Craig, Pity Party and Pole Dancing

It's been a very strange week. I had thought the high point of wackiness was Craig's latest Marathon run(for which he trained at such places as The House of Pies ). I was promised a pie by his lovely girlfriend. It never made it out of his house. And then there was Craig vs filming weirdness at Central City Studio, current home of the Archive. Did Craig know about the Little Person in the dog suit? Did Craig notice that it was Lorenzo Lamas tied up on the bed in the motel set with the chihuahua? Craig has had a curious history with little people since his days as a carny. His issues with Lorenzo Lamas go back to high school. It had been that kind of week, and the kind of fun that has to have the singularly twisted running commentary of Craig. I had enough material for a few blogs between the Marathon and the studio wackiness. Alas, most of what I wanted to cover went out of my head with the latest Doctor's visit.

It's My (Pity) Party
No, the news wasn't terrible nor was it unexpected. I finally met with the surgical team that will be doing the procedure that is part of my cancer treatment. I'll be admitted in about a month for the surgical procedure and the follow-up chemotherapy. The doctors are very talented and they are familiar with this sort of cancer. One member of the team is a rare expert on it. After meeting them, I left very confident that I am in good hands. I still feel that way. However, there was something about the visit that left me crestfallen When I was given the worst case scenario for recovery time (the worst case scenario is all they gave me on every aspect of the procedures and hospital stay for insurance purposes), I realized that I'll be almost back to square one after this surgery. Even though I'm much, much stronger going in this time than in December, having chemo along with the surgery will leave me as physically weak. And that was a major bummer. Thus, I had a quiet though intense freak out about the litany of worst case possibilities before spiraling into a depression about the loss of my autonomy for several weeks to a few months. This was tough to get past as I feel better than I have in over a year(the amount of time all my Doctors believe I was sick). The thought of going back to counting being able to get a glass of water on my own as a victory was not sitting well. Everything I planned to blog about went out of my head – even the little person in the dog suit. All my plans for the upcoming months were in great doubt.

But I had to get past it. And I had to stop freaking out about what might happen. Patients have to go into these procedures with the most positive attitude possible (That's a tall order from a Doc who just scared the bejesus out of me making sure I gave informed consent). How did I get past the consultation of doom in hospital last December, you ask. One word, cats and kittens,, morphine! She could have told me I'd have four arms and two necks after that first surgery, and I would have responded 'sounds good to me, Doc. Let's get to it.' As always, I found solace in food – and my muses yelling at me (thank you, Sarah and Miss Kim). The library notified me that my copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking had arrived. Thus, I had a lovely walk in the spring sunshine to pick it up and do some browsing in the neighborhood shops. Julia provided inspiration but the walk to and from the Library was the revelation. I have about a month to walk in the sunshine, to cook and eat really good food and, most importantly, to rest. I can be a lot stronger and healthier than I was in December. Thus, I needn't be all the way back at square one. It felt good to take control over this aspect of my treatment. But what about those worse case scenarios? Well, after giving it some calm thought, I realized that I had heard those warnings – almost verbatim in their scariness– before my first surgery. None of those problems came to be, and I was a heck of lot sicker and weaker back then. I'm not ignoring the warnings. I'm just not going to let them panic me.

Meanwhile...
Before everything hit the fan, we had some very productive meetings regarding one of the film projects. It was a lot of fun refining a pitch to just one paragraph and an entire film down to one page. Our funding connection approved. Now, we wait. If everything goes as I expect, we'll get a green light just before I go into the hospital. But such is the whimsy of the film trade. We'll figure something out. I think. I'm also developing a pilot for a health and fitness show hosted by Dr. Paul Drew, a sports medicine expert, personal trainer and author of Red Carpet Posture. We've been planning segments involving fitness while flying, while in the office cubicle and the best and most fun way to exercise one's way to the optimum fitness and posture. That's where the pole dancing came in. Don't scoff. A lot of physical control is required to work the pole while in those heels. I consider those ladies athletes (though I'm unsure about it deserving a spot in the Olympics, but then again, does ribbon dancing?). And no, there will be no photos of me on that thing. I'm a klutz, remember? I'd rather not have to explain to my team of surgeons why the procedures are postponed and why I have to be in traction. Besides, I don't want to horrify the kin that's on Facebook and who read this blog. Maybe I can get Jon to take a turn. I will now pause in the writing of this to laugh hysterically.

Once the decision not to panic was made, the exhaustion finally hit. I've spent the last few days more asleep than awake. Thus, many of my ambitions for this week went down the tubes. Even so, I managed to do a little cooking and continue my research. I am really enjoying the time I have to read. I've been really giving my new library card a workout. It's like working at Borders again where I could borrow whatever struck my fancy. I'm borrowing books that I would never consider buying, and they are a hoot to read. And I'll certainly have the time to read while I'm convalescing. I'm almost certain to be down another dress size – my undergrad size. There are some positives to all of this.

So, my plans for the next few weeks is more walking – hopefully a walk of some length each day, lot of rest and good food. And I'm going to start my Bollywood routine this week. There will be no pictures if I can help it.

Stay tuned.

What's Cooking Thursday through Sunday

Why so many days, you ask? I got a bit ambitious last week. I think it's due to nervousness over the appointments this week. Or I'm just crazy with boredom. There is a limit to how many court reality shows one can watch in a given week. I've finally reached mine. Whatever the reason, I had a bit of a cooking frenzy last week, but I'm still a bit slow in my execution of a dish, especially when it's a new one. I made a few new dishes, so the time span for executing them was even longer than usual. My cooking of late has been market driven. I've been deciding what I'll make based on what is on sale in the circulars we receive on Tuesdays or in-store specials. Thus, my goal for Friday's meatless dinner was the elusive Fish Soup Provencal. There was a sale on lobster tails at one of the nearby markets. At less than $4 per tail, I couldn't pass them up. I have a great seafood stock recipe that involves shellfish shells. I had some shrimp in the freezer from a previous sale. It seemed like destiny. On a side note, I finally learned to cook shrimp and lobster tails without overcooking them. I roast them without the shells in a hot oven. I coat them with a little olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. For some reason, I get it right with that method. When I boil or steam shell fish, I can't seem to not make them rubbery and overcooked.

Now, keeping in mind that I'm still slow and tire easily, I also brought home a nice piece of Alaskan cod as a back up for dinner(on sale as well). That was prudent. We ended up having homemade filet o'fish sandwiches with a side of fries Friday night. I finished the soup on Saturday. The fish sandwiches were very good. The soup was quite yummy. It wasn't the toe curling goodness I sampled at the Food Fare last week, but it was quite yummy. I didn't have the moxy or energy to whip up some aioli or rouille that typically garnishes this soup. That will have to wait for another, far more ambitious day. Besides, I like to make sure that I can execute the recipe so well that it stands out on its own. Then, I can make the clever garnish or sauce that goes with it. However, my soup was not unadorned. I made these amazing, healthy and decadent croutons to go with it and my side salad. Healthy and decadent, you say. How can that be? It can be when it's Deep Fried Eggplant Croutons. This bit of brilliance is courtesy of Food Network chef Aaron McCargo Jr – also a denizen of the Delaware Valley. I threw a twist on his recipe by also using zucchinis with the eggplant. It is very tasty in the soup and salad or on it's own when you're warming up the soup and get the munchies.

The other big thing on sale this week was pork shoulder. I bought two large roasts this time (it was under $1 a pound). I made the slow roasted pulled pork again, but I tried something completely daring with the other one. I actually made Scrapple from a recipe that was featured on Diners Drive-ins and Dives. Instead of pork scraps, the cook made hers with slow cooked pork shoulder chopped fine and mixed with stock from the cooking, corn meal and fresh sage. And it actually worked! The texture was denser and less fragile than the brand we were buying out here. And the flavor was really good. I got tickled when I was loading the mixture into the loaf pans. The texture reminded me of a dense corn muffin batter. I considered glopping some into a muffin pan and making meat muffins for Anthony Bourdain. He'd appreciate that.

More on the Year of Fun activities and the latest on the film and TV projects later today or late tonight.

The Golden Era Begins -- Food Fest

Last week was stellar in so many ways. I had some great news about my diagnosis and the upcoming treatment. Professionally, long dormant projects had a sudden and major lurch forward while we were also tapped to write something entirely new for someone else. I've had some wonderfully productive meetings, read some fascinating books. And then there was all of the food. I hardly know where to begin. Actually, I do. I can't really get into details about why the film projects are suddenly active other than Jon and I had nothing to do with their jump starting. We were largely mind our own business in each case. I am very hopeful about this situation as the party involved has begun the legal due diligence(proof of ownership of the material, etc.) that generally only happens when a contract is in the offing. This sort of inquiry hasn't happened since Demon Under Glass got funded. Needless to say, we're very optimistic. And, naturally, at a time when I'll be extremely taxed physically, more than one project must heat up. No worries. I'll just get a litter and some bearers like Cleopatra (well, maybe not that elaborate. It would take forever to get into a room. And then there is all that extra food). And I'll get some extra minions (aka Pas) to do my bidding if need be. Interviewing them could be fun. They'd have to be young and strapping with lots of stamina....What were we talking about? Yes, making films again. We'll work it out when the time comes. This looks to be a fabulous opportunity. More on this in the next segment.

Month of Fun – Supersized!!

My good friend and occasional muse, Kim Berglund, pointed out recently that as I turn 50 this year, I should have way more than a month of fun. She proposed and I agreed that the occasion called for a Year of Fun. And while that year would run from May 2010 to May 2011, I also agreed with her assertion that I shouldn't wait until May if some fun presented itself sooner. I freely acknowledge that my life hasn't been a boatload of fun lately, but I know that I should be open to anything out here.

Anything came in the form of a trivia contest by Zesterdaily.com, a website and newsletter about all aspects of food and wine. The prize for winning the contest was two tickets to the annual Planned Parenthood Food Fare, a fundraiser in which dozens of local restaurants and merchants gather to sample, sell and auction off their wares to raise money for the valuable services offered by this organization. I answered the trivia question and then promptly forgot all about it. I seldom win these sorts of things and it was best not to think of what could be where all of that yummy food was concerned. When I received the e-mail from Zesterdaily.com, I almost didn't read it. I was really busy that day and figured that I could save the newsletter for another day. Fortunately, I did peek. I had won two tickets. Unfortunately, the Food Fare was the very next day, so I couldn't find anyone to go with me. But it was now The Year of Fun. I was ready to go it alone.

I have often availed myself of the services of Planned Parenthood since the age of 18. When between jobs that actually have health insurance, it is a good place for the annual 'Female Exams' that are vital to a woman's health. I don't have a lot of money to donate to the cause, so I thought I would blog about the wonderful vendors that came out to support it. I couldn't get to them all, unfortunately. However, if my readers support them and let them know why, I am confident that they will be back next year to aid this excellent cause. Why am I taking pictures of food? That's Kim's fault as well.

Elixir G – ElixirG.com – This is a ginger infused cocktail mix. I think it can be used for any sort of refreshing drink like a zippier lemonade in the summer or a spicier virgin margeuritia. I happened to have a Gingerita plopped into my grasp as I crossed the threshold. That one had tequila in it. Yummy! And who can dislike any event that begins with a cocktail?

Thyme Market and Cafe – Thymecafeandmarket.com. 1630 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405. The website offers gourmet boxes and products for delivery. This lovely establishments is mere steps from my primary care physician and yet I've never chanced to pop in. Silly me! They had generous samples of their Pressed Roasted Turkey, Caramelized Onion, Arugula & Brie on Ciabatta. The turkey was freshly roasted and the bread freshly baked. There was a perfect ratio of meat to brie and arugula with the bread. I did a lot of humming and making of yummy noises while I savored it. It took all of the decorum I possessed not to go back and jam six more pieces in my pocket. I only had the sandwich as there was a constant and long line to their table. I completely understand why.

Got Kosher Catering and Market – gotkosherinc.com –8914 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035 The market and website offer a vast array of foods for small and large gatherings or just for meals at home in a hurry. I am a complete sucker for all things Kosher. What impressed me was their vegetarian chicken liver pate. I do not know how they pulled it off, but it tasted like meaty, delicious pate. If they can work miracles with a product like that, I can't imagine how good their pastrami on rye must be. I plan to find out.

Cakified – cakified.com. This wonderful bakery delivers anywhere in Los angeles with a minimum order of only a dozen cupcakes. They had their samples in a bon bon sized ball with a hard icing shell for carrying convenience. Alongside the bon bons was an icing shooter in a tiny paper cup. That moist cake (I sampled the chocolate and the red velvet) was moist with just the right amount of sweetness. The icing was dense and creamy and so good that it made my toes curl. I urge my film making peeps to give this company a call for your next craft services table. These treats will make even the crankiest crew guy smile.

Jamagel – jamagel.com. I love this company! The regular bagels were really good (and as you know from my previous blog, I'm a bagel snob). But what makes this vendor stand out is the jerk seasoning bagel which is spicy without being overpowering and is really delicious toasted with cream cheese. I liked this product so much that I had them deliver samples to Lucy's soundstage. She liked them so much that she gave out samples to the two shoots working there. They eagerly took all the business cars we had on hand and have sent for more. Again, my film making peeps, this is a quality product that is freshly baked daily and willing to deliver in the LA area. Treat your crew to these marvelous bagels and have a Jamagel day!

La Bistro Cachette – lacachettebistro.com 1733 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Again, this place is steps from my doctor's office and again, I have never stopped by. Well, that will be changing big time. This wonderfully gifted vendor had fish soup Provencal to sample. Yes, the very soup I've been obsessing about making. Well, I don't think I'm ready to pull this off. One spoonful froze me in my tracks in utter bliss. I couldn't even make it to the tall tables with lovely blue tablecloths set up to enjoy the food. I stood in front of the table and inhaled the little bowl of creamy goodness and then shamelessly had another one. Fortunately, the table wasn't very busy. I asked the Chef (who had a French accent) what was in the soup and in the little dollop of cream. The soup might have had six ingredients (the seafood stock must have been first rate to support so few ingredients). When I loudly bemoaned the fact that I wasn't ready to pull off such a soup at home, the Chef comforted me with a little square of warm chocolate cake with a thin, warm fudgey sauce and sweet whip cream. I almost floated down the street to my next meeting.

This was one heck of a start to The Year of Fun! Thank you Zesterdaily.com!

Next up, why am I talking to a Pole Dance Instructor and what does that have to do with posture and the Oscars? Stay tuned!

Elegance in the Age of Twitter

This is part one of this week's blog. I have a lot on my mind and a lot going on. This was on my mind.

One of the last books I scanned for the Internet Archive before I fell ill was a novel called Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro. The book was typical chick lit that left me unimpressed. However, I was fascinated by the book that inspired the novel. It was A Guide to Elegance: For Every Woman Who Wants to be Well and Properly Dressed on All Occasions by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux. The author was a maven of haute couture for Nina Ricci during the early 60s.

I finally read the book last week and found myself as inspired by the anecdotes and advice as I had been by the snippets I had read in the novel, Elegance. The book is organized in short, succinctly written chapters that cover topics from Accessories to Zoology. There is no occasion in life for which Madame Dariaus does not have sage advice. And though she was originally writing this advice in the era of Jacqueline Kennedy (it was updated in 2004), I found her tips and insight quite sound and applicable to any era. For Madame Dariaux, achieving elegance is a matter of knowing yourself well and being comfortable in your own skin. From there, it simple to dress in clothing that feels as good to the wearer as they are flattering. The elegant woman does not wear colors or prints simply because they are the hot style. She is never a slave to trends in fashion. Nor does she wear clothing that is too tight or awkward or uncomfortable. Her advice is also practical for any budget. Any woman, no matter her age or her physique (Madam Dariaux described herself as unfortunately shaped like an oval), can achieve the serenity of elegance with a little care and effort.

I found this tome to be uplifting and affirming – almost feminist in its message to celebrate your womanhood and be confident in herself. I was thus surprised and very disappointed to find the women on my social networks giving it reviews that totally missed the mark (thinking it was parody) or were outright hostile to the themes. I was puzzled. I thought a long time about why this might be. I mean the women in generations that have come after mine are born with more confidence than I had as I reached adulthood. Why would they find advice on what to wear to a funeral hard to handle? And then, I remembered the last time Jon and I attended a function that we thought called for some formality.

Before I continue, let me say that I am far from a slave to formality. My goal in life is to find a way to spend the majority of my time wearing pajamas. I have, in fact, found pajamas that are so nice that I have worn them to work for years. I have even found a cardigan that goes with them so well that it looks like a causal suit. I will not reveal this find as I do not want everyone to snatch them up.

That said, My husband and I were invited to a religious ceremony by a close friend who was going through a rite of passage. It was a most unconventional religion and we were given the basics of what the ceremony entailed. We decided on dressy casual. We were still the best dressed people there other than those participating. There were many pairs of flip flops. There were even wrinkles amongst the congregation. My husband and I shrugged at the time. But I think that is where the reason for the negative reaction to the book can be found. The generations behind me have such a sense of their own self that a sense of occasion is what that individual deems it to be regardless of the reality. That is why my friends who are office managers have to teach incoming MBAs that casual Fridays don't include crop tops and flip flops. Or some of the advice I received about meeting European businessmen at the Cannes Film Market involved advice on not dressing like I was heading for a day at the beach (not that I would have. The advice was for all American filmmakers).

I think the Twitter generation likes to live by their own rules and are loathe to have them imposed upon them in any fashion. If I am following all of these rules, I can't ever really be me. Madame Dariaux's sage wisdom seems out of step with that philosophy. But it really isn't. If the reader follows the advice and learns how to be totally at ease with themselves, it is easy to find an appropriate dress that is comfortable and elegant in any situation. In closing, I give prospective readers of Madame Dariaux, Audrey Hepburn. She was as elegant and comfortable in Capri pants and ballet flats as she was in the chicest of evening gowns and opera length gloves and she knew when to wear each outfit. Ladies, read the book, find yourself and for goodness sake, burn those flip flops.

Scripts and Blood and Sunday Gravy

This turned out to be an exciting week, creatively speaking. We had a meeting with an investor about a script that has long been on a back burner. It turned out that he didn't want mere dialogue tweaks but another concept entirely. One would think that I would find such a meeting highly irritating. Under normal circumstances, I probably would have. But the meeting topped off what was an odd and nearly whimsical day, so I think I was ready to roll with anything. Why Jon was so cooperative, I have absolutely no idea. Typically, a meeting that took that kind of turn would end with some sort of scorched earth statement on Jon's or my part and the relationship would have been destroyed before it began though we would have felt wholly justified. But considering what we've been coping with the last few months (a life or death issue), semantics over the direction of a script are far less important.

I spent my day at the soundstages again with a break to go to the hospital to get blood tests for surgery. I keep the mantra in my head that my Cancer Docs are among the best in their field in this great land (I found their seriously illustrious credentials on the Google, don't you know)as I stood in line with my paperwork with a couple dozen people in line with their paperwork. When a patient gets to the first set of windows, he or she is given a number to wait to be called to a second set of windows. Sometimes, the patient is also given a urine specimen cup to fill (hopefully, before their number is called). Luckily I didn't require one of those as I had contributed that specimen during my ER visit. I was given a number that had been called two minutes before I made it to the window. Fortunately, the nice phlebotomist waited for me to trundle over. I sat in front of her window, stuck my arm through the window and she syphoned a couple of vials of blood almost painlessly. I was on my way in less than a half an hour. Did I mention the orange jumpsuit clad prisoner with LA Sheriff escort? She was just ahead of me in the Conga line.

The speed of the tests left me a lot of free time at the soundstages to work on my script research. Not the script we were having the meeting about. This is the one Jon and I have been fighting about for months. The research really helped. We found out a lot about the lead in dispute that changed the direction for that character that neither of us expected but we could absolutely agree upon. Also, the research has yielded a plethora of great supporting characters – many of them women – that we hadn't expected. These discoveries have resulted in the script treatment all but writing itself. I just love it when writing surprises me. Later, as the time of the investor meeting approached, Marguerite, Jon and I found ourselves trapped in Ralph's chic downtown office in the dark. You see, there was a shoot going on just beyond the frosted glass double doors. It was a re-enactment of a police bullpen scene following the murder of rapper Biggie Smalls for some VH-1 crime show. The light switches were in the waiting room, but we couldn't use them even if we could reach them as the ceiling lights would have ruined the set lighting. And the set dresser apparently borrowed the office lamps. Thus, all we had was the eerie glow of Marguerite's laptop. And we couldn't talk because they were shooting with sound. It was such a goofy situation that I was left in a far better mood for the meeting than I would have been otherwise. Jon is now telling me that he was more of a director than a writer in that meeting and acted accordingly. Groovy. In any event, it looks like we have another film in the works (not at all the one we thought would be in the works) and we've finally broken through on the one we've been researching for so long. I'm in a very good mood, creatively.

Thursday Night Soup
This is from my Facebook Notes. You may skip ahead if you've read it.

It was good that I felt good creatively. On top of everything, I have a cold. And I have found that scratchy, raw throat is more annoying than the cancer symptoms. And I want soup, but I can just throw something in a pot and heat it up and have any sort of soup. I used to be able to do that. But that was before Anthony Bourdain barged into my life. He is the patron saint of properly simmered stock. He is ecstatic over flavorful aromatic broths. His cookbook berates the reader to take the time and care for the perfectly executed, unctuous stock. And now, I do just that. I make vats of stock almost weekly. This week, I'm out having used the last in the freezer for chicken gravy on Sunday. I was too tired to roast bones and veggies and wait six hours. But I couldn't open a can or a packet for soup either. Store bought soup is too thin and salty for me now. I managed a compromise. I had some chicken parts and some stock in a box (that's okay to have so long as I have homemade stuff as well). I poached the parts in the pre-made stock along with some aromatics and herbs and a head of garlic for a couple of hours. I always have soup noodles, so a few minutes more in the pot and Voila! It is passable chicken noodle soup. It was soothing to my throat and my sensibilities. My only concern now is how much is in that pot.

Sunday Gravy and Pretzel Knots

I'd never heard pasta sauce called gravy until I worked in a Center City Philly restaurant with South Philly Italian Americans. I was puzzled by the term. Our Northern Italian employers were outright annoyed by it. 'Tomato sauce is NOT gravy!' They would often shout when they caught servers ordering that way. They actually shouted about a lot of things. Sometimes they would have bread fights in the diningroom. But on this one issue, I actually thought the consternation was justified. There was no roux or meat juices involved, were there? The therm made no sense and thus vexed me. And then I started seeing the dish on the cooking shows. First was America's Test Kitchen that featured Sunday Gravy. The host and his chef explained that the gravy was, in fact, made by slow cooking meat on the bone along with tomatoes and red wine and other loveliness. I noted the recipe, but wasn't moved to make it until I saw Tyler Florence's version, Neopolitan Ragu, more than a year later. I changed his recipe a bit through. I can't make meatballs that big, for one. His were the size of softballs. I like little ones that I can put on a hoagie roll later. So, I made a few bigger ones and a lot of mini ones. The mini ones, I roasted in the oven. The bigger ones, I cooked in the sauce along with pork shoulder, pork neck bones and beef neck bones until the meat fell off the bone. By then, the sauce did look like gravy. It tastes just amazing – far more rich and savory than a marinara sauce. I can envision using that sauce for a great sub as well as on pasta, but the recipe yields a vat of meat sauce. I have to divide and share. Even with sharing, I'll have enough to freeze for many meals.

Meanwhile, we tried our hand at making pretzels from a Martha Stewart show recipe. They weren't bad. In fact, they were rather tasty, but not quite up to the level that we enjoyed in Philadelphia. We'll have to take some time to figure out where we went wrong and try again.

I'm to get my surgery date this week as well as find out if that meeting will result in making a film.

Stay tuned!

Big Waves, Big Suds and Fun Food

Wacky Weekend
I woke up to find a Tsunami warning in my e-mail. The waves were due to hit beginning at 11:45 am. On the one hand, the warning said that it was unlikely that there would be evacuations. On the other had, the waves could be moving at up to 400 miles per hour and that we should be prepared to leave at a moment's notice. The whole morning was peculiar, weather -wise. It was sunny and pouring rain and then in was very dark and cold and windy. I was really puzzled that none of my local Dopplerganger weather folk were even on the air. There wasn't even a news ticker on the bottom of the major local stations with updates on the tsunami. I had to go to the Weather Channel for those. Thus, Jon and I were dressed and prepared to go to the police station down the street. I was listening for the alarm to sound. When I preferred lazing on the sofa. That was irritating. I did get some amusement calling friend and neighbor Garett who is my tsunami buddy. He never hears anything like this, so I call him to give him a heads up. His obliviousness is really strange as he lives mere blocks from the ocean and has a canal in front of his house. I usually get playfully harassed for my trouble and hang up laughing. Such was the case this morning. Still, I found the entire affair to be strange and irksome.

Diagnosis and Prognosis
I finally got to see an Oncologist last week. I am very happy to tell everyone that I am at stage one of my particular cancer. The head of the clinic that I am visiting is an expert in this cancer and has successfully treated it more than once. Best of all, I will not be going through weeks of chemo. The only downside is having to have another surgical procedure. After that, I will be closely monitored for years to come, but that's not bad at all. I'm in great shape for the surgery, but I have to get my iron levels up in advance of blood tests next week. More dark greens and a little liver pate should do the trick. The patients my doc has treated with this cancer are surviving and thriving ten years after their procedures. Thus, things look very good. Thank you to all who sent prayers and/or good thoughts. Keep them coming! I also accept rain dances and fan dances (those are a lot of fun).

In My Hood
Mar Vista is the red headed step child of neighborhoods in Los Angeles' privileged and entitled westside. It isn't as glamorous as Santa Monica which is home to movie stars, famous chefs and the Governator himself. It isn't as funky and eclectic as Venice whose freaky beach is an international tourist destination. Most, like me, thought of it as the space you pass through on the way to Culver City which is enjoying quite a renaissance of late. The only neighborhood more obscure to Angelinos is mine. Del Rey was named for the salt marshes near Ballona Creek. When I tell people where I live, most assume I have left off the word Marina. Alas, this is not the case. Marina del Rey is within walking distance to our humble home, but Jon and I don't have a yacht nor enough digits in our income to live there. We are Marina adjacent. But I digress. To my mind, both Del Rey and Mar Vista were places I passed through on the way elsewhere. This has been true even during the past three years of living here. However, I have been restricted in my movements of late. That has been fortunate in many ways. One of them has been having the opportunity to find some real gems hiding in plain sight mere minutes from my front door. This is the first review of such gems.

Soaptopia
I am a tactile being. My love of food encompasses how it looks, how it feels in the mouth and how it smells as well as how it tastes. This trait makes me an absolute sucker for soaps and lotions and candles and perfumes. It was a very delicate fragrance of flowers and fruit and vanilla that drew me into a small shop called Soaptopia on Venice Boulevard near Centinela Avenue. Inside, I found a shop full of all things decadent and bath related and a kitchen where these products were created. The pots were enormous.

There were soaps like Aloe be Thy Name or The Grapefruit Gatsby. I was given four generous sample of soap with my purchases. I've only used Rozilla vs Dry Skinea, but I found that the others (She Uses Tangerine, Rose Patchouli and Mint Condition) all smell wonderful. The Rozila produced a thick, luxurious lather that rinsed off cleanly. I have very dry skin, so I'm drawn to body oils and thick lotions and creams. Soaptopia makes and sells a product called an Oil Slather that is used after rinsing from a bath or shower but before toweling off. It's an amazing oil, because it is an oil but doesn't feel greasy on the skin once it's toweled off. I tried Rosemary's Other Baby, but I sniffed almost all of the others. I want them all. Finally, I tried something called a 50/50 body balm which is described as 50 percent cream and 50 percent body butter. I tried Rozilla which was thick and creamy, but also not greasy. It left my skin very soft with the lightest of scents.

The playful product names match the friendly service. Browsing and questions are encouraged. They even offer classes on fragrance making. There are modestly priced small sizes of most of the products, so you can find the one that suits you best. I plan to do a great deal of experimenting.

There are other gems in Mar Vista that I plan to explore very soon. There is a Farmer's Market and a couple of restaurants and specialty grocers that have caught my eye. Stay tuned.

What's Cookin'
Processing the groceries from the past week was my goal by Saturday. I've largely succeeded. I turned the two roast chickens that I bought on deep discount a week ago into the final left over: a chicken pot pie with a fresh made crust. I made four pies and froze them for after I get out of the hospital and am unable to do much cooking. I turned the pulled pork into a burrito filling (made four of those. I'll freeze one) and a meat smothered with gravy seasoned with Herb de Provence that can be paired with rice or potatoes. I plan to freeze some of that as well. To cover my Lenten seafood selections, I made and am freezing crab cakes and zucchini pancakes. The only soup I managed to finish this week is a cream of asparagus. I had wanted to do the Mediterranean fish soup, but my shopping was thwarted by a number of things. I want to try again this week.

I have some cooking notes that I've posted on Facebook this week. For those who've read them, see you next week. For the rest, enjoy!

What's Cooking in the Wee Small Hours (Feb 23, 2010)

I have to get up in four hours, but I'm wide awake. I'm having the long awaited Oncologist appointment which is probably why I'm wide awake. The scent of roasting pork isn't helping matters either. There was a massive pork shoulder on sale at the market today. It was under ten bucks for something that looked like Fred Flintstone's dinner. I grabbed it, oiled it up, rubbed it with a mix of Herb de Provence, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper then threw it in the oven on low for about eight hours. It should be fork tender by the time I leave. I really love pulled pork, but decided I wanted it without the barbecue rub. The Herb de Provence rub was what I came up with in its stead. The result is quite lovely. Alas, I will have to leave the succulent pile of pork having had just the the tiniest taste. It does give me something to look forward to when I come home. I will have to make a stop at some point during the day for a suitable bread or bun to hold those tender morsels. Or I may just shovel it in my mouth by the fistful. In the privacy of my kitchen, who's to know?

Friday Night Snacks (February 26, 2010)

There are a lot of things I still miss from Philly (where are my pretzels, brother dear). Among the things I didn't expect to find is a really good bagel. My standards are high as I worked in New York City for a year. Luckily, there is a company out here called Noah's Bagels that has some real New Yorkers making things. Luckier still, Noah's provides bagels for our local Costco (we get a dozen fresh baked bagels for $.99). I like the everything bagel (onion, poppy seeds, sesame seeds). Jon likes cinnamon raisin. Anyway, my favorite bagel snack is something I picked up from one of the crew guys on "Demon Under Glass.' He liked his bagel toasted with a nice layer of cream cheese with a slice of tomato on top. My variant is that I chop the tomato then gently press it in the cream cheese so that it stays put. I sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper on the tomato. I love the arm crunch od the bagel with the softness of of the cream cheese and the warmth of the bagel against the cool of the cream cheese. It's just a great combination, And, as a snack, it's not that unhealthy (I only have a half a bagel-tomato at a clip). As for the other things I miss from Philly? I do fairly well making steak sandwiches (steakums on a supermarket French baguett is really good. I make mine with garlic infused olive oil on the roll instead of mayo). And I've just found a recipe for soft pretzels that's really easy that Jon and I will probably try next week. And I even found a recipe for scrapple that is probably a lot healthier than the real thing (it uses pork shoulder and fresh hocks cooked with corn meal rather than snouts and offal). It may not tast as yummy though. Still, I'd like to give it a try. More cooking later. I hope to have a report from the nearby farmer's market as well.

Woes and Joes and Julia and Cassadines

Wednesday's Child
Oh, woe was me this past Wednesday. The day began beautifully. The weather was really great – it was sunny and not too warm. I got out of the house and stretched my legs by taking a trip to the library to get a card. I hadn't had one in years, because I would just order everything from Amazon. But we don't have the space for tons of books in the apartment, and giving them away is a hassle with our schedules. I got a card then had lunch at Taco Bell (I know, bad girl eating food like that in your condition). But I hadn't had food from there in a very long time, and I'm still under doctor's orders to gain weight. After lunch, I explored a part of our neighborhood I seldom see. There, I found a shop called the Curious Palette. It's essentially a deli with a small gourmet grocery area that boasted French-style jam made on the premises. They also had Tapenade. I'm planning on sampling their wares and writing about it for my foodie sites. This was a great find. I also discovered that there is a weekly farmer's market, Mar Vista Farmer's Market, that I knew nothing about. This was detailed in a quarterly neighborhood newsletter I'd never seen before. The writers even had intriguing recipes in the newsletter that used products sold at the farmer's market. I plan on sampling the wares there as well. Finally, I stopped by Mitsuwa Marketplace for some pantry items. I managed to do all of this and catch a bus back without a long wait. I was very happy.

The woe began with a call from my surgeon. I had called her the day before to report some symptoms she'd told me to look out for. Her call scared me enough to immediately contact my Oncology Docs to see if my appointment for chemo had been set up. It hadn't. I was caught in a bureaucratic nightmare at a monolithic health care facility overloaded with requests for free treatment. A note on why I need free treatment. I am one of those Americans sans health insurance, because the plan offered by my employer was really expensive (it nearly rivaled the cost of our rent) but didn't cover very much. It was, in fact, fortunate that I didn't have any insurance when I was diagnosed. That status made me eligible for aid that would cover everything instead of the catastrophic debt we would incur trying to cover bills our insurance wouldn't cover. The trade off for this aid is steering through a massive county and state bureaucracy. One of the two things that made getting an appointment 4 weeks instead of 8 to 10 was the rarity of my cancer (it is very rare though it has a high survival rate). This makes me very attractive to a teaching hospital. The second was I found some super nice and empathetic office workers at that hospital. They really went above and beyond for me. I have so many thank you cookies to make.

The woe in waiting even 4 weeks is that the surgery didn't get every bit of the tumor out. There are tiny ones that aren't visible to the naked eye growing again. These cause the symptoms I'd been told to look out for. Thus, I found myself in General Hospital in a 17 hour long queue waiting for treatment. I'm serious, that building is the building used in ABC's long running soap opera, General Hospital. I didn't see Luke or Laura or find any Cassadines or their weather machine. All we had was a cavernous waiting room with naught to entertain us but the craziest LA denizens and dreadful programs on the CW Television Network. Sorry fans of Supernatural and the Vampire Diaries. This stuff was truly abysmal. And the leading men all looked the same. Jon thinks they were all the same tall, dark haired, dead-eyed guy cloned over and over. I'm not sure about that. All I know for sure is those scripts were just dreadful, and for some reason Chad Everett had bangs.

My woes ended Friday afternoon when I was released from the ER. I was determined not to be stuck in the hospital again just after Tiger Woods came back into the endless news cycles. Though I found that beyond the endless wait, County-USC boasted state of the art facilities and a knowledgeable, caring staff that were pleasant to interact with, I wasn't into a prolonged visit. I had spent all of December trying to avoid that coverage in the hospital. But since I wasn't in any immediate danger, and I was seeing the oncologist early this week anyway, they let me leave. The upside of the ordeal was finding out that I wasn't in any immediate danger, and I got some tests done that gets me closer to starting chemo. That was worth the woes.

What's Cookin'
This week's soup was split pea with ham. It was a first time recipe for me and born of a sale on whole hams at my favorite market last week. Aside from lots of lovely meat, there was a dandy bone from which to make tasty stock. I made the stock on Mardi Gras and the soup on Ash Wednesday. That was a naughty no-no as I had to taste something meat based on a day I was to have no meat. I only had a teaspoon full, I promise. My bigger sin involving the soup was on Friday. I tend to do the meatless Friday thing during Lent, but I was coming home after the never ending ER experience. The only thing that would fix that experience was really good meat and lots of it. I plan to repent later. The other recipe of the week was Sole Meunière a la Julia Child. There was Dover sole on sale at the market last week, so the choice of fish for Ash Wednesday was easy. I didn't take photos because the dish itself was not pretty in its platting. The sole fillets were thin and broke on me, but the meal was very tasty. The delicacy of the fish married well with the rich brown butter sauce and lemon. Even Jon enjoyed it. I will certainly make it again, and then there will be pictures. This week, my goal is Mediterranean Fish soup. I failed at it in spectacular fashion last year, but I have a far simpler recipe this time and more experience with seafood stock. I'll have photos of that as well (hopefully).

Moving and Shaking
I am cleared for exercise now. I'm starting with walking at least a half an hour as briskly as I can manage. For toning my thin but wiggly arms and to shore up the parts that have fallen down with the sudden weight loss, I have chosen the Bollywood Dance Workout with Hemalayaa. The series runs on one of my many cable channels sometime after the informercials. I've watched several in a supine position and now feel that I may have to actually do something the next time they air. I'd really love to have the outfit to go with the routines, but I shall muddle through nonetheless. There will be no photos of that, but here is a video of Hemalayaa in action.

A Tale of Two Women
Julie & Julia was an interesting experience for me in that I was actually interested in the Julie Powell part of the film at all, and that I found the women had a lot more in common than cooking. There were so many wonderful things in the film for me that I find it hard to pick a place to begin. Why did I find the terrifying? Was it the lobster trying to escape its fate? No, lobsters don't move fast enough to terrify me. My father and I have been chased around a kitchen by Maryland blue crabs. Now, that was exciting and kind of funny, actually. The cat was chasing the crab which was chasing us. It was all very silly, but it ended deliciously. Serendipity made Julie and Julia terrifying for me. SPOILER ALERT for the books and the film.


Julia Child spent many years working on Mastering the Art of French Cooking endlessly testing and improving the recipes and the verbiage. Yet the book only saw the light of day because of a few random acts like writing a fan letter about knives resulting in a connection with an American editor who was obsessed with Paris after a series of unlikely events. Any wrong move during those years could have easily resulted in Julia's book never seeing the light of day. Likewise, Julie Powell had spent many years studying and toiling to become a published writer. Yet it was making an exercise in personal growth public that gave her the path to realizing her creative aspirations. A random decision made on a whim and boom, there's your career. Write a fan letter on a whim and that leads to becoming a legend. Planning be damned. That is terrifying to me.

The only thing that either woman had any control over was their on perseverance. Had they not done the work diligently, there would have been nothing to show when an opportunity presented itself. Though terrifying, Julie and Julia was a reminder that we always have to be ready to explore any avenue toward our goals. Reading My Life in France reminded me of that last month. Thus, I got my act together and submitted that memoir into competition. Seeing Julie and Julia reminded Jon and I not to pass up any opportunity – no matter how remote. So when Ralph calls and says that there is an A-List actor that we can get a script to directly, I pushed past my initial reaction of 'there is nothing we have that he has ever played before' and sent something that is an interesting part even though it's a long shot. Who knows? We may catch him on a day that he wants to go into a different direction. Or he may know another actor who has always wanted to play this sort of part. Or he may like our writing enough to hire us to create something else. It costs us nothing to respond, and it's a potential connection we certainly can't ignore. It's hard to keep up the energy necessary to act on opportunities. Each one needs to be embraced and sent out with enthusiasm and confidence. After all, if you don't feel that way about the material, who will?


But beyond the terrifying serendipity, Julie and Julia was about the two women, their aspirations and their relationships with their husbands. Now, I'm a big believer in girl power, and I'd like to think that these women would have found a way to press on with their writing on their own. However, I know how hard it is to keep motivated in the face of setbacks and everyday adversities. Even with having a supportive husband who is a creative partner, I find myself reaching out to friends and occasionally relatives and in really dire situations, perfect strangers, for validation. I am very fortunate to have a circle of friends that I can lean on for encouragement. Julie Powell and Julia Child found success in large part because they had wonderfully supportive husbands and great firends. Watching these relationships – particularly the Childs' – made the movie a delightful. Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci were marvelous protraying a couple that was lusty and fun. As a film fan, I thought Julie and Julia is well worth watching. As a writer, I found the film to be an inspiration.


Go Joe!
This will sound strange, but Julie and Julia had something in common with GI: Joe The Rise of Cobra (TROC), the other film Jon and I watched last weekend. Both are film adaptations of well established published materials. In the case of GI:Joe, there was also a popular cartoon series to live up to or get around, depending on your opinion of said series. I thought the series was a lot of dopey fun. That's somewhat inexplicable for a fan of Anime which was working at a far more cophisticated level of story tellling (even in shows that were based on toy lines). Thus, I was not disappointed by this film. It was certainly dopey, but it was a whole lot of fun. The script managed to work in phrases like 'A real American Hero' and 'Go JOE!' without making it look like they were squeezed in with a crow bar. The 'Go JOE' line went to Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje whom I adore as Simon Adebisi from OZ. At any rate, the only element missing from the film that was a regular part of the series were the moral lessons tacked on at the end of each episode. These PSAs were common in cartoons from the 1980s to make up for the fact that many of these shows were sponsored by and made for toy companies. There are many parodies of these PSAs on Youtube.com. I chose this parody because it captured the spirit of the others without being obscene. Hasbro Toys was listed as one of the production companies behind GI: Joe TROC. I think a feature version of one of those PSAs would have been awesome.


That nit pick aside, GI: Joe TROC offered some surprises along with the exploding mayhem it so generously served up every few scenes. As I mentioned in the last blog, this film managed to degayify (I still say it's a word) this film. Oh, there were still lots of well-built guys hanging out together and working out together. But there was a lot less shirtlessness and a lot more females hanging out as well. I think the reason this film seemed less homoerotic is that the female characters were credible hanging out with the guys. I think this speaks well for female action characters in general. Film and TV have come a long way from female characters of yore. They weren't dreamy-eyed girls with crushes on the leading slab of man. They are real partners who can really kick ass. They can watch the lead's back as well as any dude. And they can usually rescue themselves. As fellow soldiers, the action chick gets to hear all of the secrets and builds that bond that brothers at arms have for millennia. GI: Joe had two action chicks – one was a hero (Scarlett) the other was a villain (The Baroness ). Both were credible partners to their counterparts while being hot females. Their presence really cut down on the manly men who like hanging out with manly men thing the cartoon had. GI: JOE TROC had a great sense of humor that was not dependent on Marlon Wayans' Ripcord. I found myself laughing out loud at appropriate points in the movie. Overall, I found the film to be a fun, popcorn eating treat.
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Tigers and Souffles and Plots, Oh My!

Gong hei fat choi!

Happy Year of the Dragon and Happy Valentine's Day! And as if this week can't begin any more strangely, Tuesday is Mardi Gras. For now, I'm only dealing with these two. Our romantic dinner features homemade potstickers and chicken friend rice with a chocolate souffle and some bubbly for dessert. The souffle is an amazing recipe from America's Test Kitchen that can be made ahead and frozen. I've shown a photo of it from when I made it during the summer. It's fairly easy to put together as well. I made the dumplings during the Super Bowl and froze them. And fried rice is easy to put together. Thus, it will be a no fuss but lovely and, hopefully, romantic dinner. That will bring us luck during the new year. Who knows? It's worth a shot. I had some ambitious notions of cooking duck breast or Peking Duck (duck being both a staple of romantic meals and important Chinese feasts). But I've cooked it exactly once, and that was an ordeal and a half. Since duck is neither bread or noodles, Jon could care less if it appears on his plate. Thus,I thought it prudent to wait until I have more energy. There is less likelihood of disaster that way.

The Super Bowl was fun. I didn't have a preference for a winner, so I think my biggest reaction during the whole time was 'Abe Vigoda is alive?' Though the game and the ads were really good, I found myself preoccupied with cooking prep for the big pot of chili (no beans) and the slab of sweet cornbread and the potstickers. My friends and colleagues are benefiting greatly from my food therapy. Now, they're sending supplies my way with requests. I'm needing a bigger fridge or an supplemental fridge. That's especially true when I'm doing the juicing thing. To have enough produce to make juice means there is just bushels of stuff to go through. But I digress. I want to thank all of those sending me their recipes and suggestions for warm and comforting meals last week. I'm going to try some of them very soon.

Writing Roadblocks
I wanted to get more writing done, but the week was rough where concentration was concerned. My characters were speaking, but I couldn't focus enough to filter it through to my keyboard. My script outline was stymied by the realization that I had to do a great deal more research on one of the main characters. I thought I had the correct thread, but when I pulled it, I was lead to a lot farther back in his life than I first thought was relevant. That was a fascinating if terribly inconvenient development. That biography is nearly three inches thick and quite heavy. I really didn't want to tote that to and from my appointments. Ah, well. The upside is that the research is riveting. I find myself losing a lot of time reading the biography and, of course, the short fiction mentioned therein. (I can't do that when I'm on the road as I am without a laptop. It would be too unwieldy in a waiting room. Jon is predicting that this script will likely producer – egads – an academic paper or perhaps a course.

And, despite all the work I have on my plate, I've allowed myself to get distracted by a bit of experimental script writing. Jon and I both have scripts knocking about that we know are going to be difficult if not impossible to produce, but it's an itch that we need to scratch. It's like having to solve a puzzle. In my experiment, I believe I have solved the problem that this sort of material presents for film makers save for no one would fund it and casting would be a bear. Thus, it's not something that I want distracting me right now. Although past experience has taught me that I find my focus on one work while distracted by another one. I suppose, I can just let this go where it will for the time being. It is a very fun script for me to write. I'm taking what could have been a 1950s era romance between the powerful scion of an industrial family and a lady business executive and turning it on its ear – Big Time while still having an Eve Arden character.

I must digress here to register a strong protest about an upcoming remake of Mildred Pierce. I adore Kate Winslet, but that is a film that is very much of it's era. I don't think any film maker today has the sensibilities to re-make it and not get it wrong. Why do I have an itch to upend 50s romances while objecting to a re-make of an iconic film? Well, first, I'm not re-making anything specific. I'm using a fun and familiar template to push drama in a very different direction. It's part of my need to rehabilitate erotica in films. Too much of it is bad. Most of it manages to make sex boring (I give you Eyes Wide Shut). And film erotica is almost never romantic. And when the characters in such films do fall in love with each other, it's almost always a toxic sort of relationship. And these films never have a sense of humor. This is a tough nut to crack in a script that isn't 400 pages long. And even if I manage to write something that moves crisply and has highly engaging characters (and I'm onto something with the 50s romance template), there is still the issue of writing it in such a way that it could find a big enough audience to attract funding. It's quite the puzzle.

CSI: Miami Fun

One of the commercials that really amused me during the Super Bowl was for last week's CSI: Miami. It featured a death that appeared to have happened in outer space. At the end of the ad, there was an image of Horatio Caine's (David Caruso) glasses floating owner-less in space. The episode itself was quite amusing in spots. It even featured physical comedy by two of the CSIs in a vomit comet. Youcan see footage of the plane in action HERE. Though the plot pushed credulity to the very limit, the episode was highly amusing. I'm really enjoying this season, and I'm very impressed with Caruso's sense of humor about his alter ego and his show. He's been promoting a Horatio Caine impersonation contest (the contestants are at the bottom of the page), and because of him, I was introduced to the extremely amusing Black CSI: Miami. These clever shorts feature such over the top dialogue as 'Black Eric, what do we have?' 'Well, Black Horatio, I'm processing this pitcher of Kool-Ade.' And the Horatio is really spot on. Good show, fellows!

One More Doppler Jab

I know I promised no more making fun of weather forecasters, and I'm not (for those who may have missed the reason for this promise, please check out the nuttiest of all the Dopplergangers Snowpocalypse Forecast). I do, however, have to share Stephen colbert's version of the Doppler craze with his Dopplerest 9000 coverage of Snowmaggeddon 2010. See We're Off to See the Blizzard. Enjoy!

Film vs Book

Well, not just books but also comic books and/or cartoons. I finally saw GI: Joe The Rise of Cobra and Julie and Julia. So, next week I'll talk about the difficulties of going from one media to another and where both films were successful or not so much. I'm also still puzzling on how the film version of GI: Joe managed to completely de-gayify (that's a word or it is now) the cartoon series. That was quite a feat. And I know you all think I see the homoerotic everywhere (or choose to), but, in this case, I'm not the only one who did where GI: Joe was concerned. On the left you have a Joe character on the right, the Venture Brother's version. I love the whole squad on Venture Brothers, they shamelessly resemble the Village People. But I'm digressing, and this is for the next blog.

Stay tuned!

Delay of Game

I've had a hard time of things last week. It's nothing serious, all things considered, but I am left with less energy than in previous weeks. As those of you who have found me on line in the middle of the night can attest, sleep is proving to be elusive. Thus, the blog may not pop up for a few more days. Or I may wait until next week. Meanwhile, tell me what you're cooking for those cold snowy or rainy nights? What did you have for the Super Bowl? As for me, stay tuned.

Why James Cameron is My Hero

It's not just the magic he puts on screen. Nor is it that I found him to be among the best customers I've ever helped while toiling at Boders Books and Music. And he was a stellar customer on a very busy Saturday night. In a field of celebrity customers at the now defunct Santa Monica store who proved to be too irritating to live at times, he was a polite, gentlemanly standout. But that is not why I deem him worthy of heroic status.

A recent Businessweek magazine illustrates my reasons quite succinctly. While marveling at the success of Avatar, it noted that the film boasted no major stars as leads, it was not a sequel, it wasn't based on a bestselling novel or the Bible. And what does that title mean, anyway? Yes, the success of the film is astonishing. What flummoxes me more is How in the hairy heck did Cameron pull off getting it funded???!!!

Yes, yes, popular wisdom posits that the astounding box office from Titanic. And I am certain that the suits who green lit the project are now smugly pointing to the obvious wisdom of their decision and further obscuring the reality of the process. But funding this juggernaut was not such a sure thing a few years ago. And while I personally found Avatar to be the embodiment of why I go to a theater to see a film, I fully understand why.

Funding a film is a daunting, frustrating, sometimes soul crushing process run with mercurial individuals and entities and ruled by serendipity. No one who wasn't involved entirely believes how we got our first film funded. Looking back, I have trouble believing it myself. I know we could never replicate the circumstances. Since then, my partners and I have had dozens of meetings with funding sources from all walks of life. My personal favorite for bizarre was the chap with the enormous pentagram on his chest and the giant painting of Satan looming behind him. I still think that his terms were the most honest and above board. And yes, I have had meetings with studio suits. Satan dude didn't want to direct, nor did he have a significant other who always wanted to get into acting. I think that deal fell apart on points or a goat sacrifice. I can't recall now.

But I digress. A financially successful film is not a guarantee that funding the next film will be easy. And despite all the glad-handing and back slapping going on with the suits behind Avatar right now, getting that film funded was not an easy road for Cameron. Businessweek quotes him admitting to using $12 million of his own money in developing the film. I have a close friend who worked in a Special FX cubical farm at the Playa Vista location a few years back. He witnessed a number of suits from various studios and other sources touring the facility trying to grasp what Cameron was creating. Their checkbooks weren't automatically open despite Titanic's success. It may seem unimaginable that a man with that kind of lucrative film run would have to give tours and show off his wares in the hopes of attracting a deep-pocketed backer, but there are a number of factors at work against any film maker, even James Cameron. There's the 'but what have you done, lately?' issue. In LA, if you are out of sight, you are truly out of mind. Years spent doing things like undersea documentaries puts a filmmaker completely out of mind.

And then, there is the concept. It's original. Even the most casual movie goer will note that Hollywood's output has been a little thin where original concepts are concerned. If it's not a sequel, it's a re-make. On the film horizon, we have Clash of the Titans (with Avatar's heroic Sam Worthington) and the A-Team. In the case of Spiderman, we have a case of a sequel that turned into a remake. Of late, studios aren't know for spending huge bucks to step out on a limb creatively. And this is what makes James Cameron my hero. I can just see him explaining to the sort of suits more inclined to fund something with the word Sqeakuel in the title that for 3/4ths of a very long film, his leads (that most people had never heard of) will be animated ten foot tall blue people with tails and loincloths. But wait, it gets better. The stalwart marines are not the good guys. The film will be made to be best viewed with a technology that may or may not be in enough theaters to begin to make the money back. And the film will need more money than has ever been spent before in history. Though if inflation is factored in (and everyone insists on doing that with Avatar) the prize for spending still belongs to Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra. And though I love that big, cheesy film, I'm sure that no film wants to be considered in the same sentence with it. And the core youth audience Avatar is aimed at (the only people who understand what the title means) were little children when Titanic was released. I bet crickets could be heard at the end of that pitch. How many of these meetings ended with the suits beating a hasty retreat for the parking lot?

I suppose it doesn't matter how many meetings ended badly. Somehow, Cameron got through where it mattered. But what did he say, and how did he say it? It must be some super hero power that can make studios take a big risk on a wholly original concept. He gives me hope to keep pushing. For that, James Cameron is my hero.

Craig, Soup, Writing and Geekiness

Conversations with Craig

I found out today that there are Alsatian bear hunting dogs. This information was imparted while trying to convince me that it was a good idea for Craig to go to Lake Tahoe to kill a 700 lb black bear with the liberal application of explosives. It seems that there's been a call to take down said bear because it breaks down people's front doors, wrecks their kitchens searching for food and leaving basketball sized dumps in their livingrooms. Why dynamite? It seems that bullets either lodge in it's bear fat or bounce off it's giant bear skull. Strangely, the conversation made me realize how much I miss interacting with Craig day to day. We had a lively debate, of course, over whether all the sugar he consumed on Friday could sweat out of his scalp and crystallize into a hard shell while he was running. I'm still dubious. And even if that sort of thing was possible, I still don't see how it's my fault. He didn't have to eat the cookies I sent him on the same day as the boss brought doughnuts. We disagreed on that point as well. It was so good to talk to him.

Soup du Jour

I began my plan for having more soups in my diet with French onion soup. Actually, I began with making big vats of beef stock and chicken stock. The first soup was French onion soup from Julia Child's recipe. I have made this soup two other times. One was from a big book of soup recipes I bought ages ago when I last worked at a book store. The other recipe was from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook. Both recipes were okay, but not as yummy as some I've had at restaurants. The recipe this time was by Julia Child from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. It was so simple that it was written in a paragraph. I also have a mandolin to finely slice the onions this time. That marvelous device is my favorite thing in the kitchen right now. Anyway, with very little effort, I soon had the required quarts of onions. The rest was slowly cooking them into caramelized yumminess, stirring in a little flower to thicken, some cognac to deglaze and some beef stock and white wine. I also used a bit of vermouth as her recipe called for. I think her recipe worked better for me, because hers was designed for home cooks. It was so tasty especially when teamed up with rounds of baguette and some spreadable cheese or pate or both. I don't like my onion soup with the big cheese topped crouton floating in it. I like my bread and cheese separate from my soup. It may sound odd, but that's how I roll – soup wise. Why onion soup? Onions are very nutritious, and I was craving them. The Docs are telling me to eat what I crave – within reason. Next will be Ina Garten's Vichyssoise with zucchini. That recipe has more calories (that I need, ironically) And I have some protein supplements that mix well with creamy soups that I need to consume. Tomorrow, I'll be trying some zucchini pancakes. I've been making a lot of appetizer type dishes. Meal planning and cooking have been so strange for me. Prior to December, food was all about losing weight, laying off red meat, whole grains and high fiber, etc. Now, it's all about getting enough calories and protein. I've been strongly encouraged to eat lots of meat and eggs. Diet is a four letter word. It just weird.

Writing Old Friends

I met one of my writing goals this week. The short story version of Dancing with the German is off to four literary journals. I really can't stand all that secretarial stuff required for mailing out stories, but I got them out before the closest deadline despite a really rocky week. That accomplishment felt good. Now, I can get back to the research for the script Jon and I are still arguing about. This is timely as I expect I'll be spending a great deal of time in various waiting rooms over the next several weeks. A book and a notepad are good things to have at such times. Now that the story is in the mail, I also plan on writing some scenes from various works in progress. Among them are the next installment of the Soldiers novels, the next installment of the Surrender novels and the next chapter of the memoir. I have no idea what I'll do first. I think it depends on which has the strongest pull in a given moment. I plan to post whatever I write from the Soldiers or Surrender realms. The memoir must remain under wraps until it's actually published. I'm looking forward to spending some time with my fictional characters. It's been too long.

When mentioning some of my writing plans and my cooking experiments, I have been lectured by relatives and some friends about taking on too much. I will take this opportunity to say that doing too much just isn't possible for me right now. The moment I overextend, I get so tired that I have to sit or lie down. It took three days to get that apple pie in the oven last week. I cut the apples up on Friday, made the dough on Saturday and it finally got assembled on Sunday. The onion soup was a two day project even with the mandolin. So don't worry. My body is very much in control of letting me do only what it can handle. It's late on Saturday as I write this. I would very much like to shred the zucchini for the pancakes, but I am at the end of my day. I'm going to have a ginger spice cookie and head to bed.

The above paragraph was written at midnight. By one in the morning, I realized that sleep wasn't working. So I pulled up a Miss Marple movie on Netflix.com and set up my couch-side food prep station. As the end credits rolled, I had finished prep for the soup, the zucchini pancakes and the cheese topping for a pizza. Doing prep or actually cooking whenever I find I can also helps me get things done.

Complete Geekdom

I won't put this on my Facebook as my profile photo, but I do have to share my wallowing in complete geekiness. This is my Na'vi avatar from Avatar I did it at Avatarize Yourself. If any of you decide to join me in complete geekdom, please show me your avatar.

Twisters in Cali and Other Oddities

I know I've had a lot of fun ribbing LA weather people and their doppleganger radar uber technology in a region where the weather rarely changes. But last week, they had reason to get a bit hysterical. Among other things, there were three 'suspected' tornadoes. I suppose they will remain suspects until CSI: Tornadoes gets a VIN number or some tornado DNA. What I'm saying is that there was actual breaking news during the storms. I didn't even mind the coverage preempting my court reality shows. Aside from the violence in this group of storms, there were the fire areas from the summer that were in danger of having a water logged mountain come down on them. I only wished the news had preempted Martha Stewart pole dancing on her talk show. Somehow, the segment had something to do with keeping fit. But I digress. The torrential rains and window rattling thunder were great for hunkering down with some great soups, reading materials and a short story that I had to edit as long as the power held out. More on that later.

Food Fight

I received a lot of very helpful suggestions on augmenting the protein in my diet. Thank you! I've implemented some of them and plan to try others. I'm still losing weight but not as quickly as before, and the Docs think I'm getting what I need to heal and regain my strength. None of them want me to get back to the weight I was months ago, but they don't want me to lose much more. Thus, I am allowed to indulge in things that would have made them frown before. Thus, the vast array of apples I purchased to make fresh juice have ended up in a beautiful apple pie. I made the juice, too. But how much apple juice can two people drink before the stuff goes bad? It didn't have preservatives. I transformed it into a form that will survive longer and will be completely consumed. No one wants to waste good food, right? I've also discovered that Buffalo wings are very tasty with Hollandaise sauce though I can't figure out a healthy angle for that. I'm also letting my inner Soup Nazi free. Since soups are a great way to consume veggies, and I can mix my protein boosters in them. I also get to do my favorite cooking basic – making stock. The apartment smells amazing. The aroma and warmth is especially nice as it has been uncharacteristically cold with the rain. Just lovely. Over the next few days, I'll be trying all kinds of new vegetable soups. I'll be sure to share the reviews.

Slow Starts and Finishes

Many people we know are under the impression that Jon and I are a writing machine, easily weaving plots and developing characters without any creative conflict. Cue Edna Krabappel's HA! Jon and I have always had disagreements about characters and plots. Some of those get quite spirited. Some of those are never completely resolved. In those cases, the judgment goes to the one who created the plot or character. Right now, we're disagreeing over a script that has been long in development. Since I'll be home for quite some time, I've taken on writing the first draft. Starting the script is proving difficult because Jon and I haven't quite resolved who are lead characters are. It doesn't help that Jon doesn't like one of the characters. The other is, by all accounts, a tragedy. We've never written such a character. And since neither of us like films that are downers, we've been trying to figure out how to portray him accurately and still have him be uplifting. The debate rages. Well, it doesn't rage. The debate is more of a brisk simmer. At some point, I'm going to pick a direction and see where it goes. Mind you, Jon does not write scripts this way. He likes to solve everything in his head before writing one word. He's gotten better over the years, but I'm still convinced he'd only ever do one draft of anything if he could get away with it. I've learned that nothing ever sees the light of day as a first draft. That's especially true with scripts, because production realities (money, location, cast) always change scripts – even if the director wrote it. What has worked for us as collaborating pair is that my draft often points to the answers he's looking for to do the shooting script. I know this and he knows this, yet somehow we always end up doing the same dance before we start writing.

While I love crashing out drafts, I really hate editing. I may seem like a level headed person, but I am actually a very neurotic writer with all the insecurities that go with that personality. Editing always makes me second guess every sentence and really question my abilities. With this in mind and that I am more fragile than I've ever been from my illness, I get the brilliant notion to send the first chapter of the memoir out to literary journals and competitions. I haven't done anything like this in twenty years for the simple reason that I hate doing it. Even when the rejections have been constructive and helpful, they are painful to a neurotic writer. But here I am, editing a very personal story with some very helpful notes from dear Sarah and nit-picky line edits from Jon and wondering why I ever picked up a pen. Why torture yourself, you may wonder. I wonder that as well. Ultimately, it's about marketing the memoir. If this chapter gets published or wins a prize, that only helps the book's sales. I want this book to do well, so I have to suck it up and get some eyes on it.

Swords and Bears

Last week's CSI: Miami had no ninjas. The villains were Yakuza though they used a different term. It was a nifty twist on a pedestrian plot. The head gangster was trying to re-claim his long lost son, a teen who had no idea who his parents were, but the desire for fatherhood was not born of love or even the machismo of having a son to carry on his name. Oh no, he wanted the boy's young and healthy liver (and not to have with fava beans and a nice Chianti). It seems many Yakuza need liver transplants due to the types of tattoos they get over the years and alcoholism. I had heard about this on 60 Minutes in a disturbing story about a liver transplant given to a big Yakuza at UCLA outside of the donor list regulations. It was a very clever episode. And it had the bad-ass Horatio Caine (David Caruso) take down at the end. It was good to see his dead eyed shooting once again. It's been too long. There has been a distinct change in the show this season. It has a more pronounced sense of humor, and the addition of CSI Cardoza (Eddie Cibrian) and Walter Benson (Omar Benson Miller) has changed the dynamic of the cast. Unlike adding a cute kid to a tired sitcom, these cast additions have brought a new energy to the series. Cardoza and Benson actually did that joke about running away from a grizzly bear (I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you). That was startling and very welcome. The episodes have become more ensemble driven than Horatio driven. And while I enjoy that, it was really good to see a classic Caine take down.

I'm slower writing the blogs of late. Everyday things still fatigue me, thus I'm a lot slower in my tasks than I used to be.

Stay Tuned!