Rat Fink

OOOh I am so mad right now.  I can't take it.  I started writing about something else a few minutes ago and then I was tipped out to a rat in my midst.  Yes I know it may sound like a mafia movie and I can definitely be melodramatic, probably from watching soap operas with my grandmother starting at the ripe old age of 10.  I still watch General Hospital and yell at my TV for how ridiculous it is, yet I can't stop.

I'm talking about a real life rat though.  They usually hang with the cool crowd, are the life of the party and just a tad off kilter.  More than likely they want to hang out a lot and it usually involves lots of drinking, partying, the usual shallow stuff.  They are very complimentary and are always up in your business, usually trying to taint any happiness you may have.  Hmmm, I wonder why?

Anyway, Hollywood can be a very tricky place.  Traps have been set since the beginning of time.  I'm sure Ava Gardner and Marilyn had to deal with a rat or two.  They were the beauties and I'm sure there were plenty of swats to knock them to ground.  Success is hard to come by here.  True success, takes a long time. Talent and hard work will get you there but only if you have one other ingredient...patience.  I have waited.  I'm a patient girl, a patient woman.

But life has a way of reminding you that you have to indeed be as wise as a serpent yet gentle as a dove.  I've got the dove down but the serpent part oooooooh that is hard for me.  Guess what though?  I'm stepping up the plate.  I talk about movie stars a lot in this blog but it was my reality for a while.  I was surrounded by them, having worked in the hottest watering hole in the biz.  One friend in particular was having a big comedy show at the Henry Fonda Theater.  I went, it was a fantastic show.  I laughed my ass off, loved every minute of it.  Afterward, when I was ushered to the back, I gave him a big hug and a kiss to congratulate him.  He told me he didn't like doing shows in LA, I wondered why?  He told me "everyone wants you to fail, people are so busy trying to succeed that they freak out at anyone else's success".  I know it may be hard for those that live outside of this wacky bubble that I'm part of, but  sadly it is very true here.  At the end of the day, my friend didn't care.  He was playing with his friends, making people laugh and getting paid for it.

So cut to me, the patient one.  I have met like minds and together we succeed.  People step back and look sideways.  The rats thrash about nibbling at our heels trying to throw us off our game.  It's fleeting and temporary, these feeble attempts, empty words, dead seeds that they try to plant.  They wear pretty dresses, pink lipstick and kiss me on both cheeks when they greet me.  I stand straight and look them in the eye.

You can take away the stage from your darkened corner but the music I hear will never touch your ears.