An ode to Tennessee Williams
Friday, November 30, 2007

Last Wednesday night, I had a wonderful reminder that, in NYC, I can always depend on the kindness of strangers. Thank you Blanche Dubois.

I made the trek to Red Hook for a dinner party - my first (and possibly last) time to this part of Brooklyn and I'm sorry, but no, I do not see the charm even if there is a grand Fairway down the street. One of the major points of living in NYC is convenience and Red Hook may be many things but convenient is NOT one of them. As far as I'm concerned, if you're going to live in Red Hook, you might as well live in Los Angeles.

I will say that once there, I enjoyed a fabulous evening with wonderful friends and incredible food and far too much wine (not to mention a delicious Manhattan which I have taken up drinking in an homage to my hometown.) However, getting there was anything but easy. I'll happily take a subway somewhere (I love the subway but I'll save that for another day...) I'll even take two subways somewhere on occassion. But a subway, another subway and then a bus or a cab is asking a lot. A REAL lot.

That said, if it had simply been a simple subway ride, I wouldn't have been happily reminded of the fabulous kindness of New Yorkers. I got off my second subway and intended to take either the bus or a cab - whatever appeared first. Being that we were in Brooklyn, this was not necessarily a cab. I waited ten minutes by the bus stop and when a cab finally made an appearance, I hopped in. I gave the address where I was going, but instead of pulling away from the curb, the cabbie turned around and looked at me befuddled.

"You'll have to tell me how to get there."

I stared at him. That's the kind of thing a cab driver in LOS ANGELES SAYS. NOT NEW YORK CITY!

"Ummmm...I don't know how to get there. That's your job."

"Well, I don't know either."

I got out of the cab and went back to my spot on the sidewalk. Now I was fairly pissed. It was 7:15...I had gotten on the subway at 6. That's far too long to take to get anywhere in New York. But at that moment, I got reminded of just how awesome New Yorkers are. In a matter of seconds, I had three people who had noticed I'd gotten in and out of the cab and were asking me if I needed help, where I was going, etc. They were all equally as disgusted with the cab driver for me and as helpful as they could be in telling me that the bus should be there shortly.

One of the guys was going to the general area I was going to and we waited together for another 10 minutes before the bus arrived. He told me about Red Hook and agreed that it was ridiculously tedious to get to. I thought of how Kate had always refused to come to Park Slope from the West Village when I lived there many moons ago - a mere 25 minute ride (and one subway I might add.) I thought about how she should know just how much I loved her for trekking all the fuck the way out there on my one and only evening in NYC. And then the bus came.

It was only then that I looked at my single ride metro card and realized that for some ridiculous and unknown reason, I could not use this card for a bus transfer. I could literally only use it for a single ride. This hardly seemed reasonable given that if I had a regular metro card, my same $2 would have gotten me on a subway then a bus and if I needed to, another bus again (which apparently, is only necessary if you live in Red Hook.) But it was true. And there it was in front of me...the bus that I'd now waited over 25 minutes for.

"Oh shit." I said. Out loud.

My new friend looked over and asked what was wrong. I explained the ridiculous situation I had gotten myself into and said that it must be my punishment for no longer living in NYC and owning a weekly unlimited metro card. He smiled warmly, and offered me a ride.

"Really?" I said, simply delighted by the man standing next to me. The stranger. The kind, kind stranger.

"Of course," he said. "You have to get there somehow and you aren't waiting for another bus. Come on. I get off at the same stop so I'll tell you when to get off."

I practically floated onto the bus. I was overjoyed by the sweetness of this man. I smiled at him. I couldn't possibly explain to him the feeling that I had from his acts of kindness. I felt mildly overwhelmed. And touched. And...well...I felt at home. New Yorkers take care of each other - whether strangers or friends. They are happy to help.

I don't know whether Angelenos do or do not have this capacity. The reason I do not know this is that I so rarely have the opportunity to come into contact with Angeleno strangers...Everyone is so separated and to themselves and in...cars. It's one of the things I miss most about New York - that ability to be with people, to experience human nature, to feed off of energy on a daily basis. And in my short visit to NYC, I got a full dose on my trip to Red Hook.

I invited my new friend to come to dinner. He smiled and laughed. I was serious but he had a friend to meet at home. He told me when to get off and we parted ways into the unseasonably warm November evening. I jaunted down the road to Kate's apartment. All of my annoyance at having to take a two hour trip to Red Hook was gone. All due to the kindness of a stranger...

Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 3:50 PM 0 comments  

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Hitting the slopes
Thursday, November 29, 2007

Modesty is overrated. Besides, when it's pertaining to someone other than yourself, you're allowed to brag - right?

This January, I'll be hitting the slopes in Park City, Utah. Why, you ask? Have I moved on from television to film? No. I'm interested in checking out the scene? Nope. Perhaps I just want to get a little skiing in and Utah is closer than Vermont? Not that either.

I'm going to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival for the premiere of a movie called Momma's Man starring...MY HUSBAND!

YIPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Sometimes life is just grand. And in those grand moments, I love sharing my excitement. We've known for over a week but now we get to shout if off the rooftops since it's been announced to the world. So I'm shouting, baby.

You can expect more displays lacking modesty after I'm actually there and see the movie but for the moment, I'm done. For the moment.

Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 5:31 PM 1 comments  

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I'm baaaaaaack

I'm back and there are many, MANY things to discuss upon my return - so much so that I am mildly overwhelmed by where I should begin. There's too much to put all in one post so I'll start with the basics...

Puerto Rico was lovely and tropical, relaxing and refreshing. While it wasn't my favorite tropical destination, I'm hard up to knock any place with gorgeous turquoise waters and the sound of the waves hitting the sand. I slept a lot, read a lot and swam in the salty blue sea. It was fabulous and I think we should all take more vacations more often. It gives the brain time to rest and to fully appreciate what life is about.

Of course I am now suffering from back pain from the 8+ hours of flying that we did on the way back. If there's any way to undo all the good a vacation does for your physical body, it's to get on a freaking airplane. And here's another of course - if we lived in NYC, then the flight would be a mere 3.5 hours (not to mention direct) as opposed to the 2 flights we had to take totally 10 hours if you include our layover time. I can find 50 million things wrong with LAX not the least of which is the fact that every other airport seems to have the ability to get our luggage out within 20 minutes of landing but we inevitably end up waiting 45 minutes at LAX every time we have to check luggage (some of which they lost and when found, took it upon themselves to deliver to us at 3:30 in the freaking morning.)

And now I'm back at work - sans the work since there's very much still a writer's strike going on. I'm headed to the Grove for lunch where the gargantuan Christmas tree will have to do as a sorry substitute for Rockefeller Center. And as I walk over without a coat, I'll wish I had a reason to wear a scarf and a hat...

Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 12:09 PM 0 comments  

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Happy Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 22, 2007

We are in New York for Thanksgiving and I am home. I feel it every time and it never ceases to amaze me...the connection I feel as soon as I fly into JFK. I feel at home. It has been far too short but wonderful nonetheless. Filled with the Hudson River and the subway and Manhattan and adventures in Brooklyn and car services and wine and fabulous food and family and friends and laughter and warmth and love. All in just 24 hours. I am thankful for many, many things not the least of which is my readers who let me know that my writing effects their lives. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday filled with all of the above and more.

I'm off to Puerto Rico. Have a fantastic week.

Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 6:24 PM 3 comments  

Chutzpah
Tuesday, November 20, 2007

I hate when books end. And generally that applies to one that I love so much that I can't put it down - which inevitably lead me closer and closer to the book ending. It's a vicious cycle.

I used to read all the time as a little girl and the NY subways brought me back to books after my college years (in which I only read plays and textbooks and labels on wine bottles.) I would look forward to my time on the train to get through that next chapter. But then I moved to LA and had to drive. And I don't think I picked up a book for the first year and a half that I lived in LA. I watched more tv and I was reading so many freaking scripts all the time that I never wanted to come home and quietly open a book. Foolish girl. A book is not a script. A book is an escape into another world. It's an intimate introduction to a total stranger.

Last night I finished Julie and Julia. Quite simply this is a story of a girl with chutzpah. I am totally enamored of this Julie. Julie was a secretary at a government agency in Manhattan. Her days droned on and she was, for all intents and purposes, miserable. Until she decided that she was going to cook her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year. Every day she cooked. In 365 days she made all 524 recipes. She made kidneys and sweet breads and dishes with bone marrow. She killed a live lobster herself exactly as Julia instructs even though the idea of it made her want to quit the project completely. She did it all - the whole damn book - and she blogged about it the entire time. And all of a sudden Julie found herself a celebrity of the blogosphere. She got interviewed by all sorts of people and she got recognized on the street and she found herself with a book deal which I, for one, am immensley grateful for because otherwise I never would have known about the Julie/Julia project. After I finished the book (and of course I cried and I'm not even completely sure why...I think I was proud of her and enamored with her and inspired by her and saw pieces of myself in her) I went online to check out her blog. And I have to say, this Julie character should have NEVER been a secretary in a government agency. This girl is SO CLEARLY a writer that it made my head spin. She just didn't know what she was supposed to do with herself until she did it. And even then she was shocked that it was the answer. Or rather, an answer. She's a writer! She's smart and she's funny and she uses words that I didn't even know existed...and I'm just taken with Julie. She did it. She took lemons and without even realizing it, she made lemonade just by having the tenacity to take on a project and take it on with every ounce of her being. Chutzpah.

Inspiring. I love reading.

Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 12:13 PM 1 comments  

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Brentwood
Monday, November 19, 2007

If I stay in LA, I've decided this is where I want to live. I'm totally in love with Brentwood. It's walkable and full of great little shops and restaurants...it feels neighborhoody. It feels urbanly suburban. Brentwood feels good. The air feels a little fresher. The houses are lovely. I'm feeling really into Brentwood.

I started the morning with a walk with an old friend. We walked through quiet streets by great houses all different in their architecture. Cactuses on some lawns and gorgeous flowers on others. I could sit and look at houses all day. I like to make up stories about who's inside and how it's decorated. I wish sometimes that I could go in because they rarely look the way you imagine. It's alway interesting when there's some kind of statue or sculpture that's totally out of place with what the rest of the house looks like.

Eventually we made our way to Starbucks. If both of us weren't on shopping diets (a term I sadly can't take credit for...all credit goes to Amy for that one) we could have stopped in every store along the way and we managed to drool over a few windows as it was. We enjoyed piping hot peppermint mochas (my favorite thing about this time of year. Yes. I'm serious) and wound through the farmer's market until we ended up back at her house. The best part of the whole thing was, of course, the company. Being with someone who knows exactly what to say, who can sympathize and empathize and understands you so completely - and similarly, feels that I can do the same for her...that was the best part. But I couldn't help but be enthralled with my surroundings as well.

It was just a fluke that as I got in my car to leave, I got a phone call from my husband saying that he was also in Brentwood. I think that as long as I have lived in LA, I have been to Brentwood with my husband a handful of times and all of them were at the home of the friend that I walked with. But here he was, on this Sunday afternoon, sitting with some friends in Brentwood at NY Bagel. (I can't review NY Bagel because I didn't eat, but I promise I'll go back and let you know if it lives up to it's name.) So I shot over to NY Bagel and spent an hour outside laughing with friends.

Next, we were off to the dog park where the aforementioned Thursday played with her best friend, puggle Sophie, and they both made a new friend in adorable 6 month-old Brody. If I were a better blogger, I would have had my camera - but alas, I am not. LOVED the Brentwood dog park - it was our first time there and now that it's a 20 minute drive from our house to the Laurel Canyon dog park, Brentwood's not that much further. I highly recommend for those of you that are dog owners.

I think I could spend more time in Brentwood. A lot more time. And I'm not making any grand statements, but when it's next time for us to move, I think perhaps we may start looking a little bit west. (Unless of course we look reaaaaaaaaaally far east...to a neighborhood called the West Village. A girl can dream...can't she?)

Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 3:30 PM 0 comments  

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The temple within
Sunday, November 18, 2007

I can feel the breath moving from the top of my head all the way down through my spine. I can feel my back lengthening, making me two inches taller than I was before. I love the strength of my arms as they take on the entire weight of my body, lowering gently to the floor. The breath rushes through me providing a high no drugs or alcohol could ever compete with. My back arches deeply and I feel alive.

In this moment, I am keenly aware that I can do anything, overcome any fear, any problem - that everything I could ever possibly need to live a full life is on the mat with me. My mind empties and listens only to the sound of the deep inhale and exhale - like a sweet song. As the dance continues I have moments of thoughts:

Will the strike get settled when they sit down in a week? Inhale, exhale. So hum - I am truth.

We will name our first child after both of our mother's mothers. The child will have their spirit, their souls. Inhale, exhale. So hum - I am truth...

I was supposed to call Sandy at 5 PM. Shit. Inhale, exhale...

It has been in interesting and crazy year...a year of many lessons. So hum, so hum...

My yoga practice is an interesting jumping point for a book. Inhale...

My hips are still so tight...inhale, exhale.

I can't wait for Sharon's visit...inhale...so hum.

I loved this day...inhale, exhale.
I loved this day..stay in this moment....

And again, I clear my brain. I feel the breath coursing through me. I feel the sweat drip down my back as my body temperature rises and my limbs flow from movement to movement. I feel the resistance in moments of difficulty. My body reminds me that it can move through. It reminds me that moving through the difficult poses will make me stronger. That moving through the difficult moments will make me stronger. My body reminds me that it is strong. My body reminds me that I can handle anything that comes my way.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. "So hum" I sing in my head. I am truth. Truth is my name.

I dance the dance, slowly, beautifully, drawing on the energy of those in my presence. Strangers whose energy fills me up and propels me forward when I am uncertain that I can propel myself. And I know that I too have given them the energy in moments when they were lacking...What a gift we have to give energy to others and to rely on it from them when we are in moments of need.

Inhale, exhale. My body feels strong, my mind feels wise. I am one with myself for a moment and I am reminded of the beauty within.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale...

Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 8:15 PM 0 comments  

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