Bloggers

When I started blogging it was really only for my sister and my mother. They have always enjoyed my take on things so I recapped my weekends for them. Little by little my writings grew in to more than just things for the two of them. I started telling stories about my ever growing herd of cats, I started writing my occasional column called, "Free Paint" and my other column called, "Where's My Red Pen". I never, ever dreamed that anyone other than my two family members would be reading...and I never dreamed that I would get so caught up in the reading of other blogs. There is an entire world of people out there who write blogs. Pretty much all of them have more readers than I do and that's fine. I don't know if I could survive the pressure if I had had an actual fan base full of people I don't know.

Last week I attended a meeting of bloggers and as I sat in "Las Brisas" the beeautiful cliff side restaurant in Laguna Beach..and watched the following people come in one by one...I wondered if they ever dreamed that they would reach such great heights of popularity as they are all enjoying these days. All of them are simply women, (and one man!), who have the ability to put their thoughts in to writing and make me laugh just about every day. And to me they are rock stars!

Please meet Y from http://www.joyunexpected.com/ Suzanne from http://www.twentyfouratheart.com/
Neil from http://www.citizenofthemonth.com/
Meredith, who currently doesn't have a blog..

Kim from http://heartshapedhedges.blogspot.com/
Kirsten from http://coffeeteasodapoppeets.blogspot.com/
Beckey from http://hippobrigade.com/


And last but not least...the reason why we all met at this fabu place on a cliff...

Meet Georgia from http://www.iambossy.com/

Georgia, or Bossy as we tended to call her...is on a cross country trip on her "No Book Tour". Ford has given her a lovely car to drive that she has lovingly named Harrison. ("Harrison Ford", get it?) This is her 2nd cross country trip where she goes from state to state and meets up with groups of her blogging friends. I would love to say that I had a nice long chat with her and was as eloquent as I am when I'm speaking to anyone...however...I was dumbfounded the minute I met the 2nd person to arrive from this group. (I was worried about being late and I got there first!) As each person arrived I found myself turning more and more in to an intimidated goon. I was engaged in conversation by everyone pictured and pretty much every time I opened my mouth something a tad less intelligent than, "Um, duh..." came tumbling out of my mouth.

I hope to get a do over with all of my new friends so that I can prove to them that I am capable of stringing together a complete sentence...and I might even be able to make them laugh, too! (Look at me setting my sights all high and everything!)

Celebrity List touch up...

I don't usually post the same thing twice but I wanted to add some more people and include brief comments about my sightings....


Al Jarreau (Sat next to him at a restaurant in Westwood.)
Angelyne (At a restaurant in Hollywood)(Picture Estelle Ghetty with botox and spandex!)
Anson Williams VERY NICE GUY. (Spent the summer with him in Hawaii, he was directing Baywatch and my bro in law was the 1st AD.)
Anthony Edwards VERY NICE GUY (On the ER set)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (At the Jay Leno show)
Bean Baxter (Local celeb from KROQ morning show) (At a VIP party during a concert)
Bill Mahr (At a Jackson Browne listening party)
Bill Smitrovitch (On the Live Goes On set)
Billy Barty (At the Billy Barty Show)
Bob Colburn (Iconic DJ at KLOS radio station and host of “Rock Line) (At an interview)
Bobby Sherman (He attended my 10 year high school reunion!)
Brian May (guitarist of “Queen”) (Saw him at a Kiss concert in the audience)
Carmine Appice HIT ME IN THE HEAD WITH HIS ELBOW AND DIDN'T SAY SORRY!(At a convention)
Catherine Bach VERY DRUNK (Stepped on my date’s toe at a Prince concert)
Cee-Lo (Lead singer for “Gnarles Barkley”) (Saw him leaving the venue of a KROQ concert)
Chad Lowe VERY NICE GUY (On the Life Goes On set)
Charlie Brumbly (On the Baywatch set)
Chastity Bono (At the Sonny & Cher show)
Chris Burke (On the Life Goes On set)
Corbin Bernsen (On the Baywatch Set)
Daisy Fuentes SELF IMPORTANT BEAST (On the Baywatch Set)
David Hasselhoff (On the Baywatch Set)
David Lee Roth WOULDN't GIVE ME HIS AUTOGRAPH (In a 7-11 on Sunset Blvd.)
David Letterman (At a filming of Don Kirchner’s Rock Concert)
David Naughton JERK (“An American Werewolf in London”) (At a benefit concert)
Denzel Washington (At the Jay Leno Show)
Dr. Drew VERY NICE GUY (Celebrity Rehab) (At a KROQ concert)
Efren Ramirez (“Pedro” in “Napoleon Dynamite”) (At a KROQ concert)
Ellen DeGeneres (At her show)
Elton John (Ran in to him leaving the Jay Leno Show)
Eriq LaSalle (On the ER set)
Fred Savage (At the Pasadena Play House)
George Clooney VERY NICE GUY (On the set of ER)
Gloria Reuben (On the set of ER)
Gov. Jerry Brown (At a No Nukes reception)
Ike Turner (At a bar in Hollywood)
Jack LaLanne (At a Fashion Show)
Jack Sherman (Red Hot Chili Peppers) (I know his sister and I met him in his dressing room.)
Jackson Browne NICEST GUY EVER! (In the line for the bathroom at a listening party)
Jacques Cousteau (At a No Nukes reception)
Jason Brooks (On the Baywatch set)
Jason Mamoa NICE, NICE GUY. (On the Baywatch set)
Jay Leno (At his show)
Jeff Conaway (At Bono’s restaurant)
Jessica Lang (Arriving at the Shrine Auditorium to see Baryshnikov dance)
Jewel (At the Jay Leno show)
Jim Belushi TRIED TO GET ME TO JOIN HIM IN HIS WINNEBAGO DRESSING ROOM IN THE EARLY 80's.(On the street when he was filming a movie)
Joe Perry (At an interview)
Joe Walsh (At a benefit concert, in the audience)
John Ritter (At a restaurant in Westwood)
Jose Eber’ (At the Dream Maker show)
Juilana Marguiles SELF IMPORTANT (On the ER Set)
Kabir Bedhi (Bollywood actor) (At the Mike Douglas Show)
Kate Jackson MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU'D IMAGINE (In the elevator of the 1 Wilshire Bldg.)
Kelly Martin (On the Live Goes on set and at the Pasadena Play house.)
Laura Diaz LESS THAN 5 FEET TALL. (Newcaster on ABC channel 7 in Los Angeles) (Interviewed a student at the school where I used to work.)
Loretta Swit (At the Farmers Market)
Luther Vandross (At a bar in Hollywood)
Marty Allen (In the elevator in Century City)
Michael Anthony (At a girl friend’s house and again at a music store in HB)
Michael Bergin (On the Baywatch set)
Michael Newman (On the Baywatch set)
Mick Mars VERY GENTLE HUMAN BEING (At a convention)
Nigel Olsen (In a bar in Hollywood)
Nikki Sixx (At a convention)
Noah Wiley (On the ER set)
Paul Stanley (At a convention)
Patti LuPone (On the Life Goes On set)
Psycho Mike (Local celeb from KROQ morning show)
REO Speedwagon: Gary Ritchrath & Alan Gratzer (At the bank)
Richard Simmons VERY NICE AND FUN PERSON(at his show)
Rockin’ Fig (Local radio celebrity) (At the beach)
Rod Stewart (On Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills)
Ronald & Russell Mael (“Sparks”) (At the Farmers market)
Ronnie Vanucci (Drummer for “The Killers”) (Walking in to the KROQ show)
Scott Weiland (Lead singer of “Stone Temple Pilots” & “Velvet Revolver”) (At an interview)
Sharon Lawrence (At a premiere party)
Sheila E. (At a convention)
Sherry Stringfield (On the ER set)
Sonny & Cher (At their TV show)
Stacy Kamona (On the Baywatch set)
Steven Tyler REMIND ME TO TELL YOU MY STORY ABOUT HIM.(At an interview)
Stryker (Local celeb from KROQ morning show and one time Ellen DeGeneres DJ) (At a KROQ concert)
Susan Blakely (70’s super model) (In the audience of the Stephen Bishop concert)
Susie Coelho (Actress/model, Sonny Bono’s 3rd wife) (At Bono’s restaurant)
Suzanne Somers (At the Ellen Show)
Ted Lange (Walking down the streets of Westwood)
The Cars (In a hotel lobby)
Tim Mc Graw (At the Jay Leno Show)
Timothy B. Schmidt (At an Aerosmith concert)
Todd Rundgren HUGGED ME! (In the bar at the House of Blues)
Tom Arnold NICE GUY (On the Baywatch Set)
Tom Delonge NICE GUY. (Lead singer for “Angels & Airwaves” & “Blink 182”) (Walking in to the KROQ show)
Tom Sholz (At a convention)
Tommy Lasorda (At the high school where I used to work, scouting Chuckie Tiffany)
Tony Danza (At Bono’s Restaurant)
Trudy Styler (Sting's wife) (At a benefit concert, in the audience)
Vasili Bazianos (“Benny Sago” on “All My Children”) (At the Pasadena Play House)
Wendy Jo Sperber (The older sister on “Back to the Future) (At the Pasadena Play House)
Ralph Garman (Local celeb from KROQ morning show, he is also a voice character on Family Guy.) (At a VIP party during a KROQ concert.)
Don Steele (Iconic DJ from KRLA) (At the filming of the original “Death Race 2000)

Brushes with greatness

It seems like I've been spending a lot of time at The Jason Show (http://jason-thejasonshow.blogspot.com/2009/01/star-sighting-divine-miss-m.html) but who can blame me? He always has something fun going on and I enjoy his company. Last weekend he told the story of how he went to a concert and saw Bette Midler sitting in the audience and then asked what celebrity sightings we in blogland have had. I started to write up a comment but my list got so big that I thought that I should just make it a post on my own blog instead of taking up so much space on his comment section. So my list is below. I'm sure that it could be longer if I put more thought in to it, this is just off the top of my head. I have been very blessed to live in Southern California all of my life and especially to have lived in Hollywood/Beverly Hills and to have a relative in the biz.

I tried to identify some of the more obscure celebrities, but if you don't recognize them or if you want to know where I saw them just ask in the comments and I'll fill you in. Please note that none of these sightings are from events I paid to attend. (Well, some of them were people I saw at events I paid to attend but I saw them in the audience...they weren't who I paid to see.) That list would be twice as long!

Al Jarreau
Anson Williams
Anthony Edwards
Arnold Swartzeneger
Bill Smitrovitch
Billy Barty
Bobby Sherman (He attended my 10 year high school reunion!)
Brian May (guitarist of “Queen”)
Catherine Bach
Cee-Lo (Lead singer for “Gnarles Barkley”)
Chad Lowe
Charlie Brumbly
Chastity Bono
Chris Burke
Corbin Bernsen
Daisy Fuentes
David Hasselhoff
David Lee Roth
David Letterman
Denzel Washington
Dr. Drew (Celebrity Rehab)
Efren Ramirez(“Pedro” in “Napoleon Dynamite”)
Ellen DeGeneres
Elton John
Eriq LaSalle
Fred Savage
George Clooney
Gloria Reuben
Gov. Jerry Brown
Ike Turner
Jackson Browne
Jacques Cousteau
Jason Brooks
Jason Mamoa
Jay Leno
Jeff Conaway
Jessica Lang
Jewel
Jim Belushi
Joe Perry
Joe Walsh
John Ritter
Jose Eber’
Juilana Marguiles
Kabir Bedhi (Bollywood actor)
Kate Jackson
Kelly Martin
Loretta Swit
Luther Vandross
Marty Allen
Michael Anthony
Micheal Bergin
Micheal Newman
Nigel Olsen
Noah Wiley
Patti LuPone
REO Speedwagon: Gary Ritchrath & Alan Gratzer
Richard Simmons
Rod Stewart
Ronald & Russell Mael (“Sparks”)
Ronnie Vanucci (Drummer for “The Killers”)
Sharon Lawrence
Sherry Stringfield
Sonny & Cher
Stacy Kamona
Steven Tyler
Susan Blakely(70’s super model)
Susie Coelho (Actress/model, Sonny Bono’s 3rd wife)
Ted Lange
The Cars
Tim Mc Graw
Timothy B. Schmidt
Todd Rundgren
Tom Arnold
Tom Delonge (Lead singer for “Angels & Airwaves” & “Blink 182”)
Tommy Lasorda
Tony Danza
Trudy Styler ((Sting's wife)
Vasili Bazianos (“Benny Sago” on “All My Children”)
Wendy Jo Sperber (The older sister on “Back to the Future”)

Dream Maker

Yesterday I started to write a post about the time when I filmed an episode of "Richard Simmons Dream Maker". I meant to save it and finish it but instead of hitting 'save', I hit the publish button.

So here's the story....

In 1999 a former friend of mine had seen the commercials asking for people who deserve to have their dreams come true. I had undergone 2 cancer surgeries, a year of chemo and radiation and the demise of my marriage to Richard and former friend thought that it was time that something nice happened to me. She contacted the show and told them my tale of woe and they invited us to come out to watch the taping of the very first episode.

I was told that we were simply going to watch a tv show get taped and that I should dress nicely. We were all going to meet at former friends house and drive in to Los Angeles together. I thought something was up when a town car arrived to take us to the city, but former friend always did things in a big way and it really wasn't that unusual for her to do something out of the ordinary like that.

The town car dropped us off in the back of the studio with 100's of other people and we had to sit and wait to go in just like everyone else. As our group was going through the door they asked us if we exercised and I told them that I pretty much never exercised. They asked me if I would be interested in exercising on the show with Richard Simmons and before I could even answer...my party, (former friend, Tori and my mom) has disappeared. They had a couple of other people that they had picked for this segment and we were all hustled to a segregated waiting room. We all sat there trying to make small talk and then Richard Simmons came in to say hello and to get us all jazzed up and ready to get our bodies moving. Richard Simmons is every bit as happy, charming, sparkling and short as he appears on television. He gave all of us hugs and said that he'd see us shortly. A couple of minutes later a page took all of us from the waiting room and ushered us down a hall and through about 10 doors and stopped behind a heavy theater curtain. The page told us we had to be very quiet and we stood there and listened as Richard Simmons was talking to the audience about the importance of exercising. Then all of a sudden the page was opening the curtain and shoving me on to the stage. I expected the rest of the group to come out with me but they just stood there waving me out there. I was totally Bambi in headlights. The lights were so bright and I was so confused that I seriously considered bolting in the other direction...then I saw my sister sitting in the audience and she was already in tears.

Richard Simmons and I did a couple of stretches and then he admitted that I wasn't there to exercise. With tears in his eyes he told my cancer/surgery/chemo/divorce story and then told me that it was time something nice happened to me. He put his arm around me and told me to look to my right. A curtain opened up and Jose' Eber (http://joseeberatelier.com/jose/index.html) was sitting there looking as cute as a button in his trade mark hat and pony tail. I have always adored Jose' Eber and I couldn't believe he was sitting right in front of me. I don't really know what Richard Simmons was saying at that time...the only words I heard were "Glam Make Over". When he got done talking he asked me if I had anything to say so I looked at Jose' and I pointed to my sister and I asked him if he could look at her and say..his trademark quip..."Shake your head, darling." (with his french accent he says, "Sake oo head, dahling") He obliged and I just melted.

After that the lights dimmed and the cameras were off. Jose disappeared and I was literally run to another part of the studio. They had a room all set up with every beauty product known to man kind and there was a wardrobe lady who had a rack of clothes for me to pick from. Sadly, former friend told them that I was a size 9 and at the time I was closer to a 6 petite. Most of the clothes on the rack didn't fit. I did find one beautiful black dress that fit even though it was a tad low cut for someone who wasn't able to go without a bra. All of the shoes were size 7 and I wear a 5 but I found a pair that I could buckle tight enough that they wouldn't fall off of my feet when I took a step. They told me that I was going to get to keep anything that I picked to wear...including a new prosthetic breast and figure flattering underwear! The only thing I wasn't able to keep was jewelry.

After I found an outfit to wear I sat down in a beauty parlor chair and a team of beauticians surrounded me and they were all talking to Jose' in French. I had no idea what they were saying but I trusted that they all knew what they were doing so I just sat back and enjoyed the attention. In the following 90 minutes my hair was cut, colored and styled and I had a whole face of movie star make up. (The guy who did my make up looked like Pocahontas. I am not kidding.) I was in complete awe as to how beautiful they made me look. The pictures I posted really don't do any justice because I really don't like to have my picture taken so I freeze up when ever a camera is pointed in my direction. I doubt if there will ever be another moment in my life where I feel so glamorous. It was all I could do not to flit around the dressing room singing, "I feel pret-ty, oh so pret-ty.."

I carefully put my new outfit on and the wardrobe lady draped me in jewelry and rushed me to the spot behind the curtain. Richard Simmons made a speech that I didn't hear one word of and then just like in a beauty pageant the lights went on and the curtain went up and the crowd roared. I took a couple of precarious steps forward. I was afraid to take any more steps than absolutely necessary for fear that I would walk right out of my shoes. As I stood there, Richard was crying and I could see my mom, sister and former friend in the audience crying, too. Richard told the audience that I was going to get to keep everything I was wearing and that I was going to get to go on a Beverly Hills shopping spree and that I would be able to keep up my new look with Jose' Eber. It was an amazing moment in the spot light and then just like that it was all finished.

I was rushed back to the dressing room and my mom and sister came back to greet me. We all posed for pictures with Jose' and here is a word to the wise. If you ever get a chance to take a picture with Jose Eber...DO NOT TRY TO TOUCH HIM. It is an automatic reaction for most people when posing for a picture to put an arm around the person in the picture with them. All of us just about got clothes lined when we did this. He never said anything but he made a huge gesture when he thwarted any bodily contact with each one of us. We wanted to take pictures with Richard Simmons and his people kept promising that he would be up to the dressing rooms shortly...but he never did. The powers that be told me that we had to collect our goods and leave the dressing room so I changed back in to my street clothes. When I came back from changing my clothes I discovered that whom ever cleaned up the dressing room when I was gone had "cleaned up" my new prosthetic breast. We asked everyone we saw if they knew who picked it up but no one would tell us who the culprit was. We also asked about the promised hair upkeep and the shopping spree and oddly no one knew anything about that either. I knew that I was never going to see the new prosthesis again but I figured that the producers would contact me about the other promised gifts.

On the way home I found out that before the filming of the show Richard Simmons was out in the crowd offering money to the person who could come up with the most songs with the word 'dream' in the title. My sister managed to wipe the floor with the competition and used her winnings to take us all out to dinner that night.

It was a fabulously fun day and I just wish I had a video camera strapped to my head because my portion of the episode never aired. We saw several parts of the episode that was filmed that day but my story never made the cut. We tried to contact the producer on many occasions to get an air date and to see what happened to my shopping spree and none of us were ever able to get through to a real person. I even tried to email everyone on that staff and no one ever replied to me. I also called Jose' Eber's Beverly Hills salon and they said that they didn't give discounts to anyone. Ever.

I often wonder about the person who walked away with my new prosthetic boob and my shopping spree.... What IS the well dressed woman with 3 boobs wearing these days?