Shady Pines Ma...

I'm always a little late discussing current events because I have a confession to make: I don't really like the news. It's mostly...well...terrible. And I don't want to hear it.

But it just wouldn't be right if I continued on with my life without paying homage to the late Bea Arthur (now you know what I consider hard news :-)

Most people who know me know I have an obsession with 'the girls'. The Golden Girls, that is. And, while many people find it amusing that I have this obsession and make fun of me for it, I truly stand by it. The show has well-developed characters, great storylines (if at times predictable)...absolutely hysterical one liners, and it explores one of my favorite subjects of all time: friendship between women. Intelligent, warm, funny, flawed, caring, women. Who are friends.

It's not anything original. It's been done a million times. I can think of at least five films and television shows with four female characters just like 'the girls' who fit into a neat little mold right off the top of my head. And I'm sure if I did a little research I could find 500 more. But the reason people keep exploring this female dynamic is because...simply put...it's interesting. I could read an infinite amount of stories and novels about a group of female friends and never get tired of it.

So when I found out that Bea died, I was quite devastated. Because it meant that 2 out of the 4 girls are now gone. And some kind of girl bond has been broken. And that's terrible. And it's why I'd rather watch The Golden Girls on repeat than listen to real life, sad news.

So, I raise a virtual glass to Bea Arthur, who brought us many well-rounded female characters over the years, the most memorable for me being Dorothy Zbornak. And to sound as cheesy as possible to my dear readers, thank you for being a friend! ;-)

And to anyone who is a true Golden Girls fan, perhaps it annoys you just as much as it does me. Why is it that one of them always had to pull up a stool to sit at that damn 3 person table!