It's Kind of a Long Story... about VANITY FAIR
It's my party and I'll Proust if I want to
Hey Drama Goblins!
The Therapy trilogy will continue, but I needed a break. This week has been super busy, and yesterday was my birthday.
I do have long stories, both about specific birthdays and my mixed, weird, complex, and contradictory feelings about my birthday, but I don’t have it in me this week to go there.
So I’m doing something fun, different (and short!)
But, before we get into that I want to welcome the new subscribers from the Savage Lovecast.
Oh, did I not mention I was on Dan Savage’s podcast?
It was on the “Magnum” paid version of the podcast, so if you’re a regular listener, you wouldn’t have heard it.
You can hear our whole conversation here:
I’m so glad you’re here,
-Lara
Remembrance of Things Past
Short story:
I've always wanted to take the Proust Questionnaire in Vanity Fair magazine. When I did, the answers surprised me
Long story:
I was a long-time subscriber to Vanity Fair (I love stories about ridiculous rich people) and had a ritual where I would thumb through all of the pages front to back, stop and read the Vanities section, and then go back to the front and read the stories I was interested in. In my mind, it was “cheating" to read the Proust Questionnaire on the last page before I finished the rest of the magazine.
When I did, I always imagined my own answers and noted how they changed from month to month.
After many, many years finally I decided I could read the Proust Questionnaire first, last, in the middle, or not at all and it wasn’t cheating. I wasn’t doing it wrong. No one was looking. No one was judging me. It didn’t matter.
It was embarrassingly liberating to free myself from this self-imposed trap, and one of the many gifts of age and growth.
The Proust Questionnaire
What is your idea of perfect happiness? Feeling secure and hopeful
What is your greatest fear? Poverty
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Lack of discipline
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Whatever trait MAGAs have
Which living person do you most admire? Jimmy Carter
What is your greatest extravagance? Rent
What is your current state of mind? Unsure
What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Selflessness
On what occasion do you lie? When it makes a better story
What do you most dislike about your appearance? My trainwreck legs
Which living person do you most despise? The former president, who I refer to as The D
What is the quality you most like in a man? Sense of humor
What is the quality you most like in a woman? Sense of humor
Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “I’m not telling you anything you don’t know”
Who or what is the love of your life? My son, Max
When and where were you happiest? Sitting on a bench in the plaza in San Miguel de Allende eating a red wine sorbet on a beautiful sunny day.
Which talent would you most like to have? Singing
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My internal monologue
What do you consider your greatest achievement? Raising a good man
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? My future grandchild’s best friend.
Where would you most like to live? In a cute little house in a cute little town within walking distance of everything and in relative proximity to a big city.
What is your most treasured possession? My photo albums
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Poverty
What is your favorite occupation? Cabaret Chanteuse
What is your most marked characteristic? Joie de vivre
What do you most value in your friends? Listening without judgment for as long as it takes.
Who are your favorite writers? Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, Betty Smith, Elinor Lipman, Nick Hornby, Ruth Reichel, Lindy West, David Sedaris
Who is your hero of fiction? Mary Frances Katherine Nolan
Which historical figure do you most identify with? Princess Diana
Who are your heroes in real life? Caregivers
What are your favorite names? Max and Clare
What is it that you most dislike? Cilantro
What is your greatest regret? Not figuring out how to buy a house when it might have been possible.
How would you like to die? Comfortably, in every way.
What is your motto? “Sounds fun! I’m in!”
Know someone who would get something out of that story? Please share.
Lara sez…
Listen!
80s Deep Cut of the Week! The adorable Clare Grogan has never been more adorable, except maybe in the adorable movie Gregory’s Girl.
Follow!
I’ve been following The Sweet Impact on Instagram since he first started, and am thrilled to see how this handsome IT manager’s cake-decorating hobby has turned into a big, creative career.
I watch a lot of cake-decorating videos on IG. I find them both soothing and thrilling.
Read!
Cake: A Cookbook by Maira Kalman is more than a cookbook. It’s filled with memories, stories, and her quirky humor and observations. And also, cake.
Play!
My favorite birthday party game is to ask the birthday person what famous people share their birthday. I’m always surprised when they don’t know. I’m fascinated! I think it’s more interesting than zodiac signs.
Maybe it’s because I share mine with some good ones:
Edward Albee, writer of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Girl Scouts, founded on this day in 1921
Barbara Feldon, Agent 99 on Get Smart
Al Jarreau, jazz singer, including the theme from Moonlighting
Jack Kerouac, writer, and famous drug addict
Mitt Romney, that rare bird, a decent Republican
James Taylor, folky crooner
Liza Minelli, singer, dancer, actor and famous drug addict
Anish Kapoor, a sculptor I have a funny story about
Darryl Strawberry, former baseball player, and famous drug addict
Tammy Duckworth, US Senator, veteran, and badass
Dave Eggers, writer, and founder of 826Valencia
Pete Doherty, singer, songwriter, boyfriend of Amy Winehouse and famous drug addict
You can check yours at On This Day
Watch!
My name comes from the Boris Pasternak story Dr. Zhivago. And even though the book was published in the US in 1958, and the movie premiered in 1965, the year I was born, 1969, is the year the largest number of “Laras” were born. There are approx 1,200 of us.
I love the grand, epic tragedy of the film, and it’s a thrill to hear my name pronounced correctly for 3 hours.
Before I let you go…
If you’d like to get me a little birthday present, I’d love it if you’d share and/or recommend It’s Kind of a Long Story… to a friend.
Also never heard of the Proust questionnaire. I’m filling one out today!
I’m sitting in a coffee shop with my half decaf Ripple iced latte with a huge smile on my face. You’re so cultured in a way I so admire! You know SO MANY random things about movies, music, authors, books, whatever, that I’m so envious of! Including the Proust Interview in VF! I’ve never even heard of it, even though I got an accidental subscription a few years ago. I loved your answers, and it makes me reflect on how mostly similar and somewhat dissimilar we are. Happy Birthday Week! I cherish you.