Tonight, I celebrate my potato.

No, "I celebrate my potato" is not some feminist metaphor for self-pleasure, or anything like that.  It means, I am excited and happy about my potato!

It is getting colder and we are in the midst of all those preprations one must make for winter in these parts.  This requires UN-DOING all the things we did in the spring.  We close all the storm windows, turn off the water to the outdoor spigots, empty the bird bath and fill the bird feeders.  I tore out all the plants I had put into my two new garden boxes this spring, planning to fill them with the leaves we rake up, to make even better dirt next year.

I did a lot of fussing about the garden boxes and as a result, I didn't didn't get them finished and planted until quite late.  I ended up putting in too many tomatoes, and they took over and engulfed all my other vegetables, including two little potato plants.  I had cut a potato in half and buried it even though I had been told I had missed optimum planting season.  I was told if the plants didn't spend enough time in the ground to grow flower buds, they couldn't make any new potatoes.  So I didn't expect anything.  I never saw flowers, and soon, I didn't see the plants, anymore-- but wonder of wonders!  While pulling up frost-killed tomatoes, I found potatoes!  Only three, but I thought they were worth celebrating by turning them into a big pot of clam chowder.  YUM!

I'm busy writing and editing scary stories for a horror magazine.  More about that next time.  Also, I hope to be celebrating my new sofa.  Man, my life is exciting!!!!  

I guess I'm making Thanksgiving dinner next week.  We're having our friends Paul Clark and Paul Aronson as guests.  This is the first time in about twelve or fourteen years that I've cooked a Thanksgiving dinner.  The last time was in Detroit, when my foster-baby Christina was two, and I didn't have Hannah yet.   Wanna see what Christina (she prefers "Tina") looks like now?

I feel old. 

(Proud, but old.)

Anyway, folks.  Have a happy holiday. F and R

,     

Your Franny, Movie Star.

             

WHY I OFTEN SUFFER FROM WRITER'S BLOCK WHILE AT MY DOG NANNY JOB...  

WHY I SOMETIMES HAVE DIFFICULTY WRITING AT HOME

The real reason why I haven't written since April is that I can't think of any way I can explain why I haven't written since April.  I think about writing every day.  I write every day.  I just don't write letters or blogs.  I want to write letters and blogs, but I feel like I have to start at the beginning, and my God!  Who has the time to read that?  Not you, certainly!  So I'll start with today, and maybe work backwards.

Today, I was a movie star.  Or at least part of me was.  I am pretty sure the back of my head was.  The back of my head and perhaps Robert's whole face will make an appearance at Cannes next year.  As you know, Robert and I prefer to avoid the Euro papparazzi so we will probably blow off Cannes and instead, opt to catch our performance and sign autographs at the Tribeca Film Festival, in New York City.

Only one part of the above paragraph is in any way exaggerated.  

The parts that are true are:  Robert and I worked on a film crew today, on an adaptation of Hemingway's story, "Hills Like White Elephants"; it is going to be entered in the competitions at Cannes and Tribeca and a few dozen other festivals next year; we can't afford to go to Cannes, but we can hop on the train and see whichever parts of ourselves survive the cutting room at the Tribeca Festival; and we are happy to sign autographs, any time.  [Robert adds: Well, for a price.]  The lie was about the European photographers.  We have nothing against European photographers.

Working as movie extras today (we prefer to be called "background talent") was an experiment.  I wanted to see if Robert could handle all the waiting and standing around in the cold (AND IT WAS FRICKING COLD!) and whether this is something we might enjoy doing together from time to time.  We both thought that although it was not fabulously comfortable nor particularly fascinating all the time, we met interesting, talented people, and it was fun. 

Since being laid off I have not been able to find any kind of conventional job, so I have been looking at lots of unconventional ones.  Some are fun, some are hard, all result in very little or no money, but most might be steps toward better things, eventually, and worth doing.  For instance, though we are not being paid for working on this film, the producer asked me if I would like to be an extra on "30 Rock" sometime in the future, and that is a paying job! 

The film work is sort of an offshoot of the voice acting business I am trying to build up.  Daily, I scour craigslist and other websites for work I can do, and sometimes I pimp my husband by sending in his demo tape.  Unfortunately, nobody wants MY voice yet, but Robert has already snagged a job narrating a science fiction movie (for no pay) and he did two little 30-second commercials about music festivals in California.  (They were not actually used, but he still got paid $25.00 to make them.)  So you can see, we are not on the fast train to magnificent wealth, but we hope to make friends in the business and establish a good reputation, so we might have something fun to do part-time when Robert retires.  (You know, when he can afford to do that.  In fifty or sixty years...)    

Well, I think this is enough for now.  Later I'll tell you about my fun visit with Norma, who came up from Virginia Beach, and our trip to the city to see her niece Cassie perform on Broadway.  I'll also tell you about our nice visit with Herbert Ferrer, in Pennsylvania.

By the way, if you are lonely for us, you can listen to us at:

http://robertlochow.icanvoice.com/ and

http://franceshogg.icanvoice.com/

Our website, VoxHumana, will be up very soon.  

F