In praise of Carrie Fisher

I've always admired unusual people and by unusual I mean truly, deeply bizarre, the kind of folks who talk without any sort of verbal inhibitor, rendering them deeply funny and truly honest in the process. That's why, to me, Carrie Fisher just keeps getting more and more superb with each passing year. She reminds me of a classier Mae West or a Dorothy Parker without the cruelty and so much spilled Vermouth.

Currently, she's touring the U.S. with a new one-woman stage show called "Wishful Drinking" in which she talks about her life, her career, "Star Wars," and the mental health challenges she's faced. As a result, she's doing a lot of press and with each interview I read, my girl crush grows. To wit, here's what she has to say about her interaction with the audience during "Wishful Drinking" (from a Q&A in The Washington Post):

The first row gets a lot of action from me. And someone comes up on the stage to help me with a life-size Princess Leia sex doll. I tell them that it's handy, because if someone in the audience tells me to go (expletive) myself, I can take it home and give it a whirl. But in case the doll is heterosexual, I ask for a male volunteer.

And in response to what she hopes to do next:

There's a book of the show, and I owe another book to my publisher, Simon and Shuster. I'm doing a horror film coming up [a remake of The House on Sorority Row], just because I've never been killed on screen before. I was nominated for an Emmy for 30 Rock, that's a first for me. I do a lot of things -- some more rewriting of screenplays, though that has evolved into a weird gig. I try to be a Renaissance chick as best I can. So I can afford the shopping.

She also did a recent interview with USA Today. Here's what she says about winning awards:

Q: To what do you owe this overdue recognition?
A: I have no idea, having not seen the other performances. I don't watch much TV except 30 Rock. It's incredibly well written, and those are the only kinds of parts to play.

Q: You have had trophy opportunities, including a BAFTA nomination for the Postcards From the Edge script
A: I don't really pay attention. I don't have a good memory anymore. I know I got a Los Angeles Pen Award for Postcards the novel, and I get a lot of awards for being mentally ill. It's a lovely combo.

As you can see, there's no real point to this post of mine today except to give you as much evidence as possible to back my unflagging belief that Carrie Fisher should be a hero to women everywhere. How can you not love a woman who runs an ad like this to promote her show? And yes, I totally forgive the cue card reading:

And finally, I leave you with her words from a Baltimore Sun review of her show:

"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true...and that would be unacceptable."

Can I get an amen?