Home

It's good to be home. East coast. Ahhhh. I feel different here. More comfortable. More, well, me. There's just something about being with people who have known you most or all of your life. Once again I find myself tired of Los Angeles and hoping that one day I'll have a good enough reason to uproot and settle somewhere else. I miss the green. I miss the people. I have a huge extended family, but in California I feel like an island because there are so few of us out there. I like feeling part of something bigger, more connected. Today I dragged my best friend Amy and my godson Matthew over to my cousin Rie's house for lunch. My mom was here for my Aunt Gretchen's funeral, so I got to see her and my Aunt Claudia. Rie is like the pied piper. Matthew adored her. I remember feeling the same way when I was little. I liked following her around, listening to her raspy voice, being the recipient of her pure acceptance and love. She's good people. Later on they dropped me off at my dad and stepmom's house. My stepsister, her husband, and their four kids turned up a little later with their dog in tow. Dang if it doesn't feel good to be in a houseful. I miss that. Simply put, I miss family. With a vengeance.

For my flight out I had packed two huge books I've been dying to read, but at the gate while waiting to board, a man sitting nearby chatted me up. He lives in Burbank, too, and is Israeli. Once we got on the plane, he asked to switch seats to sit next to me. Nice older man, interesting. He reminded me of a cross between Ben Kingsley and George Carlin. I just saw a pretty good movie with Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, Elegy, where they were a professor and student who have an affair in spite of their age difference. I've had people say I remind them a little bit of Penelope Cruz and I swear I couldn't get the movie out of mind as he was talking to me, kind of hoping he hadn't seen the film. Don't get any ideas, buddy. Anyway, since we had four hours to blow, I decided to ask him to give me the whole history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. It's great to get info like that from someone from the area. I'm hoping I'll retain it better than I do when I just read a dry synopsis of the history. It helps me to have someone's personal story attached. It was fascinating and after he was done I taught him about the social system in India. And yes, he did ask for my number. Story of my life. Old dudes and really young dudes.

Funny, but Shirley Jones was on my plane. Back in March I met her at my friend Quinn's 50th birthday and we spent a while on the couch talking. I re-introduced myself to her at baggage claim. She remembered me and my ukulele stylings. She was on her way to perform at the Kennedy Center. This is the second time in the last month I've been on the same flight with someone I know! In October on my way to Portland I ran into a woman who had just been in a musical revue with me at the Steve Allen Theatre. She's now doing a benefit for my non-profit as a result of our "chance" meeting. Life isn't random, my friends. Not a'tall.....