long time, no shoes

The other day, I've did something I haven't done since I was a teenager...I bought a pair of black shoes. Yes, believe it or not, black shoes.

Many years ago, I won a free color consultation at a bridal fair. Remember the color seasons? Well yes, the color suggestions worked for me. I cleaned out my closets, no more black or stark-raving white. The color guide simplified shopping for clothes, everything in my wardrobe mixed and matched. The only piece of clothing that I kept that did not fit in my colors was my favorite black lace cocktail dress and a pair of black pumps.

In fact, a few years after the consultation I wore it to a black and white wedding. In a photo of the bride and me, I looked washed out and about ten years older. I never wore that dress again.

It's amazing how the fashion industry has people convinced that black is a neutral and anyone can wear it. For fair people with light hair and eyes, black is a real killer. In fact, for most people over 20 and under 90, black adds at least ten years.

However, the other thing that I cannot understand is the propensity of black clothing for children. Especially at the holidays. Sometimes it is really difficult to find a pretty holiday dress for a little girl that is not black.

Anyway, I bought the black pumps for work and they are very comfortable. And they really do look more like a dark charcoal...really.

just had to get it right

It's been a while since writing here...After the hectic round of seminars in Del Mar, we returned to a hectic pace of economics classes. Somehow I got behind in the reading assignments and needed to read two chapters a day last week just to catch up.

The professor is amazing, class time flies by and is really enjoyable. However, accounting is next. Most of my classmates are dreading statistics, but I dread accounting. Corporate accounting is the most mixed-up, fouled nest of screwball numbers I have ever seen. It's no wonder all of these crazy companies got away with bilking their shareholders and customers for so long. It really makes you wonder what other companies are also practicing bird's nest accounting.

A long time ago, a very wise person told me to read corporation's annual reports. Before the Interwebs, one could write a company and request a copy. Now they are posted online, and they seem to fall into one of three categories. First, the semi-honest firms that actually publish reliable information to the best of their knowledge. Second, those that skim over the meaty bits and expend a lot of effort to make their shareholders feel good. The third, and worst, are those companies that don't waste time trying to paint a pretty picture, but instead include so much information that it is nearly impossible to separate the worthless minutia and red herrings from the meaningful, and possibly inaccurate data.

Back to the other reason I've been lax about posting, and a really good one, each of the Executive MBA candidates gets a new Dell notebook, which we received last Saturday. It's taken the best part of a week to get all of the programs set up the way I like (I'm still messing with Outlook's custom settings).

And I'm still trying to decide how to give it a steampunk skin. I may have to invest in some of that printable self-adhesive vinyl. Ohh, though how nice it is to have a portable machine powerful enough to run PhotoShop!

So between loading new programs and tweeking the machine settings, it now feels right. And it is so much more efficient. Maybe that means more time to write. Ciao!

revisiting age

When did they start cloning Dougie Howser? We spent most of the morning at urgent care, and the doctor, though competent, looked like he should have been cutting class and surfing with his high school pals. Whew, I'm feelin' old.

the last official week of summer

This last week of summer has gone by fast. I spent five days in Del Mar at a residential seminar that was the official kick off for my MBA program. It was a week well-spent. We had a taste of some of the upcoming topics and met some of the professors who will attempt to enlighten us over the next 21 months. The week ended with dinner at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which was a really fun way to wrap up the seminar. However, I do have two papers due, and although one is practically done, I'm having a little trouble deciding on a final topic for the second.

Del Mar, though, is a great place for people watching. There seems to be an unending supply of rail thin bimbos of all ages tottering down the boulevard in too-tall heels. By the looks of their designer costumes, they all seem to think that "Sex in the City" was based on real life. Some of them seem to have figured out the fiction, you can recognize them by the look of vapid disappointment on their faces. Or perhaps they've realized what the Eagles had to say in "Lyin' Eyes" is painfully close to the truth.

If you can peel your gaze away from the bimbo parade, you'll see an assortment of characters that you can find in almost any town. There is the young panhandler who tells a good story about missing a bus and needing money to fix a flat bike tire to everyone he meets. Then there are the artistic types who believe that they have painted a truly original ocean scape, only it's just like the hundreds hanging in beach town galleries all over the world. Don't miss the older health nut in her yoga pants who ties her poor dog to a bench in the sun while she goes into Starbuck's by the side door. Give the pooch some water for grief's sake! And lastly, there is the young mother who leaves her toddler lunching on a bagel with her Hispanic nanny so that she can pop into all of the chic boutiques without the distraction of a busy little child.

Thankfully, DH and DD came and spent the last couple of days at the hotel with me. Perhaps we became fodder for someone else's blogged musings?

Well, I'm off to finalize a topic for paper #2.