Happy Birthday, Marilyn

This has nothing to do with hockey, but I wanted to make a post wishing my favorite lady a happy birthday. Some of you may or may not have caught on that I am a pretty big Marilyn Monroe fan. Today would have been her 83rd birthday.



I've been fascinated with Marilyn for as long as I can remember, and it was because I was captivated by her beautiful face. I've always been very interested in the "golden age" of Hollywood, so it makes sense why Marilyn has always been so intriguing for me. I'm a sucker for anything vintage and basically the time periods from 1920-1960 have always been my favorite eras in American history, and that's exactly when Marilyn lived. She was born in 1926 and she died in 1962.

I guess I would consider her my idol, and a lot of people always ask me why. I think nowadays Marilyn is only viewed as the sex symbol that made her famous. She's there to look beautiful and be sexy. But my adoration goes beyond the "Marilyn Monroe" facade, and I admire her for who she was as a person. Obviously I could never truly know Marilyn on a personal level considering she lived before my time, but after investing a lot of my time in reading books on her life and just researching her, I really feel as if I can understand the type of person she was. She wasn't perfect, but no one is and I find that endearing. She made mistakes and did things that I don't agree with at times, but that's not to say that she wasn't a great woman. She was dealt with a hard life and she was a very vulnerable and sensitive woman and I feel a lot of people exploited that and took advantage of her because of this.

I know a lot of people will only see Marilyn as a woman who liked to sleep around and who developed a drug habit. I think these people just don't know enough about Marilyn to see who she truly was. After all, she's hasn't been alive for over 45 years, so it's hard for people to defend her name and it's easy for people to conjure up stories about her life. I know pretty much everything there is to know about her, and I almost feel as if it's my duty to defend her name and show her for who she really was.

I could probably write a book about how I feel about her and why I admire her so much, but I'll keep it simple. Marilyn was more than a beautiful face. She was a sweet woman who adored children and animals. She was sensitive and vulnerable and I think what she wanted most out of life was to be appreciated. She adored her fans and her public and she didn't want to let them down. She often told her friends to hold a good thought for her, and I hold a good thought for her every day.

Her charisma has captivated people for many decades and I still love watching her act in movies and pose in front of the camera. Her sweet face and voice always makes me smile. In honor of her birthday, I'll probably watch Some Like It Hot or Gentleman Prefer Blondes. If you haven't seen any movies with Marilyn, I'd highly recommend those. The Seven Year Itch is also a good one, and it features the famous subway scene.

LIFE magazine has also announced that more than 300 "new" photos from one of my favorite photoshoots of hers has been discovered in their archives and they will be made available to the public early next year. It's funny after all these years how there are still unseen photos of her emerging. I can't even imagine how many photos of her there are out there that I have yet to see and probably will never see. The camera loved her.



When I heard about the news of these new photos, I felt pretty much the same way that this little girl feels in this picture:



Hey...what do you know, I tied in hockey with this post. Okay, not really. I love hockey!!! There, now it's officially hockey related, right?

So happy birthday Marilyn, you truly were a special lady.
Coincidentally, it's also my late dog's birthday too. Jasper was a great dog and he was 17 years old when we had to send him on his journey. He was a great companion until the very end.