The Fix

What to do now to decrease American debt.

Increase Social Security retirement age to 70 years old.
Re-organize and restructure the military. Our military is still a cold-war defense system.
Increase gasoline tax. It's now only 18.4 cents a gallon.
Medical malpractice reform by establishing medical courts similar to bankruptcy courts where the judges are trained to scrutinize scientific evidence. No more trials by jury in med malpractice cases.
Postpone NASA missions for now. They are not a priority.

The World of Hermes

Ive got to have the bowler hats!
(click on the title above)

A Designers Dream

Design Inspirations Around The World

 Chinadoll
Beijing

  

Coquine
London

Kettners,
London

 Kettners,
London

Larq,
Paris

Larq,
Paris

Sounds
Phuket, Thailand

Sounds
Phuket Thailand

Kinect.....epic!

Cavalli Boho-chic

Linen

BE LINEN MOVIE from Benoit MILLOT on Vimeo.

Influencers

INFLUENCERS TRAILER from R+I creative on Vimeo.

Ruth Hogben, film maker, a Nick Knight protege for Gareth Pugh

Gareth Pugh S/S 2011 Collection - Director: Ruth Hogben from SHOWstudio on Vimeo.

The Players On The Hill

The results after Tuesday's election.

Rock The Vote

TOMORROW
Nov 2

Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger

The NY Times articleOctober 22, 2010

L-o-v-E

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
St Augustine

The Privacy Issue

The issue is heating.
Facebook is facing a lawsuit over privacy issues.
My take on this...........
If you , by your own free will, voluntarily give personal information to a social network. You lose your right to privacy of that information.
The third party application LOL that is being accused in the facebook case, is just that...a third party.
The web was built on the idea of an open sourced way of exchanging information.
What information you contribute to it is up to you.
The illegal use of that information by deceptive means or non-disclosure of how the information will be used.
Disclosure.
I hate those EULAs.

Meeting Of The Minds

Bleu de Chanel

Town & Country

Lesson Primer For Gentlemen

Taking notes on my observations.
I have been busy taking pictures and writing for what seems like days on end.
I spent time at a mall asking myself, "Did they even look in the mirror before leaving the house?" Coco Chanel once said, "Before leaving the house remove one item from your body."
In most cases, the people I observed should have ditched the whole outfit and started from scratch.
Classic always trumps trendy.
It's alright to add a trendy piece here and there but this is daytime reality fashion, folks.

Modern Day Tips For The Gentleman

*Do take a break from using anything digital from time to time. You'll rediscover the beauty of obtaining information in old-fashioned ways.

*Don't lose your patience when waiting for a lady to be ready. Not only do you risk stressing out but you've got to remember-she's doing this for you as much as herself.

*Don't take up an entire bench if seated alone. You never know what fine specimen in need of rest may happen to sit next to you.

*Do ensure your posture is just as powerful as your suit. Stand up straight, strong and handsome and they will follow.

*Do incorporate some unexpected color into your wardrobe. It will always brighten you and your mood a bit.

*Do remember as a final lesson...that there is no such thing as overdressed. You can always remove your jacket and loosen your collar, if needed.

Tuscany via Salvatore Ferragamo

Promenade

Bows and Flows of Angel Hair

Ocean air and sky



Dating My Next New Job

Having recently been a job seeker myself-I have opinions about the people I was meeting during this process. The problem, I believe, is in the approach to the job search and to the interview. The issue is about spirit and purpose. The interviewees mostly can't communicate a vision for themselves in the company. They had no idea why they wanted this job as opposed to a marketing job somewhere else.
Are candidates and job search strategists forgetting about dating? Which is one of the cardinal metaphors of a job search.
A job search is like dating.
That means you don't talk incessantly about your old employer (significant other) when courting a new one. You don't base your salary request on the income provided by the old employer, but focus on what's within the means of this one.
It reminds me of the idea that the need to be dating someone...anyone.....emanates off the other person like cheap cologne. Making the person across from you feel interchangeable with everyone else is the wrong way to forming a long term bond.  An interviewee needs to ask, "Is this company meaningful to me? Do I like what they do and want to be a part of it?" Am I expressing this thought?
A manager (a good one) wants to know what part a job candidate wants to play.
Where do you want to be in 5 years?
FOCUS your attention on this manager and group of workers and ask how you want to contribute. What are they doing that excites you? How far do I want to go in this company?
Give them the satisfaction of feeling that thier department is important, even desirable to you, as it should-and then see if you can't get more interesting conversations started than the ones you've been having.

Vintage Fashion Therapy for Bettys

A Master Primer In Shopping

My rule is to shop for a whole body shape-not just one body part.
Most fall into one of three categories:

Type A
Bodies that are shaped smaller or narrow on top than on the bottom.
You want to draw the eye upward.
No busy prints on the lower body and no jackets that cut across the widest part of the hip.
Go with Empire-cut dresses and boatneck shirts.
Try vintage clothes from the 70s (think A-line dresses and skirts)

Type B
Bodies that are the same width at the shoulders and hips with a smaller waist.
You want a style that skims your hourglass shape.
An oval necked shirt, wide legged pants, and body skimming dresses flatter this figure.
Look for styles from the 50s .

Type C
Broad shoulders with a straight waistline.
C shaped women often look best in tailored shirts with most any pant silhouette (except pleated styles-which in my opinion look terrible on most everyone).
60s era dresses flatter.

Ben & Me

Going deeper. Are you ready?
Ben Franklin, in his autobiography, devises a 13 week course of self-improvement. Attorney and author Cameron Gunn decides to try this project of moral perfection. Ben's plan requires a person to focus for a week at a time, on 1 virtue, making it a habit. Is it possible? Here, I give you the 13 virtues;
Temperance
"Dont eat or drink too much"
Silence
"Speak only for good purpose"
Order
"Let all your things have their places"
Resolution
"Resolve to perform what you ought"
Frugality
"Waste nothing"
Industry
"Always be employed in something useful"
Sincerity
"Use no hurtful deceit"
Justice
"Don't do wrong by anyone"
Moderation
"Avoid extremes, forebear resenting injuries"
Cleanliness
"Keep your body home and clothes clean
Tranquility
"Don't be disturbed by trifles"
Chastity
"Take intimacy seriously"
Humility
"Imitate Jesus and Socrates"

American Style

Take Ivy  (the precise source for traditional American Style) which I originally thought was more urban myth due to it's scarcity, will be reprinted for the first time in 45 years with an English language text.
Drool.

My Rules To Make Your Pad Beautiful

• Do not use more than two pairs of anything in a room.
• Do not decorate with an item if you are afraid of sitting on it, touching it, or breaking it~just get rid of it.
• Always group things in odd numbers (there are very few exceptions).
• You never really know the visual impact of a mirror until you actually hang it.
• Beige is beautiful in sunlight but dies in the dark or night lightscape.
• Never paint a whole room until you have lived with a big sample board of at least three paint choices for 24 hours.
• Pick your paint colors last.

U.S. Hotels Architects & Designers: architecturaldigest.com

Art History Series VII

20th Century

I  The first period in 20th Century Art focuses on technology. The invention of photography freed the artist. Jazz became an important representation of improvisation. There was so much change that people had to redefine who and what they were.

Cubist artists were the first to represent volume by visual means. No more shadows to show depth.

The City Fernand Leger

Stables

The George Washington Bridge represents the symbol of our civilization.

The mechanised world is represented by the Futurist Movement.

The Bride Marcel Duchamp

Abstractism art draws away from or better yet separates from the peice as a whole. The artist analyzes and simplifies. It represents a break-up of the traditional view of the world.

Violins & Grapes Picasso

The theme in abstract art is to "reduce and simplify".

Red Yellow & Blue Mondrian

In architecture, Le Corbusier uses this method.

II  Expressionism and the modern self.

There was a prevalence of mechanisation influence. Our art of this period holds up a mirror to our values.

Wheelman Ernest Trova

Electronic music appeared on the music scene. It represents the manipulation of material. Assembly lines produced our goods. There was a reaction of disdainfulness of the human condition.

I and the village Marc Chagall

There appears a distortion and abstraction of the real. Interpretation of the physical world is retold without limitations in the art world.

One Number 31 Jackson Pollock

chance happenings captured in artwork

The King Playing With The Queen Max Ernst

Fur covered Cup and Saucer Oppenheim

Roy Lichtenstein

The Persistence of Memory Salvador Dali

Christina's World Andrew Wyeth

Master's Bedroom Andrew Wyeth

Mama Yves Tanguy

The Kiss Klimnt

Marilyn Warhol