In the Late Night

I never thought that when I grew up I would do most of my living at night. I guess my early childhood was an indicator. I literally had to be dragged from my bed in the mornings to go to school and I was always late. The Catholic nuns were none to happy but my Grandmother watched me during the day and she always covered for me. I really can't formulate a sentence pretty much before noon, but let me tell you by 8 o'clock at night it's on. This is considered my afternoon. When I was in college I always scheduled my classes after 1pm and if I did have to go earlier, I rolled out of bed brushed my teeth and put a baseball cap on. This was a far cry from growing up with a mom who told me everytime I left the house " put your face on." I rebelled and still do to this day. Face, schmace. I put my makeup on when I want to play dress up, that's it. Period. Dot. And when I do, it's dramatic, my alter ego is in place, red lips, dark eyes and lashes for days. I still apply my makeup like the Italian girls in my old neighborhood, lots of it and with an attitude.

When I graduated college, I worked a day job for the first two years out in the real world. I actually got into it but it was definitely on my terms. I was working for Chanel in New York City and I had to be there by 8:30 a.m. I lived on the edge of the park at Central Park West right around the corner from Madonna. It was super fabulous and I was 22 years old. Not quite sure how I made it all happen, kind of seems like a dream now. Anyway, I would set my alarm for 8:00, roll out of bed, throw on my suit with running shoes, put my hair in a ponytail, grab my bag, barrel down my steps and head east through the park toward Fifth Avenue. Everyone said it was so dangerous to walk through the park that early, I thought it was magical. I would exit around the Plaza Hotel and then cut through the alley on 56th street and end up in front of 9 West 57th Street. I always got my bagel with cream cheese and a coffee from the cart on the sidewalk. I took the elevator to the 44th fl, the view was like a dream (an aerial shot of the rectangular park) it was intense, and I dashed down the hall to my cubicle. I still didn't have "my face on" when I gathered all the newspapers on my desk; NY Post (I still read it online everyday, I'm a Page Six girl all the way), NY Daily News, NY Times, Wall Street Journal and The Observer. I munched on my bagel, read the papers, put my makeup on and 45 minutes later I could formulate a sentence with a noun and a verb. I was the lowest on the totem pole, the secretary, but of course I could do my boss' job with my eyes closed because I had to, with her 3 hour lunches and two hour sessions with her trainer, Pierre, someone had to run the show. That was my glamorous life in the daytime, it lasted two years and then I got bored.

I quickly returned to the nighttime hours when I moved to California and began my waitressing job. I would only wake up early if I booked a TV Show or a movie, that's it. The sun shines all the time out here so I still get plenty of it, and the the sunsets are killer especially in Venice Beach. I've thought about it and I don't know if I could date a guy who was a morning person. I'm sure I would get mad at him a lot, especially if he tried to talk to me before I was ready to speak or before my coffee I should say. I have become spoiled over the years, the by-product of being massively independent (My mother said I have always been independent, she said on the first day of Nursery School I looked around at all the crying kids like "what is your problem" as they were clinging to their parents). I don't want to share my morning, yet when I do it's like going on vacation. If I mentally prepare myself to get up early and actually converse with somebody, it's like traveling to a foreign land. I'm so amazed that people can function at that hour. The lighting and the smells are different and everyone moves faster.

So I will relish my morning vacations, they are rare but for now I'll stick with the night. Nights are unexpected, fascinating, colorful, inspiring and most importantly it's when I write.