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BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD

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Menopause in the movies…

January 1, 2018 by Vickie Lester

Menopause in the movies…doesn’t exist. Unless, you consider any movie Miss Crawford starred in post 1950. And, do you want to know the reason why? I think it scares men. I don’t think ghosts or gore or ten foot tall limpid blue aliens can hold a candle to a fifty year old woman for sheer, awe inspiring, fear. Think Joan in, say, 1951 — the harsh makeup, the lacquered hair — all so yesterday. But, the spirit lives on — […]

Categories: Architecture, Art, Books, Cooking, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Literature, Los Angeles, Marriage, Memoir, Parenting, Photography, Relationships, Story, Theater, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #amwriting another novel about Hollywood, #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, 1960s kitchen, all so yesterday, behind the scenes, cobra strike, fifty year old woman, Hormonal Danger Zone, Joan Crawford, menopause

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I am a woman of a certain age…

March 25, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Hello, poppets! If you’re wondering what that “certain age” is specifically in my case, it’s 57. An interesting age, to be sure. For instance, the other day I was out walking with the Mister down a leafy street lined with elegant old homes and he said something about a situation being “generally under control.” I halted abruptly and turned around, anxiously looking up and down an emerald green lawn. He said, “What are you doing?” I replied, “You said there […]

Categories: Advertising, Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, Gardening, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Literature, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #amwriting, #hollywoodnovel, #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, #losangeles, a woman of a certain age, Hollywood facts turned into fiction, how the internet is saving culture, menopause, the Mister, would I lie to you

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I admire anyone, even if they’re 5, if they can break into song before 8 in the morning…

November 29, 2015 by Vickie Lester

I’ve started taking walks in the morning, spurred on by my doctor’s advice. I asked during my last checkup if I should start training with weights to prevent osteoporosis, and my esteemed physician of 25 years replied, “No, you’ll probably just hurt yourself.” So in the mornings I grab the only Boston garb that’s suitable for our weather in Southern California and step outside. Around the corner there’s a park, and as I rambled I spied someone of very small […]

Categories: Architecture, Art, Books, Christmas, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, History, Hollywood, Life, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Thanksgiving, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Weather, Writing • Tags: Boston, California Spanish, happy holidays, menopause, perimenopause, Spanish Colonial, thankful, what passes for winter in Los Angeles

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Sunday in a Boston park with Henry James, courtesy of Colm Tóibín

August 30, 2015 by Vickie Lester

Just came home from an urban garden in Boston, where I was reading “The Master” — a book about Henry James (written by Colm Tóibín) — when I saw this marvelous essay of his in The Guardian on “a book that changed me.” . Mr. Tóibin, in reference to the novel, The Ambassadors …James, by his own great example, as he moved into his 60s, may show us how to keep the future “large and full and high”, as he […]

Categories: Architecture, Art, Books, Entertainment, Fiction, History, Literature, Photography, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: Colm Toibin, fifty year old woman, Henry James, Hormonal Danger Zone, menopause, not aging in Hollywood, The Ambassadors by Henry James, The Master by Colm Toibin

All About Eve – Let’s Talk About Being Perimenopausal Again, Shall We?

August 21, 2015 by Vickie Lester

Let me just say, when you’re scheduling your posts and you slot in something for August 32nd, you know you’re perimenopausal. If, when getting ready for an evening out, and after you squint at your face in the mirror to bring your lipsticked visage into focus you are shocked to see you look a bit like a drag queen… And, after removing the aforesaid lipstick you look ten years younger… You’re — say it with me — perimenopausal. If you […]

Categories: Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Literature, Los Angeles, Marriage, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Relationships, Short Stories, Story, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, ALL ABOUT EVE, behind the scenes, Bette Davis, brain cloud, change of life, Hollywood, how do you know if you're perimenopausal, marriage, menopause

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When Christmas Collides With Perimenopause

December 15, 2014 by Vickie Lester

I bring you tidings of great joy, The Mayo Clinic lists Perimenopause under “diseases and conditions.” Isn’t that lovely? Admiring the feeling of festivity in the air, and the lights twinkling in windows and on pine boughs; I came home after the street lamps were lit to find a Nylon flag semi-erected in my neighbor’s front lawn. I think it’s supposed to be a nativity scene — a super-cheap crèche — suitable for any trailer park. Yes. I’m in full […]

Categories: Architecture, Art, Blogging, Christmas, Cooking, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Gastronomy, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: Carnivore's Christmas, Hormonal Danger Zone, Joan Crawford Christmas, Joan Crawford recipe, JoanCrawford, menopause, Miss Crawford, mood swing, When Christmas Collides With Perimenopause

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Hormonal swing through hell, dear, and you?

June 9, 2014 by Vickie Lester

When I was young it meant I would reply to the question, “What do you do?” With this: “Laundry.” Yesterday a friend dropped by and said, “I like you hair like that.” A lovely compliment to which I replied, “That’s the way it comes out of my head.” Completely ignoring the fact that it’s silver, not blonde—and the only time she’s ever seen me (and yes, I’ve known her for ten years) I have heated, ironed, or pulled my hair […]

Categories: Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Literature, Los Angeles, Marriage, Memoir, Movies, Mystery, New York, Palm Springs, Photography, Relationships, Romance, Story, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #itsinhiskiss, behind the scenes, beloved, blogging break, book club, cobra strike, computer, design, family, fashion, fear, fifty year old woman, film, ghosts, history, Hollywood, Hormonal Danger Zone, hormonal swing, humor, husband, I will visit your book club, interior design, iPhone, kitchen, Los Angeles, malignant spirit, menopause, mood swing, Movie Star, movies, perilous fate, photography, relationships, silver haired, Steve Jobs, superficial sweetness, thank god for the swiffer, thwart, vile harpy

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Where Did You Go for Your Bra, Mrs. Robinson? – NYTimes.com

May 27, 2014 by Vickie Lester

Mrs. Robinson: Would you like me to seduce you? By JOYCE WADLER Still, the boyfriend shopping invitation got me thinking that maybe I should get something special for the next time he visits — that stuff you see in Victoria’s Secret ads on the women with masses of hair and partly open mouths whose expressions suggest they exist in a parallel universe where all they do is get ready for sex. “Hey, Victoria, want to go to a movie?” “I […]

Categories: Advertising, Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Literature, Los Angeles, Movies, New York, News, Photography, Relationships, Short Stories, Story, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: 65 year old woman, actress, affair, Anne Bancroft, Anne Bancroft was 36 when she played Mrs. Robinson, behind the scenes, Beverly Hills, black lace, book, Books, bra, bra shopping, Classic Movies, columnist, design, Directed by Mike Nichols, fashion, film, funny, history, Hollywood, humor, humorist, Joyce Wadler, lingerie, Los Angeles, menopause, middle-age, Movie Star, Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Robinson: Would you like me to seduce you?, New York Times, older woman, photography, romance, Screenplay by Buck Henry, Screenplay by Calder Willingham, seduction, sex appeal, sexuality, Victoria's Secret, wit