You know you’re getting old when you’re sound asleep by 10 pm on New Year’s Eve. Either that or you have a baby at home. Or in my case—both. I had two glasses of champagne earlier in the evening at a friend’s house which made me collapse in a fully dressed heap the second we got home. I slept straight through until 5 am which is a rarity for me and I’m considering taking up alcoholism as a cure for insomnia.
2010, where did you go? Overall, a pretty damn good year, I thought, at least in most of the important areas of my life. I’m looking forward to 2011 but can’t believe that come summer (if not earlier) we’ll be in the throes of another presidential campaign. How is that possible? And friends, it’s gonna get uglier than we’ve ever seen, you can bet on that. Yuck.
I couldn’t resist taking one last look at the just departed year, as told on this blog, with the help of the ever-growing Charles Miller:
January
My Chicago family paid a rare New Years visit, Charlie ate real food for the first time (he hasn’t stopped eating since!), I let the cat out of the bag about my brother-in-law’s brilliant collaboration with Mavis Staples which was in full swing, I chose Team Coco in the Conan/Leno Wars, I remembered the horrors of my elementary school sex education classes, and mourned the death of Young Estella, the lovely Jean Simmons.
February
My family came back to town for the 2010 Grammy Awards and I attended a Neil Young tribute with them and with two of my favorite people, Pam and Jim Allyn, I reluctantly made my Oscar predictions, Charlie had a touching personal encounter with Oscar winner Patricia Neal, we went to see Wilco perform on the Craig Ferguson Show and played with “The Price Is Right” props in the hallways of CBS, I thought about the use of swastikas as a misguided political statement, I bemoaned the existence of two crazy-ass so-called pastors, said farewell to beautiful Kathryn Grayson, and Charlie and I protested an outrageous episode of “Private Practice” that got everything wrong about premature babies,
March
Charlie and I ran screaming from the exercising moms at Farmers Market, Leah and I braved Oscar gridlock, I celebrated an unexpected personal best in my Oscar predictions (I got everything right, even my long shots!), I surveyed Madison Avenue’s preoccupation with feminine hygiene products in the 1970s, said good-bye to Mission: Impossible's Peter Graves, visited the unconventional world of Kendall Hailey as reported by The Los Angeles Times, watched Leah “light up the sky like a flame,” and paid homage to our dearly departed ancestors at Charlie’s very first seder.
April
I mourned a death in Munchkinland, sent sarcastic missives to Mel Gibson, Sarah Palin, and the Kardashian sisters, enjoyed every second of the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival where I reported for General Motors while driving a fabulous new Buick LaCrosse, and went back to the Cedars-Sinai NICU with Charlie on his first birthday to visit the amazing staff of miracle-givers who repeatedly saved his life.
May
I relucantly handed back my gorgeous Buick LaCrosse, mourned the loss of Lynn Redgrave, Lena Horne, Dennis Hopper, and Gary Coleman, celebrated Mother’s Day with Charlie’s fabulous mom, grieved the ending of my obsession with the TV show “Lost,” and discovered the insane Feminine Boy Project that was founded at UCLA in the 1970s,
June
Went to Chicago for my nephew’s 8th grade graduation, cruised the Windy City in a brand new Buick Enclave courtesy of GM, contemplated my basic shyness, watched Leah rule the African savannah in “The Lion King,” bid adieu to saucy Rue McLanahan while remembering her performance in my father-in-law’s play, attended the ill-fated sing-along “Sophie’s Choice” at the Hollywood Bowl, and explored my Yiddish roots with Der Surrey mitn Fringe Afn Top.
July
Wished Olivia de Havilland, still with us after 94 glorious years, a happy birthday, tooled around Los Angeles in my loaner GMC Terrain, celebrated my beautiful wife’s 44th birthday, wondered what Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would look like if it were aimed at Jews, and shared some exciting footage of the upcoming Jeff Tweedy-Mavis Staples project.
August
Bypassed my midlife crisis thanks to GM's loan of an electric blue Corvette convertible, said good-bye to my fantasy other mother and Charlie’s new friend, the wonderful Patricia Neal, returned to Chicago for a family-focused eating orgy and then a fun-filled 2,000 mile road trip between Chicago and Durham in a ruby red GMC Acadia with a poignant pit stop in Walton’s Mountain, Virginia.
September
Said a sad good-bye to my Aunt Ann, the last surviving child of my great grandparents, Itshe Meyer and Alta Toba Korolnek, careened into my 51st birthday with the help of Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, surveyed the latest documentaries including the fake one about Joaquin Phoenix and the all-too-real one about Pat Tillman, remembered Elizabeth Swados’ ground-breaking musical “Runaways” from the late 70s, salivated over the glorious Reuben sandwich of questionable origin, sweltered with Leah in the September heat as she donned a heavy dress from the 1880s for her portrayal of the first girl reporter at our cemetery’s Living History Tour, and celebrated the one-year anniversary of Charlie’s being home with us.
October
Said a fond farewell to my film festival pal, Tony Curtis, observed with disgust the increase of all types of discrimination against gays and lesbians, noted the passing of actress Barbara Billingsley whose June Cleaver was the the kinder gentler Betty Draper, and gave an update on Charlie’s physical stats.
November
Dodged Justin Bieber while enjoying my brother-in-law’s performance at Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity, said good-bye to the unmarried woman, Jill Clayburgh, saw Leah travel back to 1920s Europe in “The Boyfriend,” and feasted on the bounty and warmth of Thanksgiving 2010.
December
Celebrated Hanukkah with the mournful Obamas, bid adieu to Pink Panther creator, Blake Edwards, and the delightful Miss EMERAC, Neva Patterson, whooped it up holiday-style with sassy Lola Heatherton, contemplated Yip Harburg’s rainbow and our own, traumatized Charlie in Santa’s lap, and marked the 16th birthday of my amazing “unschooled” daughter.
That's it, folks! Thanks so much for reading during the past year and please know how much I appreciate all of your wonderful comments. I'm sorry I don't respond to them all but they mean a lot to me and I am very grateful for your interest. Here's to an exciting 2011 for all of us!
Enjoyable wrap-up to 2010. Keep on bloggin', Apple Danny! Love your posts and updates. Best to you and yours in 2011. xoxox
Posted by: Danusia | January 01, 2011 at 05:30 PM
Danny, may 2011 be a spectacular one for you, your family and your writing/editing.
Posted by: Pearl | January 01, 2011 at 05:35 PM
I am thankful I got to share some of 2010 with you and yours! I hope I am as lucky in 2011! xoxo
Posted by: Debbie | January 01, 2011 at 05:41 PM
Happy, happy new year! xo
Posted by: Sarah | January 01, 2011 at 05:43 PM
You had a great year! thanks for sharing it with us
Posted by: Frances | January 01, 2011 at 06:34 PM
Living a the life that you do, chock-full-to-bursting, I don't see how you could respond to a comment, never mind write one of your always delightfully intelligent posts.
I'll be right here reading about what happens in 2011, if you'll write about it!
Happy New Year, Danny, to you and the extended family!
Posted by: The Pliers | January 02, 2011 at 02:03 AM
Thanks for the memories of another wonderful year on your blog. This New Years weekend some friends of mine got married and gave a two-day (New Years Eve and New Years Day) celebration. I'm exhausted and think I'll have to go to bed at 6 p.m. for the next five days to recover. I vow to be in bed by 10 p.m. next New Years Eve. In fact, I'm looking forward to it.
Happy New Year to you and yours!
Posted by: Pam G | January 02, 2011 at 05:47 AM
A year in pictures of Charlie? Gimme more!
Happy New Year to all.
Posted by: Sheila Linderman | January 02, 2011 at 10:26 AM
Wishing you a healthy, happy, strong and inspired 2011 year!
Posted by: Otir | January 02, 2011 at 04:44 PM
Loved your yearlong recap....may you all have good health, joy, peace with fulfilled dreams! and more jobs for all!!!
Posted by: Judy | January 02, 2011 at 08:53 PM
Dearest Danny, this blog was the best Christmas present ever! I relived the whole amazing year with Charlie and feel so blessed to have shared so much of it with all of you. To be continued... Betsy
Posted by: Betsy Hailey | January 02, 2011 at 10:17 PM
Happy New Year, Danny!
Did some catching up on your blogs this morning. Always a treat!
Just read that Ann Francis died. I had a Honey West doll when I was a kid. Were you a Honey West fan?
Posted by: Mindy (Manhattan Beach, CA) | January 03, 2011 at 12:37 PM
I love your "Year in Review" posts. Happy New Year, Danny!
Posted by: churlita | January 04, 2011 at 08:08 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77z2VsqEmXk
a jewish rueben? i thought you would like to see this! :)
Posted by: k | January 06, 2011 at 01:46 AM
You're a delightful blogger. Haven't read your work in a while but delighted to hear Charlie is thriving. I think he looks a little like Jackie Cooper in the November picture.
Posted by: Judith Brodhead | January 08, 2011 at 06:24 PM