Friday Finds

If you've been looking for a reason to buy into the Stripey Straw fad, the holidays present a great opportunity to add some fun to your drinks.
A digital calendar just doesn't have the panache that a desk calendar has. I've been searching for the perfect one for 2012 and I think this one is it.
I first loved Esquivel for their men's shoes, but they have stolen my heart once more with their women's shoes. These are so playful and feminine.

"Consequential Strangers"

I started reading this book about the people around us who we often take for granted. Author, Karen Fingerman, refers to these people as "consequential strangers." Lately, I've been seeking those around me--eager to find out their story. In the past week, I have met someone who works in marketing for Expedia, an art dealer, an undergrad/ex-Israeli solder, a journalist, and a finance guru. I would not have known the interesting stories that surround me on a daily basis unless I had taken the time to stop, observe, and ask their story.

This past weekend, I offered to go to the Top of the Rock with a tourist I had met at a bar the night before. It was his second time to New York, and knowing he had planned to go alone, I offered to join him. We spent a good two hours overlooking all of Manhattan and talking about everything from philosophy to hipsters. As it turned out, we had a lot in common. I walked away not knowing if we would ever see eachother again, but smiling. I seized a moment and turned a consequential stranger into a consequential friend. Four days later, he already owes me a drink the next time I'm in London.

I encourage you to notice those that surround you. They are a part of your daily routine, whether they are taking the same train with you every morning, packaging your meat in the deli, or delivering your mail. Sometimes they are the guy visiting your local bar, or the girl reading your favorite book on the subway.

Saying "I Do" & Doing It

The other night I was out with friends and by the end of the night we had made friends with those around us. After chatting for a bit about how we all found ourselves to be in New York it came out that this particular guy was married. My friend and I glanced at his hand, and looked confused to find no ring.

Turns out, this man had been with the same woman for the past 8 years. When we asked why he didn't have a ring on he explained how a ring wasn't as significant in the U.K. as it is in America. Then began the debate over whether it's important to wear a wedding ring in order to let others know. Doesn't a wedding ring set the rules of engagement?

Then he said something that made me think. He said, "Why does it matter? All that matters is that I have eyes for one woman."

What does a wedding ring mean to you? I've been exploring what I thought it meant to me and what it actually means to me. I think asking this question reveals a lot about you, what you think of the person you're with, and your relationship.

Re-Thinking the Newspaper

Hello Little Printer, available 2012 from BERG on Vimeo.

The Done Manifesto

I found this infographic on FastCompany.com:

1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.

15 Songs to have on your Michael Jackson playlist

These are other options to “Thriller” and “Beat it” that you should most definitely have in your Michael Jackson collection. If nothing else, maybe you will enjoy this annotated playlist suggestion…

1. “ "Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”

- This music video is so ridiculous and this song is so “blast from the past” you cannot help but bust a groove or two.

2. “ "Rock With You”

- Who doesn’t enjoy M.Jackson whispering “gurrl” and saying he wants to rock with you…

3. “ "Billie Jean”

- One word that sounds like two: Moonwalk. Plus, killer bass line.

4. “ "Bad”

- He wears all leather in this music video, singing about stopping the violence and how he is baaaaad. Basically, its hot.

5. “ "Smooth Criminal”

- If for no other reason, listen to this to redeem the embarrassment of Alien Ant Farm’s version. Also, he says “dad gone it” or “doggone it”!

6. “ "The Way You Make Me Feel”

- This song will stay in your head all day, and it will make you feel light on your toes.

7. “ "Man in the Mirror”

- Snapping, talking about change…its all really catchy.

8. “ "Dirty Diana”

- This song is sex, with a lowercase “s”.

9. “ "You Rock My World”

- This song is Sex, with an uppercase “S”. Plus, Michael does it better than J.Timbo.

10. “Dangerous”

- MTV awards performance – ‘nuff said.

11. “Leave Me Alone”

- So many “oo-oo”s and “eee-ee”s.

12. “In the closet”

- Just watch the music video…

13. “Will You Be There”

- Inspire your soul. Plus, only MJ can grab his crouch and sing a hymn.

14. “They Don’t Care About Us”

- It’s true..they don’t care about us…and now there is a song about it – peeeerrfect. MJ wears jeans in this video- weird. Awesome drumline

15. “Scream”

- Michael has had enough and instead of “oo-oo”ing and “eee-eee”ing he wants to scream. Basically the only song he has with a curse word, quick go find it!

Water shortage

I love meat. I am a vegetarians worst nightmare by far. In a perfect world, I would frequent Houston's for a filet mignon or french dip sandwich. Or at least in a world where I do not attend college and live off pasta.

However, I am going to rethink my dietary choices after reading a recent article in The Economist.

Us Americans and the Europeans do everything but help the apparently growing water "crisis". It takes about 15,000 liters of water to produce A KILO of beef. Americans and Europeans require 5,000 liters/day. Put this in comparison to Africa and Asia's 2,000 litres/day..although I'm not positive that is entirely their choice.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of CA issued a state of emergency over the water shortage.

I found it funny in a twisted, not very funny at all way. A state of emergency for what? A state of emergency because we might not get the abundance of meat that our democratic free country demands? A state of emergency because we might not get to take that long shower or bath? WHAT exactly is the STATE of our EMERGENCY?

I would say the real emergency is that there are countries with the majority of their population malnourished..not from not having enough meat but from not having any bread. That there still exists homes without running water, people without the luxury of thoughtlessly wasting it.

TO ME, that is a STATE of emergency. An emergency to exist.