Leslie Parrish

            On Sunday morning I memorized the third verse of "C'était une pauv' gosse des rues" (She Was a Poor Child of the Street) by Boris Vian. 

            I memorized the fifth verse of "Lost Song" by Serge Gainsbourg and adjusted my translation to fit my better understanding of the rhyme scheme. 

            I played my Kramer electric guitar during song practice for the first day of two. I had to tune it twice as usual but this time I was able to tune it from the bottom screws rather than having to unlock it at the top of the neck for deep tuning and so it was less time consuming. It was the first time since I finished this year's recording project that I didn't have to shorten any songs while playing the electric.

            Now that my sink is unplugged I can get my water from the kitchen. I can walk there without unplugging the Kramer but I get loud crackling and popping noises from my amp. I solved that by switching off the amp when I pass it and then back on when I come back. 

            I weighed 85.6 kilos before breakfast. 

            While washing dishes I discovered that my drain is still blocked. It took quite a while for it to back up, but still that means I can't put the stuff back under the sink that I store there and so it's all still in the middle of the kitchen floor. I also planned to hand wash some things but can't if the sink is backing up. I emailed the landlord. I looked for the Mexican guys who are doing the renovation next door but maybe they don't work on Sundays. 

            I found separate envelopes for the various sets of negatives I've scanned and labeled them. I also cut the long strip of colour negatives that I recently scanned into strips of five and put those into an envelope. I think before I scan anything more from the wooden cabinet I'll organize the negatives I've already scanned and put them back in the photo drawer of the small metal filing cabinet. 

            I weighed 85.6 kilos before lunch. I heated the rest of the spinach and feta pastries that I froze several months ago and had them with a glass of limeade. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back. 

            I weighed 85.4 kilos at 17:30. 

            The guys renovating the plumbing in unit five came in the evening and I told the guy who snaked the drain yesterday that it was still blocked. But I ran the water for about twenty minutes and it didn't back up. I assume it takes fewer than twenty minutes for water to run from my tap to the sewer. He suggested that the remaining blockage got cleared from running the water. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 19:00. 

            I reviewed the videos of my performances of my song "Megaphor" from September 9 to 13. On September 9 I played the electric guitar. The song doesn't start until 3 minutes in. This was done in one take and it was pretty good although the light wasn't great. The rest were played with the acoustic. On September 10 the take at 6:00 was mostly okay but a couple of chords sounded slightly off. On September 11 it was done in one take bur one chord didn't land firmly. On September 12 the take at 3:45 was okay but one chord sounded off. On September 13 the take at 6:45 was pretty good. 

            In the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song "Megaphor" I cut another fifteen minutes from the Fritz Lang silent film Spies. 

            I made pizza on my last slice of seven grain bread with Basilica sauce and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching season 7, episodes 6 and 7 of Petticoat Junction. 

            In the first story a musician named Glen Tinker checks into the Shady Rest. Inside of his duffel bag is a Vietnamese orphan named Tammy. Joe and the girls discover her and Glen explains that she stowed away before he left Vietnam. He wants to adopt her and she wants him to adopt her but he wants to be successful first. That night he goes to do a concert and he's a big hit. But while he's out Tammy has a bad stomach ache and so Betty Joe calls Janet even though they've been avoiding telling her because she's the local representative of the International Adoption Agency. She's received notice that a four year old orphan has disappeared from the adoption centre in Danang. Janet says she'll call the authorities tomorrow and there'll be a hearing. The whole family is cold to Janet as she says goodnight. The next day a judge presides over an informal hearing at the Shady Rest. The judge notices that Tammy calls Glen "Boss". He says he taught her to call him boss because he doesn't think children should call adults by their first name. He thinks it would be better if children learn at an early age who's boss. Oddly the Bradley sisters cheer that statement. Janet suggests that Glen take over the old blacksmith shop in Hooterville and turn it into a music store. She offers to assume responsibility for Tammy's care along with Glen, so the judge says okay. 

            In the second story Jacqueline Moran, the famous author of Sex is Here to Stay, comes to stay at the Shady Rest while she finishes her latest novel. She has come on the recommendation of Steve who she met when he was in reserve training and he'd been ordered to show her around the base. Betty Joe resents the beautiful Jacqueline because she's always asking for Steve's help. Jacqueline is not finding the hotel very restful because of the noise of the baby and Betty and her sisters decide in uncharacteristic mean spiritedness to make things even worse so she will move out. They play instruments very loudly and Jacqueline leaves but Joe runs into her and rents her the cottage. She is still calling on Steve a lot because he's the landlord. Jacqueline calls her boyfriend and asks him to visit. When he arrives, for some odd reason Billie Joe puts on her sexiest dress and distracts him from seeing Jacqueline by having him take her to dinner two towns away. Jacqueline goes back to New York and everybody seems to be okay with the way they've behaved towards her. It was very strange and out of character. 

            Jacqueline was played by Leslie Parrish, who studied at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. She started working as a model to pay for tuition and began acting in 1955, mostly on television. She played Daisy Mae in the 1959 film adaptation of L'il Abner. She played Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas in the season 2, episode 2 Star Trek story Who Mourns for Adonais. She was married to Ric Marlow, who co-authored the song "A Taste of Honey", which was recorded by the Beatles. She was married to Richard D. Bach the author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull for 18 years. She was associate producer for the film adaptation when it was in production until Bach had a falling out with the director. Bach's books The Bridge Across Forever and One are based on his relationship with Parrish. She co-starred in The Giant Spider Invasion. She was a prominent anti Viet Nam war activist. She created STOP (Speakers and Talent Organized for Peace). Leonard Nimoy was a member. She created the famous bumper sticker, "Suppose They Gave a War and No One Came". She campaigned for Tom Bradley and helped him become the first black mayor of LA.