L A Stories

The movie watching spot in my studio...when I'm actually watching

I love Claudette Colbert. I realize how mouldy that makes me, but after watching 'The Palm Beach Story' again last night I repeat, I love Claudette Colbert. She was sequined & sparkling, rapier-sharp, sardonic without any hint of bitterness, all a fine line that so few actresses managed to straddle. Myrna Loy had it too, & it was (I believe) unique to that era. 

After Claudette, I moved on to Grace in 'Dial M.'  She managed an iciness the first two lack, probably a factor of looking he way she did. I prefer her in 'High Society,' but that may be the reflection of her in the fun mirror of her other cast members--Crosby, Sinatra, Holm, Stewart, Armstrong.  

What goes on in my studio when I'm watching movies with my back--the million mermaid march, all awaiting heads & wigs

I've watched these DVDs so many times, I now watch them with my back.  

I sit at my desk, making mermaid fannies or whatever, listening to the movie behind me as if it were an old radio serial. They are frivolous, pure entertainment, like cotton candy a la mode smothered in whipped cream, i.e. the perfect substitute for the junk food I've given up. Full of 'smarm 'n charm,' they weigh no more on your mind than a gnat on a trampoline.

Yesterday was the seventeenth (my lucky number, incidentally) anniversary of the airing of the first episode of 'West Wing,' my absolute fave for when I'm in the mood for something more substantial. I'm on my second set of WW disks (having worn out the first set), plus I stream it on Netflix when I'm in the living room.  It is my 'fetal position go-to,' for when I can't make sense of my world or THE world. It gives me hope (albeit fictional) for humanity when I can't find that elsewhere, makes logic from chaos, & always leaves me researching something else, learning something new, & wondering (in a good way) about the future.