And once again Hollywood is all a buzz with just about everyone on the edge of their seat wondering who will win, what they will wear, where they will go and when we can do it all over again!
It's hard not to get caught up in the biggest day of the year here in LA and it's actually kind of fun, if you don't take it all too seriously. After all, not everyone in town can get invited to Barry & Diane's picnic, and if you're not on some big shots A list, you can forget about "the night before" or Vanity Fair parties... It's kind of funny actually, because if you really look at it, Hollywood around Oscar time, or any award season for that matter, really is high school all over again!
And most of the exclusive parties are being put together and organized by the very same kids that weren't invited to the cool parties back in their high school days.
It's kind of "the revenge of the untalented" all over again!
When I first moved to LA, going to parties was sort of nice substitute for an actual career. Like many upon arrival, I learned early on that Hollywood was a retirement community for twenty years olds, and being a ripe old twenty one when I moved here, you could say I fit right in. For a lot of singers and actors who simply weren't landing roles, landing an invitation to say, Sandy Gallin's Christmas or Birthday party was just about 'the next best thing'. After all, where else could you meet your childhood idol and share some dim sum and then sum from Mary Micucci?
Even if they didn't live up to your expectations, it was always kind of fun "bigging" yourself up as you told friends back home what it was like exchanging idle pleasantries with an always angelic Dolly Parton or an icon like Calvin Klein.
But as the years pass and the parties just get bigger and bigger, I find I'm no longer all that impressed with the Who's Who of Where & When, and although I'll gladly let you know I was at the luncheon for the Dali Lama a couple weeks ago, I'll also let you know I didn't find him any holier than say, Donna Dixon, who kindly let me sit at her table.
It's an interesting set of stories we tend to weave here in LA. We can feel temporarily validated by a certain invite here or there but really, it's not where we're invited that matters, it's being able to look in the mirror at the end of the day and answer a very simple question...
"Did I make a difference in anyone's life today?"
That's what my dad always said mattered most. So as I get ready to go over to the Global Green pre-Oscar party tonight, that's exactly what I'm going to set out to do!
To Really make a difference in someone's life!
I hope Gwyneth is there, she seems like she could use a real friend. After all, if I were her friend, I never would have let her stick with the name Apple.