by I am 59. The exact same age as Carrie Fisher. I bring this up because I was at a party the other night where they played a PBS piece I appeared in. It was shown on a hi-def TV that is a lot better than mine and I saw for the first time that I looked awful! My face was shiny, and I have huge pores. I had no idea. I went to Sephora the very next day.
I ended up buying Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. It says pore minimizing right there on the box. The salesperson assured me it would address both problems, so, we shall see.
Which brings me to my Carrie Fisher story.
I took a film class at the New School many, many years ago. We’d watch a film and afterwards the professor would bring out someone from the film and interview them. One week it was Carrie Fisher. She said something I never forgot. It wasn’t just that the point she made was what I needed to hear at the time, it was the fact that she was joking about it. She was talking about therapy, and she was saying it was great and all, and she was learning about all her problems, but, “Awareness does not necessarily lead to change. Now I get to watch in horror as I make the same mistakes again and again and again.”
I happened to also be in therapy, experiencing the same thing. I was learning about how fucked up I was, but I was only getting the teeniest bit less fucked-up. What else is there to do but laugh about it?
Now Carrie Fisher is getting all this crap about aging, and she’s joking about how her younger self was busy partying to make sure she would look like shit now. I don’t happen to think she looks like shit, but the point is, why do we fucking have to care so much? I’d rather be the kind of person laughing about it rather than the person obsessing about it. Says the person who ran to Sephora for the pore minimizer.
Anyway, Carrie Fisher is in the category of national treasure. Of course, there is a very dark downside to all that partying which Carrie Fisher is more than aware of, buy you gotta laugh about that too. (I also partied too much and paid for it. Oh God, yeah, I’m still paying for it.)
Is this not one of the most serene, relaxing views ever? That’s Northport, Long Island, from my brother’s front lawn. He has a nice little table set up, over-looking the water and with this lovely view in the distance. Wouldn’t you love to sit here in the mornings with a nice cup of coffee?
Amen, sister.
And yes, that is a perfectly lovely view. It makes me want to go reread “When Wanderers Cease to Roam”, about which I am still grateful I took your advice and got.
As for the makeup, that is tough. I wear less and less and most of the 20-something grad students I hang out with don’t wear any so I feel comfortable about it. Maybe it was just those harsh tv lights.
Happy new year!
What are you talking about? You look great! I think women look much better au natural. Happy New Year!
I think you look great, as well as “healthy.” Take it from me, (I’m 64) HEALTH becomes far more important than looks as you age. I read somewhere that women over 60 become “invisible”…and since I’ve never liked attention, I’ve discovered that it is not bad to pass unnoticed out in public. I still put on light makeup when I go out, try to make sure I’m presentable, but it’s true: people hardly give me a glance. The only time that can be annoying is if you are asking a direct question, and there’s a young’un behind you stealing the show to the point no one even HEARS you. Sigh.
Julia, I pretty much wear no makeup now as well. I wear tinted moisturizer and now I’m going to use this primer on special occasions.
Tom, thanks!!! And Happy New Year to you too!!
Cara, yeah, I just care less too as I grow older. I saw an Oprah commercial the other day and she said something like, “Let’s make 2016 the year when we have our best bodies yet.” And I thought I’d rather shoot for having the healthiest year yet.