A Few Nibbles

There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you. --Charles Bukowski, poet 

I received a cute GARFIELD The Cat card from Marie-Antoinette.   

The outside of the card: 

THE DEAL IS:  I WRITE YOU EVERY ONCE IN A WHIULE, THEN YOU WRITE ME! 

Inside of the card: 

IT’S A TOUGH JOB BUT I KNOW WE CAN HANDLE IT! 

04/22/99 

Dear Cousin Michael, 

Just taking a break from the proverbial “salt mines”.  TeeHee! And was again thinking about you.  Thought you’d get a kick out of this card!   

Well, that’s enough of a break.  Take Care.  God Bless You! 

Love Your Cousin, 

Marie-Antoinette  

P.S.  Ruben is coming along beautifully.  

On April 22nd, Alan and I went to West Hollywood for a special screening of a film called BARFLY.  It was from 1987 starring Mickey O’Rourke and Faye Dunaway. We had never seen it, so we thought it would be a different sort of outing on that evening.  It was based on the life a successful poet, Charles Bukowski, and his exploits in Hollywood during the 60s, 70s and 80s. It was a tad depressing but such is life for some.

In our business we have to look good, too.  One’s appearance is a big part of the game.  And so, we scheduled facials and body scrub treatments at OLE HENRIKSEN at the Sunset Plaza in West Hollywood.  We felt so ‘brand new and refreshed’.  It was unbelievable.  The only sad part was when we got home.  Our house had been crying.  There was an unexpected mini flood.   

To get our minds off of flood we went to see a movie on Saturday night, April 24th.  The movie was ELECTION and we were pleasantly surprised by it.  The story revolved around a student body election that satirizes politics and high school life.  Matthew Broderick is a popular high school social studies teacher and Reese Witherspoon, an overachieving student whom he dislikes.  When Reese runs for student government President, Matthew sabotages her candidacy by backing a rival candidate and tampering with the ballot count. 

I’m communicating with some of my Charles Schwab clients that I really connected with in hopes that they’ll become clients of mine one day.  If they don’t, that’s okay too because I really liked these people—not just as customers.  One in particular is Harriet Cutler.  She recently sent me a postcard from her tip to Maryland.  It reminded me that I hope to visit Maryland one day to taste authentic Maryland Crab Cakes. 

4-25-99 

Hi Michael, 

Greetings from Maryland where I’m enjoying a lovely visit with my niece and family.  We’ll be driving to New York State in a few days for a visit with her sister.  I’ll go on to see friends and then home to Santa Monica on May 5th.  Hope all goes well with one terrific financier and friend. 

Harriet 

Daniela Sapriel is another former Charles Schwab client that I adore.  Alan and I attended her get-together on April 25th for nibbles, talk and a water balancing demonstration.  We did not stay for the water balancing but we had a few nibbles.  I enjoyed Daniela’s friend, Maria Luisa, from Milan, Italy.  Daniela described the many olive trees she has on her Italian property.  I loved imagining that scene of olive trees.   

That evening Alan and I watched double-feature movies.  One of them we had missed from a couple of years ago (1996), a film remake of Truman Capote’s story IN COLD BLOOD (based on his best-selling book).  It was pretty good, but chilling.  The other movie was from 1966 that I had never seen called WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLF, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.  It was an excellent psychological drama.  Fascination galore for me.  It centered on a middle-aged New England professor and his wife, with the help of alcohol, use their young guests and emotional pain towards each other over the course of a distressing night.  Great dialogue! 

‘To discover the worthy of your existence:  Be with yourself for a long period of time, spending lots of seconds, minutes and hours with yourself.’--Chogyam Trungpa, SMILE AT FEAR