingy and made the lighter spark to flame. That's when you would get that combined smell of the lighter fluid and that first smell of the cigarette itself. There was a time when I thought that first whiff of a cigarette was the most delicious thing I could ever smell, and it happened each time I lit one up. That first puff...oh my...
Now, it makes me sick to smell any kind of smoke and it hurts my nose throat and lungs. Horribly. I mean I can feel the pain in my chest as I breath in any smoke...second hand, third hand, whatever. Even when someone in the car in front of me is smoking and I have my windows rolled up and the air conditioning on...I can smell that awful acrid odor and it hurts my nose and my throat and and my poor irreversably damaged lungs. It's true that living with the lung problems that I have has made me more sensitive to all sorts of noxious and toxic fumes, and as it turns out, these things are the worst things for me to be breathing.
The chemicals that we used to use in my garden...we do not use them anymore. They could kill me. Smoke could kill me, too. See, I already had irreversable damage in my lungs though I didn't know it when I began to smoke. Damage caused by a severe illness when I was nine years old. It never occurred to me or anyone in my family that maybe it would not be a good thing for me to smoke. No one encouraged my smoking mind you, but no one suspected or knew that I was without a doubt bringing more damage to my lungs by the act of smoking. It just wasn't even a thought. We all lived in a kind of smokey haze created by the tobacco company's and the world of advertising. Sell Ciggies, you know? Just look at some of the Advertising we were fed at that time....It was absolutely lovely to be a smoker. Everyone in the movies smoked, didn't they?.., I eventually moved on to Pall Mall's after a time. Non filtered--we didn't have filtered cigarettes when I started to smoke and not for quite a few years thereafter. And look at how appealing this Ad made smoking...
And this next Ad...well, these are just downright lies! No adverse effects. Right! Tell that to all the people lying in their graves, dead from Cancer & Emphesyma.
Isn't that attractive? It doesn't even look real, does it? And then we have his wife, too...Hmmmm. Never thought about that before. Reagan was in bed with Big Tobacco waaayyyy back then. Here's Reagan's then wife, Jane Wyman--that must have been some deal. Both the husband and the wife paid handsomely for advertising these things.
I eventually swtched to Herbert Tareyton Cork Tipped Cigarettes... No, still not filtered...Well...
it's too long a story to tell you why I switched to Tareyton's except to say they were the least irritating to me and my body...
and eventually I added the Aqua Filter because that was supposed to take away whatever 'irritation' was left. (That's what I have in my mouth in my Profile picture. Never without a cigarette, even while playing pool....OY!).. I wanted to believe that switching to Tareyton's and using the Agua Filter was really protecting me from all the bad parts of smoking that we were now just beginning to hear about. I needed to believe this because I was completely and utterly addicted.
It is intertesting to note all the accoutrements that came with the act of smoking. The variety of lighters that were available to one...the at home special lighter...a lovely addition to any home.
The Beautiful Ronson. They were particularly lovely on your coffee table. And of course they made personal lighters, too.
And for both men and women. Then eventually we had the cheap disposable lighters, already filled with whatever it is they are filled with so you no longer had to buy lighter fluid.
And when they ran out, you threw them away...just like an old dirty kleenex.....Let's make it real real easy for the smokers. There were also the cigarette package holders...some in leather, some very beautiful silver or gold cigerette cases...but the package holders were more practical. And then the ashtrays...
all the lovely ashtrays in Hotels....and Nightclubs....
and Restaurants...
and they wanted you to steal these things because it was free great advertising for them...and I did steal them, as did everybody else!
And this is how my ashtrays at home looked...disgusting, beyond belief
because by the time I quit smoking I was going through four, yes 4 packs of cigarettes a day. Think of it this way...If I made a vest of the cigarettes I smoked in just about three weeks time...it would have looked like this.
Is that a scary enough picture for you? Well suppose you could look through this vest and see my lungs. Suppose you could actually see what all these cigarettes I smoked over years and years did to my lungs, and see that next to healthy lungs as well...Here it is. This is what it looks like.
Is that scary enough for you? Well, it sure scares the hell out of me. No, my lungs don't look like that yet. But, they are on the way to looking like that. Plus, because of the other lung condition that I am dealing with, Bronchiectasis...(they go hand in hand quite often)...the future is not promising for me. Today I had a coughing fit and it really and truly scared the shit out of me. I had terrible trouble getting air in my lungs. I felt like I couldn't breath and that I was choking to death...very very scary, let me tell you.
I know you have all heard this before, one hundred million times. But I say it to you again, right here and now. If you smoke, stop. Today. Now. Stop smoking right this minute. This is a choice, I know. I chose to smoke when I smoked. Yes, we didn't now how horrible it was, but would that have kept me from smoking? I don't think so. Smoking kept the pain of my life down. The very act of breathing in, in that deep way, helped me to forget how much pain I was in. I understand that now. I understand the pleasure I use to feel in smoking, too. Do I wish I had never smoked? Yes! Am I sorry I smoked? You bet your ass I am! Was it very difficult to stop? Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes YES, almost impossible! But if I could stop smoking, anyone can. Am I really really glad I stopped smoking...I mean deep down really glad? YES! It is impossible for me to express to you how very very glad and deeply grateful I am that I stopped smoking when I did. I am a very lucky woman.
But know this: I haven't smoked for twelve years longer than I smoked. And still, I have a 'touch' of Emphesyma. Make no mistake here...This is dangerous dangerous shit, this smoking stuff. And further, if I hadn't stopped when I did, I would be dead and I wouldn't be able to write this and implore you to be really really caring and kind and good to your lungs. They are the only lungs you will ever have. Remember that when you are about to light up that next cigarette, please, please, please.
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 2:21 AM
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
I love this photograph and the next couple, too...This is what I saw when I looked at the West Wall of my Living Room...the reflection of the city on the glass, covering the 'art' hanging on that wall.
And here's Downtown Los Angeles, east of me, reflected in a painting on the West Wall of the LR....Amazing! Everything is turned around....I am sure this has happened hundreds of times before, but I didn't see it because of where I was standing, but on this day, I did it see it because of where I was standing, and I happened to have the camera in my hand at that moment...and as we know, that doesn't always happen when you want it to, does it?
And the above photo is the 'far away shot', so you can see clearly that the photo up above this--the close up--was definitely taken while looking at the reflection. It was a very beautiful day...crisp and clear, here on the hill.And look at what we have here...
It's the empty nest syndrome, already...and I missed quite a lot of the process...But maybe another pair of doves will use this nest again, as spring continues it's cycle of new life...for now, those Doves that had been in residence have, as they say, flown the coop.This morning I saw a little Hummingbird right near these flowers, but I didn't have my camera at hand, that time. Drat!
And, these flowers belong to this wonderfully sculptural plant. This is on my front patio and I see it every day many times a day...
And then a closer view of this wonderful beautiful plant...
I mean...this is phenomenol! The design is so original and so unexpected....nature...once again...it's full of delicious surprises. This is an Aloe...not an Aloe Vera, but another kind of Aloe with a name I cannot remember.And this next picture is of my favorite Bougenvilla...I love love love, the colors in this one.
Pinks and Oranges, combined...I love that this dash of color sets off all the varied 'greens' of the various Cacti making those greens and blues--yes, blues, too...that much richer...
And last, but not least, the tiny tiny flowers on a small succulant that is growing in the front near the garage. There is nothing that rare or unusual about it, except that it just "is".
Enjoy, my dears....enjoy.links to this post
| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 3:12 AM
Monday, April 17, 2006
100 Posts!
I have just passed that milestone of 100 posts. My Lord! I cannot believe I actually have done that many posts....And that's not counting the posts on my first blog which I began in October 2005. Then I had a complete crash of my Hard Drive and ALL was lost, including how to get on to the first Blog...so I started the second one, November 7th, I believe....(I have since been able to access the old Blog, btw...).
Jane, of JaneLovesTarzan said that when you reach 100 posts you have to write 100 things about yourself...oy! Well, I will try to do that, right now.
1.- I live in Los Angeles, California.
2.- I have lived here in L.A. since 1961.
3.- I was just a baby when I moved here....well, not really.
4.- I was born in New York City at Roosevelt Hospital. That's where I was a baby.
5.- My family already lived in Great Neck, which is on Long Island where I grew up, after they brought me home from Roosevelt Hospital.
6.- I am one of four children.
7.- My oldest sister Robin, died on February 5th, 2005, the first of my siblings to pass on.
8.- My parents were married for twenty years when they separated and then divorced, three years later.
9.- My mother and brother Gordon and sister Gene and I spent 8 weeks in Truckee, Nevada, just outside of Reno, getting my mother's divorce from my father.
9 1/2.- We had to stay that extra two weeks because my father was slow to sign the divorce papers....Thank You, Daddy.
10.- I am the baby of my family.
11.- That position never changes, no matter how old we get.
12.- All four of us went all through school in Great Neck. The Grade Scool was Kensington School, and the High Schoold was Great Neck High School.
13.- A teacher once said to me, "Why aren't you more like your sister Robin?" A lovely thing to say, wasn't it? Robin was the Best student of all of us, and I was the worst.
14.- I didn't eat Breakfast five days a week for 12 years--all through my school years--cause school made me sick to my stomach. I didn't enjoy school until I went to "Drama" school. And then, I loved school. Breakfast was back in my life then.
15.- My parents helped start the very first Temple in Great Neck with 13 other Jewish family's.
16.- Now there are about 5 or 6 Temple's in Great Neck.
17.- My parents owned a house in Florida where we would spend the winters when I was a young child, until my parents seperated.
18.- I learned to swim when I was very very young and it has always been my favorite form of excersize.
19.- I never liked swimming indoors, I only like swimming outdoors in a pool in the sun and in the air, preferably with a lovely light breeze surrounding me.
20.- I never swim anymore, at all
21.- I have never been married.
22.- I have no children.
23.- I am an Aunt.
24.- I have 4 nieces and 3 nephews.
25.- I am a Great Aunt, too.
26.- I have 5 Grand nephews and 2 Grand nieces.
27.- I live alone except for the dearest man in my life, my cat Sweetie.
28.- I have some Health Issues that keep me pretty much confined to home.
29.- This was not always the case. I am by nature, a very social person.
30.- I love going to The Theatre and Movies and Dinner and Lunch and Brunch and Party's.
31.- I am a composer and lyricist.
32.- I write plays.
33.- I sang in night clubs as a young person.
34.- I have sung on Broadway.
36.- And my music has been heard on Broadway, too.
37.- I made two single records 'back in the day'. One of these records was a "hit' in Connecticut. (A dubious distinction, at best)
38.- I am featured on what used to be called an "Original Cast" Album...it's the Album of that Broadway show that I mentioned.
39.- I have appeared on television as an actress and a singer.
40.- My music and me were both featured in a CBS television 'special'.
41.- I was nominated for an Emmy for that music.
42.- I didn't win.
43.- I am a painter, too, and work in acrylic.
44.- I had a long and fruitful relationship as an artist showing with a gallery here in Los Angeles called Ankrum Gallery.
45.- I have had one woman shows of my paintings and drawings in other cities, as well.
46.- San Francisco, New York Sarasota, Florida and Tequesta, Florida.
47.- My work has been featured in Group shows in San Diego, La Jolla, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, and New York City.
48.- Some very interesting people own paintings of mine, none of whom am I going to name here.
49.- I had a dreadful illness when I was 9 years old that has come back to haunt me now.
50.-My lungs have no hair in them--no cillia, if you will-- so I do not have the cleansing system that most people have.
51.- So, I can get any and all kinds of strange and unusual bacterial infections of a respiritory nature and have, thus the 'confined to home' issue. No more Theatre, Or Movies, Or Dinners Or Lunches Or Brunches Or Party's for me...no more crowds of people.
52.- It's very difficult, especially given that I am a very social creature.
53.- Blogging has been great for me because of this.
54.- I have been involved in a particular AIDS Fund Raiser for 20 years.
55.- My best friend and I are Co-Chairs of this event.
56.- It's a Musical Theatre Evening.
57.- It's called S.T.A.G.E. (Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event), and a lot of you already know about this.
58.- It is a very gratifying event to be involved with.
59.- I wish we didn't have to do this event cause if we didn't have to do it, it would mean AIDS is no longer an issue.
60.- I have a Cactus Garden
61.- I love these plants more than I can say, but then, a lot of you already know that, too.
62.- I have lived in my house for a very long time.
63.- I love my house. It is my sanctuary.
64.- I love my house just as much as the day I moved in.
65.- Probably more, actually.
66.- It is a haven of serenity and beauty to me.
67.- I love beautiful things.
68.- I am surrounded by beautiful art on my walls.
69.- Art feeds my soul.
70.- Art is food for the soul just as much as food is essential to one's survival and well being. So, Art is essential to my survival and well being. 71.- I wish I had one more room in my house.
72.- I have always painted in my bedroom, and love doing that.
73.- But it would have been nice to have a 'studio' right here in my house, as well.
73 1/2.- Painting in one's bedroom is not always the best thing when you have company and/or 'sleep overs'
74.- I have painted over 850 paintings.
74 1/2.- The biggest painting I ever painted was 9 feet by 14 feet.
75.- I've probably done 2000 drawings!
76.- I'm Excessive.
77.- I'm Obsessive, too.
78.- I'm an addictive personality.
79.- I have 3 DVD Players
80.- 5 VCR's.
81.- I am known as The Tapemeister in some circles.
82.- I have done quite a bit of Videography in my day.
83.- And some have been extended pieces, two hours long.
Like, "The History Of Theatre West-Part 1" about the Theatre Group I belong to.
84.- I once belonged to a Budhist sect that Chanted 'Nam Yo Harengi Kyo'. (Spelling questionable....)
85.- I went to The Primal Institute in L.A. for two years, a million years ago.
84.- I have a padded and sound proof room underneath my house.
85.- It has saved my life.
86.- Screaming & Crying is Great Medicine.
87.- Laughing is Great Medicine, too!
88.- I once had to take off my Brassiere in a play at The Martk Taper Forum which is part of The Los Angeles Music Center..
89.- I have played a lot of Nurses on Television.
90.- I've also played a Bank Manager and a Bank Teller on Television. And I've played assorted secretary's, receptionists, clerks, customers, waitresses, a recovering alcoholic and the mother of a teenage alcoholic in recovery, etc., etc., etc.
91.- I played a very small part on "The Jeffersons".
92.- All I had to do was scream! Primal Therapy prepared me for that!
93.- I wrote my first play-sketch when I was about 7 or 8 years old.
94.- My parents had a Farm in Pennsylvania.
95.- We spent our summers their until my parents seperated.
96.- I play the Piano, The Violin, The Viola And The Ukulele.
97.- When I write music I write it at the piano.
98.- The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C., recorderd a song of mine.
99.- I have written Incidental Music for five plays, and any number of songs, (Music & Lyrics) for a number of other stage shows, too.
And....last, but not least....
100.- I met Pablo Picasso in France a few years before he died.
Gee...I thought this was going to be harder than it was...
So....there you have it. One Hundred + things about me to commemerate my 100th post. (This is actually my 101st post on Here In The Hills.
Maybe I'll do another 100 things about me when I get to my 200th post!
And maybe not.
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 2:18 AM
Friday, April 14, 2006
An Early Easter Greeting to commemorate this lovely weekend before us....If you are religeous, I hope Easter Sunday is a Sacred Day for you and yours, and if you aren't religeous I hope it is a lovely way to be with family and friends. I love the colors that are associated with Easter...all the pastels--the pinks, the blues, the greens, the yellows, the oranges and the purples....All so very pretty....and I love the Old Fashioned Cards, too....thus, the above 'greeting'....
I hope all of you enjoy all the sentiments of the season, whatever they may be for you. And if you are celebrating with a special lunch on Easter Sunday, be sure to finish your delightful meal with one of these very sweet and dear people...
Or, perhaps you would prefer, some of these darling little goodies.....
Or, just a huge bunch of these pretty brightly covered yum yum chocolate eggs...
Or, if you aren't into chocolate, how about a bunch of very colorful jelly beans?
And be sure, if you are having an Easter Egg Hunt, which, if you have young children you absolutely must do....be sure to hide some if these lovelies all over your house and your garden....
And in case I haven't made it clear.....
And...just for good measure, be sure to hide these under your little ones pillows so that when they go to bed at days end, on Sunday, these will be a small reminder of the fun, love and sweetness they have shared on this Easter Sunday of 2006.
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 2:15 AM
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Now I Know It's Spring!The Morning Doves have made a nest in the same place that they have been making a nest for about 13 years....!
Amazing!
This, of course is the close-up of the sweet morning dove....but I want to show you how big this plant actually is...and marvel at how these smart birds somehow have found their spot, once again...
So, here is a far away shot of as much of the plant as I could get into the frame.
The city in the background and the Horizon which is actually the Pacific Ocean.And then, below this photo is the bottom half of this plant where we can just about see our dear little morning dove sitting patiently on the eggs....
Like a statue. Birds are amazing in their constant devotion to their eggs...and sometimes it's the male sitting on the eggs and sometimes it's the female. They seem to take turns though I have never caught the exchange of body warmers with my camera....I would love to get that photo, you know? This Euphorbia Amak Verigated is about 30 to 35 feet tall.....I was standing at the top of my stairs that go down by the right side of my house...then I moved down about halfway to photograph the rest of this plant and show you where the Dove's nest is....
So, here's the bottom half---coming up right now! And as you can see our bird is just about in the lower third of the photo right in the center.
And then we get in a little closer on our dear bird as she/he sits protecting and warming their precious eggs...
And then....a little bit closer so we start to really define this dear bird...
And then, finally, another close-up of this sweet devoted morning dove who's only purpose in life, right now, is to protect these growing eggs...
OH, OH, OH, I believe there was a changing of the guard since I took that earlier photograph...Wow.Nature. It's the best!
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 2:15 AM
Monday, April 10, 2006
COLUMNS!
I've been reading a trade paper called The Hollywood Reporter for more years than I probably should have been reading it...but, I enjoy it very much. Even though much of what is in this daily, (five days a week, that is) is 'hype' as manufactured by publicists...there is so much more than that within the pages of this always informative and pretty-to-look-at, paper. And the fact that it is not like any other paper...except for Daily Variety, which I gave up about 8 months ago after a very very long love affair and then a 'falling out of love' finally...Both these papers use to be the same odd size...8 1/2 x 11...then Daily Variety made itself quite a bit bigger...not quite double that size...(easier to be torn by whatever tears mail...) But, as I said, I ended my 'affair' with Daily Variety...really really hard to do, considering I had begun reading it in my late teens..and as you all know, I'm 108 now! And because both these papers are quite expensive if you maintain a subscription, which I did and do. (They arrive in the mail each day...Well, depending on the Postal System and a few other factors...) I had to give up one of them, anyway.
I wasn't ready to give up both papers and for sentimental reasons as well as good sound informational reasons, I have stayed with The Hollywood Reporter, to be known as THR from here on.
My sentimental reason(s) really stems from the fact that THR is the paper where I found my house, 87 years ago. (Every Friday, in both these rags, they feature real estate....a wonderful thing that certainly has served me well...). Then, there are a couple of other reasons I didn't want to give up THR...Like, Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies write a column every week...always a great read... and then, a few years ago, maybe 5, I began reading a column every Tuesday by a truly inspired and incredibly talented writer named Ray Richmond.
He calls his column, "The Pulse". And he writes about everything and anything that is currently going on in the world of the 'business' of 'show'. And I found him to be very incisive; extremely smart; wonderfully sensitive, very very funny, and one of the best writers around, anywhere. It is quite amazing to me that given a prescribed amount of space, Ray Richmond always gets all of his points across and covers the subject he is writing about in a complete and very very satisfying fashion. I have laughed out loud many many times at his column. Been brought to tears by him, too, and personally find it a very satisfying experience to read him each and every Tuesday. I look forward to the paper on Tuesday's mostly because of Ray.I wrote him an email at one point because I was so deeply impressed with his writing. He answered me and thus began an email friendship of sorts that even led to a lunch at our neighborhood show biz hangout, Musso & Frank. (The oldest restaurant in Hollywood...and a great meeting place for many....)
I so much enjoyed meeting Ray and having the chance to talk with him and hear a more about him. It made me admire him even more than I already did!...
I am in a word....A FAN. A big big fan!
Some months ago, Ray wrote his last column for THR, (or so it seemed)...He said he was moving on to other things....I was stricken. I wrote him an email telling him I was happy for him if the pastures were greener, but I was terribly terribly sad for me and for all those who have come to rely on and respect his writing. (He also did special projects for THR and wrote Television reviews for them, as well...) He responded to my email and essentially said he was up for a new challenge....I understood that and again, wished him well. But, I missed him terribly. There really was a withdrawal period, especially on Tuesdays...
Then about the middle of February I received an email from him telling me and many others that he had 'seen the light' and the greener pastures turned out to be nothing like he thought they would be and that he was returning to THR as of...I think it was March 1st...HOORAY RAY! Hooray for all of us! I was sooooo happy, I cannot tell you. I hate change and was still trying to adjust to not being able to read this talented man's writing...when, lo & behold, I didn't have to try and get over my separation anxiety. It was completely removed for me by the wonderful Ray Richmond coming back and once again, writing his Tuesday column and the TV Reviews and all the special projects that he does for THR, too.
And now, as of this past week, Ray has begun his own blog, called Past Deadline. It is more of a gossipy thing at this moment, and maybe it will stay that way, and maybe not...but I am eating up this extra dose of Ray....Yum! (I put him on my blogroll thingy today--Ray Richmond--under the R's...) What's great too, is that you can get to his THR columns from this blog...and there may be more stuff you can get to, too. I haven't explored all the possibilities yet, and I know Ray hasn't explored them either...after all his blog is brand new--only one week old! I wish him well in this extended endeavor...more of a good thing for all of us, I say...
Anyway, if you get a chance give it a look see....it's really fun!
And he has an interesting take on Tom Cruise today.
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 11:13 AM
Saturday, April 08, 2006
SPRING!
I was thinking about what would cheer me up today as I continue to recover from my illness...and I thought...Spring. Flowers and trees and growth. So, here are a few Spring like things from my Cactus Garden... This flower is a One day, Once A Year person. You miss it? You'll have to wait a whole year to see it again...Lovely, beyond words, it is. The petals are as soft as they look. And do the bees ever love this flower. Yum!
This plant/tree, in close-up, sort of, is a Euphorbia Continafolia...otherwise known as 'The Red Tree' by me...this photo was actually taken late in the fall, and often, earlier in the blooming of the leaves they almost have a purple cast to the red...a very hard color to describe.....but here they are looking more towards the red. (You can't really tell how beautiful this tree/plant is from this photo, but as they come into their own maybe by May, I'll take some new photo's.) I have given away many many cuttings of this plant so little and not so little baby's of the many Red Tree's of mine are all over Los Angeles. That, I must tell you, is quite thrilling...
I've posted this flower once before a long time ago. But I think this photo is pretty extrordinary because I caught this drop of necter just slowly dripping out of the flower with a little ant drinking the necter to it's hearts content.
I cannot remember the name of the plant that this flower is on...I could look it up, and I will, when I am feeling better....meanwhile, here is the flower with the necter and the sweet little ant person. And here is the same flower, Head On...
it is truly a magical looking little person. It's only about one inch in diameter and yet it is so incredibly beautiful....The colors are quite striking, too, don't you think? The 'pink' is soooo pink, and the yellows...my my my...Gorgeous, again...beyond words. You can see from the photo above this one that there is kind of a sleeve-like thing that holds the flower. As it is growing that's all you see is the sleeve...like the flowers on George...if you remember them...(George: Buttons then nipples, now little bulb-like things...they have 'sleeves', too). In fact, the flowers on many many of these Cactus and Cactus type plants, have sleeves...I know that's not the correct name but it will do for now, I hope.
And speaking of George...here are the latest photo's of the growing flowers.
Sleeves here too. Fuzzy sleeves, but sleeves, neverthless. Remember where we started with George? I'll remind you...
Buttons...Little sweet buttons. Some a little bigger than others...and now, here's another shot (sideways, for better viewing) of the latest and greatest on The George Flowers...
You've come a long way baby! And more growth will continue to happen each and every day...
More later....
**UPDATE**- Sunday, April 9th.
Our Blog-sister Chatty and her husband, helped their dear dog Fenway, to cross "The Rainbow Bridge" today....do stop by if you have a chance....we all know how painful and heartbreaking it is to lose our very dear four legged loved ones....Fenway put up a valient fight...God Bless You Fenway...and your sweet family, too**
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 3:20 PM
Thursday, April 06, 2006
The Light At
The End Of
The Tunnel?
Not quite yet....maybe a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel...things are better...but not where they need to be, yet...
My throat is better than it was because the sinuses are better than they were....but my sinuses are still not "Happy Campers"....
perhaps it's because of the Rubber Cement that is in there....(Never had THAT before!)
The chest. Well, what can I say...It's tight and doesn't seem to want to loosen up, no matter what I do...perhaps it's because of the Rubber Cement that's dripping down into it from those irritated sinuses...which don't feel as good as they did yesterday....UGH, UGH, UGH...
It's all probably more information than any of you want to know, but, it's what my life is about right now, so I apologize for this physical self-involvement...
To keep my mind off of me, I have been watching a lot of TV....I had no idea that 'reality' (ha) television' had taken over the airwaves to such a great extent.,.frankly I find it very depressing...these shows ALL are about people competing with one another for various and increasingly strange things, and someone loosing each week and then finally, someone winning.
What is depressing to me is how incredibly popular these shows are and how our culture is all about winning and loosing...help me, oh nurse! Is this what our culture has come to or was it always like this?
I cannot watch most of this, at all...aside from the obvious reasons, I see the manipulation of each show with the editing, etc. After all, it is still "selling soap"....they can call it 'reality television', but it isn't. Give me a good old fashioned well written and acted 'drama' any day of the week. At least they do not pretend to be reality.
In my meager 'reality' travels,
I did discover Top Chef on Bravo and though it is, of course, the same old same old of all these shows--people competing against each other--I really got into the food part. Looking at it, fantasizing I could smell it; and imaginging how delicious some of it might be...but that's cause I love food!
Forgive me my fellow bloggers who love this show, but I think American Idol is a croc! There were people who sang on Tuesday night that should be gone, gone, gone...(singing off key, to me, is the worst sin of all)...and I guess they will be gone as time goes on, but....OY! Deliver me. And if they are not gone...then that is equally depressing to me.
I can't wait for the next "Soprano's" "West Wing", and "Boston Legal"...at least they don't pretend to be anything but what they are: Great Old Fashioned drama/comedy with suberp writing, acting and directing. At least they really make me forget my dripping sinuses for a little while...
Before I go back to clutching my kleenex box I want to thank each and everyone of you out there in this amazing place called cyberspace for your incredible caring and concern about me and my health...it has deeply touched my heart more than I can say--this loving supportof yours--and your emails, cards and great good wishes as well as your medical advice has helped me to focus on getting well and getting back to my neglected blog in a huge way...I thank each and everyone one of you with a very full heart....and, btw, Sweetie has been the Greatest comforter of All Time! What is it about animals? They know when you need them. So I thank him, too, with every fiber of my being, and here he is in all his conforting glory.
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 10:38 AM
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Sickly (Update Below)
I'm sick today, so I haven't been around too much and haven't gotten any kind of post together...feels like a touch of the flu and with my lungs....all I can say is....OY! I'm going to go back to bed now...I visited a few people through Michele, but...that's about it for me till I feel better...
***UDDATE*** I'm still sick...flu-ness...UGH!!!
But I thank all of you for your great good wishes and prayers...keep them coming...not quite out of the woods here yet....when I swallow it feels like a razor blade....I'll know I'm better when that goes away, among other ghastly symptoms....Bathrooms, anyone? (Sunday, 10:44pm)
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 10:45 PM
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