I watched the documentary Grey Gardens on Friday and am still recovering from the experience. First and foremost, I wish I'd been forewarned about Edie the Younger. She was truly mentally ill, her borderline reality was more than mere eccentricity. Her mother seemed much more lucid, highly intelligent in fact. Edie the daughter was intelligent and creative as well, but she seemed to exist in another dimension, due perhaps to some sort of a chemical imbalance or short-wired circuitry. She does hit the nail on the head with observations like this one:
But you see in dealing with me, the relatives didn't know that they were dealing with a staunch character and I tell you if there's anything worse than dealing with a staunch woman... S-T-A-U-N-C-H. There's nothing worse, I'm telling you. They don't weaken, no matter what.
Staunch is a great word, one we all too often see attached to a not-great word, the word "Republican." I'd certainly like to think I was a staunch woman.
staunch
adj. staunch•er also stanch•er, staunch•est also stanch•est
1. Firm and steadfast; true. See Synonyms at faithful.
2. Having a strong or substantial construction or constitution.
This afternoon I entered a sweeps for a trip to Taos. It's clever in that it lets the winner select one of three hotels, and asks entrants which one they would choose if they won, which of cause prompted me to look up all three of them. I am torn between the Historic Taos Inn and the Sagebrush Inn. The El Monte Sagrado looks lovely, too. I'm sure I had drinks and possibly dinner at the Taos Inn when I was there in the mid-1990s and it was swell. To enter, click HERE. One entry per person through July 31.