Tales of the Dump House

 Tales of the Dump House





    The title here may be deceiving since the sobriquet Dump House was used by both Greg and I just to describe the places where we lived before getting to our dream pad. In my case it was a very expensive and rare three bedroom house in Brentwood where my first year of marriage was spent. It was also where Katya was born and was an adorable baby. For Greg, his dump house was at 2911 Francis where he lived from 1988 to 1995 quite happily in marital bliss. The Dump House was an excellent decision by Lissy to buy in a good neighborhood when prices were reasonable and no Greggy was in sight. After some kidlets came along the architect couple decided to build their own dream home which they did with panache. The new Francis opened in 1996 that was filled with gratitude and happiness for the rest of our man's fine life. When I bounded up the treachorous stairs on Francis I knew I would find laughter and comfort.  During construction they were able to reside at the Anne McNeill home which was a pretty swell spot on its own. So let us return to that La Crescenta dump house for an evening where the aforementioned mat was thrown out for me to have a dinner with the Sheehy-Ziesing duo after cocktails and conversation. I assumed that after forty plus years of close friendship Greg would be familiar with my culinary quirks. Most certainly he had heard me rant about the foods I found disgusting or impossible to even sniff  while sitting in a dining room. Tuna being my absolute nemesis and scaled fish being a substance I found utterly repulsive. I admit it is a fault to dislike fish but from an early age my Mother may have led me astray as she hated fish and I followed in her palate steps. The Dump House kitchen was not as open as the new house version and so we had our laughs, had our cocktails and then being completely famished I was invited to come to table where I found a big, steaming hunk of salmon! It might as well have been a two pound turd and I looked at Greg with pleading eyes hoping this was some kind of joke. My boon companion was oblivious to my disgust for scaled things and salmon is about a fishy as it gets. I think he called me an asshole but a regretful Lissy dug into the fridge and found some LO's that were microwaved to create a sort of entree. The wife of the Dump House was sincerely apologetic but her other half just wolfed down his repulsive meal and refused dessert.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Athletic Club Flower shop

Image
  Athletic Club Flower shop      This phrase is actually the telephone greeting at Greg's uncle Johnny Tassano's flower shop at 808 W. 8th street near Flower street in downtown L.A. Greg loved the place and culled many a story and line from his experiences at a place he worked and visited fondly. Even when he wasn't employed he drove around with cousin Kent (Kevin Smith) and they had a ball observing the absurdities of modern living in the Southland. The phone was answered by different employees and each had a unique turn of "Athletic Club...flowershopppp" There was owner John Tassano, right-hand man Ronald P. Lord, "Speed," a delivery man, and Carmen who cut flowers and told odd anecdotes such as the origin of pizza. I believe Greg and Kevin could go on for weeks about the people they met on their deliveries as they set forth across the city of the angels to spread floral joy. This might include places to eat, fascinating neighborhoods, cemeteries, lone...
Read more

Oil and gas crowd

Image
  Oil and gas crowd       This one comes from cousin  Kevin's bold political action volunteering for the Fred Harris presidential campaign in 1976. Kevin got a terrific piece on the campaign published as an editorial in the Los Angeles Times and also developed an imitation of the candidates speaking voice. Fred Harris was everything you would want in a public servant  and had come close to being asked to be Vice President but his brand was not widely known. Despite representing Oklahoma as a senator Harris managed to be an admirable liberal who favored the Great Society and economic democracy. Way ahead of his time Fred wanted to wrest control away from corporations and millionaires. He travelled in a recreation vehicle wth young Smith aboard to cut down on costs and was as grass roots as it gets. Fred was married to native-american LaDonna and to this day we have buttons stating "LaDonna for First Lady." Kevin would repeat the phrase from Fred's speeches a...
Read more

alright mother

Image
  alright mother- “You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.” —Carol Ann Duffy  Greg was always delighted by a story told by his mother in law about a "sortie" dinner party attended by a Doctor "Putty" Putnam who had been forced to attend an opera by his wife. When asked by a clueless guest if he enjoyed the opera, his response was  "fuck you!" When I was visiting Bear Cove and sitting next to the matriarch Greg goaded her into telling the tale. But a rum n' coke had loosened "Minnie's" tongue and when she got to Putty's answer she blurted a rather hard FUCK YOU!  Roy, hearing his bride curse thusly said across the table "Alright mother!"
Read more