tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post8592454404743319992..comments2024-01-02T02:32:33.534-05:00Comments on The Magpie's Fancy: Just Sit There and Look PrettyGigi Thibodeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15326335927273800932noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-68557145981293966402010-10-06T07:36:26.215-04:002010-10-06T07:36:26.215-04:00My daughter, who is on the debating team at her sc...My daughter, who is on the debating team at her school, was given this challenge yesterday: Is it better to be pretty or intelligent? (She got to argue for intelligence, and in her own words, she "annihilated" the competition. Good going for 16, don't you think?)<br /><br />The thing about fairy tales is that it was blindingly obvious that the prince fell in love with whoever (Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty) at first sight of her beautiful face. There was the clear inference that beautiful face corresponded to beautiful inner self . . . and yet as we grew up, didn't we all discover that it isn't necessarily the case? (In fact, beauty can be a sort of affliction; handicapping women from developing their other qualities.) I like your point about female power; I think that is absolutely true.<br /><br />Having said all that, I apply creams and serums to my aging face every night! :)Beehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02375981493145612394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-50611663524506363102010-09-29T05:45:00.480-04:002010-09-29T05:45:00.480-04:00Lately I've developed a wish to be a dowager o...Lately I've developed a wish to be a dowager or a matriarch, not pretty as such but perhaps with mascara, a cross between Barbara Cartland and Margaret Thatcher with hints of Florence Nightingale. I hope we can still be friends when I achieve that. 43 will be a great age for you, a contemplative bedrock.Misehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01784548726623938608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-14420861633568137892010-09-29T05:17:15.012-04:002010-09-29T05:17:15.012-04:00Such an interesting post, wise words Gigi!
I do l...Such an interesting post, wise words Gigi!<br /><br />I do like your collage.<br />xxxdebra@dustjackethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02397055465607649038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-50242334283231248362010-09-28T21:02:46.997-04:002010-09-28T21:02:46.997-04:00Gigi, how is it that you find the words to express...Gigi, how is it that you find the words to express exactly what I am thinking. Pretty has never been part of my repertoire either, and I would add capable to smart, funny, creative and caring. I for one certainly wouldn't be 'young' again for anything. I've been waiting for the right to fully embody the strength and wisdom that makes up a real woman!! Beautiful is a much better word and it's so much more than appearance. Oh Gigi you so ARE my inspiration.Angehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02255310309447767848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-26010527290038003372010-09-27T22:59:00.616-04:002010-09-27T22:59:00.616-04:00I wish you could see the smile cracking my face. ...I wish you could see the smile cracking my face. This post is fantastic. Utterly wonderful. Needs to be published in a larger forum. Magnificent! Bravo, my friend. Bravo!Relyn Lawsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01389583730002062714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-79569630985944742182010-09-27T21:48:32.553-04:002010-09-27T21:48:32.553-04:00I agree with Oliag. All the characters in a fairyt...I agree with Oliag. All the characters in a fairytale are parts of you. Then we don't have to have the limiting meaning of the story as Women, Wait for your Prince. It's more Women, go on your journey, even if you go through the dessert, and find the rest of yourself within. Then maybe there will be a prince on the outside, but the really important work has been done where it matters, inside. Thanks for an interesting post and a gorgeous collage.sarahthefantastichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01277370396349382923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-42048204950413211672010-09-27T20:53:52.714-04:002010-09-27T20:53:52.714-04:00Wow you actually made me happy that I am now 50......Wow you actually made me happy that I am now 50......I think? we are powerful and that is why "they" are scared of us!<br />xxx<br />CaroleCarolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03812929183991250426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-14650642310950414442010-09-25T10:48:55.433-04:002010-09-25T10:48:55.433-04:00I think you are very pretty inside and Out. yvonn...I think you are very pretty inside and Out. yvonneLa Petite Galleryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09553902574516930172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-56471600201960961272010-09-25T01:03:32.046-04:002010-09-25T01:03:32.046-04:00Pretty is a very silly word, unless one is speakin...Pretty is a very silly word, unless one is speaking to a flower or a kitten or a small child. It's an immature word, and has none of the depth of 'beautiful'...Mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13632520557553405790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-6768362062965375262010-09-24T20:04:14.304-04:002010-09-24T20:04:14.304-04:00It has been hard to adjust to "you look good ...It has been hard to adjust to "you look good for your age" rather than "you look good". Most of the time I just try to do the best with what I've got, but sometimes when I see some young thing wearing a cute halter dress or on the beach...I just hate the fact that I can't dress that way anymore. So for me, it isn't as much about what I see in the mirror...it is about giving up some of the things that I have to because "older women" shouldn't wear them...do them, etc. <br /><br />This was a thoughtful post.Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03190096917851087676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-57515278048873742272010-09-24T16:56:28.460-04:002010-09-24T16:56:28.460-04:00I love this post, Gigi, and I have read it several...I love this post, Gigi, and I have read it several times over. "Pretty is as pretty does" or if you wish, "handsome is as handsome does" is the tape that keeps looping through my brain - an adage I learned many years ago. The "does" is(are?) the caring, the creativity, the humour, the strength and the wisdom that can keep on shining through all our ages for ever after.Pollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10521652214800460468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-89443422633427830542010-09-24T15:04:08.072-04:002010-09-24T15:04:08.072-04:00love this post. love your collage. i'm in the ...love this post. love your collage. i'm in the middle of reading "Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters", a compilation of fairy tales with wonderful women heroins. love it. you teach fairy tales? this is my dream occupation...i once heard of a professor who had a phD in fairy tales...how/where does one obtain such a lovely degree/occupation?Ann Mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02200856105198451225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-4961519623379636282010-09-24T10:00:55.607-04:002010-09-24T10:00:55.607-04:00As I will turn 40 in the next few months, this pos...As I will turn 40 in the next few months, this post spoke to me. I love how you ended it and couldn't agree more!<br />Have a marvelous weekend,<br />xxkimberly at mimicharmantehttp://kimberlytaylorimages.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-3309684493141345832010-09-24T09:48:47.207-04:002010-09-24T09:48:47.207-04:00Hmm, I will be turning 40 in just over a month'...Hmm, I will be turning 40 in just over a month's time, and not since I turned 21 have I so looked forward to my birthday (and then I didn't even realise it!)<br />With the children the ages they are, this next decade will be mine, and in some ways it feels as though my life is just beginning. And I feel tremendously grateful to be living in the age we do, when I am not expected to dress/behave just like my mother and grandmother (no matter how amazing they are!)<br />Gigi, you are incredible, and your beauty shines through not just your beautiful face and eyes, but also your words and your images, and I can tell you, pretty has no substance!!<br />Shine on! C xCiara Brehonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10583812950426579762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-75394168429145047242010-09-23T22:03:17.321-04:002010-09-23T22:03:17.321-04:00Smart, funny, creative have served you very well -...Smart, funny, creative have served you very well - let's make these the new terms to define 'pretty' shall we?! Thanks for reminding me that we make our our happily ever after!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10794767968612119814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-71617608536821811392010-09-23T20:23:53.246-04:002010-09-23T20:23:53.246-04:00We are the makers our own ever afters.
yes, i c...We are the makers our own ever afters. <br /><br />yes, i copied this before i saw that beth had also, but it is so true, so perfect that i pasted it again...<br />i have felt so much of what you wrote here, probably we all have, as women, your collage is wonderful, filled with everything that makes a fairy tale...<br />p.s., i love your blog, glad to have found you here...mrs mediocrityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01021079985184737831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-43428957905767164032010-09-23T18:25:51.687-04:002010-09-23T18:25:51.687-04:00we are the makers of our own ever afters....OMG......we are the makers of our own ever afters....OMG....i love that so much !<br />oh, and i love your collage, too !bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11094533582512917616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-66886389052054210652010-09-23T17:45:24.115-04:002010-09-23T17:45:24.115-04:00oh gigi....this was wonderful...you are such a tal...oh gigi....this was wonderful...you are such a talented writer...this was a joy...<br /><br />so Happy to visit here today, my friend<br /><br />kary<br />xxxMy Farmhouse Kitchenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00594238190107766755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-39641946808146474542010-09-23T17:36:02.364-04:002010-09-23T17:36:02.364-04:00"We are the makers of our own ever afters.&qu..."We are the makers of our own ever afters." So powerful. So true. I felt this post in my core. Thank you.Sally G.http://sallyg.menoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-26030667414094769612010-09-23T16:04:16.721-04:002010-09-23T16:04:16.721-04:00Love your thoughts on this challenge. At 49, I'...Love your thoughts on this challenge. At 49, I'm finding that what is rapidly taking the place of Pretty is Acceptance and Self-Love and Compassion... all of which are far longer lasting and far outshine Pretty anyway!Cherihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15398170245040387614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-81967616526714682172010-09-23T15:52:20.159-04:002010-09-23T15:52:20.159-04:00Gigi, this is amazing! (I have attempted collages,...Gigi, this is amazing! (I have attempted collages, but they end up looking like a bunch of cut up pieces of magazine glued together....nowhere NEAR as artful and creative as this!)<br />And your writing....it always makes me want to know you..really know you in person. You make me think, you make me smile, you awaken my imagination, and in this post, I see aging a little bit differently. With more of a sense of power.<br />I just adore you Gigi...much love xoxoxoJaimehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04803308252202460126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-22674845304998332472010-09-23T15:48:44.433-04:002010-09-23T15:48:44.433-04:00I love this collage, the colors and textures, the ...I love this collage, the colors and textures, the tower built of luggage, a telling hint to this Rapunzel that she could find her own freedom if she wanted to.Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01661948398230473384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-49763959892558443842010-09-23T14:56:35.618-04:002010-09-23T14:56:35.618-04:00The collage is so very pretty & I am in drumbe...The collage is so very pretty & I am in drumbeat resonance with the concept of how age/maturity are often so warped & misrepresented. Aging is wonderful, but ya can't tell that to youth; just hold the space & they will ease on in on their own. We create our own ever afters, indeed!!skyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335377567158914606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-19160672445962269082010-09-23T14:42:53.603-04:002010-09-23T14:42:53.603-04:00Gigi, your collage is fantastic. You obviously put...Gigi, your collage is fantastic. You obviously put a lot of thought into it. I can't stop looking at all these images.<br />I agree with you about some of the "older" woman in fairy tales are depicted as evil. Never really thought of that before.Pinecone Camphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05936393023716568141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968803817110676732.post-88930453963342456322010-09-23T14:36:57.299-04:002010-09-23T14:36:57.299-04:00gigi i really think your collage says so much to m...gigi i really think your collage says so much to me..pretty is just a word right...ELKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10935251214683485912noreply@blogger.com