Category: Popular Culture

Last Week We Savaged “Fashion.” Let’s Move on to “Dressing Up.”

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Dressing Up to Send Message

Last week we had some fun at the expense of the fashion industry. Most of us seemed to agree -the fashion industry may not represent civilization’s best.

So, let’s take another step. Since we have decided to forego fashion’s extremes, when might we want to dress with a bit more than usual care? There are some important reasons for doing so, and fashion has nothing to do with it.

Dress Code? We Don’t Need No Stinking Dress Code! Or Do We?

I am fortunate enough to live in a great area in which casual is the universal uniform of the day.

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It’s a Grab Bag Blog Today! Something for Everyone

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Enjoy a Collection of Assorted News, Human Interest, and Other Tidbits. Part of our Hey, Look at That! Series.

Today I am pleased to share an assortment of articles and information that I have come across. I found them fascinating. Sometimes fun, sometimes infuriating, but consistently good to know. This like going through your garage to organize a yard sale. I found some items to share.

I am constantly collecting bits of information and entertainment. Every once in a while, its’ time to share a few. Today is such a day.

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Clearly, I Need Fashion Help

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The Fashion Industry is a Major Financial and Publicity Phenomenon. Why?

Thinking About Fashion

The fashion industry and its satellites have been exceptionally visible of late. It is that time of year wherein Fashion Week takes place in key centers. We lived in Paris and New York; we saw how big a deal these events are for those in and admiring of the fashion bubble.

The passing of Karl Lagerfeld, a legend in the business, also generated a lot of commentary of late. I don’t know much about Lagerfeld or his work.

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Accountability, Atonement, and Forgiveness: The Search is On

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Some Important, Long Standing Wrongs Are Getting Justice. Can We Get This Right?

Some Days It Is Hard to Look in the Mirror, America

This is a blog posting I was not keen on writing. So much is at play around issues involving racism and sexual misconduct. Nothing seems easy to address. A lot of wrongs got a pass for way too long from way too many people. Too many of us live in blissful ignorance of what it is like to be a woman in Hollywood or a black man walking down a street.

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Are We Actually THAT Shortsighted and Selfish?

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Our choices for transportation don’t say much for us

American automotive firms are pretty much getting out of the car business. They are going almost exclusively to trucks and SUVs. They are leaving the automobile market to foreign companies.

One cannot blame them for this – they are going where the market tells them. You and I pretty much determine what General Motors, et al manufacture.

People have gone in this direction on a large scale because gasoline is a bit cheaper these days. Gas is not costly; so, gas mileage is not much of a factor for many of us anymore.

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Happy Birthday! Who Says So?!

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Are We Commemorating These Things Correctly? Perhaps Not.

 

Like a great number of people, I am marking a birthday this month. (Time now for the obligatory What? Again? Already? comment). As such passages do, this one has caused me to reflect a bit on birthdays; what they mean, and what we do with them. Let’s take a brief look.

About Birthdays

First of all, it is a bit odd when you think about it that most such events congratulate the person who was born. While our day of birth is important to us each and all,

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I Would Like to Have Your Eulogy Now, Please

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Let’s Stop Saying “I never knew that!” About Someone We Just Lost

I do not wish to dampen anyone’s holiday spirits today but know that we are about to reflect on the loss of those close to us. But take heart! This is actually an upbeat discussion. You will like where we are at the end of this posting.

We recently had the bitter-sweet experience in a memorial service for an old friend. Bitter, of course, because of the loss. Sweet for all the wonderful, funny recollections brought forth. This was typical of such Unitarian Universalists gatherings.

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Tipping Points: Science, Surprise, and Power

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There is a phenomenon in both the physical sciences and in human interaction known as the tipping point. In common language, such a thing may be referred to as “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” a “point of no return,” or “the last straw.”

That such things exist, in nature and in human society, is widely recognized. It is often easy to see exactly where that point was in post event analysis. Ah, but seeing it as it comes over the horizon – that is much harder. Discerning the tipping point is a fascinating process.

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In Praise of Preparation

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A Plea for Getting it Right the First Time

 

Four Tales of Woe

I have had occasion over the last few days to attend two ceremonies and two meetings. Two involved ceremonial candle lightings. One required mounting a plaque The fourth entailed showing slides from a computer.

Four very different activities. All four failed to execute in small but unfortunate ways. The organizers for each were likely a bit embarrassed. This posting is not to embarrass anyone further (some involved in one or more of these events may read this blog).

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So, Here’s The Thing About Loyalty…

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Some leaders and followers have it backwards.

 

Leadership and Loyalty

The study of leadership has been a life-long passion of mine. I have watched it in terrible crucibles and in beautiful opportunities. I have strived to practice what I have learned. There are, of course, many types of leaders. But about loyalty, there seems to be only two mindsets from which leaders may choose.

Loyalty is an important quality within an organization and among its members. In military organizations, it is often a matter of life and death. But even in less dangerous environments,

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