Along with everyone else in our galaxy, I am devastated by the passing of Carrie Fisher. Carrie is my go-to author for funny memoirs and telling tall-but-true tales. The cleverness of Carrie Fisher is, in a word, astounding. I'm such a FAN! When my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year, The Princess Diarist was at the top of my list. I had just re-read Wishful Drinking (twice) and was deep into a Carrie-fest, so I was eagerly anticipating her latest book about her Leia-laced life, which she generously shared through a lens of humor, wit and self-examination like no other.
Like Carrie (but on a far lesser scale) my life was somewhat Leia-laced as well. Ms. Fisher has been a profound influence on my life, but not in the usual Star Wars fan-sy kind of way. You see, during my college years, Princess Leia helped me pay the rent. Weird, but true. I had two different jobs playing Princess Leia and like Ms. Fisher, I have quite a few funny (and poignant) stories from those brief stints as the one-and-only Rebel Princess. Money was really tight during those self-supporting college years, so being Princess Leia might have saved me from being homeless.
Even weirder; I somehow attracted guys that freakishly resembled Luke Skywalker and Han Solo(s). Probably because I looked like Leia. And there was one unpleasant Boba Fett-ish suitor to boot as well as a Darth Vader-y boss who used to pressure me to go out with him. (I was not alone there. The wait staff regularly hummed the Darth Vader theme when he approached.)
With all that being said, my tribute to Carrie/Leia is obviously going to take more than one post; but that makes sense because Carrie/Leia was always giving us sequels. And I'm too sad to write about all the funny stuff that happened when I got to don my intergalactic buns to go to work.
For now, I am grateful that Carrie (and Leia) will always be with us, just like The Force and just as Ms. Fisher predicted.
Oh Carrie, you were and forever will be, the original, butt-kicking Buns of Steel.
(Buns as in "hair" but also as in "buns". I mean, who else could look like that in a slave bikini?).
And your pen and razor-sharp wit was a mighty Force.
We will miss you Carrie.
Top photo: Photo of me taken by my hubby when we visited Seattle's EMP Museum in 2015 and happily discovered the Star Wars Costume Exhibit. Upon passing the iconic metal bikini I had to pay tribute to my one-time alter ego by channeling my inner Princess Leia (sporting makeshift intergalactic buns).
Bottom photo: The little bobble-head & figurine vignette that has long resided beside the computer on my desk. As you can see, I am beholden to strong women characters in film. The Leias on my desk have been gifts over the years from my BFF, Sheila, who knows -- and was usually a part of -- all the Princess Leia stories of my life.
