not always as they seem

British film director Ken Russell ("Women in Love," "Tommy," "Altered States") developed a schoolboy crush on US actress Dorothy Lamour (13 years his senior) when he was only ten years old. Her exotic roles in the "road" pictures with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby fueled this youthful fire by adding the allure of the South Pacific as a backdrop to his fixation. As a young man, he joined the British Merchant Navy in hopes of traveling to the South Pacific and realizing his romantic dream.

What Russell found was water. Lots of water. No Pacific islands. No Dorothy Lamour. His early life obsession was permanently crushed upon the discovery that the closest Ms Lamour had been to the South Pacific was a water tank on the Paramount Studios back lot.

Mother Teresa began her lifelong service to God and the poor at age 18. She lived and worked tirelessly among the impoverished of India, and was instrumental in focusing world attention on the plight of the homeless and seriously ill. She was not an actress, pretending to be something she was not. She was the real deal, always ready to divert attention from herself and onto the desperate needs of those less fortunate than most.

How often do we succumb to the images of people who languish in the spotlight, waiting for their next close-up? And how many times do we quickly latch on to an attractive idea or pursuit without giving much thought to its foundation or to our reasons for being attracted to it?

"Things are not always what they seem to be." An old, familiar phrase to be sure. But never more relevant.

Before you pursue that dream, before you cast that vote, look below the surface and think.