While the Chair finds himself knee (cushion?) deep in finishing up a very exciting project, in lieu of a more traditional Notes post, here are the topics of the week that he just couldn’t resist commenting on. I mean, cmon, Adele has a new song, we can’t let that fly by.
Wait.. isn’t that my shtick?
Hillary got a free 11-hour commercial courtesy of the Republican Party and solidified Dem nomination and likelihood of being the first female president. Here’s why.
Remember the skier at the Sochi Olympics who saved a bunch of stray Russian puppies and brought them back to the US? Oh, and won a silver medal? His name is Gus Kenworthy and he came out this week. Yup, he’s gay. And a great guy. The world is changing. (Note: He’s also single, 24 and looking for a boyfriend… just sayin’).
As Adele would say.. Hello!
Speaking of… Adele dropped her new single. Sophomore slump? Oh, I don’t think so. It’s brilliant, as is the video. Pure Adele.
The Republican Apprentice is losing steam in Iowa. The latest poll has him with 19% of the vote, in second place behind Dr. Ben Carson, who has 28%. Do we need a nickname for the new frontrunner? Dr. Knowlittle?
Both my dog and I got a haircut. She’s still adorable.
Feelin’ pretty
A former student of mine sent me a great Google site that has lots of TV scripts of all genres. It also has bibles (Note: Not THOSE kind) and pitches. (Note 2: Check out the pitch for New Girl). A must-see for aspiring TV writers – and their teachers. Thanks, Emma!
The new Star Wars trailer dropped in the middle of Monday Night Football. I was not watching either at the time. I’m not sure if this means I’m less of a culture vulture as I thought or hipper than pretty much anyone else around.
This Carrie Fisher performance is more my cup of tea.
Fox announced that Laverne Cox will star as Frank-N-Furter in their planned 2-hour film reboot of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yes, a trans woman will play a character who hails from Transsexual, Transylvania on one of our four TV networks. This is something I couldn’t have imagined in the seventies. Not the fourth network. And not the casting.
It’s my husband’s and my 28th anniversary. Though it’s only our six-month wedding anniversary. Do you honor both? Does this mean two presents?
Vice-President Joe Biden will not be running for president. I managed to turn out the blog (sort of) while meeting a script deadline. The world is changing.
I’m not religious or particularly spiritual. Pretty much I think that when you die (Note: That’s YOU, not ME) it’s the end. I most certainly don’t imagine there’s a heaven or a hell, especially given the sheer numbers that have come before me. And if there is, well, I can’t imagine facing the same kind of overcrowding we’re now experiencing in Los Angeles. The mind, or whatever would be left of it at that point, boggles at the traffic. In either direction.
But still….
And yet…
There are those moments.
Here’s a story:
Many moons ago in the 1970s I went to grad school. I was 20 at the time, a too young overachiever with an attitude about many things I knew nothing about. This served me well since I was in journalism school and the ability to play along and ask intelligent questions about subjects one knows nothing about with a certain air of…confidence…is an essential skill. It is a skill that, in fact, I occasionally call on to this day. As most of our readers and subscribers realize and have probably come to expect, if not sometimes dread.
Anyway, I was unbelievably lucky back then to fall in with a small group of fellow students who grounded me through our intensive one-year, four quarter (nee semesters for those not in academia) program. One of these people, let’s call her “A” to protect her privacy, actually did die this week. Even though she and I hadn’t talked in the last number of years we all managed to sporadically keep in touch through social media, or via others in the group who had spoken to one of us and had information about someone else. Unfortunately – or perhaps realistically – this is how it goes as we get older. It doesn’t mean the love isn’t still there. In actuality, it’s quite the opposite. At any given moment, any of us could call the other and pick up almost exactly where we left off.
My lovely friends…. and hair
These enduring friendships, which are often formed at pivotal, peak moments in our lives or developmental cycles (Note: Which hopefully happen all through our lives) are the closest I get to religious experiences. Which makes the following all the more ironic. See, A was not only smart (a Smith gal) but one of the nicest and pure of heart people you’d ever want to meet. This has nothing to do with her untimely death – which is, I suspect, what you’re thinking about now. Rather, she was…to put it bluntly…just….nice. Like…..sweet. Almost naive. Except, she wasn’t by any means. More specifically she was a gentle soul.
Who LOVED The Beatles.
Particularly PAUL MCCARTNEY.
Yes, Paul McCartney. Of The Beatles. Not Band on the Run Paul McCartney or the Michael Jackson dueting This Girl is Mine Paul McCartney. Certainly not Silly Love Songs or even Live and Let Die Paul McCartney. Though I’m sure she very much liked all of those. (Note: Eh, maybe she could’ve done without the Jackson tune, but, well, I’ll never quite know).
That’s our Paul
She enjoyed Ringo, George and most certainly John (NOTE: That’s Starr, Harrison and Lennon for my students, who I don’t ever underestimate but whom I always want to make sure I inform in case they’re in the dark). But Paul – talented Paul – adorable floppy-haired Paul, the Paul of Yesterday – A was all about him.
So much so that when A was put into hospice care her husband hired a guitarist to play Beatles music for her, with what I’m sure was a serious bent towards the Paul canon. By the second day A was not speaking at all so her cousin asked the musician to play something other than The Beatles, if only for a change of pace. To which A said, after 24 hours of silence: NO, JUST THE BEATLES!
Those were her final words.
I’ll miss you dear friend
At her memorial service some time later, all five speakers talked about A’s love of The Beatles, and especially Paul McCartney. There was a deli around the corner from the funeral home that one member of our group, let’s call her J, ducked into with some other mourners afterwards to eat. So imagine their surprise when, sometime between ordering the corned beef and chowing down on the pastrami on rye, who walks in for lunch but —
Paul McCartney. Yes, THAT Paul McCartney.
Does he even live in NYC? Who knew he liked NY deli? And you mean, he just sort of mosies around town ducking in and out of places that sell items like knishes, dill pickles and sable? Well, I guess so.
This seemed like the right time to post this gem
J, who told me this story, which I’m sharing with you, decided she had to go over and thank Paul for the joy that he brought our friend. She shared it all – bits of her life, the moments before her death. She said he seemed very touch by the whole thing.
Maybe he’ll write a song about it. Or one of you will. Or perhaps it will inspire something else.
Now, this may all be a coincidence. I mean, why wouldn’t Paul McCartney be in NYC, right? And I mean, it’s not the 1960s, 70s or 80s – he could probably slip in and out of eateries all day without being too mobbed, right? But why that moment?
Well, a cynic like me could say why not? Except, in this moment I find myself to be – dare I say it – a believer. In exactly what, I’m not sure. But it’s the same leap of faith I make as a writer when I sit down to the blank page. Or as a potential lover when I decide to expose (literally!) my entire self to an individual who for some reason I want to take a chance on. Or as a friend when I meet a new person, or group of people, I decide in that moment would be a good idea to invite into my life.
It’s all guesswork and chance, right?
No, it’s faith.
Which has NOTHING to do with RELIGION.
And everything to do with The Beatles. Or more precisely, Paul McCartney.
notes from a chair 