Why is Edna Ferber on a Stamp

Everyday at work I mail out these big envelopes that need the 83cent stamp. One day I took note of the homely woman on them and I wanted to know what she did to get on a stamp...I mean you got to be pretty special to get your mug on a stamp right, especially the 83 cent stamp! Turns out the lady depicted on the stamp is Edna Ferber, a novelist born in 1885. She was one of the great novelist of her time, even though she was a woman. She never married, had kids, and has no real record of any lovers. She is quoted saying the following, "Being an old maid was a great deal like death by drowning -- a really delightful sensation when you ceased struggling." I liked this quote.

weddings

When you reach your mid 20's you enter the mad house of the crazy wedding phenomenon. Your mail box floods with elaborate invitations, and your closet begins to fill with beautiful bridesmaid dresses never to see the light of day again. Everyone complains that bridesmaid dresses are hideous but I rather like mine, they are pretty and fun to wear. I think someday i will just go grocery shopping in one of them to get a second use out of it.

Someday I would love to be married to the right guy, but I don't feel like it would be the death of me if I never did. I would rather not marry than say yes to the guy who for all intensive purposes, "will do the job good enough." I am learning that there is this silent deadline (especially for women) to get married by 30. If you pass this age then you are no longer the free single beauty, you are this old insane woman who must have something wrong with her to not be married by now. An invisible but definite line is drawn.

There are few people I know that I think really married for the right reason. Most of them seem to be out of convenience, security, and comfort...although nobody will ever admit that till maybe later when they are divorced. I really don't want those to be my reasons. "The one" is supplemented with "the one right now" because that dreaded invisible line is coming near and the time to act is now. I don't get it. I don't get this deadline and I don't get the fantasy of a big elaborate wedding. I never dreamed of a grand wedding and have never envisioned myself in a wedding dress...all that seems secondary to finding a love that is real.

The idea of marriage is beautiful to me but the process and pressure behind it makes me want to elope. Just like this picture a traditional wedding seems rather void and deflated of the true meaning of love. If people weren't so scared of being alone or losers I wonder if I'd be going to as many weddings?

I went to the Guggenheim in New York and there were all these sayings scattered on the interior walls of the building (and i think i was not supposed to take these pictures...but i am a rebel)I found these sayings odd and intriguing.

This particular saying reminds me of a teacher I had in college who always said, " nobody will remember someone who is mediocre, they will remember the best and the worst...I encourage you to fail". He wanted to show us that by holding back in your art and in life you will be forgettable. Make yourself go as far and as hard as you can. If you push the limit and fail its okay, failing is better than stopping in the middle and being safe.

I'd like to say I live by this motto but it is a lot easier to say than do. The truth is it's easy to be content in the middle. Nobody notices you and you can get by under the radar...its a good hiding place. I guess for me this way of life is something to keep striving for and to remember when feeling complacent...after all the most famous works of art were once laughed at by the mainstream...but they kept on making it anyways.