Saturday blah blah blah

The Science Project

This is supposed to be done by Labor Day. I have lots of people sitting on me about this one - Boy Wonder, Former True Boss, Fireman Fred, and at a distance, The Editor, The Analyst, The Marketing Company AND The True Client. But as pressurized as this is, none of it even comes close, not one tiny bit, to the angst I suffered under the White Witch of Canada, who is now an ever-dwindling spot in the rearview mirror.

But no worries - another project will come along to take its place.

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The Plain Girl's Fierceness

I've known about this for quite some time and usually put it into practice, but lately, I've become aware of how powerful this is.

A woman who is plain and has looked at herself unflinchingly in the mirror, acknowledging exactly how plain she is and in what ways she has been foolish, is one of the most powerful people in the developed world. On a personal basis, I mean.

Once she finds this light, she knows she must never let it go out and guards it with a fierceness. She's merciless to most. She saves her sorrow for those who truly deserve it.

She finds her life's work and goes about it. This doesn't mean she doesn't have fun and doesn't love certain select people. (Family and long-standing friends are the only ones allowed into this inner circle.)

But she won't be hoodwinked, she won't drift around in endless fantasy and daydreams about being beautiful or being loved deeply by a man.

All this serious thought on a Saturday morning comes from watching, in rapid succession, "The Age of Innocence", "The House of Mirth", and "Washington Square".

Of all the women in these, the plain girl wins. The Countess in "Innocence" is beautiful - but ends up going back to her abusive husband. Lily Bart is beautiful - but ends up a suicide. It's only Catherine Sloper, the plain girl, who ends up with contentment. Of course, $30K in Victorian times can pay for a lot of contentment, but it's more than that.

She knows the Plain Girl's Fierceness, and this is something a beautiful woman will never, ever know.

Woo hoo! We win!