How could I have forgotten cute, perky, bubbly, naive Karen Valentine, Miss Johnson of Room 222 fame? I did this whole Thursday Thirteen about Famous People I Have Seen/Met Up Close and I forgot to mention the ultimate celebrity encounter. Imagine the elevator door opening and seeing one of the cast of EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT OF YOUR ADOLESCENCE (Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, Room 222, Odd Couple, Love American Style...a classic line up that will never be equaled) walk on. No, it's not "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" or even David Cassidy...it's Karen Valentine.
The setting, the St. Regis Hotel in Detroit. In addition to being the hotel of choice for actors performing at the adjacent Fisher Theater, is the home of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE TYPO!!! Yes, I am innately incapable of reading ANYTHING without editing. As I snuggled up in my jammies and contemplated the delights of room service breakfast the following morning, I couldn't help but notice this offering:
Fruit Composte
This burned on my brain the now inextricably intertwined images of this delightful fruit treat:
and this disgusting (but great for the environment) technique of recycling food and making mulch or fertilizer:
But I digress. Yes, there I was in the elevator going to my room at the St. Regis on one of my rare business trips. I was toting a piece of luggage that was WAY too expensive for the minimal business travel I did...so I think I justified it by getting it for my road warrier husband.
It looked kind of like this one:
So, onto the elevator steps the Karen Valentine. On Room 222, we all thought Liz (Denise Nicholas) was so cool with her unflappable style and subtle sexual chemistry with Mr. Dixon (Lloyd Haynes) but we all wanted to BE Alice Johnson (Karen Valentine) with her wide-eyed naivete and her tendency to be kind of goofy.
I digress AGAIN!!! OK, so she looks at me, looks at my bag and says, "Wow. I love your luggage." Yeah...that was it. My exciting celebrity encounter. For one brief moment in time, a TV star (OK, former TV star) was admiring ME (or me by extension...my luggage).
Di
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