I know it seems improbable, but I keep running into famous people who purportedly died. What can I say? It’s a gift.
My latest encounter was with Mae West. She was coming out of Nordstrom Rack with an armful of shopping bags.
Wow, Mae, you bought out the place!
“I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.”
Shopping can be addictive from what I understand.
“Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.”
Good advice. But maybe a bad habit?
“I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.”
And that was also your approach to men?
“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!”
You do have a reputation for being shall we say risqué?
“Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often.”
You certainly shocked some people in your day.
“Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.”
Well you lived your life the way you wanted. No regrets?
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
You married twice but neither lasted. What’s up with that?
“Marriage is a fine institution, but I’m not ready for an institution.”
Did you worry about your reputation at all?
“I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.”
Happens to everyone. Do you care what people think now?
“I wrote the story myself. It’s about a girl who lost her reputation and never missed it.”
Speaking of reputation, does it bother you to know what some people thought about you?
“When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.”
Would you consider getting married again?
“Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can’t figure out what from.”
Well, maybe they just want to get to know you better.
“A dame that knows the ropes isn’t likely to get tied up.”
Mae, I think you lived a fabulous life that people still admire today.
“I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.”
And it most certainly is or was. You are an impressive lady.
“I’m no model lady. A model’s just an imitation of the real thing.”
Jay Harrison is a graphic designer and writer whose work can be seen at DesignConcept. His mystery novel, Head Above Water, is available on Amazon and Kindle. You can also visit his author page here.
We keep appliances until they are absolutely, positively dead. The Betty Crocker toaster finally croaked, and we were trying to remember when we bought it. Was it when we lived in South Carolina? Mount Pleasant? If our memories are correct, that would make it about 25 years old.
I bought books at yard sales, estates sales, flea markets and used bookstores. There was such a store near my house called 10,000 Books. Probably could be called 9,950 thanks to me. Baseball, travel, war, animals, television, the Beatles, and other 60s and 70s rockers were my favorite subjects. I was also gifted a lot of books on those same subjects. I have books where they belong, on shelves in our living room and home office; and where they don’t, in boxes in closets, in totes and stacked on the floor next to my side of the bed.
