Well, dear readers, it was a very quiet and nice Christmas Day, filled with Christmas Cheer thanks to the appearance of the Darling Daughter, who brightens any day. The only downside was that I ate so much food that I couldn’t fall asleep until about five in the morning, but I did sleep until eleven, so that was six hours. I got up, answered a few e-mails, and then showered and got ready for the appearance of the Darling Daughter. She arrived not too long after that.
A few people had brought presents when they came to the Do, so we brought them to the den along with the presents I was giving her and she was giving me. We then opened all the stuff. She gave me two of her homemade cherry loafs, which I love, along with some homemade caramels, and a lottery scratcher, which yielded no win, but it was fun to scratch and comment. I gave her her usual cash, a Creature DVD, and a Murder at the Magic Castle. Amongst the gifts from the attendees of the Do were a box of Russell Stover candy, a beautiful Joni Mitchell book of drawings and lyrics from Robert Yacko, from Amy and Mark a DVD and Blu-ray, neither of which, amazingly, I didn’t have.
Then she had some spaghetti and tuna pasta salad. Then we decided to do what we did last year – a nostalgia drive, this time going west rather than east. First we drove up to the apartment we had near Panorama City (officially Van Nuys where we were), just off Roscoe near Sepulveda. The building is still there. We would have gotten out of the car and tried to peer through the gate, but there was not a single place to park. We both remembered a Taco Bell nearby, and we found it – still there. The Howard Johnsons on Roscoe, which we could walk to, is long gone, but there’s now a Denny’s nearby. We drove up Sepulveda one block – that’s where we’d walk every day, me pushing her in her stroller and going to the newsstand there so I could but the trades. It’s now some auto thing, I think, the newsstand long gone. We drove by the Panorama Mall, where once was May Company and other stores – the building is there but nothing is left of what once was.
Then I showed her where one of my father’s bars was on Van Nuys Blvd. I used to occasionally hang out in the alley in back, and it’s exactly the same back there. We drove by the school she’d gone to near Reseda and Sherman Way – where she accidentally broke her two front teeth, a day we both remember vividly, since I picked her up that day. But her bigger memory was that there was some other school she’d gone to, part of the same school but near a Toys ‘R’ Us. We found it – close to the 405 freeway – the Toys ‘R’ Us building is still there. We had two favorite restaurants there – Bob’s Big Boy and Valley Ranch Barbecue – both sadly gone. We drove to Encino and looked around – but it’s so different than it was when she was a kid. It was a lot of fun, and on the way I found three gas stations with great gas prices compared to what I’ve been paying, so I’ll visit one of those tomorrow.
It was getting to be late afternoon, so we came home. The skies were very gray, so I got her on her way, hoping to beat the rain, which she did. She took almost all the spaghetti sauce, so that was good. Then it began to pour and it’s been pouring ever since.
I did some more cleaning up, listened to a little music, and then I watched a streaming motion picture entitled Bombshell, the story of Roger Ailes and his fall from Fox News, thanks to multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. Ailes is wonderfully played by John Lithgow. All the other actors are fine and clearly the studio hopes the leading ladies will both be up. The filming style is typical of this genre of taking a very recent story and bringing it to the screen. One thing’s for sure – you won’t think any better of Fox News and you’ll probably think a lot worse. Charlize Theron plays Megyn Kelly and Nicole Kidman plays another Fox on-air host. It was well paced and didn’t overstay its welcome.
Then I watched the first forty minutes of a DGA screener entitled Booksmart. It’s a smart-ass teen comedy, some of which is amusing thanks to the two gals playing the leads, but this kind of film isn’t really my cuppa and I kept falling asleep anyway, so I’ll finish watching today or tonight and move on to the next. I think I may watch Harriet or 1917 next.
Then I listened to music, had my tuna pasta salad, several helpings, a teeny-tiny bit of spaghetti with the sauce that was left (just enough for that teeny-tiny bit of spaghetti), a little cherry loaf, a cupcake Robert Yacko brought that was kind of great, and that was that.
Today, I can and will sleep in. I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll finish the tuna pasta salad – I think there’s enough for two helpings, which will be perfect. I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and I haven’t heard if there are indeed auditions – if not, I’ll just relax, watch and listen, do a tiny bit more prep work for the new book, and then I’ll mosey on over to the theater for a put-in, after which I’ll come right home.
Tomorrow, I can relax all day, then I’m meeting Sami and her mom for dinner at five-fifteen. I’ll get to the theater by seven, and then we play our evening show – I’m sure I’ll stay and watch with Sami and her mom. Saturday will be more of the same – not sure if I’ll attend the evening show. Sunday we play a matinee and I may watch that one. And then we head towards a brand New Year, namely 2020. Oh, and a new decade, too.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep in, hopefully pick up packages, eat, wait to hear about auditions, do a put-in, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: If you could go back in time to your childhood, what would you want to most revisit in terms of places you went that you loved? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a nice visit with the Darling Daughter.