Thursday, September 10, 2009
Something Good To Do With Your Life: Hollywood’s Birthday Party
Words Jesse Scaccia
Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Paparazzi pic from last year's party.
The world we live in is not necessarily beautiful. The murders, natural disasters, wars, and government failures make the news, but that’s not what makes this world ugly.
It’s that we aren’t necessarily very nice to each other.
We’re a selfish lot, us humans. We prefer talking to listening. Our natural inclination is to judge rather than give the benefit of the doubt. We love things like the path of least resistance and phrases like, “You gotta look out for yourself.”
If I had to name one person I know who bucks this trend, who on a daily basis decisively makes our world more beautiful, it would be a middle aged woman with cognitive disabilities who spends most of her life making a semi-spectacle of herself at my favorite coffee shop.
Her name is Hollywood, and I’m proud that she considers me a friend.
If you’ve ever been to Fair Grounds, you know her. Her ‘hellos’ are loud and enthusiastic. She loves having her picture taken. She’s often wearing headphones. She sometimes has a few scraggly gray hairs on her chin, but we don’t talk about those because she’s Hollywood and we love her and we want her to always feel good and happy.
Me and Miss Thang.
Hollywood’s birthday party is tonight. It starts at Fair Grounds for a little music at 6pm. Then T West about 9 for food and some nice cold beer (Hell yeah Hollywood drinks). Finally, to your favorite and mine, Cruzer’s for some singalongs. Last year’s party was a blast, and I personally made a bunch of cool new friends.
But here’s the best part about the party: the costumes. Come dressed as either a police officer, firefighter, car racer, glamorous movie star, or as Ricky Ricardo, because Hollywood recently became enamored with a Latino police officer and any excuse to dress like Ricky Ricardo is worth grabbing and wrestling to the ground.
As far as presents go, Hollywood loves music. Bring her good times mix tapes, maybe a karaoke machine, maybe even a mandolin. Why not.
Come tonight. If nothing else, you’ll earn a cheery Hello from the sweetest girl I know every time you go into Fair Grounds, and that is a beautiful thing.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Jesse is the editor in chief of AltDaily, and he's going to take this bio seriously, but not so seriously that he's going to continue in the third person. I've been involved with a bunch of local projects and civic groups in various roles, including: Hampton Roads, The Canvas; Art | Everywhere, Street Performance in Norfolk; Survive Norfolk; Hampton Roads Pride/Out in the Park; Bike Norfolk; re:Vision Norfolk, and such.
I originally came to Norfolk as a Perry Morgan fellow in ODU's creative writing program. Before that I bummed around quite a bit, writing stacks of books that never got published, hitchhiking, couchsurfing, riding the Greyhound up down and back across this country. Some of my favorite jobs and volunteer gigs have included working on organic farms in Ireland; being first mate on an old sail boat in Holland; working at a long-term home for young men in South Africa; being a journalist and high school teacher in New York and California; washing dishes in Yosemite National Park; teaching English in DC and swimming in Florida; and interning at ESPN in Bristol, which was much less cool that you'd want it to be. My career highlights have been having three of my op-eds run in the New York Times, and being the executive producer of a six-part docu-drama on BET. Because school is cool I have three master's degrees (ODU for MFA, NYU for magazine journalism, University of Connecticut for secondary English education). I live in Norfolk because I believe in its potential. Email your ideas or nicely couched criticism to jesse@altdaily.com.
Other posts by Jesse Scaccia.
Other posts by Jesse Scaccia.
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How was the party?
Hollywood’s birthday was like being at da beach for sixty-nine straight hours with a four hundred and twenty pack of beer. And three hundred and eleven of your friends.
She’s a very patient person. I told her, “Hollywood, I’m really sorry, but my present for you hasn’t come in the mail, yet.”
Gracefully Hollywood said, “It’s ok, I’m patient.” And then she said it four more times.
The next day I was in line to get a peppermint and vanilla Italian soda with creme or cream (a highly recommended drink, especially if Jamie or Veronica are working!) and Hollywood came up to me and she said, “I’ll be patient.” And I said to myself, ‘Oh, well Hollywood can cut in front of me if she wants. I don’t think she’s getting anything other than a banana anyway,’ but then she said it again, and I realized (outloud), “I think someone stole your present off of my porch.”
For the next few days she told me that I need a hallway, that Steve (one real good-looker of a police officer man) would take the stealer away, and that she’ll be patient.
Long story short, I accidentally had the package sent to my old address in Williamsburg, and Hollywood was very happy to get a set of those vintage ET drinking glasses that Pizza Hut put out when Spielberg released the movie.