Hello, sunflower seeds!
A friend once told me that I reminded him of Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. His explanation: "I just always picture you as stamping your feet, shouting: 'I WANT MY LIFE TO BE DISNEY AND RAINBOWS! AND IF IT ISN'T, I'LL THROW A TANTRUM!!"
"I want a ball!
I want a party!
Pink macaroons and a million balloons
And performing baboons and... give it to me now!
...I want a party with room fulls of laughter
Ten thousand tons of ice cream
And if I don't get the things I am after
I'm going to scream!
I want the works!
I want the whole works,
Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises
Of all shapes and sizes
And now!
Don't care how, I want it now!"
Now, I definitely don't believe that I should instantly get my every whim granted, "don't care how!!" But here's the thing: there is no trait that I despise more in people than arrogance and entitlement. I'm a big advocate for humility and self-deprecation. Yet, at the same time, I also think that we are bombarded by hundreds of messages every day - in adverts, in magazines, on TV, from the people around us - all saying the same thing: "You are not good enough." You won't be good enough until you weigh less; until you get a nose job; until you earn more; until you get married; until you have kids; until you have a designer handbag... you get the idea!
So I think, in the face of all of those miserable, negative and perfidious messages, it's OK to embrace your inner Angelica Pickles [remember her? From The Rugrats?], just a little bit, and remind yourself that, however interestingly flawed, you are still the fabulous and brave heroine of your own story. And you do deserve to be happy, and prosperous, and in love, just as much as anyone else. Believe it, bambina!!
That kind of thinking really helped me this evening; as we were closing up the cocktail bar, a horrendously drunk woman started screaming abuse at me, calling me a "blonde big-mouthed b***h!" Although that kind of sudden, random hatred was pretty shaking, I was able to laugh it off with the staff [and with a lychee martini our kind-hearted manager made me in sympathy!], knowing it wasn't to do with me. I don't think that assurance comes from ego or vanity, but from courage in who one is and what one is worth - in my case, a blonde, buoyant leading lady!
Angelica: "A bacation is when you can do ezzactly what you want all the time."
Chuckie: "I guess that means Angelica is always on bacation..."
In fact, I think we could all use a little bit more of that Angelica Pickles attitude in our lives! So I started imagining what an all-grown-up Angelica would be like...
"I learned all the different varieties. Chocolate chip! Oatmeal! Gingerbread! Each one delicious, special in its own way. So you see, Tommy, cookies made me who I am."
Angelica's love of cookies was no secret. I imagine her subsisting entirely on pink wafer biscuits and chocolate chip cookie dough, reciting the immortal lines of Mae West: "I never worry about diets. The only *carrots* that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond."
Angelica would also own some ridiculously fluffy dogs, which she would colour-coordinate to the day's outfit...
...like Ann Miller's Nadine in Easter Parade!
She would drive a pink Chevrolet, with the top always down...
In the show, Angelica's room was a little messy...
...but I imagine the adult Angelica's boudoir would look something like this!:
As for style, I reckon that Ms Pickles would dress almost exclusively in bold Betsey Johnson...
"Girls do not dress for boys. They dress for themselves, and, of course, each other. If a girl dressed for a boy, they'd just walk around naked at all times."
-Betsey Johnson
Anna dello Russo epitomises this more grown-up, refined Angelica Pickles streak [her web site is wonderful! Her
rules for the beach, for example: "No SELF-TANNING! If you hadn't time to tan, not smear with the self-tanning, otherwise you will become an orange pumpkin." Heehee!]. I love love
loved her "
Rules For Making An Entrance" in
Style magazine:
1. Don't wear red and green together - you will look like a Christmas tree.
2. Forget the coat - you should make a big impact just with your dress.
3. Choose gold to emphasise the idea that you are a Christmas gift in need of unwrapping.
4. Go to the hairdresser and have a facial, manicure and pedicure. Don't be afraid to be overdone.
5. Choose between a hat and make-up. If you wear a hat, keep a fresh face, otherwise you will look like a transvestite.
6. Wear lots of jewellery. The sound of it clanking will banish bad thoughts and bad ghosts.
7. Focus on the shoes. Generally, at a party, you spend a lot of time seated on the sofa, where people will see them.
8. Shoes have to carry all the magical atmosphere of Christmas: choose sparkling, shiny, eccentric, metallic, decorate, precious, brocade, extravagant, colourful, magnificent, enchanting shoes.
9. Don't worry about your bag. You will immediately forget it on a chair, and nobody will notice it.
10. Don't throw yourself on the drinks and the food. It's not polite.
[Hmmm... well, perhaps Angelica would fail to promote that last rule!]
"I don't have this routine life. I don't go into the office; I'm travelling around the world. I'm lucky. But I never liked easy clothes in my life. My mother said, 'You want a pair of jeans?' and I said, 'No, mother, I want a couture dress!'"
"I used to be like Cinderella, working hard in the kitchen. Now finally I've been invited to the ball."
"Beyond the clothes is a very insecure girl. In a good way. I am anxious and also very fragile... It's like... you paint yourself to feel better, to feel courage than be like a mouse.”
"I knew the moment I met her that she was trouble...
Or that I was in trouble...
Or that we would get in trouble together...
And then we danced."
-Scott Nilsso
Love, fish bowls and hopscotch xxx
