In lieu of a traditional obituary, and because I'm still working on two other Taylor posts that were started before this sad news, I thought a major revision of a two year-old birthday post was in order. If you're in need of comfort today, wrap yourself up in this legend's grandiosity on this disheartening day. Take Taylor's life as inspiration. Survive Everything... but for death, of course, which will come for us all. But leave a legacy behind you and you've got that beat, too.
79 Ways to Celebrate Liz Taylor's Legacy in 2011
How many can you do this year?
- Be great.
- Be beautiful.
- Be ambitious. Quoth Liz "It's not the having, it's the getting."
- Be a legend in your own mind, and in others.
- Get married. Or divorced. Or remarried. Or all three. Or several times.
- Let your passions rule you.
- Act like a diva. (But back it up with substance... nobody likes a vacuous primadonna.)
- Wear something spectacularly sexy, preferrably white.
- Make people want more.
- Forge unbreakable friendships.
- Stick with those people through tragedies, scandals, and anything else that besets them.
- Watch Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
- Invite people over for copious drinking party.
- Play "get the guests" or "hump the hostess", your choice.
- (If you don't have a child, invent one.)
- Watch National Velvet.
- Go horseback riding.
- Watch A Place in the Sun.
- "Tell mama everything"
- Fall in love with Montgomery Clift in glorious black and white (any of his movies will do).
- Ask your best friend to refer to you as "Bessie Mae" for the rest of the year.
- Demand a Taylor retrospective at your local arthouse cinema. Suggest that they donate a portion of the proceeds to Liz's charity.
- Be highly quotable.
- Flaunt every piece of jewelry you own. (Maybe wear them all at once?)
- Donate to an AIDS charity. Per Liz's request in lieu of flowers.
- Nurse a sick friend or loved one.
- Enjoy your own wicked sense of humor. Laugh loudly at good jokes.
- Scream "I was the slut of all time!" with style and at the top of your lungs. Shamelessness suits you.
- Watch Butterfield 8.
- Fight for that performance's reputation (It's better than Oscar mythology claims. But more on that in April for the 50th anniversary of her win.)
- Write something pity or bitchy on a mirror in lipstick. "NO SALE"
- Survive the loss of someone you loved no matter how hard that is to do. If you're still grieving find a way to make that sadness productive.
- Pretend you've won an Oscar.
- And another. (Or work at actually deserving one if you're in showbiz). Better yet...
- ...deserve the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
- Drink people under the table.
- Polish La Liz's star at 6336 Hollywood Blvd.
- Watch Cleopatra...(okay, half of it. It's so long!).
- Make memorable entrances (if you're rolled in a carpet, have a safe word handy.)
- Read "Elizabeth".
- Watch the original Father of the Bride.
- Buy a pair of violet contact lenses or just play up your natural eye color's beauty.
- Paint a beauty mark on your right upper jaw.
- Don't take yourself too seriously.
- Role play "Liz and Dickie" with your boyfriend / girlfriend. H-O-T.
- Name perfumes after your favorite things.
- Monetize your favorite things.
- Love dogs (and other animals).
- Be a "Functioning Voluptuary"... enjoy the finer things in life.
- Gain lots of weight or lose some -- it doesn't matter; you're still fabulous.
- Stop worrying about getting older (Liz didn't); you're still fabulous.
- Watch Giant.
- Watch Suddenly Last Summer.
- Speak the truth with a ferocity of spirit. Even if it makes uptight people want to cut your brain up to stop your "hatchet tongue"
- Get familiar with the entire Tennesse Williams oeuvre. It suits the remarkable dramatic women (and sure suited La Liz who went there four times).
- Watch Boom.
- Watch Reflections in a Golden Eye.
- Steal something from someone who reminds you of Debbie Reynolds.
- But bury the hatchet with your enemies.
- Give them something to talk about when you leave the room.
- Photoshop yourself onto the cover of 14 People magazines.
- Watch The Flintstones.
- Watch Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
- Make sure you're enticing in your underwear.
- Descend into "erotic vagrancy"!
- Watch The Taming of the Shrew.
- Imagine how Sherilyn Fenn might play you in a TV movie.
- Study Kabbalah.
- Excite the tabloids.
- Inspire other artists.
- Add a "Dame" before your name on Facebook.
- Make your speaking voice so memorable that The Simpsons want you.
- Work towards making lots of "all time greatest" lists in whatever it is that you do and actually deserve the honor.
- Make the world a better place.
- Survive whatever illnesses beset you (tracheotomy, pneumonia, cancer, hip replacements, you name it.)
- Next time you throw your back out, spend that time catching up on old movie classics.
- Call yourself "Mother Courage" and mean it.
- Survive everything...
- Even death; leave great work behind you and live on.