Love is a Battlefield for Winkie Rose

We were joined by an amusing assortment of little old ladies on the second- octogenarian- row at Capitola Book Cafe last Tuesday night. Winkie Rose was their unappointed spokesperson and boy did she have a lot to say! The panel discussion was really more of a conversation, but we felt lucky for the words of wisdom imparted. Contributors reading included Kim Askew, Meghan Daum, Erin Ergenbright, and Heather Juergensen. As we were a smaller group than the previous night, the contributors had an opportunity to read a bit more from their pieces. The audience was enthusiastic and supportive. During the quick Q&A session, Winkie chimed in quite a few times with experience from beyond her thirties. One audience member asked where we thought we would be at 50. Heather said she'd like to continue increasing her body of work and just continue making more movies. Kim said she'd like to keep traveling more-- maybe visit a pyramid. Heather also spoke of "getting out of her own way" and truly enjoying living in the moment. When she said we're all swimming in this "soup" or life, I was reminded of her use of the word "marinate" in Kissing Jessica Stein. Erin talked of finally feeling comfortable in her own skin. I think Meghan also appreciated Winkie's bravado and laughed along with the rest of us. Janet Leimeister the event coordinator was very thoughtful and full of questions during any lull in the conversation. I was touched that she liked the epigraphs included in the book. We made a point afterwards of showing Winkie Kim's epigraph by Lana Turner.

After the reading, I had a chance to ask Heather what she's working on now. She's in the throes of creating a film about a midwestern women's sports team in the 60's and how beauty was made overly important to them in their lives. She'll play their hairdresser in a bouffant coiffure and heavy make-up. I believe she said her husband is directing the film.

Once we finally extricated ourselves from the spunky Ms. Rose's conversation on her Democratic Club and thoughts of suicide in her forties, Meghan and Heather hit the road for LA. Then Erin, Kim, Kim's sis- Chris, and I headed over to nearby Castaways sports bar for snooker, Dominos pizza, and torch songs on the jukebox. Oh the tunes did they bring me back. Kim chose Love is a Battlefield by Pat Benatar, The Cure's A Letter to Elise, and Eminem's Cleaning out my Closet. Chris picked a song by Foreigner and Erin chose one from Jane's Addiction. They played Love Song for me. It felt a bit like a night out with the girls and it was exactly what I needed.