Here in the Hills

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.

| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 3:12:00 AM

25 comments

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.

| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 2:18:00 AM

58 comments

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.

| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 2:15:00 AM

52 comments

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!

| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 2:15:00 AM

37 comments

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.

| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 11:13:00 AM

17 comments

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