My Icons Are Dying And It Sucks

All I did was open up my news app on my phone.  A simple task, one I do several times a day, to read about the latest stupid thing our future president had done and to make sure we're not at war with anyone.  This time, however, the headline was about Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia, dying. She was only sixty, fer cryin' out loud--nine years older than me. 

I cried.

I saw Star Wars in the theater when it was first released.  I loved Princess Leia. Loved her.  Here was a woman who was supposed to be the princess in the fairy tale, imprisoned by an evil creature.  But she wasn't a helpless damsel in distress, waiting to be rescued. Instead, Princess Leia made a snarky comment about Luke being too short for a storm trooper. She snarled insults at Han Solo, rolled her eyes at Chewbacca, grabbed a blaster, and started firing. That certainly got my attention as a teenager.  Here was a woman who had no trouble speaking up for herself, at a time when women were fighting for the same thing.  Princess Leia had no problem with fighting for what she believed in, despite her expected upbringing as a stereotypical pampered and delicate member of royalty.  Here was a female character who didn't have any of the special help her brother Luke had in the form of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and The Force. Yet Leia still managed to outsmart the bad guys and get the Death Star plans to the Rebels.  Down to earth, practical, and smart, Princess Leia was a problem solver, and a great leader.

And Carrie Fisher the real life person didn't hold her punches either.  She was an excellent actress and a talented writer, penning several books over the years.  She was a great advocate for the mentally ill, giving them a voice at a time when depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder were words hidden away from the public eye.  I never met Ms. Fisher, but you just knew that if you did happen to run into her, she would be kind.  She would be gracious, unless you brought up that stupid metal bikini.  Which was a pretty silly outfit for a sandy planet, honestly.  I could completely understand why Fisher wouldn't want to talk about that. 

Carrie Fisher was an icon.  She represented a woman who had to fight her own battles, against stereotyping, against misogyny, and especially against her own demons of mental illness. She truly did things her way, and I admire that. I wanted to be that. I admired Princess Leia for her gumption, and I admired Carrie Fisher for the very same thing.  She will be missed.  I'd like to think of her spirit becoming one with the Force that watches over us all, but I'm still going to be sad about it.


I seem to be getting to the age where all of the actors, musicians, and authors I grew up with are all dying.  I understand that people die, but it just seems there's been so many of them in 2016.  David Bowie. Alan Rickman. John Glenn. Prince. Harper Lee. Gene Wilder. George Michael. Muhammad Ali. Merle Haggard. People I never met, but who touched my heart, fired my imagination, and set my mind free, if only for a little while.  As long as they were around, I still had some happy pieces of my youth to return to.  Every time I watched Young Frankenstein, with Gene Wilder, was joyful. Merle Haggard's Silver Wings took me back to my college years, two stepping around a dance floor.  Those memories, once shiny, will now be tinged with sadness.  I know that's the way of the world, but I don't have to like it.  It's like that poem--I rage, at the dying of the light, not just for myself, but for the world.  It sucks to see so many lights flickering out; the world seems diminished by their passing.  

The Smack-worthy List 2015

It's the end of the year, and everyone has a list of this or that to celebrate the end of 2015.  I'm no different.  I have a list in my head.  A list of people who are being deliberately disagreeable or downright stupid in their behavior. People saying or doing hateful things that spread hatred and discord.  People being stupid for the sake of getting attention. People who have no regard for others.  I could go on, but you get the idea.

These sorts of people, in my humble opinion, need a good smack upside the head to 'reboot' their bad behavior. I spend at least a couple of minutes a week imagining this scenario, and I'd like to share. Close your eyes, and picture the Hand of God, coming down out of the heavens, just to THWACK!!!  someone you know who needs it.  Doesn't that make you feel just a tiny bit better about the whole situation?  No?  Well, some people do tend to need multiple smacks to get their minds back on what counts.

So who counts as Smackworthy this year? 

Donald Trump.  There are probably a few people who want to do more than just use their imaginations to smack this guy upside the head, but I'm not one of them.  What can I say about Trump that hasn't already been said?  He's the man who says that he wants to be President, without knowing the first thing about how government works.  He's the guy who is out there reinforcing the world's view of the United States, making us appear to all be anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-everything.  If there were anyone out there who deserves a good smack upside the head,  it is this guy.

Pharma-bro.  This guy's(I am not glorifying this jerk by typing his name) company bought the rights to a pill that many people need and immediately raised the prices of that drug from $13.50 to $750.00.  The world was outraged, and he promised to lower the price again.  He never did.  This guy just sat there and smirked during every interview.  He instead decided that the world needed him to start podcasting his every move online, because he was just so awesome.   I've heard that he's received a giant dose of karma in the form of an arrest for fraud not relating to his drug companies, but he still needs a good smack.

Ted Cruz.  The worst thing about Ted Cruz is that he thinks that he is a reasonable man.  He says awful things and it's all okay as far as he's concerned, because he's just so reasonable and mild mannered.   Cruz is an immigrant(born in Canada) who claims to dislike immigrants, well the immigrants he doesn't like.  Cruz is a rich man who wastes taxpayer money like it is his own; he engineered the last shut down of the government because he didn't get his way. Cruz reminds me of the snake-oil salesmen of the previous centuries, peddling his fake cures for whatever he thinks ails the world.  Definitely in need of a smack.

The Affluenza teen...and his Mom.  This kid got off for killing four people while driving drunk, because the lawyer convinced the jury that he was too "rich and too spoiled" to understand his actions.  He was on probation for a couple of years, but this year he decided that wasn't any fun, and he started up his partying ways.  Then he didn't want to get caught for his behavior, so he decided to run off to Mexico.  His mother, already guilty of overindulging her boy, decided that she would join him.  Because there's nothing wrong with driving your child on his escape from the law. The two of them went to Mexico, and of course they were caught.  If ever a pair needed a good smack upside the head, it's these two. 

People who hate on Carrie Fisher.  Seriously?  There are really people out there who thought that Carrie Fisher would look exactly the same as she did in Return of the Jedi?  Yep.  I wish I was kidding. Han Solo aged, and that was cool.  Luke Skywalker aged, and nobody blinked.  But Princess Leia?  She's got to remain young and scantily clad, according to guys who sit around in their underpants and eat day old pizza.  The amount of crap Fisher has had to deal with over the past week is stupid.  I'm glad that Leia doesn't look the same.  Why would she?  In the Star Wars universe, she's had at least one child, which automatically wrecks your body.  She's led not one, but TWO resistance armies.  Leia's a freakin' GENERAL in The Force Awakens!  Do you know how hard it is for a WOMAN to become a general in any military?  We should never stop smacking these people.

The Media.  While there are exceptions to this, the Media as a whole has become ridiculously floppy with their journalism efforts.  If you turn on the news, there's quite a fuss over things that aren't all that important.  That's probably expected in these days of the 24 hour news cycle.  What isn't expected is the sensationalism.  It used to be that the news was reported in an objective, rational tone.  I can recall vividly the day that Ronald Reagan was shot; the facts were reported, and not much else. When I watch the evening news these days, however, I feel as though I am expected to have an emotional response to everything, no matter what, and that response is usually anger. I'm trying to keep negativity out of my life, and these days I don't even want to turn on the news or open a browser.  For cryin' out loud, stop it. Report the news, don't edit it.

Are there any other people I may have forgotten?  There may be others who need a good smack, that I forgot about.  I do tend to forget things these days, after chemo.  That's probably not a bad thing.

Everyone be safe and stay warm on this New Year's Eve!