Sunday in the Park with Pat

Such a rut I am in already in this town! I woke up, put on some excellent to me music on my ipod with speakers, padded into the kitchen to make coffee. Then out to the private patio for a looksee at the lovely clear blue sky and the majetic water towers which still amaze me. Good coffee, music, sun and porridge. A perfect rut.

Set off for Central Park and had a great chat with my sister Eileen who is just back form England where she was working. Amazingly lovely day. Loads of people enjoying the park. It was a thrill. I got a woman to take my photo in front of the Sherry Netherland Hotel where I worked as a security guard 25 years ago!



I then carried on all the way down to the Village. On the way down 5th, I walked by this church where Norman Vincent Peale was the minister. I took the picture because I just love him. I have listened to him on CD and he is just the most positive, upbeat guy who is not preachy. He is just lovely. I had no idea he was in New York. It made my day to see his statue standing there. A sign!





Had lunch in Chinatown. Roast pork, cabbage and rice $3.75! Excellent.



Then back up to Lincoln Center for Ecofest - The Environmental Festival.





I know Eileen and my friend Alexandra would love this. Alexandra lives in London and has a wonderfully excellent ecoblog. I must link to her right after I learn how to do such things! I heard some great jazz and had some pomegranate seaweed sludge drink. Yummy! I threw the cup on the ground and headed for ...

The subway with my newly purchased monthly pass. Look Daddy, I am a New Yorker now!



Had a few minutes at home and then took my bagpipes to the park WHICH IS RIGHT BY MY FLAT!! I played pipes in the park for about an hour. They and I are a bit rusty so it was a good work out. I include the self-portrait for my friend Scott so he knows I am playing. But where do New Yorkers play their bagpipes year 'round? Will Julliard lend me a room? What does one do? I will have to figure this out? I would love to play at the launderette, but I think that will not happen.





And back home:

My first FULL day in my new town.

New York coffee with filters imported from California. Yes, I brought filters, but no shampoo! I put on music. French, I think. opened the door to my patio and looked out. Ahhhh. Had porridge. Lovely.

My friend Nicole called and wondered if I had eaten. I lied and said no. We met at Jackson Hole on 80something and Columbus. So good to see her. Another California transplant. We had a lovely breakfast and a chat. She taught me about the monthly pass. More important than all of this was the fact that this was the place where Jennifer Aniston got started. Sort of a Schwabs East.

Went to the Acorn on 42nd Street to see my friend Paul Clausen perform in a play called The Yellow Road which is part of The New York Musical Theatre Festival. It was great to see him. I was proud of him. The play was directed by San Franciscan BD Wong. He sat two seats away from me. My first star sighting here this go round. The last performance is Monday, 1 October. If you are in town go see it.

The woman sitting on the other side of me turned out to be a good friend of Paul's and the three of us went out to lunch. And she is a Broadway STAR! She will open on Broadway in January in "In the Heights" Her name is Olga Merediz pictured here. Go see her show! What a great time it was with them today. I ended up walking back up to my place and enjoyed the whole trip. I even walked by where I am starting work on Monday on Broadway at 51st.

New York, NEW YORK!!!

I made it to NYC today. 2 weeks to the day that The Sundance Channel offered me the job. And thanks to so MANY great and wonderful friends I moved out of my apartment of 12.5 years in LA, sold most of my stuff, packed up and drove a U-haul to Oakland and SF and shipped boxes to New York and then got up at 4am today West Coast time (which means my pal Jon did too as he drove me!) and got on a plane and landed here. ALL IN TWO WEEKS! I couldn’t seem to put photos in albums in 12 years, but this happened in 2 weeks.



I got a taxi to my sublet on W. 80th Street just off the park. Really lovely. Really an understatement. It started raining and I stepped out on the stoop of “my” brownstone and saw a rainbow! I also met Lily and Karen two of my neighbors. My landlords seem really great. I walked in the light rain to Fairway Market on Broadway and bought some provisions. Including the “Life Begins at 40” coffee which I thought was appropriate, if 5 years late, but no one in New York has to know that, okay? “I’m 39 the sun in LA is harsh...”



I also met these Norwegians who were in the States for the first time. Like me they just landed in New York today. We met in the coffee aisle at Fairway. I told them how I had brought a copy of my friend Brian’s Great-great great grandfather’s autobiography _ Gulbrand Berge 1827-1886 – to read on the plane with me. He was from Valders, Norway and they were from Oslo and we just had the greatest chat. Everyone in New York is SO nice! I was even walking the streets with that happy smirk on my face that no one else was wearing quite so proudly as I. It is New in Town syndrome and I LOVE IT! And I am just so amazed and happy to finally be here.



From the moment I “got the call” I have been as crazy and neurotic as usual, but with the help of SO many people each leg of this crazy journey has really just gone so smoothly. It was a lot of work, but it really, really went well thanks to being blessed with such GREAT friends and siblings who have supported me all the way. I don’t marvel at it enough. No joke, it all just happened in spite of me!



Okay, the ONLY hiccup was the taxi driver dropped me off at 120 W. 88th St. instead of 120 W. 80th St. And I knocked on the door and no one answered. I even confirmed with him that I was on 80th St. So I had to heft 100 pounds of checked baggage (Lisa and I weighed them!) and a pipe case and a laptop computer with a 572 page hardback book in it 8 blocks. If that was the only thing I am pretty lucky.

So I begin life in New York today. I have no idea what the future will bring, of course, but here I am and I am ready to make a real go of it. I have my father, a native Manhattanite, watching over me and as I tread through his town, I feel at peace and at home.

Final Day in C. A.

More guardian angels. Lisa came over to the City and we returned the U-Haul on Judah. She had the excellent idea to bring my bags and weigh them. I was 11 pounds over on one and this would have been costly. We got both bags down to under 50 pounds a piece. And we packed boxes to ship and shipped them! All in a day's work. Thanks to Lisa for all that helpful help. But wait there's more. This girl packs an ice chest from Benecia with DINNER! We babysat Mitch and Claire as Rick had a St. Brendan's Father's Club thing and Eileen was in England for work. Marjorie and Ross came over on my last night in MY CITY and we had lovely tarts and salad and Claire and Lisa made an apple crumble from apples from Lisa's trees. What could be better. But wait, there's more. Just when you thought you hit the jackpot, Marjorie sends me off with a lovely card filled with cab fare and more!!! Wow.

26 September. I Left LA.

Odd feeling not having one. I just left. The hardest part was saying goodbye to my dear pal and neighbor, Marian. We have been good friends since the day I set foot on Terra Micheltorena. I hope we rendezvous in Pittsburg! The good fortune to have good friends help continued. Patrick (the one other than me) immediately offered to drive up with me. We said goodbye to Marian and Patrick's partner Russ and drove off Micheltorena in our 10 Foot U-Haul and up THE 5. What a great visit. Again it s hard to ask a friend to spend the day with you on the Interstate going one way unless you have a U-Haul with your stuff in it. Otherwise I think it is a pass. We had good chat, fast food and an easy ride. First we dropped my leather chair and foot rest and outdoor table at my brother Sean's in Oakland. I got to see my brother and his wife, Leiyan and wee Oonagh and John. Priceless. Then over the Bay Bridge in traffic to Eileen and Rick's in SF where they were/are kind enough to house all my worldly possessions under their house! It is funny how one cannot throw out journals and photos, yet one only looks at them when transporting them to another locale. But it is my history and I hope to one day go through it. I thank Eileen and Rick for being my archivists. Truly.

Bubblewrap and Squeak.

"Stand back, I work at the Container Store." He never actually said that, but he could have! My friend John is a pro at bubble wrapping,but specializes in shrink wrapping. I was back in the stone ages of tape and he just came with his wand of Saran wrap and worked wonders. He and Steve really made my museum quality pieces safe for transport. Especially my "Wacky Packs Onesheet Behind Plastic." And with Steve's wrapping and Chris' bondage tying up to the inside of the van, my handcarved African giraffe made the trip without a problem. That U-Haul was so well-packed not one thing broke or got damaged. No thanks to me save for knowing the right folk! And Stu vacummed my place! It was so excellent. I had a clean place, a well-packed U-haul and I was good to go!

The Hollywood Bowl - Rufus and Judy

Sunday, 23 September. The ticket to have it seems was a ticket to see/hear Rufus Wainwright perform Judy Garland's Carnegie Hall show at the Hollywood Bowl. Eric gave me a very special gift and took me as his guest. Wow. It was a fantastic send off to my time in LA and was a great show. We had a box and see all sorts of stars - on the ground. Too many to count, but among them Rod Stewart, Hilary Swank, Jerry and Rebecca, Dermot Mulroney, that guy from that thing, and her. But Rufus was the star and did a great job. His sister and mother accompanied him on many numbers and so did a full orchestra. How many people get to headline at the Bowl? That boy can go to his high school reunion! Fun night. And when the whole stage was lit rainbow, (as in "over the" or " soaking in it"?) I felt a farewell to this place and it was good.

Moving Sale Day - Saturday 22 September

2007 is the driest year in Los Angeles since they started noting such things back in 1877. It has been one long hot year. I have never had a yard sale before and my pal Lana and I worked hard at categorizing and pricing all my possessions. Well, I had my yard sale on the WETTEST day of the driest year on record in The City of Angels. Angelinos, like cats, do not come out in the rain. There were a few, but it was sort of a bust. Having said that, I did have a great time hanging out with pals who came by to help or visit. Getting friends to hang out with you in your carport for 5 hours is impossible unless you put all your belongings on blankets in the driveway in front of them. This, I have observed.

Prep for Moving Sale

I have lived in one apartment for the past 12.5 years as I have mentioned. A lot of stuff got shoved on those shelves and in those drawers. I had a lot of books and Cd's and DVDs and a bagpipe figurine collection to deal with. When I decided to take the chance I knew that I would not sublet as my apartment and I needed to move on. I also knew that most of my furniture needed to be enjoyed by others. I wanted to realize my dream of keeping "Only what I needed and what I absolutely loved." This was hard, but necessary. I burned my whole CD collection onto my itunes and sold most of my CDs at Amoeba. I boxed a few boxes of books and said faretheewell to the rest and sold them to the wonderful Brand Books in Glendale. And besides all the excellent help from friends, I could not have done this move without Craigslist. I sold most of my furniture on Craislist, I found my sublet in New York there, I gave away FREE stuff on the site, and I got FREE moving boxes. The world's bulletin board. Amazingly effective.

17 September, Monday

By this day I realized I was overwhelmed and losing my mind. I KNEW I had tools somewhere. Mental tools. I have to cancel the gas, call this person, rent a U-haul maybe, get loads of bubble wrap, sell books and cds. Plan a moving sale. What in hell am I going to do about my car?!! The best thing I did was print out a two week calender and like a war strategy, plan out my retreat from LA. Day by Day. This wee two page calender saved me from going insane many times. I recommend. I won't bore my gentle readers with day by day news of my departure, but it involved two phones, a lot of sitting on the floor surrounded by STUFF, Craigslist, Craigslist, Craigslist.

Sunday, September 16 - The Emmys

After the previous day's glamour, I had turned into a pumpkin. But it was just fine. I got to watch the VERY LONG Emmy awards at Eric's with Eric and Lana. That is the best. Plus I spent the day feverishly throwing crap out and trying to put aside what I was going to keep and what I was going to sell. It was and endless Sophie's Choice of Possessions. After living in my apartment in Silverlake for 12.5 years, I had to disassemble it all in less than two weeks. By Emmy time, my mascara had run and gown was crumpled so it was just as well to hang with people who let you fall asleep on the floor.

So Long, Farewell

This was all a rush job and I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to so many people. Still haven't. Do you tell people via blog? That seems tacky. With all this new technology we need a new Emily Post. (What a unwittingly brilliant timely surname she had!) I had decided to leave LA on Wednesday, 26 Sept. which would have been my dead dog Luv's 36th human birthday and, oh yeah, my sister Eileen's 8th wedding anniversary. And now "Pat/rick Leaves LA" tacked on to to this historically loaded date. I had decided to drive a U-Haul to Oakland to drop off furniture at my brother Sean's and boxes (lots of 'em) at my sister Eileen's. Since I had this fixed deadline, I had only a few more days to have a moving sale, arrange for a donation pick up, pack the truck and leave. To be overdramatic and cheesy, I felt like the Von Trapps doing their final concert in Salzburg and then escaping over the hill to Switzerland under the cover of night. Yes, I was in a U-Haul and it was the desolate I-5 during the day, but leaving felt the same. And I didn't sing and I had blinds and no curtains, but other than that it was a direct parallel.

Saturday 15, Sept. Waning Days of Hollywood Glamour

My LA life is coming to a close for now. One great Hollywood way to finish it off was at the BAFTA Emmy Tea party which is held the day before the Emmys to host the British noms. I went with my friend Brad. It was held on a lovely, sunny day at the Wattles Mansion in Hollywood. Beautiful grounds and loads of people. The food was pokes of Fish and Chips, Scotch Eggs, and lovely tea cakes. Too many WW points to count, but I was all in. I am on the TV Committee for BAFTA/LA so I got to have an official "I am someone" badge and escort the talent from the red carpet into the event. The best was when I had Elaine Stritch on my arm! She had just won the Emmy for Best Guest Star for her turn as Alex Baldwin's mom on "30 Roc." She had also just injured her foot and I told her my dad was a podiatrist. As if my father's speciality put her on surer footing with me! I also told her my friend Eric would spit blood when I told him I was with her! He paid the big bucks at the Carlyle and here I was having a chat arm in arm! Upon entering the manse she said "Where's a seat? When can I leave? Where's Holland Taylor." - 3 sentences I live by myself.

And Baby Makes Me

Friday, 14 Sept. 2007 I got the call from The Sundance Channel that I got the job - Scheduling Consultant in the Programming Acquisitions, Planning and Scheduling group. I did three phone interviews for it and it was for a "Mat Leave" as "we" seemingly call it in the biz. Maternity Leave. It is odd to think that because of an unknown, unborn child, my life is about to change so dramatically. Wow, new life all around!