China Lilac
A most excellent evening with Julia, Lori and Joan to celebrate the launch of Julia’s latest CD, ‘China Blue’, at Rustic Canyon on Wilshire and 11th. Superb food. It’s been available for download (the album, not the restaurant) for over a week, but on Tuesday we had the actual hard copy in our hands.
Although a printing error on the first run made part of the cover lilac rather than blue, Julia did not allow this to dampen her joy and has decided to think of these 1000 as collectors’ items. She bought us China Blue candles from her favorite store, Topanga Homegrown, as thank you gifts for being with her through thick and thin. Mostly thin, as she’s been on a strict diet in preparation for her trip to the Philippines where she is called ‘The Jewel of Pop Jazz.’
She also has gigs coming up in February in LA at The Roxy and Bimbo’s in San Fran. There’s one in Santa Barbara as well, if the Philippines is too far for you. The MD of Novatunes told me Julia is by far their biggest-selling artist, that she is their Beatles.
Lori and Joan are trying to convince me to go to San Fran, especially as the flights are just $100 return. It was so good to see them. Before we had husbands, boyfriends and Marley Rose, we used to go out most weeks with them. You could measure how close we were by the fact that there were eight (a world record) photos with me in them on their fridge, but now there’s only one. I give them a lot of stick about that.
My son, Max, will be here by then so he might come with me to San Francisco. Max moves in with Colin and me into our one-bedroomed apartment on January 30. Colin is a saint. Mia only just left and has decided she wants to move here permanently as well. Gulp. Now we have to convince the INS that she, too, is an alien of extraordinary ability. I’m going to leave it a while before I tell Colin that Mum and Dad are coming for three weeks in April. They’ll be staying just along the corridor in Linda Penny’s apartment.
All in all a happy week, although I managed to offend Julia by declining her invitation to attend an ‘evening of singing, poetry and incantations’ with her in Topanga. I told her she lost me at poetry, but she is a goodly soul who likes to support all creative events and artists, and felt I had rushed to judge, indeed had been a tad cruel in dismissing anyone who felt the need to incant as not being worthy of my patronage. For my own part, I was worried that Julia had gone native, that I’d lost my dear sister to the dwindling bastion of hippiedom that is Topanga. So I was quite relieved when I heard later that she ducked out soon after one of her singer friends had done her stint and never got round to the incantations.
And I’m back in Julia’s good books after looking after Marley all day while she shopped for the Philippines trip. Marley was a delight and talks up a storm now. When Julia came to collect her, the three of us played hide and seek. They gave me a standing ovation after I hid outside on the balcony in the pouring rain. They had absolutely no idea. Possibly my finest hour.
Although a printing error on the first run made part of the cover lilac rather than blue, Julia did not allow this to dampen her joy and has decided to think of these 1000 as collectors’ items. She bought us China Blue candles from her favorite store, Topanga Homegrown, as thank you gifts for being with her through thick and thin. Mostly thin, as she’s been on a strict diet in preparation for her trip to the Philippines where she is called ‘The Jewel of Pop Jazz.’
She also has gigs coming up in February in LA at The Roxy and Bimbo’s in San Fran. There’s one in Santa Barbara as well, if the Philippines is too far for you. The MD of Novatunes told me Julia is by far their biggest-selling artist, that she is their Beatles.
Lori and Joan are trying to convince me to go to San Fran, especially as the flights are just $100 return. It was so good to see them. Before we had husbands, boyfriends and Marley Rose, we used to go out most weeks with them. You could measure how close we were by the fact that there were eight (a world record) photos with me in them on their fridge, but now there’s only one. I give them a lot of stick about that.
My son, Max, will be here by then so he might come with me to San Francisco. Max moves in with Colin and me into our one-bedroomed apartment on January 30. Colin is a saint. Mia only just left and has decided she wants to move here permanently as well. Gulp. Now we have to convince the INS that she, too, is an alien of extraordinary ability. I’m going to leave it a while before I tell Colin that Mum and Dad are coming for three weeks in April. They’ll be staying just along the corridor in Linda Penny’s apartment.
All in all a happy week, although I managed to offend Julia by declining her invitation to attend an ‘evening of singing, poetry and incantations’ with her in Topanga. I told her she lost me at poetry, but she is a goodly soul who likes to support all creative events and artists, and felt I had rushed to judge, indeed had been a tad cruel in dismissing anyone who felt the need to incant as not being worthy of my patronage. For my own part, I was worried that Julia had gone native, that I’d lost my dear sister to the dwindling bastion of hippiedom that is Topanga. So I was quite relieved when I heard later that she ducked out soon after one of her singer friends had done her stint and never got round to the incantations.
And I’m back in Julia’s good books after looking after Marley all day while she shopped for the Philippines trip. Marley was a delight and talks up a storm now. When Julia came to collect her, the three of us played hide and seek. They gave me a standing ovation after I hid outside on the balcony in the pouring rain. They had absolutely no idea. Possibly my finest hour.
posted by Claire at 5:31 AM
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