More In the Know
Remember, the things we respond to at twenty are not necessarily the same things we will respond to at forty and vice versa. This is true in books and also in life. --Gabrielle Zevin, THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY, a novel The only piece of correspondence I received this week was from my 12-year-old niece, Ashley, written on binder paper. I’ll take what I can get—but in all honesty her letters are a joy. I enjoy being in-touch with the younger set (or all ages for that matter). It helps me to be MORE IN THE KNOW. In any case, Ashley’s letter reminded me of a Paloma letter this time because Ashley shared a bunch of movies that she’d seen or wants to see. I had no clue about some of the films. That’s what I like about Paloma’s letters, also. She informs me of films that I’d never have known about otherwise. Ashley wrote:
Aug 14, 1996
Dear Uncle Mike,
‘Sup’? Nothin’ much here but the other day I saw MATILDA. It was really good. I read the book too but they’re both terrific. I’ve also seen INDEPENDENCE DAY and THE NUTTY PROFESSOR again! I saw HARRIET THE SPY which was more sad than happy or funny. I still liked it.
We went to the Drive-In moves and saw PHENOMENON followed by MULTIPLICITY, but I fell asleep after PHENOMENON, so I missed MULTIPLICITY.
I can’t wait till school—I mean to see my friends.
The new model houses were nice, but I liked the first house because I had a big room. Not huge—but not dinky. We aren’t gonna move though. I doubt it. I got to go because it’s 2:30PM and SAILOR MOON, my fave show is on.
Always,
Love, Ashley
P.S. Write back a.s.a.p.
On the early evening of Friday, August 16th, Alan and I met up for coffee with Art (Alan’s real estate partner). I had my Polaroid camera, so I documented the meet. Alan and Art are always dealing with a new tenant moving in or moving out and they seem to always have a vacant space. Having a commercial building to lease is certainly stressful in my book but somehow the two of them always seem to find a way. At times they want to throw out the deck and just sell the building. I know that would relieve a lot of stress and time. And time is money, so who knows when/if that will ever happen. Obviously, there are tax consequences when you sell something you’ve owned for a while. On Saturday, August 17th, I was invited to a Charles Schwab & Co. party at Julia Zem’s house in Playa Vista. Julia is one of my coworkers. Other coworkers in attendance included John Maceda with wife/daughter, Scott Gray and wife, Carmen Reynoso, our branch manager/boss Randy Kirk, Jeffrey Huppert and another gal who lives in Redondo Beach (whose name escapes me at this time of writing) with her husband & child. It was casual and fun to just be together in a non-business setting. It didn’t last too long—but I managed to get a group photo of all of us.
That night after the Charles Schwab & Co. Gathering, Alan and I went to see that movie about the rise and fall of a real Mafia Don called GOTTI played by actor Armand Assante. It was pretty good-- John Gotti, the head of a small New York mafia crew breaks a few of the old family rules. He rises to become the head of the Gambino family and the most well-known mafia boss in America. Life is good, but suspicion creeps in, and greed, rule-breaking and his high public profile all threaten to topple him.
I want to paint the landscape first, so that someday I’ll remember where I was happy. --Stefan Zweig, from his short story, COMPULSION
