Thursday, February 07, 2008

News Flash--Art Imitates Life!

Or vice versa. Not sure.

Anyway, so I'm at the gym last night (uh-huh! again!) and I stumble into the locker room after a "body blast" class (hence the stumbling), and I catch a glimpse (a mere glimpse, mind you) of a woman in street clothes brush past.

Hm, I think. Why did that nano-second of visibility provoke a memory of Sally? I mean, I haven't seen Sally in nearly thirty years.

Now, usually, I'd shake it off, walk out to my car, and let myself wonder for eternity. But this time something stopped me. Maybe because the book I've been living inside of takes place in a setting similar to the one in which I knew Sally.

So, I go for it...fully expecting that slightly quizzical (and faintly apprehensive) look you get from strangers when you ask the question. "Is your name Sally?"

She turns, affording me a full view of her face, and before she can even answer I think, hey...this really could be Sally.

Pause.

"Yes," she says with a tentative smile. "You look familiar."

I state my full name, instant recognition appears in her eyes, and we embrace.

It is Sally. The same Sally I first met when I was 25 years old and a newbie on the lot at Golden West Broadcasters (Gene Autry's company at the time and home of KTLA-TV and KMPC radio plus a bunch of production companies). Hell, I'd even been to Sally's wedding to the guy who directed the show I worked on in 1980.

We lost touch circa 1982. Twenty-six years ago.

At one point, during all the catching up, Sally says: "That seems like a lifetime ago."

"It is," I point out.

Yikes.

Okay, so back to life imitating art etc. etc....see, like I said, "Lights! Camera! Love!" (okay, that's probably not the final title) has some very autobiographical components. Running into Sally helped me re-experience in a visceral way the stuff my protagonist feels.

Too cool.

Oh, and may I just point out that the fact Sally and I recognized each other proves we both still look fabulous?

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