My Favorite Year Part III
Feb. 21st, 2010 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunchofgrapesIt looks like the trip to Monterey and San Francisco is on for September. My friend is excited! I am excited! It will be very exciting!
In July of 2003 my friend, Steph, and I spontaneously decided to make another trip to L.A. Ah, to be that spontaneous again! Gayla and her husband had started Santa Barbara Animal Rescue and to raise money, they were having a huge arts and craft/pet adoption fair. We asked Diana if they needed help, she said yes, so we were jetting back to L.A. and driving up to Santa Barbara. I think we flew in on Thursday, flew out on Monday and crammed a buttload of stuff into three days. And even though I spent most of Friday standing in a field, holding a stick (they were marking the field for the tents) while Steph schmoozed with Diana and Diana's friends. There was one person there who was wearing a floppy hat, obviously trying to be incognito. Later we found out she's Char, an internationally renowned spiritual-intuitive. Yeah, we'd never heard of her either.
In the time between meeting Diana in February and seeing her again in July, she'd talked to Steph numerous times. I think I even spoke to her once or twice. Steph helped Gayla's husband (I cannot remember his name) and some of Diana's friends (one has a famous mother in law) set up the SBAR website. Diana now knew and trusted us so after spending a sweaty afternoon outside we were invited back to Diana's house to hang with the crowd, including the internationally renowned Char. Did you know she had her own show on Skiffy for a bit?
Diana's house wasn't a huge place but the grounds were amazing. The place is behind one of those massive gates but the house itself was really kind of ordinary. It did have a completely separate section for Diana's mother (an incredibly sweet woman who passed away a few years ago) and in between the two sections of house was the garage or, as Diana called it, the car's room. And that's what it was. She had many of her sculptures in there but the best thing was the wall leading to the kitchen that was covered with candid pictures of Richard. I could have stared at that wall for days. I know it was at least ten minutes. Once inside we were greeted by a hoard of Yorkshire Terriers. I think there were five total. Diana gave us a tour of the house and the magnificent English gardens and then we were scooped away by a woman named Sandra who took us to the Montecito Village Hardware. We were told that since Oprah's place was nearby, we might run in to her in this place. We didn't. But I did nearly run in to John Cleese. He also lives around there. Did you know he's very tall? I can't emphasize this enough. He has altitude. I love meeting celebrities out and about because they all do the same thing: glare at you, daring you to call them out or to speak to them. I nodded and smiled, he nodded and then went back to checking out the wine. In a hardware store. It was an awesome hardware store.
I can't remember if this was the trip or if it was the next trip out but at some point, Steph and I were back at Diana's, talking to some of the people hanging around, and in walks Diana carrying something. She said "pants or jacket?". We had no idea what she was talking about but I said the first thing that came to mind: "pants". She then launched a pair of Richard's pants at me. She gave the jacket to Steph. So yes, I have Richard Basehart's pants. I had no idea what to do with them so I put them in one of those clothing bags and they are hanging in the closet.
Saturday was the fair. Steph and I arrived and were put to work. I don't recall what Steph did but I was manning the refreshment booth. It was a nice gig. Next to me was Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies--and Uncle Eddie himself, along with his nephew. Also, hanging out with me for a bit? Earl Holliman.
Just a little background. Richard and Diana founded Actors and Others for Animals back in the early 70's. Earl Holliman was a past president and friend of Diana's so that's why he was there. Nicest man ever! And for a guy who was supposedly 75 at the time, in very good shape. I never would have guessed he was that old. We chatted about flying, about family history (we think we are related), and at one point something was said about sticking out our chests because there's a pic of the two of us doing just that. I love this guy!
Char was there to put on a psychic show and talking to her later (she's a hoot), I found out we we both scoping out the same guy. Oh, and as we were wrapping up, Uncle Eddie's nephew let me have my pick of all the leftover packages of cookies. I took a bag of the Trail Mix and one of the Oatmeal Raisin. Vegan or not, these are the best cookies. I can't find them around here but I've ordered them online and had them shipped. I can inhale the Trail Mix cookies.
The next couple of days were spent lunching with Diana at the Montecito Inn (Julia Child lived nearby in an assisted living home) and Diana and Gayla at Carlitos or Chilangos, something like that, or hanging out on the awesome beaches. We happened to time our first beach visit with low tide, leaving all these very cool tidal pools. We spent at least a couple of hours walking across the rocks, checking out the anemones, starfish, and hermit crabs. I almost lost a shoe to the sucking sand at one point. It would have been worth it.
I'd like to say this was my favorite trip to Santa Barbara but the next trip was definitely the best. However, I love the memories from this trip, especially meeting Earl Holliman (we agreed to call ourselves cousins) and walking along the beach.
In July of 2003 my friend, Steph, and I spontaneously decided to make another trip to L.A. Ah, to be that spontaneous again! Gayla and her husband had started Santa Barbara Animal Rescue and to raise money, they were having a huge arts and craft/pet adoption fair. We asked Diana if they needed help, she said yes, so we were jetting back to L.A. and driving up to Santa Barbara. I think we flew in on Thursday, flew out on Monday and crammed a buttload of stuff into three days. And even though I spent most of Friday standing in a field, holding a stick (they were marking the field for the tents) while Steph schmoozed with Diana and Diana's friends. There was one person there who was wearing a floppy hat, obviously trying to be incognito. Later we found out she's Char, an internationally renowned spiritual-intuitive. Yeah, we'd never heard of her either.
In the time between meeting Diana in February and seeing her again in July, she'd talked to Steph numerous times. I think I even spoke to her once or twice. Steph helped Gayla's husband (I cannot remember his name) and some of Diana's friends (one has a famous mother in law) set up the SBAR website. Diana now knew and trusted us so after spending a sweaty afternoon outside we were invited back to Diana's house to hang with the crowd, including the internationally renowned Char. Did you know she had her own show on Skiffy for a bit?
Diana's house wasn't a huge place but the grounds were amazing. The place is behind one of those massive gates but the house itself was really kind of ordinary. It did have a completely separate section for Diana's mother (an incredibly sweet woman who passed away a few years ago) and in between the two sections of house was the garage or, as Diana called it, the car's room. And that's what it was. She had many of her sculptures in there but the best thing was the wall leading to the kitchen that was covered with candid pictures of Richard. I could have stared at that wall for days. I know it was at least ten minutes. Once inside we were greeted by a hoard of Yorkshire Terriers. I think there were five total. Diana gave us a tour of the house and the magnificent English gardens and then we were scooped away by a woman named Sandra who took us to the Montecito Village Hardware. We were told that since Oprah's place was nearby, we might run in to her in this place. We didn't. But I did nearly run in to John Cleese. He also lives around there. Did you know he's very tall? I can't emphasize this enough. He has altitude. I love meeting celebrities out and about because they all do the same thing: glare at you, daring you to call them out or to speak to them. I nodded and smiled, he nodded and then went back to checking out the wine. In a hardware store. It was an awesome hardware store.
I can't remember if this was the trip or if it was the next trip out but at some point, Steph and I were back at Diana's, talking to some of the people hanging around, and in walks Diana carrying something. She said "pants or jacket?". We had no idea what she was talking about but I said the first thing that came to mind: "pants". She then launched a pair of Richard's pants at me. She gave the jacket to Steph. So yes, I have Richard Basehart's pants. I had no idea what to do with them so I put them in one of those clothing bags and they are hanging in the closet.
Saturday was the fair. Steph and I arrived and were put to work. I don't recall what Steph did but I was manning the refreshment booth. It was a nice gig. Next to me was Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies--and Uncle Eddie himself, along with his nephew. Also, hanging out with me for a bit? Earl Holliman.
Just a little background. Richard and Diana founded Actors and Others for Animals back in the early 70's. Earl Holliman was a past president and friend of Diana's so that's why he was there. Nicest man ever! And for a guy who was supposedly 75 at the time, in very good shape. I never would have guessed he was that old. We chatted about flying, about family history (we think we are related), and at one point something was said about sticking out our chests because there's a pic of the two of us doing just that. I love this guy!
Char was there to put on a psychic show and talking to her later (she's a hoot), I found out we we both scoping out the same guy. Oh, and as we were wrapping up, Uncle Eddie's nephew let me have my pick of all the leftover packages of cookies. I took a bag of the Trail Mix and one of the Oatmeal Raisin. Vegan or not, these are the best cookies. I can't find them around here but I've ordered them online and had them shipped. I can inhale the Trail Mix cookies.
The next couple of days were spent lunching with Diana at the Montecito Inn (Julia Child lived nearby in an assisted living home) and Diana and Gayla at Carlitos or Chilangos, something like that, or hanging out on the awesome beaches. We happened to time our first beach visit with low tide, leaving all these very cool tidal pools. We spent at least a couple of hours walking across the rocks, checking out the anemones, starfish, and hermit crabs. I almost lost a shoe to the sucking sand at one point. It would have been worth it.
I'd like to say this was my favorite trip to Santa Barbara but the next trip was definitely the best. However, I love the memories from this trip, especially meeting Earl Holliman (we agreed to call ourselves cousins) and walking along the beach.
