Grease is the word

But not my word.

It's funny that this is the topic, because I was thinking about something similar the other day. If this were the era in Pride and Prejudice (Elizabethan? Victorian? I should know this...), my one word would be "accomplished", I think. Well, here's an excerpt:

``All young ladies accomplished! My dear Charles, what do you mean?''

``Yes all of them, I think. They all paint tables, cover skreens, and net purses. I scarcely know any one who cannot do all this, and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished''

``Your list of the common extent of accomplishments,'' said Darcy, ``has too much truth. The word is applied to many a woman who deserves it no otherwise than by netting a purse, or covering a skreen. But I am very far from agreeing with you in your estimation of ladies in general. I cannot boast of knowing more than half a dozen, in the whole range of my acquaintance, that are really accomplished.''

``Nor I, I am sure,'' said Miss Bingley.
`
`Then,'' observed Elizabeth, ``you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished women.''

``Yes; I do comprehend a great deal in it.''

``Oh! certainly,'' cried his faithful assistant, ``no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.''

``All this she must possess,'' added Darcy, ``and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.''

Painting, music, singing, modern languages, extensive reading - I'm there! Mr. Darcy, I'm yours! Though "accomplished" was really only a status wealthier women could claim, so odds are, my word would have been "homely" and I would have been someone's chambermaid somewhere.

So my word? I would love to say "witty", but does that really describe me and all that I do or think about? I think "creative" would certainly fit, but I like the term "artsy" a little more. (Dubbed by one of my coworkers upon seeing my self-given henna tattoo) It conveys a little more of an attitude, though it may also have the connotation of "flighty", which I would not attribute to myself. "Creative" can be applied to all sorts of people, from Martha Stewart-like crafters to Van Gogh, but "artsy" implies more of a way of being. Since I do more than just paint or draw - like sing, act, write, and um - other stuff - it fits.

Is "artsy" the word for Lake City? Hardly. Nor do I think that's the word for Orlando (where I went to school - in case you didn't . When I think of Orlando words like "entertainment", "tacky", and "money" come to mind. So where does one who's "artsy" reside? Austin, TX? I've heard good things about that place, though I'm not so sure about living in Texas. New Orleans? Hmmm...probably not a good idea, esp. since I'd like to move away from the south to someplace a little colder. Of course maybe the good thing about being "artsy" is that you can always find a way to make the city you live in fit with your word.