GRAY IN L.A.

I've spent a week in the darkness of movie theaters thanks to the fabulous AFI FEST (AFI is the American Film Institute) https://www.facebook.com/AFIFEST/?fref=ts  who organized its annual film festival in Hollywood's movie theaters. Being armed with a press badge I had the luxury of seeing up to 3 movies a day , until I stumbled out of the dark in a daze, only to be nearly blinded by the relentless California sun. There is something deliciously forbidden about going to the movies during the day. The creative movie community of filmmakers, journalists, social media "experts" is mostly young, and if I were a timid, insecure older woman I could have felt like an outsider who had smuggled herself into a (self-proclaimed) hipster environment that should not be infiltrated by gray-haired females but left entirely to the young. But a lovely surprise happened. I've met quite a few very young writers and filmmakers who actually stroke up a conversation w...

Since I have my blog "Gray in LA" I've been checking out my  surroundings and travels like an eagle-eyed inspector looking for clues and more than just 50 shades of gray. In Central Park I'm in New York , my old hometown, for which I still have passionate and romantic feelings like I had for my favorite boyfriend.  Cities have certain colors , just like people, I think. So, coincidence or not, New York is definitely a steely, platinum , gray and silver city documented by all the great buildings from the Empire State and the Chrysler Building to the new WTC Memorial. Gleaming, cool, sleek! Strangely perfect for ladies of the gray persuasion. In Los Angeles , (on the right) one looks very different because it is an all soft and natural color-orgy in gold, white, green, dark pinks , flaming reds, avocado-greens, lemon-yellows (like some California hair) and Jacaranda- (a tree) purple . Whatever color - LA and NY are two absolutely fabulous and fascinati...

Cat 1 - The Lucky One I love animals and housesitting. That is a very lucky combination that gets me into friends' and sometimes strangers' homes. Which I think is perfect since I don't have any animals and only a smallish apartment. And I just love different places; they make me feel like an explorer - for a writer a very creative feeling. Los Angelenos like animals - of course, there are so many around: mountain lions, lizards, huge hairy spiders, coyotes, raccoons, foxes, opossums, hummingbirds, pelicans, sea lions, to name only a few - but these would be mostly outside the house (if you're lucky - if we are talking about the pesky raccoons). Inside, it's mostly cats and dogs. And that is my territory. May I in troduce myself? Here is the KKK - NOT that one! The KittyKatKaretaker Cat 2 So, co-incidence or just life's way of reminding me that grayness, aging and ailments happen in the animal world as well, here I am, ...