After the memorial service for my step-mom Ruth, at George Washington Memorial Cemetery in Paramus New Jersey, the families went to Napa Valley Bar and Grill in the Garden State Mall for a luncheon. Everyone had on leis and Hawaiian shirts in honor of Ruth’s many trips to Hawaii. I sat across from Loretta and Ken the children from Ken, Ruth’s last husband. My dish, salmon over a bed of rice with asparagus shoots was delicious. I can smell the dish now, just thinking about it. Desert consisted of sorbet, a small cheese cake and a chocolate cookie. Everyone was given a Mai Tai, which is a pink sweet Polynesian drink. My step-brother, Wayne, stood up and offered a toast. He explained that Mai Tai means “good” in Polynesian. He assured everyone that Ruth most likely was given a Mai Tai when she got to the gates of heaven. I never considered the possibility that heaven might be an eternal state of inebriation.
After the Luau, I had to convince Terry to rush off to Pearl Paint in order to get a watercolor kit. The store was just a few miles up the road and I found a really nice kit with 24 colors. I am sure to use it often. One color, Peach, has already made it into the last couple of sketches.
When we got back to the hotel, we found all the Thorspecken and Bradley children sitting around the downstairs bar. There was no bartender. Instead, everyone had bought down their own six packs and they used the bar’s glasses and ice. There was some joking about Ruth, who probably would have frowned upon this scene. Yet in life she regretted not being able to bring these two families together. When her strong will was taken, both families mourned and in s0 doing, her memory brought everyone closer. I overheard Terry saying Ruth made the best Christmas cookies she had ever tasted. I sat across the room in a comfy sofa and took in the scene.
The Manteis Project
In the red room at Taste (717 Smith Street, College Park), Terry and I stayed to watch the music act that was setting up on stage after most of the artists had left from an event called Blend. The heart of the group seemed to be an Apple laptop computer which put out vibrant pulsating sound effects. There was a sitar, guitar an a wide variety of drums. A keyboardist also had a laptop open above his keyboard. They were known as the Manteis Project. Behind the group the screen displayed animated lighting patterns. The music was mesmerizing.
Kenneth Raduazzo was working the sound booth. I glanced up at the sound booth and his wife Teresa was there with him. She had recently introduced me to an ashram. A couple of artists were still working on the collaborative paintings in the room behind us. I was seated in a chair right at the foot of the stage looking up at the performers. After the performance was over, Terry and I walked back to the car and on the way we bumped into Teresa. She had decided to go for a walk to get some fresh air. I thought she and Terry must have met before at the Kerouac House but I made the introductions anyway. We talked for a while but then Teresa had to get back inside to help break down.
Tomorrow Thor will sketch an Acrylic painting demonstration at Sam Flax on Colonial Drive near Mills between 3:30PM and 5:30PM.
Oscar Party
Matt McGrath put out an invite on Facebook for his annual Oscar Party and my wife Terry wanted to go. Matt is the producer of Project F which is a theater production that I pan to follow closely. I had attended Holi Fest earlier in the day and I was covered with brightly colored chalks. I didn’t have time to go home and change, so I just shook out my jacket, and wiped as much color off from my face and neck as I could. I went to the Viet Garden for dinner just before going to Matt’s and I had my favorite dish Pad Tai and a beer.
When I parked outsides his place I could see that he was rushing around the living room cleaning up. I realized I was probably the first to arrive. The walkway up to the front door was decorated with a red carpet of sorts. It was held in place however with gray duck tape which kind of threw off any hint elegance. A strobe light kept blinking which Matt later explained simulated flash bulbs going off. The door had a large silhouette of a golden statue.
I was indeed the first to arrive, but Matt was gracious and offered me a beer and I sat at his bar in the back patio. Later a friend referred to the space as “Matt’s Man Patio.” Besides the bar with it’s fully functional tap of Guinness, there was a stripper pole and a pair of animating breasts on a plaque. He also had one of those bar trivia games and I tried playing a game where you had to find 5 differences between two photos. I lost every time. There were four red sheets covering some of the screened windows and each had a golden statue in the center. Bright gold streamers divided the window decorations. All of the food for the party was named after Oscar nominated films, the most obvious being a stack of 7 UP cans for the movie UP.
Slowly Matt’s friends arrived and surrounded the bar. We all started filling out our pics for the winning categories. I started feeling sure of myself, but halfway through the list, I was filling out answers by guessing, since I hadn’t seen enough of the films to make an educated guess. Most of the people at the party were actors and actresses and there was plenty of catty remarks about the gowns being worn in Hollywood that night. A few people came to Matt’s party dressed to the nines as well. I was dressed in my Sunday best but I had been covered with chalks at Holi fest that morning and I didn’t get all the chalk off. Louise Bova had a friend visiting her from Brooklyn and she called me on my cell and asked if I knew of any good Oscar parties. I talked to Matt and we invited her and her friend over. My wife dressed up as Nora Desmond with an antique hat she had just bought at the Mount Dora Antiques fair. She had long black gloves and plenty of sequins. If there had been a prize for best costume she would have won.
I was drinking Guinness all night, but I still got cold outside and eventually moved into the living room. In the living room my ears started getting warm perhaps from the drink so I bounced back outside. Matt’s big screen TV outside had the ability to freeze and even rewind. When I went out there I saw the same category being awarded that I had just witnessed in the living room. I debated about shouting out the winner, but held my tongue.
At the end of the night as we tabulated the results of everyone’s Oscar ballots, I discovered that I only got 6 out of 47 categories right. This was a sad showing indeed. Next year I plan to study up. The winner got 13 categories right and left with a gift bag of trinkets. As he said, “Its not what you win that matters, it the winning that counts.” He was sitting right next to me when we filled out out forms, I should have cheated.
Stable Party
Terry takes horse riding lessons at Morton Equestrian Center in Ocoee. For the holidays the barn hosted an outdoor barbecue. Guests each bought a side dish or deserts. This was a real home grown Florida party complete with cowboys and plenty of talented horse riders. The whole event took place in the middle of a riding ring. The horse jumps were still in place and people gathered around the roaring fire to keep warm since the night was rather cold for Florida.
Before I ate, I sat in the bleachers which are set up for people to watch the horses. Terry was still getting over a rather bad fall off of a horse and her instructor Emily offered her encouragement. The saying, “get right back on the horse”, has a new meaning once you have been thrown 6 feet. Terry’s had a huge 3 foot long black and blue mark all the way up the back of her leg.
There were beers in a cooler but I stuck with caffeine as I rushed to finish the sketch. The night was crisp and cold and the laughter and conversations continued for many hours. Once I finished I went and picked up some pulled pork on a bun and plenty of cookies. Terry was talking to a man who had owned horses for years and she was trying to find out how much land cost outside Orlando since she now dreams of a simple life in the country.