In other news, last night I read the most recent “Proust Questionnaire,” which is always the last page of my fave periodical, Vanity Fair. This month the interviewee was Jane Fonda. I really have no special affection for Fonda, though I must have seen On Golden Pond and 9 to 5 1,000 times a piece growing up. I mean, I think she’s a pretty neat lady and all, but she’s never really been one of my faves. I was really moved and heartened by her answers to the questionnaire, though. As you know (or are about to), the questions asked range from “How would you like to die?” (to which many smart-alecky respondents say, “I wouldn’t”) to “What’s your greatest extravagance?” to “On what occasion do you lie?” While her answers weren’t shocking or anything, I found them quietly moving and highly relatable. For example, in response to some question regarding what she dislikes most about herself, she replied, “Seeing myself naked in an overhead light.” I HATE overhead lighting. This started because my mother taught me overhead lights are the devil at play, but now it’s just something that I truly can’t stand. Overhead lighting should be used in common spaces only in one of three circumstances: (a) skylights are great; (b) in chandelier form with dim or dimmable lighting and then only in grandiose entryways or over a dining table; and (c) if you lost something that you simply cannot see without flipping the dreaded overhead light switch. And simply no one should be allowed to be naked under an overhead light. I could not agree with Fonda more on this point. Ok, I realize that probably sounds trivial, so I’ll move on. When asked what she’d like most to change about herself, she said it would be her inability to sustain a long-term intimate relationship. That just about broke my heart. Weren’t there some recent rumors that she and Ted would reunite? Anyway, another sweet response was that she loves to plant trees around her house — and mature ones, because she feels she’s too old for saplings — and that she was at her most happy when she had scaled a 14,000 foot mountain. So, there you have it, folks. I just like that Jane Fonda.
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life and puppies 
I was just talking about Jane Fonda to my friend Carla today. Her parents are coming to visit here in NYC next week and she wants to bring them to Broadway, so I was running down some plays and shows I can get discount tickets to through work. One of them is 33 Variations, starring Miss Fonda. I joked that Carla’s Vietnam vet/formerly very Republican dad (he switched in 2004 like so many and voted for Kerry) would probably not want to see something with Jane. She laughed and said, in all seriousness “Absolutely not.” So that was that. 🙂
Anyway, On Golden Pond is my second favorite movie of all time and I am choking up right this moment thinking about the scene where she is standing the water and her dad is in the boat and they make up and she cries and he cries, and oh, it’s just too much. I love it so. And Coming Home is so wonderful. And 9 to 5. I love her character in that, seemingly so meek, but with hidden verve.
So yeah, I like Jane. She was on the View a couple weeks ago promoting 33 Variations, and she seemed a little, oh I’ll just say it, snooty, in that interview. She really did. But maybe I was mistaking class for snootiness. It didn’t change my mind about her overall, though. She’s pretty fab.
All I can say about Arlen Specter is bring on Franken and let’s friggin’ do healthcare already folks.
Was she snooty to all of them or just Elisabeth?
Reverse that. I meant “mistaking snootiness for class.”
I don’t know that she was actually snooty to anyone, I just got this snooty vibe from her when she was describing the play. I should see if there is a clip of it on youtube. I just have a sense memory of it, nothing specific.
I hate Elisabeth.
I like Janie. She’s just a good, lasting presence, and she is pretty funny. I almost kind of wanted to see “Georgia Rule” just because she seemed like such a wise-cracker in it. I never did, though. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll see if it’s “On Demand.” I too, loathe overhead lighting. Gross.
I don’t mind overhead lighting if it’s the kind that minimizes pores and makes me look like I have good skin – there are a limited number of these places. Also, why haven’t stores caught on to having nice lamps in dressing rooms? Duh.
Sarah – I know. I tried some stuff on in Banana the other day and the lighting was so horrible I hated the way I looked in just a simple t-shirt. So annoying.
Yes, well, I’m not sure I consider that overhead lighting. Are you talking about soft lighting in bathrooms and such? I think that’s a different breed altogether. I was going to put in a caveat about bathrooms, but I felt I was making things more complicated. It is a total mystery why shops want to make you look bad in their clothing. It’s why I haven’t been in a dressing room in years.
It’s not even always the clothes! Sometimes I walk in, look at myself, and think, good god, am I really running around looking like that? And then I think, it’s only going to get worse the more stuff I try on. But sometimes it is the clothes (as in, all colors look like crap on me in store lighting). (or maybe it’s just because I’m pasty.) Retail stores, take note – have lighting like nice bathrooms!
So true. So TRUE.
Egads I know that feeling. I feel like those rooms especially make your hair look 10 times worse than it does.
On an unrelated matter, I have an argument in the court of appeals tomorrow. Make it stop. Please.
Ooh, good luck! Will this one be on Wiseye? I so enjoyed the SC one! Witticisms in arguments are so rare.