The Power of Sympathy
Saturday, January 22, 2022
Trying to find a vintage Christian Dior dress for a woman I care significantly for is very, very difficult. For the past year or so, I have been working on my first novel, "The Power of Sympathy or The Triumph of Nature," which is about the dangers of seduction. To celebrate my good feelings towards the book, I felt a great need to find a beautiful gift for my muse.
She was a friend of a friend, and I met her at a British Pub in Santa Monica, where they have an annual get-together in the memory of Benny Hill. I couldn't keep my eyes off her; she was much younger than me; well, most women I knew were much younger. Still, nevertheless, I have the touch of genius when it comes to promoting people or specific ideas. I am often called the Colonel Tom Parker of the West Coast. When I was introduced to her by that friend's friend, I found out she was interested in writing. I think what made our relationship ticked was she was very much into the writings by Blaise Cendrars, a French poet and novelist. I never met a girl who even heard of this great writer.
She's a great beauty; in many ways, she reminds me of a younger Peggy Lee, very deep voice, and very hard for me to look at anyone else in a room full of beauties. Even then, I matched her with something elegant and beautiful like a Dior dress. I don't know if it's the novel I am writing or just me being silly at an older age, but I can't get enough of her.
I tried to get Jeff Koons to do a portrait of us together. Either in painting or sculpture, because I felt it was important to document our relationship in such a manner. But two things, I couldn't get Koons, and she didn't want me to do that. Surely she can't reject an original Dior!
Keep in mind that there is nothing physical between us, except that I need to document her beauty in some form or fashion. Dior struck me as a man who can see beauty objectively, and I like to think that I am that way as well. A friend of mine found a boutique in Paris that sold vintage clothing, focusing on Dior. I purchased the dress without even seeing a picture of it. Once it arrived, I invited her over for lunch and presented her with the dress. She was in a combination of shock and embarrassment. Which I found was so adorable. She insisted that she couldn't take such a present, but already, I had a dressmaker there to measure her size to alter the dress to her Peggy Lee-like figure.
A few weeks later, she came by and tried on the dress. She looked incredible, almost like another woman. This time she told me that there was no way in heaven or hell that she could accept this dress, and I being the gentleman, said I understand. I didn't understand. Nevertheless, I have the dress, and I purchased a mannequin, and now that dress and dummy are in my writing room slash office. I get a sense of purpose or power to finish my novel whenever I look at it.