Granny, Play With Me

So, I did. First it was Ninja Turtles until he became disgusted with my desire to give them proper names. Who ever heard of Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo or Raphael. Some Granny's are too much work and no help at all.

Then it was racing the roaring dinosaur, Connor won. Lego's that needed constructed with Connor's precise eye going step by step, exactly, until it was completed. I didn't exactly play with him on that one, he wouldn't let me touch it. Did you know there are children's Lego leagues? I didn't. We worked out Spiderman puzzles, made pirate hats with three different sizes of newspaper until we had an exact fit, a song or two, an orange to peel, Batman buttons from Ian's Disneyland trip that needed pinned on and taken off, and pinned on and taken off, and pinned on and taken off, and pinned on and taken off, sometimes on Connor sometimes on granny and sometimes on the dog. No, wait Connor you can't pin those on Brandy. Darling boy.

I'm telling you it is a work out, but he does do wonders for the winter blahs.

I sent my flight itinerary to Claire's sister Jean instead of my sister Jean. Well, I was distracted, what with blogging, reading, watching movies, cooking, addressing cards, running errands, driving here and there, watching the fog and watching the fog and watching the fog, and I might have been eating a bon bon or two.

Betwixt the drizzle and the fog we saw a bit of sunshine. A tiny bit but a bit. Today is mild enough for full open back window in my living room, my bedroom window, of course, never closes.

I'm looking forward to the California trip. Excited Jerry and Jane might join in the festivities. Excited Jerry feels well enough to consider it considering his recent surgery. Wondering if Julia is considering it. Just loving enough to drive the nieces to Hollywood or Rodeo Drive or where ever it is they want to explore. Yeah, I can do that.

And I'm feeling the need for a little more Woody Allen:

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying.

I'm not afraid of dying... I just don't want to be there when it happens.

On the plus side, death is one of the few things that can be done just as easily as lying down.

This year I'm a star, but what will I be next year? A black hole?
Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.

If my film makes one more person miserable, I'll feel I've done my job.

For some reason I'm more appreciated in France than I am back home. The subtitles must be incredibly good.

 

I was thrown out of NYU [New York University] for cheating on my Metaphysics final. I looked within the soul of the boy sitting next to me

Kubrick was a guy who obsessed over details and did 100 takes, and you know, I don't feel that way. If I'm shooting a film and it's 6 o'clock at night and I've got a take, and I think I might be able to get a better take if I stayed, but the Knicks tipoff is at 7:30, then that's it. The crews love working on my movies because they know they'll be home by 6.

A guy like Steven Spielberg will go live in the desert to make a movie, or Martin Scorsese will make a picture in India and set up camp and live there for four months. I mean, for me, if I'm not shooting in my neighborhood, it's annoying. I have no commitment to my work in that sense. No dedication.

I am a whiner. I do get a certain amount of solace from whining.

Okay, enough Woody Allen. Here is from John Bohonnan from a TED on creativity:

Think briefly about all the creatives you know? I imagine many of them were those who flirted on the edge of society during school and university? Not all, but most. Then consider the imagination and creativity required daily by those people to remain on the edges of main-stream society. Hours and hours of imagination and creativity.

 

A big hearty congratulations to Amber on her recent rise at Integris.

Love you, love what you do and the way you do it.

 

I made some terrific turkey soup and now I'm resting up until next week when Connor says, "Granny, play with me."