"Lady Balls"

There are certain statements that don't evince more than a chuckle. For instance, I could tell you that I used to crimp my hair, or that I had what is best described as "tidal wave bangs." I could say "yeah, I wore men's jeans, bite me you little pixie in side-zippered Guess jeans that would be more like capris on me." I could say, "yep, I put sugar on my plain Cheerios as a kid," or "I once held a college dorm mates' bike for ransom because she parked it in front of my door one time too many."

But that's Mickey Mouse/Kool-Aid/Diet Pepsi stuff compared to how the latest newsrags are ragging on the refreshing honesty of our own dear Dame H. From the captions, British GQ got Helen to rattle off some lesser-known of her hijinks. Truly heady stuff. OMG! Can you believe she did (__________)?!?!

But don't take my word for it, see for yourself, at the link here, I'll wait (it will take considerable time to wade through their dripping jealousy that Dame H wouldn't ever give an interview such as this to them): http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20080902/en_celeb_eo/26814

Ok, so what I read is someone unashamed and unafraid to be utterly candid. She neither takes pride for her doings - whether perceived ill or not - and she doesn't condemn them either. What she does do, and here's the kicker(!), is take RESPONSIBILITY for her actions, opinions and involvements. Now there's something rare, indescribably interesting and newsworthy in a way modern media isn't interested in - a "here I am, take your best shot, I don't give a damn" sort of swagger.

Stephen Colbert has a term for this that I love - lady balls. Yep, Margaret Thatcher. Dame Helen Mirren. And [someday I hope] Dame Courtney. :)

But in the meantime, you know, there are more meaningful headlines to be made - maybe Dame J. Dench will cop to how many times she's cursed Dame H's name in vain during British Monarch casting calls. Ooh, now there's a "headline."