Pen helps me celebrate 'Baltimore', and i discover his apartment...

I told my pretty cousin that I might write about Lyle Lovett tonight, because she reminded me about him on facebook. But before I can do that, I need to lay down some history. So - tonight, I jump back to Mr. Pen Pendleton, and his courtship of me.

After our crazy Valentine's night fiasco, we got back on track in fairly short order.
It was pilot season (when all the new pilots - TV shows - are cast and put into production)and I was busy, busy, busy! But Pen was persistent, and I had 2 fantastic babysitters to help me out. Patrick Voetberg, and Cooper Bates. I couldn't have asked for 2 cooler, more fantastic men to hang out with my little boy.

Pen lived all the way out in Venice, on the canals, and I lived up in the Eastern section of the Hollywood Hills (just above where I live now) - in other words - a HAUL. But Pen was always very good about making the drive to my side of the world. He always showed up in a beautiful vintage car, or on a beautiful vintage motorcycle, and he always had candy in his pockets for Max. He also had the best tickets in town for US in his pockets. Elvis Costello, Tom Waits (before we met him), the MTV Music awards, John Prine, the Meat Puppets, the list went on and on... And although he had a 'real job', he was no square. He was an ad exec at Chiat Day - a super cutting edge, groovy advertising agency in Venice. And he HAD been a drummer with punk rock bands in Arizona (he was good friends with the Meat Puppets) before this current 'real job'. He was a walking encyclopedia of trivia and pop culture (which was fun), and all around, a pretty darn fun guy to date!

AND - he wasn't threatened by my acting at all. He was SUPER supportive. Which was a really nice change of pace after David's pouting and sulking at every job that I got. With Pen, I could be HAPPY about it.I didn't feel obligated to feel guilty. THIS was great. This was GREAT!

So, when I got my first pilot that year, I was thrilled to call Pen up and tell him.

"I got it, I got it, I got it!!!!" I yelled on the phone to him (still at work).
"WHICH ONE!!???" Pen asked.

I had been up for a couple - and they were BOTH great scripts.
"BALTIMORE!!!" I yelled happily into the phone. Pen was FROM Baltimore. Old school Baltimore at that! He had DEEP roots there - what a FUN co-incidence! 'Baltimore' was an AWESOME script by Jay Tarses (The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd - which my NYC friend, Drew McVety was in)- and I had landed the second lead of a bratty, sex-kitten sister who plays the flute in a jazz band and causes her older sister misery. It was a GREAT part, and a GREAT script - I was SO excited!!!!

I could practically hear Pen tearing up with happiness on the other end of the line (he was emotional - in a good way) "That is SO GREAT!!! Jen!!! We have to celebrate!!"
"Yes, yes, YES!!!" I yelled, swinging Max around the room.
"Look - this is what we'll do..."Pen said confidently, "I'll pick you up at seven-thirty, we'll go to dinner at Spago's, and then, maybe drinks at the Beverly Hills Hotel - a real Hollywood night! What do you say?"
"I don't have a sitter!!!" I burst out, tickling Max into a corner of the couch. He was so happy, too. He KNEW something BIG was up!
"Just let me worry about that." said Mr. Pen Pendleton.
So I did.

Pen picked me up in his bright orange Pantera for this special evening. His cherry racing car that made every man that saw it drool, and vibrated underneath you when you were driving in it like a monster that was being held back in his cage. We roared up to Spago, and floored the valet parkers. (they were ALWAYS impressed beyond words)And then, my gentle readers, I hate to disappoint you, but what happened then was VERY unimpressive. We were shown to a table outside - lawn furniture - surrounded by old ladies with fake boobs, fake tans and false eyelashes, and after a long wait, served cold, rubbery lobster. Imagine a long, skinny balloon deflating, and that whiny, farty sound it makes as it does so. That was Spago. Wolfgang Puck, my ass. There is NO excuse for cold, rubbery lobster - ESPECIALLY at THOSE prices!!!! NO! ESPECIALLY EVER!

Anyway, after that, Pen drove us to the Beverly Hills Hotel and announced that he had made a reservation to spend the night. He looked at me like a hopeful kid when you're opening a present from them. But I just couldn't do it.

"What about Max?" I asked. "did you get an overnight babysitter?"
"Yes. All taken care of."
"I....I don't want to stay here." I said.
Pen looked confused and hurt. "Why not?" he asked.
I didn't have the heart to tell Pen that I had made my first date with Gary Kasparov here - in one of the UBER fancy bungalows - and - I didn't want to - I don't know... I didn't want to mess that memory up. It's hard to explain, but - that WAS a - well, a CRAZY, FUN, fantastical memory. It would have been like 'crossing the streams' - you know - in Ghost Busters. Something like that.

"Let's go to your place" I suggested.
Pen looked REAL worried. "Uh...that's not a good idea.." he said. Of course that made me want to go all the more.
"Why not? I want to see your place."
"It's REALLY messy." he finally came out with.
"Oh - that's ok! I have a kid - you've seen MY place! I don't mind. Really!"
"No. I mean..it's REALLY MESSY. We shouldn't go there."
"Well, I better know what I'm in for sooner or later. I think we should go. Don't worry.I don't mind. It's better than if you're a clean freak."

So, we went to his place.
It was charming on the outside. A coveted apartment on the Venice Canals. Really quaint. But as soon as we got inside the door - I was taken aback. Even in the dark.
Glamorous Pen Pendleton's apartment looked and smelled a little bit like an episode of 'Hoarders'. No joke.
But I had said I wanted to go - so I was there. We were in his car, anyway - so I was stuck. Pen picked me up and carried me through the ...stuff...I couldn't really see what it all was, but some of it didn't smell good, I can tell you that...and into his bedroom.
His bedroom was filled with stuff, too. Clothes, stuff, papers, magazines - again - he kept it DARK - that was good. His bed was a beautiful, old antique piece, and the inches of furniture that were visible above the mayhem looked like beautiful, expensive antiques - but the furniture was absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of chaotic STUFF. This MAY have been a 'red flag' that should have been paid attention to, all that time ago.

Strangely, my friend, Drew McVety, whom I mentioned earlier in this post, ended up staying at this very apartment not many months later. I shall have to call upon his memory and ask him what state HE found that apartment in....but that (as we say) is another story, for another night.