Last night, after I worked for HOURS on all the pictures and posted them to the blog, I watched THE COLOR PURPLE. Believe it or not, I have never read the book or seen the movie or Broadway play. When it came to Broadway I was determined that I would not see it until I read the book and saw the movie. Well, I finally saw the movie and now I’m going to read the book.
I thought it was a great movie, with a fantastic story and wonderful acting. I was so impressed with Whoopi and I can’t believe she didn’t win an academy award for this role. What about Danny Glover? Was he even nominated. I thought he was fantastic.
Oprah was great. The whole cast was great. I really enjoyed it. I stopped for over an hour when my friend Marygrace called. We haven’t spoken in months and she doesn’t keep up with the blog, so she had NO idea what was going on until another friend told her Eric was on his way to NY. I told her he was there, but would soon be coming home, and then I filled her in on the last few months, and she filled me in as well.
Marygrace and I have been friends for 30 years. We’ve been through a lot together. She’s always been a good friend to us, and supported us through a lot of bad times. I’d like to think we did the same for her, and her family. We feel like an extended part of her family, because we spent Christmas Eve with them for 25 years. It was one of the best nights of the year.
After I hung up with Marygrace, I finished THE COLOR PURPLE. After that, I should have gone straight to sleep, but I wasn’t very tired, so I watched DESIGN STAR, another of my myriad of reality shows. It’s now down to the final two, so we’ll see who’s going to have their on show on HGTV next!
This morning I was suitably tired for someone who stayed up until 11:15pm, and I keep promising myself I’ll go to bed earlier, but I’m wired at night, and then don’t sleep very well (understandably). I am tempted to take sleeping pills. I took SIMPLY SLEEP on Friday night, which usually puts me right out, but they didn’t seem to work too well and then I was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday anyway. So, I guess I need something stronger.
Anyway, work was fine today. I was busy training from 9am – 11:00am, and then the woman training me went to an early lunch and I got to just do nothing much for an hour. I uploaded all the photos from my camera (102 pictures!) and put them in a folder on a public drive someone had set up for all the pictures from the event. Everyone loved my pictures! I had taken a lot of pictures of people’s kids, and they were so happy with the results!
One of the guys on the Social Committee had put together such great music for the picnic. I told him I loved every song he played, so today he gave me what he called “Summer Picnic’s Greatest Hits” a CD of 18 songs. I put it into my disc drive in the computer and I’m listening to it right now while I type! There’s some Donna Summer, George Michael, Britney Spears, Shakira, Abba, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, and then he throws in an oldie-but-a-goodie like The Beach Boys singing Good Vibrations! 18 songs in all!
After work, my ride wanted to go to the mall to get some gift certificates, so I went with her. There’s a store there that I love called PAPYRUS and she never had been there, so we went in together. It’s all about paper – millions of great cards, wrapping paper, shopping bags and other beautiful, hand-made items – much more original (and expensive) than your Hallmark store. We had a great time looking around, and then we headed home.
Eric called just as I was getting out of the car and I told him I’d call him back in a few minutes. When I was settled in the apartment I called him back. He had gone to see THE DARK NIGHT with Ashley and he said he really didn’t like it at all. He said it’s very dark, but not in a good way.
He said it was too long, and there was a weak story line. It’s not the kind of movie I really see in the theatre (my next movie will definitely be MAMA MIA!). I was glad he took Ashley, even though she didn’t like it either, because they’ve been spending a lot of quality time together, which never would have happened under normal circumstances. Ashley is a beautiful, sweet, 13-year-old, but I feel like Eric hardly knew her before this week. Now, he has spent a lot of quality time in one week, and I think they’ll both always remember it.
Eric is leaving tomorrow morning. He didn’t get to see everyone he was hoping to connect with before he left, but he said he just can’t wait to get back on the road and he’s got the RV all packed with the bicycles on the rack and he doesn’t want to leave it parked on the street like that. So, he’ll be heading back tomorrow, but he promises he’ll be driving at a more leisurely pace. I expect he won’t be back until Sunday or Monday, the earliest.
I told him that I have felt so happy and lighthearted the last few days, since he told me he wants to come back and that there are going to be big changes. He said he realizes what a great life we have and that he was just letting things get to him and dwelling on the few negatives, instead of embracing all the positives. It really sounds good, and I keep telling him it all sounds too good to be true.
He says when he gets back we are going to do more things together. He says he’s not going to go around with a dour expression anymore and he’s going to appreciate everything he has. I can’t believe that driving across the country could make such an impact on his thinking, but I guess he had a lot of time by himself to really think about things and see them a different way.
Anyway, I can’t wait for him to get back, which is very different from how I felt when he left. I was so frustrated, and so sad that he was so unhappy. When he left, I was relieved in a way, because for a while I didn’t have to worry about him – about trying to make him happy, about listening to him complain about all the negatives he dwelled on. He promises things are going to be better and I’m the eternal optimist, so I have to believe him.
I’ve been doing a lot of stress eating and I’ve gained a few pounds, even with the walking and swimming I did last week. I ate a LOT at the party on Saturday. I usually don’t eat really bad stuff, I think I just eat too much and snack a lot at night. I’m hoping when Eric gets back that we’ll go riding and exercise together, which will motivate me and make it a lot more interesting.
So, here’s a little story: In June of 1991 I played Betty Boop at the Jacob Javits Center when the American Bookseller’s Association held their annual trade show. My friend, Leslie Cabarga, had written a book about The Fleischer Brothers, who created Betty Boop, and he hired me to walk around and attract attention to his book.
While I was working, I met lots of people and took many photos posing with people who were attending the show. There was a woman there with her young son in a stroller. He was about 2. For some reason, he fell in love with Betty Boop and he didn’t want to leave. We took a lot of pictures together and we exchanged information. Believe it or not, seventeen years later we are still in touch! She and her husband came to at least one of my performances when I was doing cabaret in Manhattan (from ’91 – ’95).
Today I got a postcard from her husband. She’s turning 60 and he’s asking everyone to send her a birthday card. They must be summering in Maine, because I know they live in Brooklyn, but the address to send the cards is in Maine. I have to find a special birthday card to send to her!
So, I’m totally exhausted, but the season finale of LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL – THE SEARCH FOR ELLE WOODS is on tonight at 10:00pm. How could I go to sleep before I see who will be starring on Broadway next?