Being Myrna Loy

…And speaking of things that make me inordinately happier than they should…

…there was this test from Gwynne wherein it turned out I was Myrna Loy (2% grit, 24% wit, 33% flair, and 43% class – that’s 43 percent class from a woman who just wrote 1200 words on why she made a toilet brush caddy out of a milk jug).

I know everyone wants to be Katharine Hepburn – so self-confident and independent. I love watching Katharine Hepburn. But I know I’m not her and she probably wouldn’t like me. I wish someone were in my brain writing me lines like Katharine Hepburn delivered in such a timely manner. I never think of stuff like that until, like, the night after, when I wake up at 3 a.m. and think, “Hey! I should have said (such and such) to her!”

But I love being a Myrna – maternal and caring without making you vomit; just as involved in the mystery as William Powell without making a fuss and, ultimately, saving the day; matter-of-fact and loyal to the end.

And of course there was Asta.






(One of my favorite bits of Thin Man dialogue – that I’m surprised got past the censors of the day – takes place the day after Nick has been shot at and He and Nora are reading what the newspapers are saying about the incident:

Nick: I'm a hero. I was shot twice in The Tribune.
Nora: I read where you were shot 5 times in the tabloids.
Nick: It's not true. He didn't come anywhere near my tabloids.)