THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING DORIAN

I've been putting off having a blog for so long, I wish I'd done it a year ago when I moved here from New York City. Here is Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. There was a LOT to post and, maybe, I can create a "Flashback" section here where I'll publish copies of my emails to others during that time, a kind of retro diary.

But that was then, and now it's a rainy Saturday night and I'm waiting for laundry to dry while a piece of salmon is in the oven and from the periphery I watch parts of "The Picture of Dorian Grey" on TCM.

TCM is one of the reasons I continue to keep in one piece while living here. It was the only TV I watched in NY, and now it provides comfort, continuity and entertainment I can't get anywhere else. I remember coming home one miserable day when I felt like a cranky, lonely puppy and turning on TCM to watch THE VERY START of "The Model and the Marriage Broker," one of my favorite all-time movies, the only time the great Thelma Ritter had a featured role. Who needs crack?

Tonight TCM was running an Oscar Wilde programme (sorry, the spelling conventions up here have gotten to me) and I watched parts of "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "An Ideal Husband." "Earnest" is always a treat because Edith Evans and Margaret Rutterford never fail to make me laugh out loud -- and this is the rarest thing that a movie can do for me. "Husband" plays on the heavy-handed side. Only fun is watching Paulette Goddard negotiate the demanding Cecil Beaton gowns.

Laundry must be dry by now. Salmon almost done. What to do first, what to do?