Well, dear readers, Thanksgiving 2023 is done, I don’t think I overate and yet many hours later I still feel like I’m going to explode. I simply do not understand this. Here is what I had for a first helping: a little salad with ranch dressing. One small slice of turkey, one small slice of ham, some yams, some mashed potatoes with gravy and not crazy portions of either. By the time I got to the yams I felt pretty full and all I’d eaten by that time was the salad, turkey, and ham. By the time I finished the yams, I was already uncomfortably full and by the time I polished off the mashed potatoes, I was ready to be wheeled out of there. Now, on any given day, I eat more food than that at a single setting, whether it’s pasta with meat sauce from Antonio’s or the various items from Taco Bell or various items from Panda Express or a huge salad from Stanley’s or two beef tacos, rice, and beans from the nearby Mexican jernt. And yet, despite that, after fifteen minutes we went back for some dessert but never made it that far because suddenly they had cheese enchiladas and stuffing (not together), both of which were absent the first time through. So, I had one small cheese enchilada and some stuffing, which I couldn’t even finish – and no dessert. But it was a nice meal and fun and even dear reader Jeanne said she ate more than she usually does. We went to El Torito (The Torito) on Ocean Park Blvd, the street I used to take home when I lived at The Shores from 1988 to 1997. Anyway, it was fun and while the freeway was needlessly crowded getting on and off (what else is new), between those two points there was no traffic at all. Go know.
I only got six hours of sleep, arising at nine. I answered a few e-mails, shaved and showered, and then just relaxed until it was time to leave. It took about twenty-five minutes to get there. I didn’t take the freeway there, just home. Beverly Glen had no traffic at all and I just zoomed all the way down to Pico and from there it was a breeze to the restaurant. Once back home, I did a few things on the computer but was too uncomfortably stuffed to write, so I sat on my couch like so much fish and watched a motion picture entitled 211, a cheeseball Nicolas Cage movie. They all seem the same, but one of the characters in the beginning, or at least the actress who played her, seemed familiar to me. No matter, because I fell asleep almost immediately and woke up an hour later for the final twenty minutes of the film, which only runs eighty-one minutes sans end credits. Once I saw the final twenty minutes, I knew I’d seen it before and so I searched it in the notes archive and found it – 2018 – I hated every second of it, so glad I slept through it.
After that, I watched the first ten minutes of Max Ophuls’ Lola Montes, a film I’ve never been able to quite get with, although people keep telling me it’s a masterpiece. I thought about watching Barbie to see what made it such a huge hit, until I looked at the running time of an hour and fifty-five minutes. Wasn’t quite ready to invest that kind of time. Same with the new Equalizer movie. The streaming stuff is very cheap over the Thanksgiving weekend, so I’m sure I’ll find something to watch at some point. Then I listened to some William Alwyn classical music, and then it was time to write these here notes and here we are.
Today, I wish I could just sleep in and relax until show time, but that’s not happening. I’ll have to be up by eleven, do whatever needs doing, shave and shower, and then we have a brush-up rehearsal I have to attend to make sure that a couple of things I adjusted are being done correctly, as I staged without the musical director there and we need to make sure she understands exactly what we need. We did give her all of it, including bar numbers, but you know how those things go. I also want to make sure everyone is back in JEF mode for the evening performance. After that, I’ll be meeting the Pearls at five-thirty for food. I’ll leave them there at six-thirty because I have to be back at the theater to meet our sound designer to make a couple of level adjustments to a couple of mics. Then we play the show and I know several people who’ll be coming to see it. After we’re done, I’ll come right home unless someone wants to go out for a snack or something.
Tomorrow, I’ll definitely write and finish the sequence I’m on, I have to order Christmas cards for Christmas, and then I’ll decide whether I feel like seeing the show. Sunday, I’ll definitely be there to be with the Shermans and introduce them to the company after the performance. Then next week is writing, a lot of writing.
Since it’s Black Friday, how about if we have a little Kritzerland sale for you dear readers, just in case you missed getting something or want to give some nice Xmas gifts – 50% off list price plus shipping of 6.00 which can cover up to six CDs. How’s that? I’d like to make this an all-Venmo sale, but if you can only do PayPal, we can do that, too, if necessary. Venmo is easy, just PM me and I’ll give the directions. Include titles and address.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven, do whatever needs doing, shave and shower, have a brush-up rehearsal, have dinner, work out a mic problem, see the show, and then either go out for a snack or go home. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray/streaming player? I’ll start – CD, nothing. Streaming, lots of things in my “to watch” list, so we’ll see. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping the uncomfortably full feeling will abate soon.