I’ve been traveling as noted in the previous post, but more than that, I have been setting my sights on some goals for the future which I have affectionately dubbed my Big Hummingbird Energy Goals after the oversized hummingbird tattoo which I sport on my left shoulder.
These past weeks I’ve been more socially active. I’ve joined a gym, which has been a reawakening of my endorphins, and overall I’ve been experiencing a general jolt of feel-good energy.
Last weekend was a case in point. After returning home Wednesday evening from Florida, on Thursday morning, I went to the food bank and offered to palletize the boxes. These were about 12-15 pound boxes, and this was a job I’ve never volunteered for. It involves receiving the filled and taped boxes at the end of the line and putting them on a pallet of 12 in each layer and 7 layers tall. There were three people on our crew, and we took turns at the point in the process which is the busiest, when the boxes come right off the line. There is a lot of lifting, bending, twisting, etc. It’s a good workout. There was a film crew there from CBS news capturing the impact of the food bank for our SNAP fallow community members, and so my first and most likely stint palletizing boxes of food may have been captured to be shown on Channel 2 news. Alas, I was unable to locate the segment, though the food bank is a hot topic these days around the loss/reinstatement of SNAP benefits.
Last Thursday night, I attended Guys and Dolls at USC Bing Theatre, and it was one of the best productions of that show I’ve seen. The leads were all strong, and the design elements were spectacular, especially the set and costumes. My college buddy, Norma and I were sitting in row P and Norma was hootin’ and hollerin’ her appreciation throughout. Afterwards, we visited a little with some of the faculty and alums who were in attendance, but left the theatre at about 11:00PM, fully satisfied with the evening’s show. The show closed Sunday, November 9th. It had a massive cast and crew as well as an 18 piece orchestra. Directed by returning alumnus Michael Schwartz, it was incredible what they pulled off.
Last Friday evening I attended JaJa’s African Hair Braiding at the Mark Taper Forum. It was funny, and special kudos to the costume and production staff for figuring out how to effectively convey the time needed to do a full head of braids. The characters were funny, and unique and the audience roared with recognition and appreciation at their personalities. Throughout the show, a series of men came into the shop over the course of the day to flatter, gift, bamboozle, and inform the women in the shop. SPOILER ALERT It wasn’t until the curtain call that I realized that each of those men had been played by the same actor. His performance was stunning. Again, due to the sloth of my post, you may have missed this theatrical opportunity!
The Playbill and of course the curtain call confirm your suspicion: It’s Michael Oloyede playing all these specimens of manhood, in chameleonic fashion. (He is the one holdover here from the original Broadway production.)
Variety review by Chris Willman
Saturday morning brought me to El Segundo, to do an unusual urban “hike” in the neighborhood which flanks LAX. Our same group, who generally does more rural hikes, met at Thai Toast on Main Street. From there we walked about 3.1 miles around the neighborhoods, and returned to Thai Toast for a delicious breakfast. Most of us got the California Omelet, which was accompanied by deep fried potatoes with a chimichurri sauce which were without a doubt, the best breakfast potatoes I’ve ever had. Breakfast crack.
Saturday night I took in a show, Mascogos at LATC, again with my friend Norma after a yummy supper at Guisados across the street from LATC. I guess my job was to close out all the shows last weekend.
Sunday, November 9th, I was happy to attend the bridal shower of my former student/colleague, Jen. It was in Ontario and well worth the drive from Toluca Lake. She is such a blessing for anyone who knows her. Quirky, yes – who has a church wedding after ten years of marriage and three kids? Only Jen could do it with such panache. It was great to see her and meet some of her spectacular family and friends.
This past week was equally busy. Highpoints of the week include my acquisition of my favorite painting by my Talented Aunt Irene. We had visited a little over a year ago, and I’d fallen in love/lust with a beautiful and joyous totemic work that promises being uplifted with every viewing. It measures 8’1″ x 3′ and now I’m figuring out how to get it from there to here. Any recommendations for shipping would be greatly appreciated!
I had two strong days at the food bank this week. Thursday we shared the work with members of the Cal Guard, and I discovered that one of the soldiers I was working beside had gone to USC and studied Military Social Work. “And here you are!” I much prefer having them doing something productive like boxing kits for seniors at the Pelissier warehouse to guarding government buildings downtown against fictional danger.
Thursday night when I was driving over to have dinner with dad, I witnessed a pretty bad car accident on Coldwater Canyon at the intersection south of Magnolia Blvd. An SUV in the turn lane took a chance that didn’t pay off by turning in front of another oncoming SUV that was speeding to catch the same yellow light. It’s a matter of time until we all have accidents driving in LA, but this one seemed entirely avoidable, I would say. Hope they were all right. I drive very defensively. Dad has given up driving, which thrills me.
Friday I took dad to have a tooth pulled. He has taken to calling my brother and me his “new parents” which elicits a warm smile from all. I did tell him I couldn’t be in the dental suite when the act happened. I pictured the time my mom took my brother Larry to the ER with a fishing hook through his thumb and she slid right off the stool where she was sitting and passed out on the floor as they removed it. Didn’t want that to happen to me, so I sat in the waiting room and did the NYT crossword puzzle and read substacks.
Rain last night and today is keeping me at home enjoying the weekend. Staying caught up on the news as possible without immersing myself in despair. It may be a puzzle day today. I might have to continue recording my book, which I’m doing in my little closet studio I created last week. Being on the top floor of my building, I hear rain in the bathroom but don’t think I can hear it in my closet. I’ve been enjoying this process, which Archway Publishing has made possible through Myaudiobookrecorder.com. The instructions were clear enough for me and the service breaks down the recording into paragraphs as you go. You can listen back before going on and easily re-record as needed. Much of that has been needed. But I am enjoying the process. Stay tuned.
On the book front, I welcome any questions, comments you might care to share with me. Just a reminder that Christmas is coming if you have any theatre practitioners in your life you’d like to share the book with, please find links where it’s available as well as the press release in this post! Or as always, I’m happy to mail you an autographed copy!
lifeinthethe8tre 