What do you blog about on your 45th birthday?

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This.

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Still rolling after all these years: the Kosta Boda snowball

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The Kosta Boda snowball: the classiest affordable gift of the 80's, born in 1973 FOR THE BENEFIT of those D ownunder: last month  was Thanksgiving, the day when 'mericans down tools and celebrate the "the blessing of the harvest and the preceding year," according to Wikipedia . It's more like the blessing of the buffet, and generally not a day to bear gifts except for oneself, what with stores now opening on the actual day of thanks...is nothing sacred?  As an advertising/marketing pundit I use retail therapy to keep abreast of product design and retailing strategies (ok that's my excuse). My destination? The  TJ Maxx outlet in Wilton, Connecticut, where I'm visiting for the holiday.  Today it was empty. One explanation:  TJ's  merchandise is always on sale, so there's no real reason to make a beeline for it on  Black Friday.  "You're the first customer to acknowledge that," said the bored attendant at the jewelry...
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HAWAII: Saying goodbye to my postage-stamp sized piece of Hawaii

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Dec 2014:  University of Hawaii Forestry Professor JB Friday helps me  nip an invasive albezia tree in the bud  UPDATE: December 2024: The end of an era.  I no longer own my sliver of fern-covered lava in Hawaii. It's been 18 years since I signed on the dotted line with a vague dream of following the flip-flops of my friend Ann Kobsa, whose 99.9% sustainable life in the Big Island was the initial inspiration to take the plunge (scroll way down for the lowdown on that).  But here I am, clearly a city mouse, because the closest I ever got to moving there was... well, talking about it. But, over the years, it gave me a wonderful excuse to visit IMO "the best place in America," where the sun and rain are free, where you can technically live under a tarp year round... the closest you can get to "true survival." Who doesn't secretly romance being off the grid?  Over the years the cost of holding onto this 8429 sqft,  pizza-slice-shaped lot land rose...
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Baring my fake Loubs: How to spot a pair of counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes

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These shoes are made for exploiting ... thanks for ABC News for this terrific shot of a man with a mission. THE BIG news story of the day was not the GFC or the horrors in Syria, but the seizure of 20,000 pairs of fake Christian Louboutin (loo-boo-tan) shoes. In this  ABC News story you can see footage of a surly blue uniformed LA customs official handling a pair of screaming pink 6" heel pumps with rubber gloves and pronouncing them fit for the bonfire. I Googled "spot fake Louboutin" and watched a bunch of hastily-shot home videos and blog posts laboriously pointing out the differences between the real deal and the counterfeit.  So I thought I'd add my own to the mix. Because ... Note the ridges on the soles of these fakes - actually quite thoughtful, as stepping onto carpet in the real thing is akin to ice skating.  ... I own a pair of fake Louboutins! (I think). Now, I didn't set out to support fakesters. But I spotted a pair of ridiculous...
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