Lisa's Checkered Present

Everyone Lisa knew had a checkered past and she felt sort of left out. So she acquired a checkered present, and now finds that she really likes telling people how she would rather not discuss her checkered present.

Dropped Lisa at Cinema Paradiso, that theater that used to be an old church on Sixth Street. Went there to see Hats Off, Jyll Johnstone's movie about Mimi Weddell, a 93-year-old model and actress , and a woman of many hats, all of which look glamorous on her. The movie was shot over the course of a decade and includes interviews with her children, who eventually come to share her east side Manhattan apartment.

Weddell never stops, it seems, never gives up hope. She keeps going to auditions and getting parts and striving to do whatever she does the best that she can. She has lived this long despite smoking (with one of those long fancy cigarette holders, of course) and a bit of brandy. And the stories she tells ... Weddell is elegant, bold and mischievous.

And perhaps best of all, it all took place in a chilly theater on a ridiculously hot afternoon. I slipped Lisa of the Checkered Present under one of the plush seats. Maybe after seeing the movie enough times, she'll figure out what she'll say about her checkered past when she gets to be as old as Weddell. I hope I can be so together, graceful and mischievous if I ever make it to 93 ...