Today's Blind Items

One big blind item for tomorrow and Friday. The only post for tomorrow will be the first part of the long blind item. If I wake up from my turkey coma, Friday should be normal. Normal in the sense there will be multiple posts. Not normal in the sense that I won't be at work, and therefore will be drinking the entire time I am posting.

Last year on the day before Thanksgiving, I brought to you the story of L. I know I promised to reveal L, and after the trial that is taking place the first week of January, I will be able to finally do so and to keep my promise. I know many of you have already read it before, and so may be disappointed there is nothing new today. However, for many readers, this will be their first encounter with the woman who still touches my heart whenever I think of her.

I hope that everyone in the US has an incredible Thanksgiving. Spend time with your loved ones, and enjoy, what I consider to be the very best holiday. I am truly thankful for each and every one of you. Thank you for spending a little bit of your valuable time with me each day, and for coming into my life. What started out as a rant or two has become so much more. I can honestly tell you that this blog would have died a long time ago without your support, comments and e-mails. On days when the work is piling up and I can't think of a damn thing to write or don't want to write, all of you make me want to keep going. Whether you like me, hate me, disagree with me, or all of the above, you really are what keeps me going and I appreciate each and everyone of you. You inspire me, push me, and make me want to deliver the very best for you each and every day. Thank you.

EL



The Lovely L

My first glimpse of her is someone with class. She is elderly, and as I will discover later is in her late 80's. I love this woman from the first time I lay my eyes on her and know she will be fun if nothing else. Her husband was a producer in the early days of Hollywood and died about fifteen years prior to her coming to see me.

She did not appear to have much money, but appearances can be deceiving. She truly seemed to be the definition of old money at least as it applies to LA. She had enough interest coming in to pay for the necessities of life and did not need to sell off anything to keep going.The reason she came to my office was because of a neighbor.

Let's call the woman L for lovely. L had been living in the same house for almost sixty years. It was built at a time where the houses and lots were still large and for the first 40 years she lived there, she had only two different families living next door. In the past twenty years, the house next door had changed hands more frequently, but still was fairly stable until J moved in which was about a year before L came to me.

J had made a bunch of money on a dot com and was trying to get in the movie business. He was flashy and obnoxious and basically just an arrogant ass. Shortly after his moving in next door, he paid L a visit and basically demanded that she sell him her house and lot because he had big plans and needed more space. He wanted to tear down her house and expand his house. He acted as if he expected her to just jump up and down and say," Yay!!, Mister I have been waiting for someone to come along and buy me out from my house. " Instead she treated him with respect but basically told him to kiss off and that she was not selling.

Well, Mr J, did not appreciate being told no, and decided to scare L out of her house. He first began hosting parties that lasted well into the night and made sure to be as loud as possible, and as late as possible. He had his guests park on the street in front of L's home and basically tried to make her life a living hell. This behavior went on for almost six months every night. Seriously, he took off like 10 nights over the 6 month period but otherwise just kept repeating this behavior every night.Remarkably, L did not call the police to report the noise, although other more distant neighbors would from time to time call to report the noise.

J managed to find L's phone number and would call her repeatedly day and night. Now, obviously much of this came from L, but she told me she answered everyone of his calls when she was home. She did not have an answering machine or voice mail, and did not even have call waiting. She did not want to inconvenience her friends by leaving the phone off the hook, or by changing her number. She had the same number forever and so no reason to change now. Could I fall more in love with this woman?

At least once a day, J would come by L's house (maybe he should have got a job) and harangue her in person. She always remained her calm, dignified self and would always invite him into her home and even offer him coffee or a drink depending on his time of visit. L refused to drink before 5pm. When L was relating this story, I could see the twinkle in her eye as she was relating it, but she never really let me into what J's reaction was to this class and dignity everyday. I am sure there must have been days when he was in a rage and sometimes he must have just been confused.

This same pattern continued until about two weeks before she came into my office. On that fateful day, J went over to L's house and simply said that someone had contacted the real estate agent he had used to purchase his house and had offered him a great deal of money for his home. He told L that he was going to accept it because according to J, he had the craziest neighbor in the entire world.

The reason L came into my office was to set up an LLC to finalize the offer she had made to J's real estate agent through a third party. J never knew what hit him.The way she told the tale, is the same way I am telling you now, although when she got to the payoff line, it was the first time I saw just how beautiful a smile could be. Luckily it would not be the last.

Through the parted curtains of her window, together we watched the moving vans at J's house . Just this once L even broke her no drinking before 5pm rule. Just that once.

I know that you all want gossip everyday and I will make sure to deliver, but sometimes it is nice to reflect on what Hollywood used to be and how grace and class can conquer all. I wanted something nice to say this day before Thanksgiving and also to remember my friend L who passed away earlier this fall.