'I wasn't sure what I should present to her when she came in on the afternoon of Saturday July 20 so I showed her some bags from the Jennifer Aniston collection. I explained to her the bags came in different sizes and materials, like I always do. She looked at a frame behind me. Far above there was the 35,000 Swiss franc crocodile leather bag. I simply told her that it was like the one I held in my hand, only much more expensive, and that I could show her similar bags."Similar bags, or the expensive one Oprah was looking at?
Was completely mesmerized by Chaz Bono's appearance on Oprah yesterday. Normally when I watch celebrity interviews, I provide my (delightful) commentary through the whole thing. (Ask Michael, he just looooooves it!) This time, all I wanted to do was listen, absorb and understand every single word, pause and facial expression as it unfolded. Before I say anything else I should admit that I was wrong about the "Chaz situation." It's not like admitting I was wrong about something is hard for me or anything -- just ask my boyfriend of nine years about that time I was wrong (about the Cash for Clunkers program) and I owned right up to it -- but it is a bit shocking when something turns out to be so far from your comfort zone. In short, I was skeptical -- as was Rosie O'Donnell and many other people -- of someone going from being homosexual to transsexual, a HUGE distinction that the LGBT world has fought for ages to make. Nothing annoys me more than seeing idiots on talk shows who can't grasp the difference between being attracted to the same sex, and wanting to become the opposite sex -- and part of me believed Chaz couldn't accept being gay, so convinced himself, in a drug-abusing state, that being a straight man was the answer to all of his problems. In my "defense," Chaz confessed that even he did not connect the dots until he was about 30. (He grew up feeling more like a boy, but accepted the idea that he was a butch lesbian and was OK with that for a while.) And being more familiar with male sexuality -- which, like it or not, seems to be much more black and white than female -- I was used to EVERY transwoman I've ever met or heard about being 100 percent certain they were trapped in the wrong body for as long as they could remember. So having lived through Chastity's whole "coming out" process, something seemed off. (In his new memoir, he describes his realization as a "process of elimination," which suddenly made perfect sense to me.) But hearing that he then spent the next 10 years agonizing over whether to transition or not was truly heartbreaking, and helps explain an adult life spent as an addict, with myriad personal issues. I really appreciated Chaz's comments about his parents -- dispelling the myth that Sonny was more accepting by explaining that it had as much to do with her (Chastity) being what he wanted in a child as it did not being the girly-girl Cher long for and was culturally groomed to expect -- and how patient he is with them (and society) in slowing going through the process of acceptance. (Smart man.)
Really looking forward to watching "Becoming Chaz" tonight on OWN. (Gee, could Oprah have plugged OWN any more last night?!!!!) One more thing, though -- and I'll brace myself for the backlash -- but what I (still) don't get, and what I think clouded my belief in his revelation, is why finding his true self hasn't naturally led to some weight loss. I'm honestly not trying to be catty, but NO ONE is that obese without carrying around A LOT of baggage, and somehow it still seems a bit off that he's finally gotten to where he wants to be, yet still appears to be in so much agony. (I am sorry, but NO ONE is truly comfortable in their skin when it's that packed with fat.) I'm hoping someone addresses this elephant in the room in the film. (No pun intended ... oh, fuck it, pun INTENDED!) 
What a treat yesterday's Oprah was, when she reunited the cast of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" -- surprising everyone with carefully crafted replicas of the WJM newsroom and Mary's original (studio) apartment. I'd forgotten that Oprah -- who was coming of age just as "Mary Tyler Moore" hit the airwaves -- was such a huge fan, even dressing and styling her her to look like Mary Richards back in the 1970s! (She credits the MTM logo at the end of every episode as her inspiration for starting Harpo Productions.) The reunion -- which included all of the show's principals minus Ted Knight, who died in 1986 -- made me smile from ear to ear. Sure, Oprah was so excited she wouldn't let anyone finish a thought (I'd have been the same way), but the didn't stop Valerie Harper and Cloris Leachman from getting in a few good licks along the way.
Although I was too young to watch the first few seasons when they originally aired, by the time the mid-'70s rolled around -- and my parents would be heading out to their bowling league in Madison Heights, Mich. -- I was as hooked on CBS' Saturday night line-up --"All in the Family," "M*A*S*H," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Bob Newhart Show"and "The Carol Burnett Show" -- as any adult in America. 
Oprah's Web site makes a point of saying that the reunion is something that "will surely never happen again," and given the advanced ages of most of the actors, it's probably true. Although everyone looks remarkably good (with the sad exception of Mary herself, who has looked unnatural for ages thanks to that bad face lift she got years ago), I was reminded just how old they're getting when Valerie started reminiscing about how she got the producers to bring Rhoda and Phyllis back for the series finale (you may recall that both had left for their own spinoffs) and Cloris, now 82, insisted that she had not been on the finale. (She totally reminded me of my similarly aged great-aunt Betty, who gets so adamant about things that I know she is wrong about.) Valerie even tried to remind her of the scene, in which both women return to Minneapolis to cheer Mary up after she's lost her job at the station, but Cloris stands firm that she was not on that show. As it would happen, YouTube has that very scene. Have a look and you'll be reminded why this show was just so special. (Oprah)
Did anyone catch the "Oprah and Gayle Look Alikes" segment on Oprah last week? How I wish I had ... (Look, It's Horsey!!)
Click to revisit the heyday of Chelsea's 8th Avenue
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
Little Larry left us too soon.
With Debbie Harry
With Robert Buckley
With Roger Federer
With Ed Burns
With Thomas Roberts
You've read the blog -- now read the book!
My memoir is available at Three Lives & Co. in the West Village
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