this is dedicated to Ashley, Jordan, Taylor, Pedro, Shadow, all my friends at PINE VALLEY PODCAST, Superposter, Shelby, Trey & Agnes Nixon.
My feelings for ALL MY CHILDREN are mixed.
of course, i love ALL MY CHILDREN like family...the "respectable" fuddy-duddy aunt that tells corny jokes and occassionally gets drunk and starts humping the servants, whereas ONE LIFE TO LIVE is the cool hippie aunt with all the gay friends.
in our family, AMC was my sister's soap, and OLTL was mine. i thought i was too sophisticated for AMC...all those damn baby-switching stories! but AMC will always be a part of my heart; i will always accept, without question, that ERICA KANE is the world's most beautiful woman...and that all logic follows that trueism.
i wanted to draw this as a family portrait because, yes, i definitely think of ERICA, BINKS, KENDALL & MONA as my family (along with many other Pine Valley residents). though i find myself rolling my eyes again & again over ALL MY CHILDREN, i will always be protective of The Kane Women...not only for their sake, but for my sister's...because she loves them so much.
and i want them to stick around for her!
PINE VALLEY PODCAST & the folks there have become my new best friends...the soap genre is changing, our dear ALL MY CHILDREN may not be around much longer. but at least we all have each other (another family!) to commiserate over the decline, laugh at the leaps of logic, & reminisce over the good times & beloved characters.
let me also dedicate this to our own dear sweet MYRTLE FARGATE. the actress who has played her for 30+ years, Eileen Herlie, passed away yesterday @ the age of 90.
even in the years that i wasnt watching AMC, knowing that MYRTLE was there, and that i could return to her at any time, gave me a feeling of safety.
thats gone now.
we are all getting older...its frightening to think of a future without the comforts of ALL MY CHILDREN.
my illustration of Cleo Laine & John Dankworth @ THE BLUE NOTE!
this weekend I saw Dame Cleo Laine & Sir John Dankworth @ THE BLUE NOTE!
what a fantastic show!
They swing with such warmth, personality and humor!
Beyond being master musicians, they are entertainers, playing off of each other, keeping a back-&-forth going.
They performed I WANT TO BE HAPPY SLOW BOAT TO CHINA WILLOW WEEP FOR ME (an arrangement i'd never heard before, turning the song into an epic drama) I'M GONNA SIT RIGHT DOWN AND WRITE MYSELF A LETTER PEEL ME A GRAPE (Cleo told a story about her friend Blossom Dearie and did a spot-on impression of her!) CREOLE LOVE CALL IT DONT MEAN A THING IF IT AINT GOT THAT SWING FINE & MELLOW
and more!
we were an enthusiastic audience and Cleo & John ate it up! we made them feel loved and they gave it right back!
this was my first night out since ive been back, and it was just wonderful; the reminder of why* i am in nyc...inspiration for my own creativity and the chance to support other creative people.
& it was such a gift to be able to see them...they are both up in their 80s, but somehow we were brought to the same place at the same time while we're still on the planet together.
i brought roses for Cleo. they were peachy orange and very fragrant. Cleo mimed suprise "for ME??!?!!??", accepted them graciously & blew me a kiss!
My surgery and recovery amazingly synched up with the return of the original TINA on ONE LIFE TO LIVE, my favorite soap opera.
I swear I didn't plan it.
I wasn't sure I was gonna make it from one day to the next.
I began measuring time in relation to ONE LIFE TO LIVE.
Like, "Just sixteen hours til ONE LIFE TO LIVE!", "Just two hours til ONE LIFE TO LIVE!", etc.
I was in such pain, and OLTL was the one hour a day when I could put aside the pain and just laugh, cry and wallow in other people's problems.
Sometimes I would be so out of it I couldnt look up. My Mom would say, "Look, there's TINA!!!" and I would open my eyes, just long enough to see TINA and her little dog, DAVID VICKERS.
As TINA went on her Mendorran Jewel Heist, I got a little stronger, got a little more confident.
Now that storyline is over and TINA is back in Llanview, and I'm better and back in NYC.
I vowed that as soon as i felt myself enough to draw again, the first thing I would draw was TINA & Li'l DAVID VICKERS!
ONE LIFE TO LIVE memories, on their 40th Anniversary
So many of my memories of life involve OLTL!
In high school, Tina and Maria! Maria seemed to be poised with the poison over poor Tina for weeks! I'm sure now it wasn't that long, but it seemed like every day that summer, Maria was "just about" to spill the vial … I remember thinking, "How long can this scene last?!?!?" and laughing at the ridiculousness of it, but that was the start of a lifetime addiction.
In art school, my friends and I arranged our schedules so we could be back in our aprtment for OLTL each afternoon. The rule was you had to take a bong hit each time Cord called Tina "Girl". Then we would hurry to art history and immerse ourselves in the slides.
When Gabrielle was mad at God for Max's supposed death in the car accident, and she had the crazy dream ballet, that was the first time I admitted to myself that I was a soap fan, in an un-ironic way.
The Eterna era, during my rave years, and going out to clubs dressed in my version of Eterna gear!
(Years pass; I see OLTL maybe once or twice a year, but keep up to date by reading soap mags, and later, online soap recaps.)
9/11 (I live in NYC) and the whole city shutting down. Me shutting down … and the thing that brought me back to life was Roxy on OLTL. I swear, the antics of Roxy and Allison Perkins were what got me back interested in life, and laughing again!
When they did the "Babes Behind Bars" episode, I swore my undying love and allegiance forever and always!!! I felt then that OLTL was the soap especially made for ME!!!!!
Live Week, featuring some of the funniest Niki Smith scenes EVER, plus the beginning of that sweet story of Max and Roxy (which sadly, TPTB squashed before it went anywhere … but I will always remember the potential!)
Thinking I was watching the birth of a new anchor family for Llanview with the romance of Marcie and Al. It seems sappy now, but I was emotionally involved and rootin' for them.
Knowing I was witnessing bad writing during the Music Box Killer era … and tuning out for a few years.
This past month when I've been in the hospital, OLTL is the only real enjoyment I have each day, time when I can turn off the pain and just LAUGH with David Vickers, Roxy (and Tina; it honestly feels like a personal life-affirming gift from the gods that Andrea Evans is back in this, my time of need), or just bask in the warmth and the kindness of Viki, marvel at Dorian … I know I am watching another era of OLTL that I will never forget.
And I have learned SO MUCH from Viki: How to treat others with graciousness, patience and compassion; be a good listener, don't judge, and never deliberately cause harm or pain.
Its actually comical how often I think, WHAT WOULD VIKI DO?, to check and make sure that my actions are coming from a calm and loving place.
i know i am suposed to be workin on SUNDAY IN THE PARK, but ive been reading EVERYTHING WAS POSSIBLE so ive been thinking about Dorothy Collins & Alexis Smith as SALLY & PHYLLIS!
Lotus is my baby, foever & always of course everyone thinks their baby is the prettiest but in Lotus’s case its true she has those dark cinnamon kate bush eyes & that auburn -to-dark chocolate hair with her velvetty mask we call her "WONDER WOMAN" for the white W-shaped blaze across her chest
& no one was ever sweeter i dont remember her ever barking but she would make deeply contented gurgles & grunts
her brothers & sisters might not think she was so sweet she always had the bigger booty and no shame about using it to push everyone else out of the way so she could get all the attention
but she was always so matter-of-fact about it like, "of course, you meant to pet ME!!!"
she was born, along with Cactus, Clover, Kudzu & Rosie November 14th, 1998. we always joked that Ivy, their mama, was so evil that she’d outlive all her children now the joke has come true outliving all her children & their daddy, Bamboo
Ivy has lost her daughter the only person who remembers she’s a Queen one less person in the world loves me & its the person who loved me the most
Lotus, so gorgeous so funny who is ever gonna be happy to see me now?
it was the first time i was anyone’s favorite & as long as i was Lotus’s favorite i knew there was a place in the family for me with Lotus gone thats one less connection to my family at a time in life when i crave & need the family connection i can feel it unraveling how do i stay connected?
Lotus will always be my chunky big-booty wonder woman ready for snugglin the freckle-faced girl who likes to make a mess of her food
when you rub her pretty pink belly & she starts making her happy gurgle & then she insists you hold her hand as she drfts off into deep SNORING sleep
all i ever wanted was to make her happy & proud of me
Lotus devoted daughter silly sister gentle playmate loving friend November 14 1998 - April 7 2008
