LA Mill

There are certain words in the English language framework that bring about fanciful delight. These are words that make you skip, dance, and forget that you are a professional. Oh, please, don’t pretend that bacon, Disneyland, and hotsauce don’t do that for you. (Yes, hotsauce is one word). What is that word that just does it for you? Think. For me there are several, including this one: Vanessa. Yes! Va-ness-a. Three syllables. One concept, well, four. Latin, female, Cuban, beautiful. And she’s just, you know, good. But what else to say? How do you describe a woman post-Lord Byron? Didn’t he say it all? “There be none of Beauty’s daughters” and all that? Ah, I’ve learned that you can’t use poetry when you’re up against the masters. How about I use some of my favorite works of art instead? I already told her she is the Sistine Chapel so that one’s taken. Here is another: Vanessa is early Woody Allen: Love And Death, Annie Hall, and Stardust Memories. She’s novelist Theodore Dreiser at his best: “Sister Carrie” and “Jennie Gerhardt.” Especially Sister Carrie. I met her through an actress friend at our Lizard Theater and wow, not only was she stunning, she was funny. And we got along. What else is there? We spent most of that first day laughing. Funny, beautiful, smart. In this way, she is like the films of Howard Hawks (and if you speak ill of “His Girl Friday” or “Rio Bravo” you are a sick, sick person). Vanessa is the only woman I ever asked to marry. But does that shock you? If you met her you would say, “Oh, okay, and…?” she called me one day and asked me to take her to Pink’s. Pink’s? Why? “Because that’s where you would take girls that mean nothing to you.” Wow, what have I created? A sort of blog Frankenstein where my creation turns on me. I was able to take her to a place that was a step up from Pink’s (and thank goodness for that. Not a fan). But let’s get this straight right now: I do not like LA Mill. It serves tasty but way too polite egg dishes, boring $12 ham sandwiches and sad cold potato chips. The drinks are gimmicky: caramel corn espresso shots. Ho hum. Just order a regular cup of coffee. It’s pretty good. Okay, back to the subject at hand. Vanessa. Early Dreiser, Hawks, Disneyland, bacon, hotsauce. Just the favorites.