Laurie Sandell's Blog, page 356

Tonight: Karen Ramos at The Hotel Cafe

[image error]Genius singer/songwriter Karen Ramos is playing tonight at 7:00 PM sharp; I will be there–you should be there, too. I met Karen 15 years ago in New York ,when I was working at The New Yorker and a co-worker took me to hear her sing at The Living Room. I became an instant fan, attending all her performances, buying her CDs and stalking her after shows. We soon became great friends, bonding over our eccentric dads. I can't say enough about her powerful voice, lyrics and onstage presence (half s...

Mickey the one-eyed trouser mouse

[image error]My friend Karen took me to Disneyland (!) yesterday, as a belated birthday present. I think I was there, once, as a kid, but I'm not sure; I don't remember my parents letting me out of their basement dungeon to go there. Anyway, I'd always imagined it would be a horrible place to go: Massive crowds, insanely overpriced merchandise, forced fun–and yes, I saw all of that, but dare I admit that I really enjoyed it? We boarded a boat to sail through "It's a Small World," careened around corners o...

Checked out the LA Book Fair

[image error]The LA Book fair took place at UCLA yesterday (and is going on again today, but I am tied up with something else that's rather important *cough* a trip to Disneyland *cough*). Carole and I drove over there and walked around. The thing is massive and sprawling, I didn't see a single friend or author I knew. I stopped by the Granta booth in the hopes of saying hello to John Freeman, but apparently he is stuck in London under a cloud of volcanic ash. I did catch Carol Burnett's lecture on the...

Took a writing risk today

[image error]My friend Michelle Fiordaliso, author of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ex, called the other day and asked if I wanted to participate in something called "The Cafe Plays." The premise is this: A group of five writers meet at a coffee shop at 9:00 AM and are given three hours to write a 10-minute play, based on a theme. (Meaning we each write our own play.) You have no idea who your actors are going to be until you arrive that day and grab two head shots from a pile of manila...

Filmed a Behind the Music

[image error]Got a call from a producer at MTV asking me to talk about Christina Aguilera for a new Behind the Music. It's official: I have become a de facto Christina Aguilera expert. This is my third time doing television about her. So last week I drove to Hollywood and sat in a studio, talking about the two sit-down interviews I did with her for Glamour. It was a small operation: One camera, one director, one sound guy. No hair or makeup, so I won't be sporting my usual Kabuki dancer look. What...

Nominated for an Eisner Award!

[image error]Just got some incredibly exciting news: The Impostor's Daughter has been nominated for an Eisner Award in the "Best Reality-Based Work" category! My mother taught me not to toot my own horn, but in this case, I am going to go ahead and toot, because this is huge, and crazy, and completely unexpected. I got a tip about this a week ago and told a few friends in confidence…most of them are in the book world and didn't know what The Eisners were (ahem–perhaps they didn't read my Jules Feiffer...

LA, in all its plastic glory, continues to blow my mind

[image error]The other night I went to dinner with my friend Luke at a Mexican restaurant in Hollywood. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear a word he said, because I could not take my eyes off a young Asian woman sitting directly across from us. She sported white-blonde extensions, a tight black bandage dress that rested just below her—how to put this delicately?—labia, six-inch stilettos, sparkly jewels, and the most gigantic boobs I have ever seen. We debated about whether she was a man or woman for a few...

Bad dog owner

[image error]Yesterday I had the fright of my life. It was dusk in LA, ie. coyote hour. Our back door was open, letting a nice breeze in. Carole's dog, Maggie, was frolicking in the backyard, and Violet followed her outside. She wasn't wearing her collar, but I figured it was OK because (a) she was in our backyard (b) Maggie is a big, powerful Boxer and would scare off any animals that tried to snatch Violet, and (c) I was watching her. But I got distracted and when I looked outside again, Maggie was out ...

Happy Smashover

[image error]Not calling it "smashover" because I plan to be drunk, but because I add a "sh" to words that are almost like, but not quite, the real thing. Ie. cubic zirconia earrings are "shmimonds," a fake Birkin is a "Shmirkin." Normally I would be doing a seder with my family (or Ariel Foxman's family), but this year I'm in LA, and totally forgot to make plans. Now, before you LA-based Jews get all up in arms and start inviting me to spend this Passover with your dysfunctional family, know that while I...

Why LA is a little bit mentally ill

[image error]So, today C. and I took the dogs to Runyon and had a lovely hike; after, we stopped by a store in Beverly Hills to look at some clothes. The first thing I noticed was a dark-haired young woman–who couldn't have been older than 35–wearing a blue Juicy Couture sweat suit, her head wrapped entirely in plastic surgery post-op bandages. There was a bandage across her forehead (brow lift); another around her ears (ears pinned back); another over her nose (nose job); and yet another under her chin (...