A Barry Friday Morning

Well, can the day get any better? Gorgeous, warm sunny day outside, and Barry Manilow on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this morning.

Actually, the Ellen Show today was a repeat, but I missed the first airing of the show because they scheduled it for the day when Georgie W was sworn into office for his second presidential term. Now really.... for the networks to put Georgie W on in place of Manilow..... what were they thinking?

I telephoned our friend J to tell him that Barry was on TV........ so he watched it also. I couldn't call A because she's in Florida this week....... maybe she happened to have the TV on. Hard to believe that we saw Manilow in Houston back in November. Now he'll be in Las Vegas for the next couple of years. His performances are selling out as quickly as they're scheduled. If he stays in Vegas, then I guess the only way to see Barry is to fly out to Vegas. I read that the publishing company who printed his book (Sweet Life) has again released the hardcover edition. I have taken my own copy of Manilow's book to every Houston concert except the first one. And that's the one where I should have had that book---- we had front row seats and Barry shook my hand. It would've been the perfect opportunity for me to ask him to sign the book. Note to self: Take the book to Vegas, if we happen to go there.

My husband and Gracie (our dog) are at Galveston Beach right now. My husband took a book and some iced tea, I wrapped up dog biscuits and a plastic bowl of water for Gracie and off they went. I used to like going to the beach in Galveston, but for the past few years, the seaweed on the beach has increased to the point of disgust. Plus, they're building so many ocean-front homes out there that the stretches of secluded beaches are quickly diminishing. I'd rather sit in the sun in my own backyard. No sand... no seaweed... and a clean bathroom.

It would be perfect if we had a pool in the backyard, but we're still talking about that. As much as I'd like to have an in-ground pool put in, I'm still not sure that I want to deal with the construction and the upkeep. Both of which are necessary if you want the pool, of course. We even have the blueprints for one. Looks great on paper. But the blueprints will not cool us off when the temperatures get over 100 degrees.

I continue to get eMails from Frankie's friend R, who lives in Germany. He has eMailed me some wonderful photos of Frankie in her younger days. Just looking at these pictures, I can tell that Frankie was as fun and as fun-loving back then as she was during the past 10 years when I knew her. Strange to see Frankie in long dark hair and eye make-up! Guess I was just used to her short gray hair and her collection of hats. As Frankie taught me, it's not what's on the outside that's important. ("That's all so superfluous!" she would say.) It is indeed what's on the inside that matters the most. And Frankie had the sweetest inside.