People Made Of Glass

Tim seemed to have it all.

He was a trainer at a chic gym. His girlfriend was gorgeous. He lived in a two-bedroom apartment in New York. Plus, he got to have me as a neighbor.

Many times we would connect on our rooftop, usually when there were fireworks bursting over the Hudson River, which happened surprisingly often throughout the year. We would talk about the weather, he would give me some pointers about working out or we would gossip about our mutual neighbors.

The conversations never got too deep, but his laid-back attitude made these interactions more than enjoyable.

Tim was a couple of years my senior and appeared to have his life "together". Because my life was frequently not "together" I was mildly jealous of him.

Because our interactions were irregular, I didn't notice when seeing him became less frequent. At a certain point I think I assumed that he had moved out and I had not been aware...casual relationships dissolve in the blink of an eye in the city.

One afternoon I heard some commotion outside my front door. I looked through the peephole and saw that there were some cops congregating in the hallway. While I would have loved to be anonymously voyeuristic, I abandoned the peephole in favor of getting dressed for work.

Fifteen minutes later when I opened my front door I was greeted by the sight of Tim strapped to a gurney and being transported down seven flights of stairs. Even if I had wanted to inquire to the nature of the situation, the batallion of E.M.T.s and police officers would have thwarted me.

A couple of days later I came across Kevin, a neighbor at the other end of the hall.

"So, did you hear what happened to Tim?" he asked.

Kevin proceeded to inform me that Tim's girlfriend had moved out a few months prior, he had returned to some heavy drug use after years of being clean. Eventually the situation devolved into Tim slashing his wrists. Thankfully, help came in time to save his life, but he was going to be hospitalized for quite a while.

Many months after the attempted suicide I came across Tim in the hallway. Needless to say it was going to be an awkward interaction.

In a perfect world Tim would have had a life-changing epiphany following his attempt to kill himself. Sadly it became apparent to me that Tim was strung out on some kind of drug. His once robust physique was gone. The wounds on his wrists were healed, but still obvious.

He asked if I could spare twenty dollars so that he could take a train to Long Island. I gladly obliged as it would mean a quick end to the interaction.

Maybe a week later we had another hallway encounter. He asked for money once more. Sensing that I was being taken for a ride, I lied and said I had none to spare.

Not too much later a sherriff appeared outside his apartment and slapped some sort of eviction notice on the door.

I never saw Tim after that, but I frequently think about the fragileness of our day-to-day existence because of my encounters with him. What appears strong on the outside may also have a core of weakness that can be debilitating if released.

Obligatory Weather Post

We used to have an old saying in the Midwest..."If you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes it'll change."

Of course they used to say this in Florida and New Hampshire and Montana and...okay they say this everywhere and it is probably true everywhere. It has definitely been true in The New York City this weekend. It literally has reverted back and forth from clear-blue sky to torential rain at least four times today.

This situation just drives me crazy. While I don't exactly look forward to rainy days, they don't trip me up too much....What does throw me for a loop is when it goes from sunny to cloudy or vice versa. I guess I like having one outlook per day, having it influence my mood and then sticking with it.

Getting Real Real

In all honesty I have not been a big Thomas L. Friedman fan the past few years. Probably it was due to him beating that "world is flat" metaphor to death.

But today's Op-Ed brings him back to the forefront of editorial awesomeness. The sole reason is that it is brutally honest.

This country is facing an economic and social crisis. The longer we put off the unpleasant, yet necessary, solutions the tougher those solutions will be to implement and endure.

When we celebrate Independence Day this Friday, will we have the strength to look deep inside our collective citizenhood and commit to making some sacrifice to get this nation back on track, or will we remain mute and powerless to the future.

"Gainin' On 'Ya!"

As with most things, George Clinton was 30 years ahead of his time in prophesizing a Black President.

Let's hope the Obama reign is half as fun-kay as Bootsy Collins' bassline.

Help Save Controversy

Unfortunately I will be unable to comment on the Marc Jacobs Rebel Pride T-shirt until the beatings cease. That is, until I stop beating up the tools that buy this dangerous corporate rebellion.

Dirty Is Back

Happy (hopefully) Perversion Day!

Viva La Negative Space

For some reason all the youtube videos I have posted are showing up as blank spaces. Instead of watching the images, I suggest we all just quietly meditate and imagine what pictures could be on view.

Remembrances Of Things Past-ish

A curious reader stimulates my insight regarding random ideas:

Describe the 90's with a color...

Originally I thought there would be two responses, one cultural and one personal. After careful examination of the data it turns out the color that describes the 90's is Silver.

On the personal side, silver is represented in my desire to get my hair that color. My colorist could never acheive the shimmery shade I wanted. Instead I had to find other ways to grow into my individuality...to learn how to make "statements" that broke me out of my introverted self.

Culturally, silver says "Space Age" and the 90's were a time when people began to believe in the future again. Primarily this is to due to the increased access to the internet. But also, technology as a whole became more prevalent in people's day-to-day lives.

Shout Out: Vidal Sassoon

Unfortunately, a lot of people associate the name Vidal Sassoon with shampoos available at the local Walgreen's.

It is important to remember that he also destroyed the hairstyling world in the way-back with his revolutionary asymetrical cuts. Styles were simple and streamlined and anticipated a clean and radical future.

A Further Widening Of The Mind

Had to shag my ravishingly beautiful ass out to Bayonne New Jersey for a soiree last night...what I won't do to be social.

Now, as everyone knows I am a totally Manhattan-centric. Rarely do I leave the island and to say that it is the center of the universe still undersells it's importance.

Nonetheless it has come to my attention that there is life outside of my city. I witnessed this first-hand on this visit to the Garden State.

Mr. Tim's party had some very interesting down-to-earth attendees. There was delicious food prepared from scratch in a kitchen that at least eight adults could stand in.

All in all a great evening despite being surrounded by drunken thirty-year-olds on the PATH train home.

The Winner...

...of the best ironic cover image for an album of dancehall versions of 1980s hits. Available along with a buttload of other gorgeous music, books and clothing at the Turntable Lab Annex.

Yellow Magic Orchestra Tightens Up For Don Cornelius

Holy Sh*t! Yellow Magic Orchestra serves up their version of the Archie Bell and The Drells classic "Tighten Up"...on Soul Train no less.

Although the song is fantastic, stick around for the interview with Don Cornelius. They shout out Kraftwerk, New Wave and Soul Music.

Ouch!...1980 was on fire y'all.

It Is Summer...Bring The Yellow

Galliano still delivers pretty things at Chrissy's House

Out In Front

In the Public Relations racket there is an approach called "getting out in front of a story". Basically, instead of having a scandal revealed and responding defensively, you reveal the tawdry information and can therefore influence how it is perceived. The scandalized is in control instead of being dominated by the story.

The other day I had to employ this approach. I had made a completely stupid and embarassing mistake with someone I report to. Instead of having them potentially reveal my momentary lack of sanity, I called everyone of any import and told them the story about how I acted retardedly.

In doing so I avoided looking like a fool by un-self-consciously revealing my foolishness.

Giving The Talent

Shout to KAWS for his aesthetic editorialization of the July issue of i-D magazine. The look is great and the completeness of his input is fantastic.

...And Now A Word From Our Sponsor

I can't imagine a time before European Styling Foam. Thank you Alberto

My Neighborhood

Around the corner on Bleecker Street. As a wee lad I never imagined I'd live this close to a Picasso.

Wicked!

There is no doubt that Gareth Pugh is delivering what absolutely everyone should be wearing this l'automne

The influence of Wizard of Oz will never lose it's strength.

Dance With The Lords

If you are an Artiste that works in the medium of video, why don't you go ahead and just give up. Submit this visual awesomeness to your gallerypimp and just call it a day.

Stiv Bators envisioned everything you want to accomplish years ago, so lets all just sit back and enjoy.

It's Not Where You're From It's Where You're At

If you want to know where United States-ian politics is at right now, you have to read this New Yorker article by journalist George Packer.

My archnemesis Ronald Reagan popularized the phrase "It's Morning in America"...but now, with the eventual death of conservative movement, it truly does feel like the country is about to be reborn.

Ete d'amour 2008

The Parisian masterminds behind the revered "Respect Is Burning are going to turn up the heat in the New York with Thursday night parties this summer. Santos Party House will earn it's status as THE place to be.

Get ready to fall in love, New York.

Ab-sense

Been quite a spell since I posted anything...Probably due to a combination of laziness, a flurry of social activity, and the planet Mercury being retrograde and causing chaos.