The Simple Solution: Merry Christmas!

I think this image speaks for itself.

Abre Los Ojos

The House I Lived In Before My First Birthday

Yes, this is Ridgewood, NJ... but I was conceived in Vienna, near the brilliant blue waters of the Danube River.

The Perfect Fit

A few days ago on the 10th floor of Lord and Taylor I put a pair of these short boots on my feet. I didn't want to, they aren't really what I would call "my style"... as though I had a style I could call my own... my current clothing choices add up to more of an aesthetic whole that would be best described as "avoiding the necessary time and effort and money needed to acquire an actual style". Anyway... I put these shoes on, and they fit me like the knowing and comforting embrace of a lover who knows how to be with you and yet simultaneously give you your own space. Even if you don't have the money to purchase a pair of these (as I do not), I highly recommend that you try them on. I'll see you on the 10th floor.

-Addendum: 12/8/07 I purchased a pair of Kenneth Cole shoes similar to these, and they are quite comfy and stylish and I am very happy with them. A few years down the road, perhaps I will then heed the siren call of the Bruno Magli... but not now, not today.

The Farm

My younger brother, Wesley, just celebrated Thanksgiving at the Family Farm in central Wyoming. He was joined by our older brother, EC, and his wife, Ardis, and their kids; Walker, Hannah, Evan, Tyler. This is one of the pictures they sent to me, which is so lovely that it actually makes me miss the natural world just a bit as I live out my compacted&contracted life here in this rapacious concrete jungle.

{For those of you still confused by that Alanis Morissette song, here is an elegantly straightforward example of irony: Wesley is currently working for a huge multi-national corporation, helping them to rape the natural world for its precious minerals and oils and gasses... his reason for doing this, of course, is so that he can afford to go to grad school and become a high ranking Forest Ranger & Preservationist.}

Getting Over a Cold

So, I have had this nasty congestion thing for about a week now. It's been rather obnoxious, since it has deprived me of my voice for the last three days, and without a voice I'm not much use to anybody. But I did stay home from work yesterday and compiled 5 CD's worth of Christmas music for my store, and that is no small achievement. I stole all of it off the Internet, and was pleased to find a wealth of music that is not typical holiday fare... and I tossed in most of Sufjan Stevens Christmas compilation from last year for good measure. I've got Bing Crosby, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, The Ronettes, Darlene Love, Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, Nat King Cole, Shane MacGowan and the Pogues, Dion, U2, Mariah Carey, Death Cab for Cutie, the Crystals, Marlene Dietrich, and Mahalia Jackson. I hope the undergrads of Columbia can handle it.... 

Welcome.

I don't have a newborn baby, or a fancy new house, or really any aspect of a life worth sharing with others, but I thought I might start a blog anyway. It seems to be what one is supposed to do these days. I don't really have time for it... so it won't be updated often, nor will it be much good. But here it is, for what it is worth.