Category: Dear Dad

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Be Prepared… even Dad’s are asked about Fashion

even Dad's are asked about fashion.... 

Every once in a while… and it doesn’t happen very often … Dad’s may be asked to make a fashion recommendation. Be afraid…. be very afraid. Any comment like, ‘whatever’ or ” ask your mom, I don’t have any idea about this sort of stuff’ will land you perminantly in the pit of loneliness and isolation. 

View this as an opportunity to express yourself… even if you are wrong.. the women in your life will love you for it… there is no down side here…. except, love and admiration doesn’t come cheap. Now is the time to make your move … there are many sales going on and what woman doesn’t love a sale? How do I know this? Aaaaah, I do read style.com.

The payoff is the ‘fashonistas’ at Style.com let you know when the designer ‘stuff’ goes 65% off (more or less) at the major retailers. This is very important for dad’s who are used to paying $15 for a three pack of their own boxers. 

For example, the “Giorgio Armani Embroidered Jacquard Pumps” that I have pictured above were $575.00 at Neiman Marcus… now $288.00. Now, I do also like the red dress by Michael Kors  ( actually I like most of his ‘stuff’… and it comes in Black also)… was $1095.00 and now is only $383.00 at Bergdorf Goodman.   

Getting advice from NigelWith a wife and three daughters, it’s nice when I can play their ‘Nigel’ and obtain a smile ( Nigel was the fashion guru who advised the main character in the Devil wore Prada).

Roger Freberg

PS. Karen loved the shoes and bought a pair… but everyone loved hearing about the sales.

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the Need for Privacy

Gate leading from Inner courtyard to the 'neighborhood.'One of the problems in today’s architectural plans for residential communities and business environments is the disregard for the occasional need for individual privacy.

Webster defines Privacy thusly:
 
1 a : the quality or state of being apart from company or observation : SECLUSION

1 b : freedom from unauthorized intrusion 

 2 — archaic : a place of seclusion

3  — a private matter   

The important aspects of the definition — to me — are: ” a place of seclusion” and “freedom from … intrusion” 
 
Designs proliferate making workplaces more and more ‘Dilbert-Like’. Other efforts requiring ‘porches’ for homes to aid in positive social interactions with neighbors are misguided at best. Obviously some companies have recognized the shortcomings of the past and have attempted to address the need for ‘quiet’… such as Google. Although they haven’t escaped their “Dilbert’ foundation, they are taking many steps in the right direction as a relatively comfortable place to work.

Although America may never — hopefully — evolve back into the surrounded homes with the inner courtyards that are so common elsewhere in the world, the need for privacy… if not safety… becomes an area of developing interest. Companies are just falling all over themselves trying to sell you industrial or home security devices. Although ‘security’ is certainly an issue in our modern world… ‘privacy’ is what it’s really all about.

Now, a locked gate may not keep out emergency staff (they’ll just go through your fence), the police (same tactic as mentioned earlier) or the more accomplished intruder, but it does make the traveling sales person pause as well as the unwelcomed visitor. Now, here is a little advice… if you do put up a gate… do not add a bell or intercom or you’ve defeated the purpose of having a gate in the first place. The idea is to lock it… when you want to enjoy some peace and quiet.

It is amazing how taking a few small steps can make your world seem a lot more restful… a locked gate and an an unlisted phone number are two big steps… then sit back and enjoy your Sunday newspaper.

Roger Freberg

PS. Just the other day, dressed in my morning bathrobe, I looked out my window and saw a saleman at the front gate who was frantically trying to get my attention… I stopped… waved… and sat down in my big comfortable chair and thoroughly enjoyed my morning cup of coffee.

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Love in the OOOOO’s… it never really changes

Do I know You? Were YOU the one that gave me this?

 

There’s a fun movie… an old one (1935)… that has been a family favorite around here for … well.. a very long time.

It is based on the light opera the ‘Merry Widow’ and stars in the film adaptation with Jannette MacDonald as the ‘widow’ and Maurice Chevalier as ‘the lover’.

The story is an old one… and forgetting about the overall plot for a moment … it really addresses the question… can a career playboy really settle down?

In the movies… yes… in real life… no.

However, it is worth the watch as it will make you smile. The Merry Widow actually won an Oscar… which is surprising given the fact that most Oscar winning movies have fallen into the dust bin of time. The humor is priceless… here the king is worried about a revolution:

King Achmet: So they’re blaming me, huh?
Valet: For everything. They’re even telling jokes about your majesty.
King Achmet: Are they funny?
Valet: No.
King Achmet: That’s bad.

Some may find this movie to be less real in the world of today… Even in  Britney & Paris‘s circles … and in the wake of the partying McKinney High school cheerleaders… redemption, love and marriage are not totally lost or forgotten…. possibly… just hibernating.

Besides, if a lasting relationship is what you want… Love and marriage is as strong and durable as any two people wish to make it.

One of the best researchers into relationships is John Gottman of the University of Washington… the last I heard he was interested in how successful relationships maintain themselves… as opposed to just reparing those that break up. You can read more here.

Roger Freberg

 

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There’s a little “Devil wears Prada” in all of us!

Recently, I confessed one of my most private secrets… that I have always enjoyed “Pride & Prejudice” in the original and in all of it’s various and glorious forms. However, I have done something that some of my biker buddies might find amusing….

the devil and her assistant... make that... 2nd assistantI enjoyed the movie “the Devil Wears Prada”. Now, my daughters and my wife shot out and watched it the first day it came out in the theaters… and I — only reluctantly — viewed it after it came out on DVD… and only after it had dropped in price. Hey, but I loved it…. and I have watched it… well.. more times than I would like to admit.

Why did I enjoy a movie that so clearly appeals to women?

Because — although it is about fashion and the fashion industry — it is really speaks to how many businesses are run… and a lot about the people who run them. I think most people have worked for a goal obsessed, career dominated and self absorbed boss. These are not ‘people persons’… but they are useful people none-the-less… they keep America running.

So — for me — this movie began a journey that helped reduce the gap in my mind from the world I live in… and the world that the fashion industry serves…. and in some sense… manages. I did a little background work on the folks who are allegedly portrayed Anna Wintour and Chanelin the movie… Anna Wintour the very successful executive editor of Vogue Magazine and Lauren Weisberger who wrote the original “Devil Wears Prada”.

By the way, Lauren has written a second book I plan to get my hands on called “Everyone Worth Knowing” about the public relations industry in New York. From what I have read so far… whew!… Lauren skewers this industry a bit as well…. actually, I think the movie DWP was very kind and supportive of the fashion industry compared to the book.

In any event, check out the Vogue site… style.com and see if you find an appreciation as I did for the ‘clackers.’

Roger Freberg

PS… Unlike the Pope, I can’t by Prada… their men’s shoes on-line go only to size 9 or so… what can I say… Italians must have small feet?