Lain's Log

Playing catch-up

May 31/12.

Has been a few days since I last wrote. Not sure where the time goes.

In the continuing saga of my own real life daytime drama, "I Fried My Brain", here is some of what transpired since the last entry.First of all, a bunch of my pics turned out black & white, or (in some cases),

HALF black & white/half colour. I must have hit a wrong button somehow (which I do a LOT). So this series of pics is really weird. Ran into my musical blog mascot, Aubrey, outside the local LCBO

at Gerrard & Carlaw.Once inside, I witnessed a robbery which was really upsetting. I'd seen a man out front  who appeared to be about 30. His face was drawn and pale. He looked ill. I thought he was going to ask me for money, but he didn't. I just KNEW there was trouble ahead. The man went into the store and I saw him looking at bottles of liquor. The staffers kept an eye on him. Seconds later, he tried to walk out, just as I was at the front cash. Two men from the LCBO rushed and grabbed him, slammed him against the wall and shouted, "You're under arrest for robbery"! The look on the man's face haunts me. He was so terrified. They dragged him to the back of the store and called police. I so wish I had given him some money or offered to buy him what he wanted to prevent the arrest. I was pretty shaky when I left.


After that, another errand, and I had to pass by the Don Jail, which I do almost daily. Most days, I see women, waiting outside to go visit their boyfriends, husbands, brothers or fathers. But this day, I looked up and saw a middle-aged man and woman leaving the prison. The man was using a handkerchief to wipe tears away from his eyes. I realized in that second, he was likely crying because he had to say goodbye to his son, leaving him inside. The pain was so evident. The scene made me cry too.

Next stop, Gerrard Square, where I wanted to pick up

Chinese noodles for my husband, Sam, (who loves them) and chicken balls & steamed rice for my son, Max.

I paid for the food and wandered over to get a few things at Food Basics.

When I got home, the bags of Chinese food were gone! The food court was just closing up, so I couldn't go back to try and find them. Must have accidentally left them at the grocery store! (see what I mean about my brain being fried - between turning photos to black & white and losing bags of food, I'm falling apart)!  I snapped this pic using auto-cam just before leaving the Gerrard Square parking lot and SWEAR it LOOKS like the Chinese food bags are in the trunk of my car (right behind me), but I guess not.


I felt so badly that my fam got ripped off of the food they were eagerly anticipating, that I went back the next day. Told the manager about losing the food and re-bought the same items. He took my picture to PROVE I HAVE the bags! (THIS time, the delectables were devoured)!

On Tuesday, had to hobble out (ankle pain still killing me), to College & Yonge,

passed a huge construction site,

on the way to hit up

Hiscott, the professional makeup store, to buy my much-needed industrial-strength bag cream!
(to quote an old Jack Lemmon line from the 1960 flick The Apartment, "It's a MUST! Gracious-living wise and otherwise-wise)!

Can't live without RCMA, (CS-1) for dark circles.

Have loved it ever since makeup artist Dana Joon started using it on me back in the golden Global glamour days!

I saw a funky store called Andalous Imports,

with all kinds of weird knick knacks. (Peekaboo!)

My foot hurt so much, I sat down for a rest before making the trek back to my car,

which was parked on McGill Street. SO pretty. If I ever had to move from the house we're in now, this street would be a great choice.

It's an unusual mix of Heritage houses,

funny little row houses,

newer town houses,

cute gingerbread houses,

more modern attached homes,

and these pretty ones that I could easily live in!

Also spotted an assortment of motorcycles!

Today, I had the chance to meet the stars of a new dramatic film coming out tomorrow called In the Family. This is 8-year-old Sebastian Brodziak and director/writer/star Patrick Wang. Due to circumstances way beyond my control, I haven't been able to do work or interviews for years, (too many other demands on my time) - so this was a lot of fun for me! (And such a great couple of guys to be the ones to welcome me back)!

I'll be writing about the film and interviews for Tribute.ca.

The feature also stars the great Trevor St. John, (ex Todd Manning of One Life to Live). I did a phoner with him from L.A., (which was terrific!) and he'll be part of my story too. Will post a link to tribute.ca when it's all up and running.

Here's the link to my story.


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Ouch!

May 28/12.

Going to another Doc today about my injured foot/ankle.
May get sent for follow-up x-rays, a bone scan and/or an MRI. It's been 12 days now, and no end in sight
to the pain. Living on Ibuprofen now. Fun.

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Wacky week!

May 26/12.

I've been in a bit of a dazed-out state for the past few days due to the insane pain of my right foot/ankle.

I'm used to being able to dash around, wreaking major-league maniacal havoc like a crazed, outta control, wacky whirling dervish/Tasmanian Devil on speed. But this damn running injury has literally stopped me in my tracks.

Advice I've heard? - "Keep the foot elevated"!  "Take Ibuprofen"!  "Ice it...five minutes on, five minutes off". "Stick a bag of frozen peas on it!" "Stay OFF your foot at all times!" -

Lie down. rest, stay out of trouble & take it easy! - OK already! - I'm tryin'!  Guess what?? - NOTHING WORKS!!

As Ricky Ricardo would say, "Ai yi yi!"

I've been hanging out at hospitals, living on old Oxycodone, leftover from my cancer surgery (and even THAT hasn't cut the pain by much). Hate complaining over what seems like a mild, milquetoasty, miniscule, mundane thing (compared to what others are going through right now), but this really friggin' HURTS!!!

Whatever. Haven't felt like writing, till tonight, so will catch up from where I left off, at the final episode of House on Monday May 21st.




I was ready for heavy House action on the big farewell Monday night.

I've been given DVD seasons of House, books about Hugh Laurie,

have a House sweatshirt,

which I love! (last time I wore it was Christmas eve. It was a gift that helped inspire my decorating)! Whatever works!

and I even own an official Gregory House prescription pad (so cool!)

Ready when YOU are Doc!

The last episode, "Everybody Dies" brought back #24 - "Cutthroat Bitch", portrayed by Anne Dudek, - (never one of my fave characters) - also known as Amber. Since her horrifying death a few seasons back, she's been off the show, but made a sudden return via a House hallucination. Though I'm not her biggest fan, I get it.

Yes, her appearance was important to the lives of Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) and House (Hugh Laurie),

to the final, "Take off, eh!" scene. - Enjoy yourself! It's later than you think.

I liked having Sela Ward back, albeit briefly, as Stacy,

she's the one person (other than Wilson), I believe truly loved House.

Rick Porter, (Zap2it) did a great wrap-up to the finale from Inside the Box - TV News and Buzz.
I'm using a couple of his paragraphs below.



One of House's axioms has been that people don't change. We can see his heart growing three sizes when his life's in jeopardy and he finally realizes he's really leaving Wilson in the lurch. But what happens a few months down the line, when cancer has really started to ravage Wilson's body and their money is getting short? Does House revert to his old ways and bail again? And after Wilson dies, then what? House basically has nowhere left to go once Wilson is gone, and that's not a reunion movie we want to see, even in our heads.

It's not necessarily a bad thing for a show's reach to exceed its grasp, and no one can accuse "House" of taking the easy road in its series finale. But rather than feeling happy to see the (anti)hero ride off into the sunset, we're a little bummed thinking about what will happen after the sun comes up again.So, I've come to grips with the fact that House...is OVER. (come on....Everybody LIES!)


So, guess I've come to grips with the fact that House is over. The next day, I went back to normal-routine-mode. Took the car for a long-overdue wash.

$27 bucks for the WORKS!!

Thursday, ended up at yet another doctor's office. This time, the cardiologist, Dr. Moldinado. He told me my stress test was great, the electrocardiogram all fine, but the Holter monitor I wore for two days showed I had 1,400 palpitations the first day and 2,000 the next! What the???????? But the Doc insists it's no big deal and that he has patients who have over 40 THOUSAND palpitations in a day! He says I just have to learn to breathe & relax. (easier said than done, Doc!) 


Due to my state of discombobulation, I ended up at the Holiday Inn on Carlton Street, to do a couple of interviews with the stars of a new film called In the Family. Turns out, I messed up the date - it's NEXT Thursday! Gak. 


So, instead, I went next door and visited the Loblaws (which used to be Maple Leaf Gardens)

Checked out the huge bakery department.



Ex-Maple Leaf Gardens also now houses (above Loblaws) Ryerson's athletic centre, which includes a full ice surface and stands. Kate will be a student at Ryerson starting in September! Will be an exciting year I'm sure. Wonder if she'll make it into the improv team - RIOT??


After figuring out I was in the wrong place at the wrong time - (what ELSE is new?), I took off from the Yonge/College area, drove home,


and did a phone interview with Trevor St. John, one of the best daytime drama actors ever. (formerly Todd Manning on One Life to Live). He told me all about his challenging role in the independent drama 
In the Family, opening in Toronto on June 1st.




Later that evening, I hobbled outside and took a cab to the Absolute Comedy Club at Yonge & Eglinton,


(I know...crappy lighting), - and my right foot is wrapped in TWO tensor bandages.


I met my longtime high school pal, Dean Rogers, who bought me a ticket for the Northern Secondary School fundraiser/standup comedy event,


complete with buffet dinner! (in return, I paid for drinks).


Sorry Dean, but this pic made me laugh so much, I just HAD to use it!


M.C. Mike Dambra flew in from New York to host the show. He's fantastic! (and will be the headliner at Absolute Comedy next week). Unbelievable rapport with the crowd. I was afraid he'd "pick on me", since I was pretty close to the stage, - and indeed, I was made a part of the show for a few seconds. Mike spotted a guy in the audience and asked his name. He shouted out, "JUNIOR"!!  Mike asked, "What do you DO"?? Junior stated, "I'm unemployed"! Mike looked directly at me, then at Junior, and said, "You should come meet this lady over HERE. She's got a lot of jewelry"!  Then he yelled to me, "What do YOU do?" I responded, "I'm unemployed!" (miraculously, it got a big laugh!)


Matt Watson. Sparkling eyes, the-kind-of-hair-I-like, very cute and so funny. Great material about Cora's and their rather extensive menu (which I know!) and about the trials and tribulations of Cancun...."Just TRY to get the fuck out ALIVE"!!


Headliner Jim Colliton. His jokes about the Canadian Beer Store, hysterical. And then he got going on flying in from Boston to the island airport in Toronto and asking how to get into the city. He couldn't believe, you have to take a FERRY! ("Why don't you build a bridge or a tunnel"? - But NOOOOOO! Canadians tell me, "We don't WANT to build a bridge! - We like the ferry!" And as for Facebook, Jim made me laugh when he said, "Forget about the "LIKE" button. I want a care LESS button!" Ha ha!


After the show, I got to meet some of the performers in person. (Left to right - Aaron Power, me, (new fan!), host/M.C. Mike Dambra, Matt Watson). They REALLY took my mind off the foot pain!


The boys had a blast playing pool in the lobby. Such a fun pic of all three! Thanks for a great evening!  I'm a standup fanatic! I wish you guys ALL THE BEST!!




Early on Friday morning, had yet ANOTHER doctor appointment - this time with a throat specialist about my ongoing trouble with laryngitis. He had some very helpful, unique advice & special instructions (which will hopefully have me on the road to recovery very soon)!


L
Later on in the evening, we had plans to go to a musical - Spelling Bee. My son, Max and his girlfriend, Robyn looked like a million bucks together!


Meanwhile, Max and his sister, Kate, say they didn't plan their matching colours. It just happened they both chose red! (as my cousin, Kevan Staples says, "Red goes with EVERYTHING!!!"
Can't even SAY how much I love these two!


Drove to the great metropolis of Richmond Hill,


where the Performing Arts Centre was presenting the fab production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.


Such a pretty fountain at the theatre!


Since we were an hour early for the show, my fam and Robyn went off to get some dinner. My foot was hurting so much, I just hung out in the parking lot,

was in my own world of thoughts, and looked at the sky, which was absolutely stunning!

We were there to see our insanely talented nephew/cuz, Adam Bornstein, who took our breath away in the stand-out role of William, (#44). He was hysterical as the snarky speller who insists on writing his words out on the floor, with his "magic foot" before attempting to spell out loud.

Adam stole the whole show with his antics!

And having never seen the musical before, I had NO idea, his crazed character WINS the bee!

Congrats to ALL the cast members who made this such a special experience for the audience!

After the show, Adam made an appearance (sans fat suit) and posed with his cousins, Max & Kate,

and then, with me. I couldn't be more proud than I am here. Adam - keep acting! You're en route to Broadway! Bravo!

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