Posts Tagged ‘Freddie Duke’
Friday, March 28th, 2014
When my daughter Augie and I left St. Johns to visit the first of her friends from the Palisades to have a baby she said to me, “ You and your friends are like the mafia, mom. You’re such a close group and you always have each other’s back and the backs of each other’s kids. It’s amazing. I like it.”
The remark stunned me. She’s right. We are a tight group. This is not something that was role-modeled, as my own mother had very few friends. On the other hand, my father had more associates than Don Corleone. (more…)
Tags: augie duke, cancer, Feast from the East, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, Friendships, Kimme Winter, Mafia type friendships, New baby
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Tuesday, March 11th, 2014
I had no plans for Wednesday. None. The only vague plan was to go get the vaccine for shingles . Those are the kind of plans I make now. Planning ahead to prevent a medical disaster. I don’t, however, own an earthquake kit, so clearly I’m not well prepared. I woke up and wasn’t feeling it. I would do what I always do: stay at home. It was cold outside and threatening to rain.
To be honest, my day was derailed by an e-mail from my husband. It was a link to a scone recipe and attached was a picture of a piping hot biscuit. That did it. I knew what my new plan was. I looked in the refrigerator and the buttermilk would expire in two days. Meant to be!! I would be making biscuits. I have some big productive days!! (more…)
Tags: best pressed juice in L.A., Burger from Barneys in Brentwood Mart, El Rodeo chums, Fredde Duke's for now biscuit recipe, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, growing up in the 60's, Libbie Aroff, Nikila Rigby, nothing to do on a random Wednesday, Pressed Juicery, Rick Caruso bought the Palisades village, Robin Hofstein, Stephanie Blank
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Monday, March 3rd, 2014
In the chill air at 7:30 in the morning, I would head out. Heavy books that I never opened were piled high in my arms. They weighed me down, but I was used to it. These were pre-backpack years. Teachers required you to cover books then, and mine wore clumsy jackets of recycled brown Safeway grocery store bags. The covers barely hung on, despite the many pieces of Scotch tape randomly applied in all directions.
My bare, skinny legs descended from short, orange and yellow culottes as I crisscrossed the sidewalk, crunching hard on those fall leaves. Never stepping on cracks for two blocks — from Roxbury to pick up my best friend Susie on Peck Drive. She was freckled like me, but taller and more mature. Now I could be distracted, not having to concentrate on my steps. Instead, we’d talk about our plan for the weekend. Compromising and strategizing. Your best friend in school is really your first important relationship, almost a rehearsal for a some day marriage. (more…)
Tags: candy necklaces, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, fur scraps, Going to Wil Wrights for candy necklaces, horseback riding, my childhood in Beverly Hills, Other side of the tracks in Beverly Hills, Susan Dilamarter, Susie Lohn, Wil Wrights ice cream, William Morris Agency in the 60s
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Friday, February 7th, 2014
Have I ever met a Hollywood agent that’s not a prick?
Trying to wrack my brain. Trying. Thinking. Still thinking. Thinking harder.
NOPE. Can’t think of one. No would be the answer.
I’m exaggerating. There are two agents I sort of like– I think.
Here is the current story I like to tell about an agent. A prick. Or is that redundant?
Poor guy didn’t know he would be outed the day he met me. (more…)
Tags: claustrophobia, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, funerals, Golden Globes, Oscars, prick agents, scary elevator rides, sweet and spicy baked almond recipe
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Friday, January 31st, 2014
I’m obsessed. There’s no way of getting around it. I’m a walking Jackie Mason routine. At lunch, no before lunch, I’m deciding where we will go for dinner. At dinner, I’m wondering if the dessert menu will speak to me or will I just head home to my private stash. I always have a private stash of freshly baked goods. I’m more of a junkie when it comes to food.
I’m going to focus on just visiting New York here because Los Angeles, where I live, is different, and a few nights a week I try to cook. I’m not a very good cook and I’m so lazy that sometimes I pick up one sweet potato, not two, and a salad from the salad bar and call it dinner. My husband will remind me we can afford two sweet potatoes, but I shop at Gelson’s, so maybe we really can’t afford two. (more…)
Tags: best food in NYC, Buvette Restaurant West Village, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, I Sodi restaurant New York, Magnolia Bakery new york, Mitchell London cupcakes new york, Red Rooster Restaurant Harlem, Spanish Tortilla
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Saturday, January 11th, 2014
When my daughter was in her tween years, around 8th grade, she had friends over a lot. Some who just sort of lived with us. I was pretty used to it. No one really behaved too badly, but on one particular day Augie was acting up. She had an attitude.
Usually, Augie was the mellowest of my children — and as a middle child, she knew how to make peace and keep everyone around her happy. This time, however, she was talking back to me, and finally I lost my patience. In utter frustration I exploded. And here is what I yelled at my 13-year old daughter: “You…..you….you……..TWAT!!!” (more…)
Tags: best chocolate chip cookie recipe, calling your daughter a bad name, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, growing up in the Palisades, Paul Revere middle school, pre-teen years, teen drama, the word twat, visiting the Duke's
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Monday, December 23rd, 2013
No wonder I rarely got a tree. It’s just too much work. Going out to buy it. Schlepping it home. Carting it inside. Pine needles everywhere. Finding the box with the decorations in storage. Untangling the lights. Discovering that only some are still working. I’m not that together. I have zero organizational skills. Hey, if magical elves appeared in my home to set up the tree, and I didn’t have to go to the lot or do anything, I would reconsider.
And then, of course, there is the religion factor. To get a tree or not to get a tree. Since half of me is Jewish and the other half vague, it’s easier to just call myself a Jew. A tree never seemed to bother other Jewish families when I was growing up in Beverly Hills. This time of year, everyone became his or her own Hollywood set decorator. Each family outdid the next. Talk about keeping up with the Joneses –only in this case the Jimmy Stewarts. (more…)
Tags: family traditions, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, gaudy xmas trees, Growin up in Beverly Hills, Hallmark Commercial from 1970s, Jews and Christmas trees, Jews from New York not getting Christmas trees
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Friday, December 6th, 2013
I just spent two long days with people that I will never see again. They know me as juror #2474.
Lets go back to the beginning. I ignored my summons. I’ve never done this but all my friends are doing it. So? I don’t know one person who has done jury duty and they all keep telling me they throw the summons away. I didn’t have the nerve (thank God, I’ll explain). Then some weeks went by and a postcard from “them” arrived with a threat. Apparently, I ignored my first summons (wt?) and in doing so, they can fine me $1500. Fuck them. But now I’m scared so I follow the instructions on the postcard. I register online and now I’m in the system and it just fucked everything up. I have the week scheduled but at the time it seemed far away. Suddenly at Thanksgiving weekend, I remembered and excused myself from a party to go home and watch the orientation video. It’ s a series of several 10-minute videos, taking up an hour of your time with a questionnaire at the end of each boring video. A prompt said to make sure we had the juror badge. I hadn’t seen a juror badge so I searched for that original summons and opened it. Sure enough, it was there so I was never going to be able to lie and tell them I didn’t get that first summons. (more…)
Tags: best sunset ever in L.A., fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, jury duty, Latke recipe, Maison Giraud baguette, nasty cops and lawyers with tudes, potato pancakes on Chanukah, wild caught salmon for lunch
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Thursday, November 21st, 2013
First of all, I thought, no, assumed, I was popular, and all kinds of people were going to be asking to take me out to celebrate. I didn’t throw myself a party which I often do, so then I was thinking that some of my party regulars will get that I’m wanting to celebrate with every one of them individually, or in small groups. I’m not popular, I’m delusional.
It started kinda great. Two days before my birthday Robin and Libbie took me for a celebratory dinner at the Palm. Then on my birthday, I woke up to an email from Huffington Post saying the piece I wrote had been posted that day. Which I thought was a great sign because the story I wrote is all about my fear of dying at a young age like my mother. Then a small group of girlfriends met me for lunch on the patio of the Malibu Hotel where I was spending the weekend. We ate, laughed, and I received some lovely gifts and amazing sentimental notes that I will always cherish. Libbie is re-gifting cards to me from our long friendship. So, there was this loving thing I wrote to her in the 1970’s about how beautiful she is and how much I love her, and on the other side she wrote an update to me. Kimberly wrote a card with words that made me cry (Libbie’s card made me cry too). It was going smoothly.
Spread of cholesterol at Palm with Libbie and Robin
(more…)
Tags: Farmshop lunch, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, Friends since high school, Lavender Blue best store in Pacific Palisades, Malibu Beach Inn, Nobu Malibu, Pauli Moss recipe for Green Goddess dressing, Surprise birthday dinner, Turning 60
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Thursday, November 7th, 2013
One of the great qualities that I love about my friend Tracy is her spontaneity. Her ability to say yes, especially at really wacky requests. Like a few weeks ago. I woke up and my husband asked me what I wanted to do, and when I told him, he looked at me cockeyed so I let the whole idea go. Hours went by. And, I had just about dropped it when Tracy called and I told her what it was I was thinking could be fun. “Let’s do it,” she responded. I didn’t even think I had verbalized what the plan was. Before you know it, just twenty minutes later, we met at a convenient spot between our two homes. I hopped in her car and we headed to visit our friends, the Billys at the autograph show.
It’s crazy going to these events unless you are the person signing the autograph. But I know that sometimes the celebrities want their real friends to visit. And anyway, I’m a bit of a freak and when someone on Facebook has as an outgoing status like, “Everyone come see me at the celebrity autograph show, ” I think they are talking to me. I’m not really delusional but they wrote this and I feel like it would be so nice if I did actually show up. (more…)
Tags: actress buddies, autograph shows, Best Fried Chicken sandwich in Los Angeles, Best friends for life, Billy Hinsche, Billy Mumy, fan/friends, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, Hart and the Hunter restaurant, Son of a Gun Restaurant, Tracy Brooks Swope
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