Grandma's Gossip...

I went with Adele’s Hadassah group to a matinee of “Cats,” at the Civic Arts Center in Thousand Oaks. For years my kids have been trying to get me to see this musical, but I figure something I wouldn’t have in my house what with the shedding and the hairballs, I certainly wouldn’t pay good money to see on the stage.

The show had actors as big cats, crawling across the stage and licking themselves, singing songs I never heard before except for “Memories,” but not the Barbra Streisand one; that was “The Way We Were.”

Luckily, Adele and I sat on the aisle, so when they had the special extended intermission for all us seniors, we made a beeline for the ladies’ room, which was already crowded. As soon as I got in a stall, the toilet flushed itself like it had a mind of its own. I got so fartootst I could barely do my business. Then the worst happened. I got up, and the toilet wouldn’t flush again. There’s no handle because it’s automatic. So I bounced around a little, hoping it would get the idea. Nothing. So I backed over it and swung from side to side. Still nothing.

Now I was in such a panic. I couldn’t very well leave and let the next person see my business in there, so I paced back and forth, hoping all of a sudden an idea would hit me.

There was a rap at the door and an “Are you all right in there?” I opened it to see none other than TV star Bonnie Franklin , of “One Time or Another,” the show with the two wisecracking daughters and the shnorrer handyman. For her age she looks good, though she’s still cross-eyed, and from the facelifts, bug-eyed like the meshuga runaway bride, but she’s very nice. We left the stall, then marched right back in, and miracle of miracles, the toilet flushed. For this I have to thank Bonnie Franklin .

I've said enough already.

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Grandma's Gossip Column courtesy of Rick Detorie's Commonwealth Newsletter, Venice, California

My Dentist Retired!

My fears of many many years have come true. My favorite dentist of 30 years has retired! Oh no my teeth, he is the best! But I wish him well. It is hard when you so totally trust a dentist for such a long time and it ends. Our teeth are so precious they have to serve us for a long time (hopefully). Some of my friends have lost teeth and what a nightmare not to be able to chew well.... Shish that is the worse.

So young people out there take the advice of this senior citizen: TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEETH!

You won't be sorry.

Dr. Rota, a former UCLA professor and now retired dentist, has lectured around the world and appeared on television regarding his 30-year investigation of illnesses related to dental mercury filling.
Check out his current project at FreedomSpring.com

How old is Mike Love?

Saw him on the Today Show this morning and was shocked! I think we are the same age, he went to my High School! Shish it's my birthday today and I did not need this vision. He looked like he is going on 100 and not in his 60's. But at least he is alive!

How much "work" did he have done? He had some kind of shiny oil or gel all over his face as if he had some kind of acid peel or something. Oh my, that old saying that you are as old as you feel is bull. He may feel like he's still young but he does not sound or look it. Time to retire this Beach "Boy".

I am so impressed with this woman ...

As commander Eileen Collins brought the orbiter to a stop on runway 22, the two sonic booms at 5 am woke me up out of a sound sleep. The noise seemed scary this time, I've hear this noise many times but somehow this morning it scared me.

Then later on as I was watching the news on television, and am amazed how great Eileen Collins looked. After being up for 24 hours and whatever she went through is space, her hair was perfect make up on and looked as fresh as if she had gotten a great night sleep and sat in hair and make up before she appeared. My hat off to Ms. Collins! Smart and pretty.

From that moment until today, she has lived in a fishbowl. There were 23 astronauts in the class of 1990, but only one was both a woman and a test pilot. From the day she arrived at Johnson Space Center, she was destined to become the first woman to pilot the space shuttle.
"I've got a $2 billion spacecraft on my hands. I don't think about what's happening outside."

But she yields little information about her children, Bridget, 9, and Luke, 4, or her husband, Pat Youngs, a former Air Force pilot now flying for Delta Air Lines. Her telephone numbers -- and Youngs's -- are unlisted. She does not appear to like being called Mom by adults. She guards her privacy like a celebrity, because that's what she is.

Eileen Marie Collins was born in Elmira on Nov. 19, 1956, the second of four children to James Collins, a surveyor and postal worker, and his wife, Rose Marie. Her parents split up when she was 9, and she lived in public housing, graduating from Elmira Free Academy in 1974.