Still wake up the same old Susie

If you’ve read everything I’ve ever written here since I started this blog in the spring of 2020, I thank you.

If you only drop by once every few months and cherry pick articles of interest to you, I thank you.

If this post is the first time you’re reading this blog, I thank you.

I named the Starfire Lounge after one of the clubs Susie Diamond and the Fabulous Baker Brothers played. Susie, and the woman who brought her to life onscreen, Michelle Pfeiffer, are the site’s inspiration. I’ve seen The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) so many times I know it by heart. I just adore the film, the characters, the dialogue, everything. That’s probably why lately I’ve been thinking of something Susie says, which always resonates with me, but especially around this time of year when the holidays start to get a little out of control.

l stayed at the Hartford one time. You should see the rooms. All satin and velvet. And the bed… royal blue, trimmed in lace clean as snow. Hard to believe a room like that don’t change your life. But it don’t. The bed may be magic, but the mirror isn’t. Still wake up the same old Susie.

As Thanksgiving approaches this week, I’m hearing Susie’s wise-beyond-her-years monologue in my head. Maybe it’s because we always spend too much time desperately trying to change ourselves through things, things like metaphorically staying in an opulent room at the Hartford. That big vacation, that expensive new tech-toy, or any other number of things we use to try and magically change who we think we are, even if only for an instant, are no substitute for just being who we are.

Staying at the Hartford didn’t change Susie, and thank goodness for that. She is perfectly imperfect just as she is. And so are we. As hard as it is for most of us to accept that, it’s the truth. So, this Thanksgiving I’m thankful for that simple, but powerful truth. Being our true, flawed selves is all that matters. At the end of the day, after another late night performing at the Luau Lounge of Life—“Oh no, not the goddamn Luau Lounge again!”—let’s try to remember who we are, flaws and all, and most importantly let’s appreciate who we are.

Once again, thank you for supporting the site for another year. I appreciate your appreciation of what I do here. Keep waking up as the only you that matters, your true self. I’ll keep doing my best to do the same. Just like Susie.