Sometimes my rather eccentric life style gets weird beyond belief. I have three phones – a London phone, a Canada phone and now a USA phone which was purchased during my recent visit to the San Francisco Bay Area. My Virgin Mobile contract is expiring, therefore I have switched to my 415 area code phone. I get a notification that there is police activity at 29th Street and Orchard Avenue. and to stay out of the area. Ok, sure I will, Absolutely No Problem at all as I plan to stay in bed on the 17th floor of my apartment in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Eccentric can be the word of the day. Eccentric: eccentric behavior: unconventional, uncommon, abnormal, irregular, aberrant, anomalous, odd, queer, strange, peculiar, weird, bizarre, outlandish, freakish, extraordinary; idiosyncratic, quirky, nonconformist, outré; informal way out, offbeat, freaky, oddball, wacky, kooky. ANTONYMS conventional.
My preference amongst these synonyms is probably quirky or anomalous, perhaps kooky as I am labelled in an Instagram video taken outside the Hotel Soleil on Hornby Street. I wake up to a notification to stay away, then a long telephone conversation with an old friend in the USA and two emails with GIFs from a new friend in Vancouver, A peak at Instagram reveals that I now have 509 followers with a funny post from a women in London who actually introduced me to Chris Jackson, my computer guru. But other strange messages from people promising to make my numbers grow and others suggesting I follow their friends. I am perfectly happy with my numbers, thank you very much. It seems like people seek self esteem in strange places. I fail to see how having thousands of followers adds anything to one’s life – actually detracts because then you are a slave to Instagram and that is not exactly a normal life – perhaps even a freaky and oddball life.
The process of packing has begun – a box of books has been packed and, in doing so, two books were discovered – one a gift from the Tate book poet, a collection of quotes Keep Calm and Carry On. This is attributed to Socrates:” Beware the Barrenness of a Busy Life. “ This strikes me as profound. There were three men in my life quite recently who originally sought my attention but then determined that they did not have any time for me. I sent one an email telling him that I feared for him as his life was so narrow and did wonder what his life would be like when he reached my age. He responded by saying that I was invading his privacy and that he wanted nothing to do with me whatsoever. That did rather prove my point and his life will, according to Socrates, be barren. As Hottie used to say: “It is not your problem, Alexis.” So it seems that a have developed a specialty – friendships with busy men who lives are actually barren when you scratch the surface. They all had this in common as well — they all are exceedingly handsome. I do not miss them. I wonder if they miss me, wonder if they read my blog but there is no way to find that out and in the words of Rhett Butler:
He: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”
Me: That makes two of us.
Other book discoveries made, as I packed them away, were my collection of Eloise books. Eloise is the brainchild of Kay Thompson The book jacket announces that Eloise has travelled extensively in New York, Paris and Moscow. “She was first introduced, along with Nanny, Skippedee, and Weenie, in 1953 in Kay Thompson’s Eloise. Whether wearing high fashion (ooh she just adores dressing up) or pretending to be an orphan Eloise makes her home in The Play Hotel inNew York City where she remains six years old.”
My infatuation with Eloise began when i was living in London and began my career of residing in hotels – first the Montague, across the street from the British Museum. I continued the fine tradition by being the first long term get at the newly opened Trump International Hotel and Tower on West Georgia Street. I have branched out and now have three other hotels that shelter and protect me. There is the Pestana Chelsea Bridge in London, the Inn at the Opera in San Francisco and the Bet Western Inn in Corte Madera, California.
The small book resting in my hands is called Eloise’s What I Absolutely LOVE, LOVE. LOVE, it is small and beautifully illustrated. The book tells us that she adores lots of things—“The Plaza Hotel, Room Service of course, taking walks with Nannie, and Weenie’s whiskers (which are wonderful). The book begins: “I am Eloise I am six, Her’s what I absolutely love. love, love
The arts (so uplifting) I am wild about ballet.
I enjoy to parter Francais. Sometimes here’s what you have to say: Pardonnez-moi Cherie my dear but I am a little petite fatigued.
OoooI absolutely love my rag doll Sabine, who has shoe-button eyes and two legs and no face at all.”
This is the thing that Eloise loves that I totally identify with.
Oooo I absolutely love Room Service, The always know its me and they say”Yes, Eloise?” And I always say “ Hello this is me ELOISE and would you kindly send one roast-beef bone, one raisin, and seven spoons to the top floor and charge it please. Thank you very much,”
My goodness did I ever LOVE room service at the Trump – ordering from the Kid’s Menu in the middle of the night when I could not sleep or breakfast in bed. Those were the days my friend, i thought they’d never end but they did at the end of August 2017. It was off to San Francisco and then to my apartment in Yaletown. Now it will be off to Inn at the Opera and then Best Western Inn in Corte Madera. I am returning to my life of being Eloise.
She proudly stands and says:
“My needs are few: Food (filet mignon)
Shelter(The Plaza Hotel)
Clothing (Dior)
But more than anything else I am rawther fond of …me ELOISE (and you’re tres fantastique too.)”
I could not say it better, A couple of illustrations from the book are shown.
