Ho Ho Ho Tux!

This is Tux, my mother's best cat ever, sitting on my bed near the Winter Solstice tree. Now my mom's had a lot of great cats, so it's saying something that even she admits that he's her favorite. Here he is dressed up with his Christmas ribbon and actually handling it with panache.

The winds died down enough for us to take a drive up to Mulholland for beautiful panoramic views that included the sparkling Pacific Ocean in the west. Now I'm back here happily contemplating which book I'm going to tackle! I did receive some of those on my list, most notably "Bridge of Sighs" by Richard Russo and "The Zookeeper's Wife" by Diane Ackerman.

Cindy very thoughtfully got me The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics book! This was on my list a few years ago. Well, I say better late than never! Actually, she didn't even know I'd once had it on my list, and this makes it all the more special to me. And she loved the Emmylou Harris boxed CD set I tracked down for her at Amoeba Records. Of course I was tempted to keep it, but it really is so much more fun to give than to receive.

So that also goes for the crystal necklace I ordered for Katie from www.julietsdream.etsy.com. She loved it, as I knew she would, along with the Chanel Mademoiselle eau de toilette and the mendocino-green cashmere sweater. And love the pink and white scarf she knitted and gave to me, and the terrific Coast Guard sweatshirt that her mom, my sis Carlo, gave to me.

Okay, off to get started on a vegetable dish for dinner. The pile of books will have to wait, and anyway I'll have to finish "Away" before I start the next one.

Cheers!

Merry Christmas!

Fierce Santa Ana winds blowing outside this Christmas Eve! I love being inside with my Winter Solstice tree (below, except the pretty white sparkly lights don't show).

I dined this evening at Ca del Sole with my mom and Cindy, saw Gigi last night, went to Tangie's "pamper" party (which turned out to be a huge Mary Kay pitch, but it was fun to be on the old Cardiff property again). I've had just the right balance of socializing and lone wolf time this Yuletide season. The flu had me in bed for several days with a temperature and sore throat so bad I could barely swallow. Although I was miserable, the down time did allow me to actually finish "The Mandarins" by Simone de Beauvoir well before the January book club due date! Now I'm into "Away" by Amy Bloom, which I hear is one of the best books of 2007. I hope some of the other 2008 bests are waiting for me wrapped up under that tree you see above! Fortunately I got all my Christmas gifts done and wrapped and sent before I collapsed with the flu.

So I'll be in here L.A. with Mom and Cindy this year. Although it would have been fantastic to go up to Astoria, Oregon, to share Christmas with Carolyn, Erik, and especially my niece Katie, I generally avoid the crazy holiday travels. But I like to think about the look on Katie's face when she opens up the ______ [blank in case she reads this before tomorrow] I ordered for her especially from Juliet's Dream! That, and the cashmere sweater and Chanel _________.

Merry Christmas and love love love to all my friends and family who visit this blog!

A Modest Freelance Life

You'd think that since I'm no longer traditionally employed, I'd have plenty of time to blog more than I have in the past two months, right? Which is to say that I haven't blogged at all. The reason being: I've had the good fortune to freelance for the Sun Community Newspapers (the Studio City, Sherman Oaks Sun, and Encino Sun). Their motto? "The Fiercely Local Voice of the San Fernando Valley."

Ever since I pitched the managing editor about a vacant property at the end of Hartsook Street back in September when I was first liberated from the New York Times, she's kept me busy. My most recent piece - a major cover story for the special 5th Anniversary Edition of the Studio City Sun - is still available online.

My wonderfully encouraging editor Karen Young allowed me to include two personal references, including one about how my grandfather, the policeman Phil Hargreaves, saved lives and pulled bodies from the river during the great flood of 1938 in the San Fernando Valley. Here's the link if you want to check it out. I've also attached it on the right side of my blog.

http://www.suncommunitynewspapers.com/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=370&cntnt01returnid=59

My favorite part is the ghost of Vera Ralston who allegedly haunts one of the stages on the CBS lot. She competed against figure skater and gold medalist Sonja Henie in the 1936 Winter Olympics in Berlin, where she claims she personally met Adolf Hitler and insulted him to his face. He asked if she wanted to skate for the swastika, and she replied that she would rather skate ON it. As to why she would now haunt the CBS lot is anyone's guess, but perhaps her spirit is nostalgic for her halcyon days as mistress and wife of studio head Herbert Yates. Apparently he gave her such preferential treatment that it lead to a lawsuit from studio shareholders. There wasn't enough room to run that bit, though. I mean you can't say everything in 2,300 words.

Cheers.