One of the most romantic and perfect days in my relationship with Lemmy included a day at the Museum, playing pool and eating French fries with gravy at Barney’s Beanery.
Lemmy is a man of great surprises. Just when I would think “Oh, I have him all figured out”, he would do something completely out of character.
One Sunday morning, mid-May, I got up early and decided to go to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. When I arrived at the museum, I discovered that the featured exhibit included works of art by artists who had been banned by Nazi Germany. I decided to take a chance and called Lemmy to ask him to join me. I figured that it was a shot in the dark and even imagining that Lemmy would want to spend a day with me wandering through a museum was difficult. But because it involved WWII, I took a shot. He said “Yes, I’ll join you it sounds interesting. I’ll see you soon”. I was in shock!
We spent the day walking through the entire museum, looking at sculptures, various types of artworks, furniture, and glasswork. I knew that Lemmy was smart, but this day proved that he knows about everything. I had his complete attention and felt so close to him.
At one point an older gentleman asked if he could sketch me. I agreed of course. Who says no to a question like that! Lemmy wandered around as the artist drew my picture and told me that I was the most beautiful woman and that he was stunned by my beauty. This made Lemmy smile and would become a teasing point in the months that followed with Lemmy holding out a limp wrist and repeating “Your stunning beauty”. Giggle.
After the museum he suggested that we go to the restaurant Barney’s Beanery to play pool and have a bite to eat. I was in heaven – French fries with gravy. It was the perfect day…Lemmy was attentive and fun and interesting and seemed to be focused on me. We were like a “normal” couple.
Nerd Alert !!!
I think in part Lemmy was trying to make up for a fight that we had had weeks earlier. The Los Angeles Zookeeper Program accepted me for the 1997 class and I had also graduated from the zoo’s Docent program.
Lemmy seemed excited and we planned for him to come to my docent graduation ceremony at the zoo. We were to celebrate both my graduation and my new Zookeeper study. I was so excited as he truly seemed to want to be with me on that day. But … when the day arrived, I waited and waited the ceremony started and ended…. and no Lemmy. As I watched the other graduates with their families I was crushed and felt alone. My friends were kind enough to make me feel part of their celebrations. But I was very upset: All smiles on the outside, tears on the inside.
Lemmy later explained that he did get a taxi to come to the zoo…… but they couldn’t find it. What?! I was furious. If you are going to lie why such a lame lie? So, I believe the lovely day at the museum was a make up day. And it worked. I was in love!
Lemmy and Motorhead traveled to Japan a couple of weeks later.
I loved the postcards that were written on the bus. The hand writing illustrates how insane the bus movement can be. This is why I always had the worst motion sickness. Oh how comforting the solidness of land can be. Just having your feet planted on the earth is awesome!
To Tour or Not to Tour
The Motorhead/W.A.S.P. tour was cancelled in June so I was able to have more quality time with Lemmy. This cancellation provided an opportunity for him to shock me again.
Lemmy called me to invite me to a romantic dinner at the Rainbow. He had never invited me to dinner in this way. Normally dinner and trips to the Rainbow just happened. He had actually called the restaurant and made reservations and requested a nice table. On our walk from the apartment to the restaurant he held my hand and didn’t dash out way ahead of me. He was really trying to impress me after all of these years and was succeeding nicely.
When we were seated at our table Lemmy ordered shrimp cocktail for an appetizer and not just one order, but one for each of us and one to share. This is where the evening took a weird turn.
I began to itch and squirm, and my face started to distort. Giant hives appeared on my face, arms and back. I could feel my mouth go dry and I felt light-headed. Lemmy was in shock and started to panic. I can still picture the look on his face. Eyes wide, mouth open… He said, “what do you need?’ “What should I do?’ Are you going to be Ok’? I told him that I was having an allergic reaction and that I needed Benadryl. He jumped up and went to ask if any of the kitchen or wait staff had anything. He came back to the table and said, “no one has any so I’m going up to Gil Turners liquor store to buy you some.” And off he went.
He was so freaked out and such a gentleman as he came to my rescue. It was so cute. I sat scratching and waiting, wondering if maybe I should be driving myself to the Emergency Room. These reactions can be at times very severe and possibly deadly. But I felt somewhat Ok and decided that if I just took some antihistamine, I would be ok.
Lemmy arrived breathless at our table, drugs in hand. “Here, take these pills right now,” he said. I took a couple pills and soon felt less itchy and looked less lumpy. When I imagine doing drugs with a rock Star boyfriend, Benedryl does not come to mind!
We continued with our meal and afterward we moved to the back bar to play Ms. Pacman. Lemmy kept asking me how I felt and was I ok. He was so concerned. Somehow my hives had changed the romantic mood of the evening, but it was a great effort on his part. I could see that he was really trying to make me happy and to show me how much he loved me.
It’s funny when I reflect back on our relationship, I see how goofy we were together, and it makes me giggle when I think of the silly situations that we got ourselves into.
Early August Lemmy left to tour Germany. I volunteered to clean his apartment, -as much as I could-, while he was away. I deal with stress by cleaning and Lemmy leaving town always gave me weird stress. So, I volunteered like a crazy person. Anyone who has ever been in Lemmy’s place understands why this is crazy. I met Lemmy’s assistant, Alex, and he gave me keys to Lemmy’s place. Wow, big step I thought. I am trusted enough to have keys to Lemmy’s apartment. I would spend evenings after work cleaning and organizing and it was exhausting. This was a huge project. What was I thinking? It would take months to really fully clean his apartment, so I did my best to put a dint in the mess.
When Lemmy was due to return home Alex asked that I pick him up from LAX. I was so excited for Lemmy to see the progress that I had made cleaning his apartment. He walked in and was in awe. He was so pleased. Immediately he went into the bedroom and when he returned, he handed be a sword … in a pillowcase?! A giant sword! I loved it and took it home to find a place to hang it on my living room wall.
Gifts from the road included a wooden spoon from Russia.
The Great Perks!!
One of the great perks of dating a rock star is the opportunity to go to just about any concert that you want, at a moment’s notice – free and with backstage access.
I was lying on Lemmy’s couch one Sunday afternoon reading the paper and nursing my usual Sunday hangover when I noticed that Alice Cooper was playing at Universal Amphitheater. I walked into Lemmy’s bedroom and said, “I want to see Alice Cooper tonight can we go?” He looked up from the book that he was reading and said “Yeah, sure.” He picked up the phone, made a call and said, “Ok, It’s all set. A messenger will bring by our tickets and passes.” “Wow, THAT was easy” I thought. The messenger arrived late to drop off our passes and tickets, so we missed Slaughter and Warrant perform. No giggling, theses were two of my favorite bands at the time.
When we arrived backstage at Universal Lemmy headed straight to the Video game machine and head down started to play. Just like at the Rainbow. Lucky for me there were lots of people there that I knew, so I did not feel abandoned.
We saw a little of Dokken’s performance and then Alice came on. All I can say is Alice Cooper kicks ass! This was the first time that I had the opportunity to see his show since 1991, Operation Rock N Roll, and I had forgotten how great it is. Whoever would have imagined that I would be here 6 years later, watching the show with Lemmy. That night I got to meet Don Dokken, Paul Stanley of KISS and a host of other rockers but I never saw Alice Cooper except when he was on stage. Lemmy told me that he was a very cool person and that he was disappointed that I didn’t get to meet him. And of course, after the show we made a beeline for The Rainbow Bar and Grill.
One of Lemmy’s favorite bands was Skunk Anansie. I first heard them years before at the foundations Forum that I attended with Lemmy. The band quickly became one of my favorites and have been to this day. In mid-September Skunk Anansie played The Troubadour in West Hollywood. After a friend of mine flaked on going to the, I called Lemmy who agreed to meet me at the show.
I get star struck when I meet some musicians and meeting Skin from the band I was in awe and maybe I had a bit of a crush. I was intimidated by her at first, she has such power, but her warmth and friendly nature made me feel as if I had known her forever. When I said that I wanted to take the show posters from the wall of the club, Skin laughed and helped me peel them from the tape. Lemmy and I hung out with the band and then we went to Barney’s Beanery for drinks and to shoot pool. Great night.
December 7th brought another great night with great music. Lemmy called to invite me to The House of Blues to see Dokken with Pretty Boy Floyd and Enuff z Nuff. Don Dokken was good friends with Lemmy, and he was always nice to talk to and hang out with. The West Hollywood House of Blues was a great venue for shows. Upstairs, The Foundation room was always packed with rock stars and celebrities. It was one of my favorite places to see a show.
1997 seemed to be the year of romance, trying and fighting. Lemmy and I have always fought but this year we fought about everything. And it was odd because he was his most romantic and his most attentive. He once said defending his philandering ways “It’s just like smoking, you don’t just quit all at once.” Ha.
And I was just as unreasonable, the more he gave the more I wanted and expected – ready to move our relationship forward. I didn’t have unrealistic expectations like Lemmy never seeing any other women. I didn’t expect a “June Cleaver” fairy tale lifestyle with a little house surrounded by a white picket fence. But I wanted a partner that I could rely fully on and someone to share my life with.
What an odd couple we were. He this superstar rocker and me, the girl who volunteered at the zoo and aspired to be a biologist. I was so unlike the others that he spent time with. The type of gals that would take off their earrings and take you to the floor in a fight. I was a nerdy library girl who had tried being a stripper and found it not as easy as it looked.
Every time he did something romantic or different it would send my hopes soaring. When Lemmy spoke of us getting a house together my heart and hopes sored. And then the idea faded away. So, we fought. And we loved. At times we hated each other, could not live with or without each other. And we had romantic moments that will live in my heart forever.