Some of the most glamorous things that have happened in my life were when I was with my good friend Laura B. She worked as a scenic artist on the movie sets that began springing up in the Tri-State area in the mid-eighties.
One of the movies that filmed here was an exact remake of "Pretty in Pink" with all the same actors and what seemed like an identical script. It was called "Wild Horses" and filmed in Northern Kentucky, and in the Clifton area of Cincinnati. Both movies starred eighties movie princess Molly Ringwald and, shit, I'm having trouble remembering his name. He always reminded me of Perry Como without the singing...just the dull, no, not John Cryer...oh yeah, ......poo, let me google it.....got it! Andrew McCarthy, and my inability to remember his name pretty much sums up his screen presence.
Anythathurtmybrain, Laura would always take me as her date to work parties if she didn't have a boyfriend at the moment. This particular party was a pre-production party for "Wild Horses" at this restaurant in Northern Kentucky. We had a terrible time finding the place, because neither Laura nor myself knew nothing about no Northern Kentucky.
Since I was always in doubt of what to wear to these functions, I just always wore black. One of my few fashion tips: when in doubt, wear black. We arrived fashionably late, as we always did, not because we were fashionable, more like irresponsible.
When we got there, it was like another planet, Planet Hollywood actually. Lot's of beautiful people, including the stars of the movie. The only thing I remember about them was chatting with Anne Archer, who I don't think was even in the movie. For some reason, I got the impression that she was having a romantic affair with Perry, uh, I mean, Andrew.
Laura, with me in tow, headed straight for all the set technicians. They consisted of light people, scenic artists, set builders, and the like. It was actually a very cliquish group looking back on it. Most of them were dudes, and Laura introduced me to all of them as they sat around a table in a back corner. Last, but certainly not least, she introduced me to Andy.
Andy was from Chicago, living in town for the duration of the movie shoot. He was very friendly and I could tell he was interested in me, very interested. Unfortunately, I would rather die than be some out-of-town guys local squeeze, no matter how nice and handsome, so I pretty much ignored him. He spent the evening trying to impress me and win me over but didn't get very far.
A couple of days after the party, Laura called and said that Andy was still asking about me. It turns out that he doesn't just work for the set company, he owns it. He was Laura's boss, which makes no difference to the story, but I thought I would mention it. At any rate, she asked if she could give him my phone number. After getting three yes's and a no on my pre-acknowledge your existence dating quiz, (Do you have a job, Do you own a car?, Do you have your own place to live?, and, Are you married?) I agreed.
The next day, Andy started his campaign for my affection. He called and asked me to dinner. It actually turned out to be a great date. We went to Dee Felice, had dinner and listened to the jazz band. I ordered Jambalaya and remember being surprised by how spicy it was. Hanging out with Andy was really fun because he had great stories. He had worked with Paul Newman on "The Color of Money" and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember. To this day, I still look for his name in movie credits under "construction coordinator".
At the time, I was living in Clifton in my little Mary Richards apartment, across the hall from Patrick. Andy would show up at my little ghetto apartment, and just looked so out of place in it. He was very wealthy, and wasn't used to such living conditions. It was summertime, and it was really hot, and my third floor walk up had no air conditioning. The TV had a hanger for an antennae, and you had to use a pair of pliers to change the channel. I loved every bit of it because it was all mine, bought, earned and delivered.
The other Laura, Laura C. had moved to Atlanta earlier in the year. She kept inviting me to visit and I could never afford to do it. I must of mentioned it to Andy, because the next time we were at dinner, he casually slid a thick wad of cash across the table. I, of course, was highly insulted.
After recovering from me almost slapping the shit out of him, Andy went on to explain that the money meant absolutely nothing to him, and so much more to me, why couldn't he give it to me. He said that his per Diem for the movie was more than I made in a week, and he wanted to be good to me. For the first time in my life, I said to myself "fuck this shit, I'm taking the cash". The next thing I knew, I was on my way to see Laura C. for a week.
When I got back, Andy was waiting for me. The movie was filming a scene at the bar down the street from my apartment. He wanted me to come and hang around, which I was weary of, because I felt like he wanted to parade me around for all his friends. So after much convincing, we went down to the bar, hung out in the movie trailers, where I drank way too much, mostly because I felt uncomfortable. We came back to my apartment, where Andy tucked me in, and left for the night.
The next morning, I had a hang-over like none I've ever had, except for the one I got in Cancun drinking too much tequila with Laura C. Once again, a whole other post. Anyway, on this particular early afternoon, I was sick as a dog. Afternoon turned in to evening and I was still sick. Andy called and wanted to go out, and I told him I was far too busy throwing up to do any such thing.
Two hours later, there was a knock at my door. When I opened the door, there was Andy with a dozen red roses, Gatorade, and a 32 inch color television. I still have the petals from the roses in a mason jar to this day. It was like I was dating the "Wheel-of-Fortune". He set up the new television, handed me the remote, and went into the kitchen and started making me chicken soup.
His gifts weren't just extravagant, they were also very thoughtful and sentimental. When I ruined my favorite pink sweater by spilling printer ink on it at work, a cashmere sweater would take it's place. At one point, after noticing I never wore much jewelry, he gave me an emerald and diamond necklace. I drew the line on that one, and wouldn't accept it, because I knew I didn't feel the same way about him that he felt about me. There would be other gifts I wouldn't accept, like a car because I didn't own one, and a better apartment.
At Christmas time, he gave me a silver key chain with a silver heart on it from Tiffany's. He had them engrave "always my love, Andy" on the back of the heart. I still suspect my ex-husband of throwing it away because, years later, my keys, that had been on the counter, mysteriously disappeared never to be seen again.
After we had been seeing each other for four or five months, the movie wrapped and Andy headed back to Chicago and on to the next movie. He still visited me on the weekends, either flying me there or him coming here. It's not that hard to live in different cities if you have money.
I know that he was very sincere, and probably would have changed my life completely, but here's the thing. Have you noticed that the entire post has been about material things as opposed to how much I loved him? Well, I noticed that too, and that really bothered me. I argued with myself that people love people for different reasons and theirs nothing wrong with that. Andy was a handsome, talented, smart and funny man, and I should have loved him. But I just didn't, who knows why? Maybe not having to struggle in life seemed like cheating to me.
Andy and I still chat with each other from time to time. I think he likes to check periodically to see if I've changed my mind. His birthday is in the middle of April, so he's on my mind this time of year, so it was a good time to tell you about him. Ahhh, April, taxes, cherry blossoms, and Andy.
One of the movies that filmed here was an exact remake of "Pretty in Pink" with all the same actors and what seemed like an identical script. It was called "Wild Horses" and filmed in Northern Kentucky, and in the Clifton area of Cincinnati. Both movies starred eighties movie princess Molly Ringwald and, shit, I'm having trouble remembering his name. He always reminded me of Perry Como without the singing...just the dull, no, not John Cryer...oh yeah, ......poo, let me google it.....got it! Andrew McCarthy, and my inability to remember his name pretty much sums up his screen presence.
Anythathurtmybrain, Laura would always take me as her date to work parties if she didn't have a boyfriend at the moment. This particular party was a pre-production party for "Wild Horses" at this restaurant in Northern Kentucky. We had a terrible time finding the place, because neither Laura nor myself knew nothing about no Northern Kentucky.
Since I was always in doubt of what to wear to these functions, I just always wore black. One of my few fashion tips: when in doubt, wear black. We arrived fashionably late, as we always did, not because we were fashionable, more like irresponsible.
When we got there, it was like another planet, Planet Hollywood actually. Lot's of beautiful people, including the stars of the movie. The only thing I remember about them was chatting with Anne Archer, who I don't think was even in the movie. For some reason, I got the impression that she was having a romantic affair with Perry, uh, I mean, Andrew.
Laura, with me in tow, headed straight for all the set technicians. They consisted of light people, scenic artists, set builders, and the like. It was actually a very cliquish group looking back on it. Most of them were dudes, and Laura introduced me to all of them as they sat around a table in a back corner. Last, but certainly not least, she introduced me to Andy.
Andy was from Chicago, living in town for the duration of the movie shoot. He was very friendly and I could tell he was interested in me, very interested. Unfortunately, I would rather die than be some out-of-town guys local squeeze, no matter how nice and handsome, so I pretty much ignored him. He spent the evening trying to impress me and win me over but didn't get very far.
A couple of days after the party, Laura called and said that Andy was still asking about me. It turns out that he doesn't just work for the set company, he owns it. He was Laura's boss, which makes no difference to the story, but I thought I would mention it. At any rate, she asked if she could give him my phone number. After getting three yes's and a no on my pre-acknowledge your existence dating quiz, (Do you have a job, Do you own a car?, Do you have your own place to live?, and, Are you married?) I agreed.
The next day, Andy started his campaign for my affection. He called and asked me to dinner. It actually turned out to be a great date. We went to Dee Felice, had dinner and listened to the jazz band. I ordered Jambalaya and remember being surprised by how spicy it was. Hanging out with Andy was really fun because he had great stories. He had worked with Paul Newman on "The Color of Money" and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember. To this day, I still look for his name in movie credits under "construction coordinator".
At the time, I was living in Clifton in my little Mary Richards apartment, across the hall from Patrick. Andy would show up at my little ghetto apartment, and just looked so out of place in it. He was very wealthy, and wasn't used to such living conditions. It was summertime, and it was really hot, and my third floor walk up had no air conditioning. The TV had a hanger for an antennae, and you had to use a pair of pliers to change the channel. I loved every bit of it because it was all mine, bought, earned and delivered.
The other Laura, Laura C. had moved to Atlanta earlier in the year. She kept inviting me to visit and I could never afford to do it. I must of mentioned it to Andy, because the next time we were at dinner, he casually slid a thick wad of cash across the table. I, of course, was highly insulted.
After recovering from me almost slapping the shit out of him, Andy went on to explain that the money meant absolutely nothing to him, and so much more to me, why couldn't he give it to me. He said that his per Diem for the movie was more than I made in a week, and he wanted to be good to me. For the first time in my life, I said to myself "fuck this shit, I'm taking the cash". The next thing I knew, I was on my way to see Laura C. for a week.
When I got back, Andy was waiting for me. The movie was filming a scene at the bar down the street from my apartment. He wanted me to come and hang around, which I was weary of, because I felt like he wanted to parade me around for all his friends. So after much convincing, we went down to the bar, hung out in the movie trailers, where I drank way too much, mostly because I felt uncomfortable. We came back to my apartment, where Andy tucked me in, and left for the night.
The next morning, I had a hang-over like none I've ever had, except for the one I got in Cancun drinking too much tequila with Laura C. Once again, a whole other post. Anyway, on this particular early afternoon, I was sick as a dog. Afternoon turned in to evening and I was still sick. Andy called and wanted to go out, and I told him I was far too busy throwing up to do any such thing.
Two hours later, there was a knock at my door. When I opened the door, there was Andy with a dozen red roses, Gatorade, and a 32 inch color television. I still have the petals from the roses in a mason jar to this day. It was like I was dating the "Wheel-of-Fortune". He set up the new television, handed me the remote, and went into the kitchen and started making me chicken soup.
His gifts weren't just extravagant, they were also very thoughtful and sentimental. When I ruined my favorite pink sweater by spilling printer ink on it at work, a cashmere sweater would take it's place. At one point, after noticing I never wore much jewelry, he gave me an emerald and diamond necklace. I drew the line on that one, and wouldn't accept it, because I knew I didn't feel the same way about him that he felt about me. There would be other gifts I wouldn't accept, like a car because I didn't own one, and a better apartment.
At Christmas time, he gave me a silver key chain with a silver heart on it from Tiffany's. He had them engrave "always my love, Andy" on the back of the heart. I still suspect my ex-husband of throwing it away because, years later, my keys, that had been on the counter, mysteriously disappeared never to be seen again.
After we had been seeing each other for four or five months, the movie wrapped and Andy headed back to Chicago and on to the next movie. He still visited me on the weekends, either flying me there or him coming here. It's not that hard to live in different cities if you have money.
I know that he was very sincere, and probably would have changed my life completely, but here's the thing. Have you noticed that the entire post has been about material things as opposed to how much I loved him? Well, I noticed that too, and that really bothered me. I argued with myself that people love people for different reasons and theirs nothing wrong with that. Andy was a handsome, talented, smart and funny man, and I should have loved him. But I just didn't, who knows why? Maybe not having to struggle in life seemed like cheating to me.
Andy and I still chat with each other from time to time. I think he likes to check periodically to see if I've changed my mind. His birthday is in the middle of April, so he's on my mind this time of year, so it was a good time to tell you about him. Ahhh, April, taxes, cherry blossoms, and Andy.
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