Los Angeles | BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD

From what Mrs. Dewey did…to A.I.

March 30, 2020 by Vickie Lester

You know that feeling of happiness you get when you see someone you know? I spotted my 89 year old walking inspiration striding by as the sun rose this morning and I stood in the living room sipping my coffee. He was wearing his regular florescent green and black. He does five miles a day, every day of the week. If he had seen me he would have told me to stop lounging around and get busy. I love him. […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Cooking, Culture, Design, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, Gastronomy, History, Hollywood, Life, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Recipes, Uncategorized • Tags: #flattenthecurve, #savelives, #stayhome, AI, friends, Jello, pizza recipe, Science Fiction, social distance

Socially distant, spiritually connected

March 28, 2020 by Vickie Lester

I’ve seen so many interesting coverings for nose and mouth, none as frilly as this, but I suppose it did keep Ms. Crawford from touching her face. How are you doing? I have never made so many pots of chicken soup in my life. It fills my freezer and I text friends in the neighborhood to notify them that I’ve left a block’o-soup at their door for them to defrost in their fridge. As you know people have been going […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Books, Cooking, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Literature, Los Angeles, Movies, New York, Photography, Uncategorized • Tags: #flattenthecurve, #stayhome, friends, Joan Crawford, pandemic, social distance

Coronavirus distance from DTLA

March 24, 2020 by Vickie Lester

The film industry started to shut down on March 12th, and for the week prior, while my husband was on set I was climbing up and down ladders, doing a deep cleaning on the house the likes of which this place has never seen. When he called during the afternoon of the 12th saying the production was shutting down for the rest of the day and Friday — returning to work Monday — I said, “Please just come home as […]

Categories: Architecture, Art, Blogging, Culture, Design, Entertainment, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Life, Los Angeles, Marriage, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Uncategorized • Tags: #flattenthecurve, #stayhome, cityscape, DTLA, Hollywood, on set

We live in freaky times

March 22, 2020 by Vickie Lester

While discussing the lack of certain items in Los Angeles grocery stores, specifically toilet paper, with a friend in New York she said, “I don’t get it, I’m more concerned about my supply of vodka.” When F. Scott Fitzgerald was in quarantine with Zelda they laid in a month’s worth of hootch and when Hemingway, a virus denier, punched Fitz in the stomach Fitz quipped, “I hope you washed your hands.” There’s been a lot said recently about how well […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Life, London, Los Angeles, Memoir, Photography, Uncategorized • Tags: #flattenthecurve, #stayhome, cocktail hour, covid 19, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Great Plague of London, Isaac Newton, Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston

How do I feel about the Governor’s decree? Groggy.

March 20, 2020 by Vickie Lester

Hello all, I didn’t sleep last night. I didn’t hear any traffic. Not a single plane overhead. Just quiet, maybe as quiet as it might have been here in the teens or twenties… A hundred years ago. A few days ago I started reading the 103 page paper on COVID-19 that got the States and the UK to finally start taking the threat and scope of the virus seriously. So the steps being taken here in California seem like a […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, Fiction, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Literature, London, Los Angeles, Memoir, Story, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #flattenthecurve, #keepcalmandcarryon, #savelives, #stayhome, author William Kuhn, Byron, London, read

Hello dear, how are you?

March 19, 2020 by Vickie Lester

Sorry I’ve been gone so long. I wanted to check in and wake up the blog to send out some good wishes. A friend said something funny to me the other day, they said we’re about three weeks away in Los Angeles from seeing what everyone’s natural hair color is. As you can see, mine is gray approaching white. Speaking of which, I also have to hop on YouTube to see how to cut the Mister’s hair — there’s no […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Culture, Entertainment, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Life, Los Angeles, Marriage, Memoir, Photography, Uncategorized • Tags: #flattenthecurve, #savelives, #stayhome, covid 19, social distancing

Listen up, sometimes the holidays are hell — even in Hollywood

December 28, 2019 by Vickie Lester

This is the wonderful Lucille Ball broadcasting from CBS about 80 years ago. Much more recently (okay, okay, on Christmas Eve) I recorded a short story all about a Hollywood holiday, archangels, juvenile delinquents, and aging actors. I downloaded a great open source program called Audacity, clamped a microphone to the table in front of my computer, donned headphones, and spent four hours recording a 34 minute narrative. You would think since I wrote the damn thing the words would […]

Categories: Audio, Books, Entertainment, Film, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Marriage, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #ampodcasting, #hollywoodandmine, Archangel, audio, behind the scenes, Hollywood Holiday, Ketamine Christmas, Lucille Ball

It’s that time of year, my angels. Get comfy and I’ll read you a story… Ketamine Christmas, 1991

December 25, 2019 by Vickie Lester

I didn’t know what to get you, so… This story is 34 minutes long, and in fine Hollywood fashion it’s about a dysfunctional family’s Christmas. I hope you have as much fun listening as I did recording.

Categories: Audio, Books, Christmas, Culture, Design, Entertainment, Fiction, Film, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Short Stories, Story, Uncategorized • Tags: #hollywoodandmine, Archangel, audio, Christmas, Hollywood story, home for the holidays, Ketamine, short story, Vickie Lester reads you a story

Happy Eve, sugar-plums!

December 24, 2019 by Vickie Lester

If you visit here (the website, not the downtown location where this picture was taken) on Christmas Day you can hear a short story which turned into a not-so-short half hour recording about a Hollywood holiday twenty-eight years ago. In the meantime something suitable for the children by Clement Clarke Moore (because the one I’ll be reading you tomorrow is most certainly not). The image of A Visit from St. Nicholas in the author’s hand is courtesy of the New-York […]

Categories: Architecture, Art, Culture, Design, Film, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Photography, Uncategorized • Tags: a visit from st nicholas, Christmas Eve, Clement Clarke Moore, Dasher Dancer Prancer Vixen Comet Cupid Donner and Blitzen, DTLA, Hollywood Holiday, Vickie Lester reads you a story

BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD

If you want a little historical perspective you're home.

Category Archives: Los Angeles