Addendum to Roses and Romance
Although Valentine’s Day is still a few weeks away, I’m hopping on cupid’s bandwagon because in today’s culture of texting and tweeting, some guys apparently need a wake-up call when it comes to romance. A recent lead story in the New York Times decried The End of Courtship, and the details were truly disheartening. (We touched on this trend in Flirting.) Apparently Millennial girls are drowning in a tsunami of boys with bad manners. The story opens with a social media manager in Philly, who thought she had a date for Friday night. The guy finally texted her at 10:30 p.m., with this...
Read MoreRoses and Romance
When I spied this luscious bouquet, it stopped me in my tracks. I couldn’t help but wonder if the gentleman who bestowed this on his sweetheart longed to give her live roses, but this hankie was all he could afford. That speculation immediately brought to mind the terrific anecdote about how actress Helen Hayes first met her husband. (Hayes is one of the select few to have attained EGOT status – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony.) Attending a swanky soiree one evening, bored to tears, Hayes was contemplating how to gracefully exit, when she was suddenly approached by the man who would...
Read MorePucker Up
Hunters have known for decades that a red handkerchief can literally save your life. Conversely, a white handkerchief could spell your doom. When spotted from a distance, a fluttering white hankie can be mistaken for a deer’s tail, and a hunter dressed in camouflage, stifling a sniffle, may find himself the target of an eager bullet. The wise hunter always carries red. A hunter of “big game” of another sort – her trophies included Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Clark Gable, and Pepsi CEO Alfred Steele – was Oscar winner Joan Crawford. Legend has it that Ms. Crawford is responsible for...
Read MoreHost of Heavenly Angels
When I mentioned in Wabi-Sabi Love that I collect tin cans, I was only partially joking. In fact, I have a heavenly host of angels fashioned from tin cans. “You can become what you want. You have an army of angels behind you.” Sue Fitzmaurice Now, seven decades after their creation, most are beginning to resemble their origins as containers for soup, green beans, and the like. Originally fashioned from a simple pattern taken from a 1945 newspaper, they consist of two simple pieces – body and wings. (Interestingly, some things never change. The copy on the reverse includes daily...
Read MoreThe Accidental Collector
The reasons for collecting are as varied as the collectors themselves. Some folks are accidental collectors – they inherited Aunt Ruthie’s depression glass or Uncle Bill’s antique pen collection. For others, a hobby becomes a passion. I know an executive with a museum quality collection of toy soldiers. “My collecting” he explained, “was accidental. I was sick as a child, and had to entertain myself while spending months in bed.” He used to keep his soldiers in shoeboxes under his bed. They now occupy an entire wall of custom built glass shelves in his office. He has hundreds of...
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