Newsletter September 2019

PLASTICS, OUR OCEANS AND ME

From http://www.oceana.org/our-campaigns/plastics: “An estimated 17.6 billion pounds of plastic leaks into the marine environment from land-based sources every year—this is roughly equivalent to dumping a garbage truck full of plastic into the oceans every minute.”

Bob and I are huge supporters of Oceana, an organization that as Mr. President said: “Oceana is old-fashioned in their efforts. They make a commitment, raise the funds, spend the funds on the cause and deliver the metrics on the impact.” They do.

Their Gala, this year as in last year was at the iconic Rainbow Room. It is put together by our friends Susan and David Rockefeller and is always the most fun evening. Usually these things (as ya all know) are rubber chicken boring nights where you cannot wait to leave. This is unlike that. First, it’s in the Rainbow Room, which is gorgeous and iconic. Second, the speeches are short and to the point. There is dancing galore (as opposed to Gabor); I had a pinched nerve so had to leave early. And yes, I did wear trash on my head. I always wear a big crazy fascinator. This year, knowing it was a plastic event, I wrapped bubble wrap, New York Times plastic bag that our newspaper comes in, pill bottles, cork, shells, san, toothpaste tube, and a whole bunch of other shit that washes in our ocean killing the marine life and ultimately us on my head.

We are trying around the house to clean up. Going back to soap bars, biodegradable trash bags instead of recycled ones. Looking for cosmetic companies that package in something other than plastic, detergent in boxes. Straws: glass, metal, they have folding ones you can carry. Carry compostable or reusable cutlery (I got a great one from To-Go Ware (courtesy of Oceana) its made with Bamboo, comes in its own pack. Easy. Great for school lunches too. (We’ll see how many they lose). I am reaching out via social media to companies asking them to get rid of their single-use plastic. You can too. The ask is just a tweet away.

“A meager 9 percent of all plastic waste generated has been recycled. Recycling alone is not enough to solve the plastics crisis. To have an impact, we must reduce the amount of single-use plastic being produced at the source. Oceana’s plastics campaign will urge companies to adopt alternatives for single-use plastic packaging.”

Where Dead People Go
 

SAVANNAH

Couple days here in the hot and humid weather where the love bugs are out and doing their loving. Everywhere! But what a beautiful city. I re-read “In the Garden of Love and Evil,” before going so when I toured the house where the murder takes placed and walked through the squares, I’d have some background. Besides the southern food my favorite venture was getting up early and walking through Boneventure Cemetery. I love old cemeteries. And this one is huge, old and as romantic as cemeteries can go. Unfortunately, in the fist 5 minutes we were eaten ALIVE by encouraged-by-blood mosquitos. So slow and lazy they were easy to kill, but then the blood when spraying all over. Seriously

PALM SPRINGS

It has cooled down enough to return to my swinging city! It was a besties’ birthday weekend and so I wanted to try places I had not gone before. Here’s the food and drink report: Tac/Quila, great new Jalisco-style restaurant, beautifully decorated, music, fantastic service and food and tequila! (Or so I heard!). The Del Rey bar, super dark, sexy and elegant at the Villa Royale, an old hotel rumored to have been built for Sonja Henie in the ‘40s. (Actor, Norwegian, and Ice Skating Queen) The Pink Cabana for dinner way out at the Sands, the most gorgeous room, crap wine list. Breakfast at the Purple Palm (I wrote about this for something, I can’t remember! But the gist of it is the Colony Palm Hotel, where the restaurant is was built by a mobster who belonged to the Purple Gang. The owner of the racehorse Seabiscuit at one point owned the hotel).