Research & Development

There's a great article in last Sunday's Home Design supplement about Design Research, the influential "lifestyle" retailer that I've been obsessed with for years. Mention of an upcoming Marimekko exhibit at the Bard Graduate Center means I need to get back to New York--stat (well, that's not the only reason). How is it that the Bard Graduate Center is so fucking cool? They did a Finnish design show about five years ago that knocked my socks off (mainly because I adored the Marimekko lecture). If one attends BGC can you like just get a Master's in Marimekko? Because I could reconsider my ban on grad school...

That Must Have Happened While I Was Away

It's been a week, and I'm still all, "Wow, you can put toilet paper in the toilet and flush it? And it works? Whoa," which I probably have another few days of, and then I'll just be one of those really affected annoying traveler types who, when a waiter gets ready to fill her glass with water, says "None for me!" and then, "Oh, I'm sorry. I was just in India, and, as you may or may not know, you cannot drink the tap water in India. Would you like to hear about the time I was in India and I got a naked massage?"

So I'm slowly adjusting to all the People-worthy news that I missed while away, and Chris Eigeman is on Gilmore Girls, which is like double coupon day for me. And my KC homegirl Sarah opened a shoe store in DC, Sassanova, which is going to be the Best Store Ever, because I named it (oh, and because Sarah has fantastic taste and maybe will outfit Condi Rice in some pink pointy-toed shoes). And Ryan Adams has snared Parker Posey, which is a coup for him, no doubt, but Parker, I love you, so I say this as a friend: When you sleep with someone, you sleep with everyone else he's ever slept with. Ergo, you are sleeping with Winona Ryder. And that is just plain grody.

Another chapter of my future bestseller, Ways To Turn Women Off From You Totally and Completely Forever will likely be about email etiquette. "I'm drunk. You should call me." does not an alluring email make. Take it from me.

And Then What Happened?

Oh little Bravermundo, I've been neglecting you.

Where were we? I left Mumbai with little drama (and yes, I was very kind to all airport security types), then flew to Zurich (and actually slept on the plane, a first). Zurich was a big duty-free party--YSL mascara! Hermes Twilly scarf! Maltesers for everyone! It was 6:45am and I was un peu excitable. Zurich to Chicago was sort of tedious, because, while the Zurich airport will totally house you on Swatch watches and cowbells, they have very little in the way of reading material, and I was almost through with Brick Lane. I bought British Cosmo (Cosmo in all its international editions somehow became the sponsor of the last week of my trip, which makes me feel very...dirty) and British Elle and figured I'd be fine, and then I looked at my watch in mid-air and realized I had another five hours. Chicago brought me a visit from the ever-elusive Little Sister, which was full of snuggling and pressies for all (she brought me the new Death Cab!) and then I arrived back in the MO, and now I suffer from PTSD (post-trip sadness disorder).

Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Who wants to meet me in Chennai next March for this?