CHRISTMAS IN NEW ORLEANS -- THE ROOSEVELT HOTEL

A beautiful winter wonderland in the great hall of the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans.  Truly a beautiful site.  A southern tradition -- a stroll through the hall, with a drink at the Sazerac bar.

Advent Season 2011

"The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!"
- Charles N. Barnard

SEA SONG -- BAY ST. LOUIS, MISSISSIPPI

Andrew Jackson was the hero of the battle of 1812 (his heroics of stopping the British at New Orleans actually occurred in 1815).  Legend has it that Andrew Jackson built a plantation in Bay St. Louis Mississippi.  Truth be told it was actually his son's home.  The Hancock County Historical Society has an excellent account of Sea Song.  The essay describes a family of great heritage, falling on hard financial times in a country torn apart by Civil War.  Battered by three hurricanes in the summer of 1860 they were ready to head back to Tennessee.  A fascinating American story from a tragic but fascinating time.  Check out the post at:

http://www.hancockcountyhistoricalsociety.com/history/seasong.htm

The Bombay Club -- A British Oasis in a Francophile World

Tucked away in the Prince Conti Hotel in the heart of the French Quarter you will find a wonderful little restaurant and bar called The Bombay Club.  Dark-wood paneling and luxurious leather fill the room.  Pictures of Churchill and other British iconography abound.  The feel of an old world British Colonial outpost permeates the atmosphere.  The ambiance is punctuated by the lofty sounds of a piano singer playing classic Americana. 

So if you find yourself in need of being wrapped in civilization after over exposure to the French and Spanish cultural history of the Quarter, step into The Bombay Club for a little refresher on civilization.

Write Down Your Thoughts

Half of our thoughts in life are fleeting.  We have a good thought and it is forgotten.  Stop forgetting your good thoughts and get in the habit of writing them  I recommend a Rhodia pad No. 11, 2.9" x 4.1".  It fits nicely in your pocket and is always handy.  You'll also need a cover to go with it to hold a pen. Available at http://www.rhodiapads.com/ I also use a Zepbra Telescoping pen available at Office Depot.

SUNDAY: FOR CHURCH AND RELAXATION

First things First:

Then this:

The Return of the Gentleman

I was reading about the efforts of a growing group of women on college campuses called the Network of Enlightened Women.  enlightenedwomen.org This group has raised the troubling prospect that gentlemen may be an endangered species on college campuses.  To encourage men to be gentlemen they have started the Gentlemen's Showcase on campuses around the country.  The group takes nominations of students who have shown gentlemanly qualities and honor them with a competition and recognition for their efforts of etiquette, politeness, respectfulness and chivalry.  So hats off to the ladies of the Network of Enlightened Women.

I found the below video on You Tube. While it is not associated with the enlightened ladies in anyway, I thought that it captured gentlemanly virtues in a motivational way.  Enjoy!

LABOR DAY

It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things.   -- Theodore Roosevelt

To work is to do. Theodore Roosevelt referred to the group of people who got up daily and worked as the "Fellowship of the Doers." As he stated he had a "great admiration for men who were fearless and could hold their own in the world." He had a great desire to be like them. Dietrich Bonhoeffer likewise saw Christianity as a the call to to be in action, to be a "doer," and not just a person who embraced the notion of Christ as the Son of God as a mere idea which had no effect on our lives. As Bonhoeffer saw it we were to be transformed into action by our faith. 

But what is it that stops us from going out and doing the work. Too often it is the fear of doing, the fear of the critics who will judge our work, and may ultimately judge us as a failure. We must be aware though that it is not the critics who create the world, it is those who see the work and get it done. So on this Labor day weekend 2011, look around in your world, see the work to be done, pick up your jack hammer, and join the "fellowship of the doers." Best to you in all of your endeavors.

Sometimes Let Instinct Lead

When I go out of the house for a walk, uncertain as yet whither I will bend my steps, and submit myself to my instinct to decide for me, I find, strange and whimsical as it may seem, that I finally and inevitably settle south-west, toward some particular wood or meadow or deserted pasture or hill in that direction. -- Henry David Thoreau -- Walking

Cy Twombly an accomplished and somewhat controversial artist passed away at age 83 recently.  A contemporary of Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, Twombly's works were known for their abstract expression often times on canvases painted to look like chalk scribbling on a black board or graffiti on a wall.   Yet to me the experience of his art went beyond simply seeing doodle, scribbles or graffiti, but instead evoked a base feeling -- something akin to child's view of the world combined with contours, both good and bad, that come from the experience of life's joys and disappointments. Check out his work and several excellent articles at:http://www.cytwombly.info/

 

LIVE, LIVE, LIVE -- LIFE IS A BANQUET AND MOST POOR SUCKERS ARE STARVING TO DEATH -- AUNTIE MAME



Auntie Mame is a great movie from the 1950's about a woman who goes through many stages in life -- all of them lived to the fullest.  Her motto was to Live, Live, Live.  It is a great motto, but its nice to keep it in perspective with Hemmingway's comments on living life to the fullest.

In the novel "The Sun Also Rises" Earnest Hemmingway has the following exchange which does a good job of depicting how difficult it is to live life to the fullest:

[Cohn:]“I can’t stand it to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it.”
[Jake:] “Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters.”

Indeed living life all the way up can be a dangerous prospect. For an excellent article from Sports Illustrated dated 1955 concerning the life of a Matador click on the below link.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1130077/index.htm

Dare Mighty Deeds and Avoid the Gray Twilight

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”  Theodore Roosevelt

Good Friday: Sacrifice and Remembrence

Since the first century Christianity has set aside the Friday before Easter as being a holy day of remembering the sacrifice that Jesus made through his death on the cross.  Beginning in the fourth century it was referred to as Holy or Great Friday.  In the sixth century the church at Rome officially dubbed the day Good Friday. 

It is a day of grieving the death of Jesus and the evil that besets the world even still today. It is a good day to stop think, meditate and pray.  Consider what you can do to carry on his mission and through  personal sacrifice bring love to others.  



Jazz Stamp

The United States Postal Service unveiled the new Jazz stamp yesterday in New Orleans.  There was a fabulous Big Band Jazz Concert at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans.  It was a truly remarkable performance.

Paul Rogers is the artist that created the stamp.  You should read his comments concerning the design.  It gives great insight into how this stamp came into being.

check out:   http://www.drawger.com/paulrogers/?article_id=11778

Elizabeth Taylor

Clutch: The Art of Excelling

Stress and work make us sometimes feel as though we are overwhelmed.  But according to this book that's when things are getting good.  The time that you have an opportunity to shine is when you find yourself in a "clutch" situation.  Clutch is when the pressure is on and you have the ability to perform well in spite of the pressure.  Interestingly, its not about working miracles in the moment.  Being clutch means not caving into the pressure.

The author demonstrates that staying focused on the task at hand is critical to success in a clutch situation. Don't focus on the emotions or the "what ifs," focus on what you know how to do and do it well in the face of pressure. 

Its a great book with great stories from the lives of famous and not so famous "clutch" people.    

Ash Wednesday: From Dust to Dust

Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is a great time to inspire us to live life to the fullest and experience the great gift of joy.  The day after is Ash Wednesday a day where we are reminded that "we are dust and to dust we shall return." Ash Wednesday ushers in the season of Lent.  The season teaches us to live a life appreciative of joy but cognizant that one day we, in the words of Shakespear, will be "shuffled off this mortal coil"and every moment is precious.  What a great inspiration to live a sterling life and to make the absolute most of the opportunities we are presented.

The Rev. Pamela Dolan writes in her blog on St. Louis Today that "Poets have always known that part of what makes life so sweet and so precious is its very limited duration-life is but a passing shadow or, as the Psalmist puts it, "our days are like the grass;we flourish like a flower of the field; when the wind goes over it,it is gone, and its place shall know it no more." The ashes remind us of our mortality, but also of the gift of everlasting life. Both can be embraced through receiving and accepting the same simple yet profound symbol. "Check out Rev. Dolan's full post here: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/civil-religion/pamela-dolan/article_c7ebb598-49d2-11e0-a0b8-00127992bc8b.html

Happy Mardi Gras

This Tuesday is Mardi Gras in New Orleans and various parts of the Coastal South.  If this Tuesday is just Tuesday in your town, I hope you take a minute to enjoy the Mardi Gras spirit wherever you may find yourself.

Azalea Trail

Spring has sprung in the Coastal South. We may not have mountains but we have a glorious spring.  From Houston to Pensacola, the  Azaleas -- huge glorious flowering bushes -- will be smiling on the South. So come on down and enjoy.

Etiquette and Style

 "Using the combination of good intent and etiquette will change the way you see people, and the way they see you." That is a sentence I read on a website titled the Gentleman's Way.

I agree that knowledge of etiquette allows you to confidently and kindly express yourself.  It is proper etiquette that gave Gene Kelly the confidence to gracefully saunter across the room in a Hitchcock film, or gave Audrey Hepburn  her timeless charm in Roman Holiday.  Indeed it is etiquette that gives any of us the ability to carry ourselves gracefully through life. 

Of course etiquette sometimes gets a bad name.  Some people use the rules to point out their own intelligence and other's ignorance.  People use it to prove that they are sophisticated or proper.  Snobbish application of etiquette only demonstrates that the person has totally missed the point.

Etiquette is about how you express your kindness and love for others.  It is about removing distractions from the conversations that you have with others.  It is not about you, it is about them -- doing the right thing in a given situation shows that you care.  So show the love, check out the Gentleman's Way.  You can also check out this book.  It works very well.

Happy Valentine's Day

A. Hays Town a Gentleman and an Architect

A. Hays Town was a Louisiana architect.  By all accounts he was a wonderful gentleman who knew how to express his own style and confidence in the homes he designed.  It certainly shows through in the work that he has left behind. He is another fine example of knowing yourself and communicating that expression in the work that you perform.

Albert Hays Town:Obituary

Carry Yourself with Confidence

Link to Amazon
This is a good book not only for focusing on the clothes you wear, but also it forces you to focus on your entire image.  It is well thought out, giving us an understanding that the image we present is critical to making sure that the world understands our authentic selves.  As the author suggests, confidently projecting your image in the world starts with knowing yourself.  This book is a great book for reinforcing the confidence to live life with an understated elegance.

The Final Episode of Friday Night Lights

If you subscribe to Direct TV then the  final episode of the series Friday Night Lights airs tonight on Channel 101.  It has been a wonderful show.  The story line explores the characters and pulls you into a world of triumph and defeat (and sometimes both at the same time). The football coach is more of a life coach, and the lives that get portrayed are inspirational stories of overcoming adversity to be our best.  Enjoy this montage of Tim Riggins.  Be sure to turn up your volume, the speech that Coach Taylor is giving in the background is very moving.  And for those who do not have Direct TV, NBC will begin airing the final season on April 15th.  Its a great season don't miss it.

More George Orwell 1984 for the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl advertising this year featured a Motorola XOOM commercial.  The XOOM is a Google Android based tablet/ipad competitor.   Interestingly our hero finds himself looking cool, reading Orwell’s 1984 on his XOOM, in an Orwellian world where everyone else is wearing all white, with white hoods and earbuds that look suspiciously like the standard issue Ipod earphones. 

Everyone around seems to have taken on a clone like quality and has lost the ability to feel emotion.  But our cool hero is in love with a girl and he uses his Xoom to cutely demonstrate his love and thereby fill this cold environment with warm feelings.

Again, it’s a sound Super Bowl message that technology sets us free and while technology is a great tool it is no substitute for love, integrity, emotion and liberty.

Door County Wisconsin

Just outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin is a peninsula jutting out into Lake Michigan known as Door County.  The peninsula is full of quaint towns with great restaurants and wonderful B&B's.  Its a friendly Scandinavian area that is wonderful to visit.  So next time you go check out Door County.

Perpetual Revolution and Super Bowl Advertising

George Orwell’s book 1984 is about a horrible future in which a fictional world is dominated by a totalitarian regime that uses technology to read our minds and control our thoughts.  As Orwell writes: "Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves."

The turning of the calendar on January 1, 1984 did not create a particular uneasiness about whether this nation would fall into a totalitarian abyss.   But I do recall that it was a time when American office workers were starting to use computers more and more for word processing.  Automation was coming to American factories, carburetors were being phased out of cars in favor of electronic fuel emissions, typewriters were on their way out, stock brokers started carrying around these large box like things called cell phones and every now and then a document was sent over the phone lines, it was called a fax.   It did seem that technology was changing the world.  And true to most change, the world was resisting these technological changes.

In that background comes Apple Computer appealing to the revolutionary inside of every American and points out beautifully, in a Super Bowl commercial in January, 1984, that the Macintosh is the computer that will crush totalitarianism and bring you freedom in this new technological age. 

This great nation was founded on the belief that we the people should have the ability to govern ourselves.  Only when we select our own government through a democratic process do we experience true freedom.  Consequently, we as American’s think of ourselves as perpetual revolutionaries – we give our consent to be governed by living here and electing officials, but we reserve the right to withdraw that consent and vote the government out. 

Snow Day: Conde Naste Where Are You

Have you found yourself snowbound at home.  If so, then your mind needs somewhere to go.  Try playing Conde Naste's "Where are You."  This month you will be able to learn about geography and art at the same time. Plus, if you get the answer correct you might get a free vacation someplace sunny and warm. Enjoy!

Conde Naste: Where are You

The Modern: Fort Worth

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth's building was designed by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The Modern is located in Fort Worth's celebrated Cultural District, directly opposite the Kimbell Art Museum, designed by Louis I. Kahn, and near the Amon Carter Museum, designed by Philip Johnson. Ando's design, which embodies the pure, unadorned elements of a modern work of art, is comprised of five long, flat-roofed pavilions situated on a 1.5 acre pond.

The styling of the building along with the general atmosphere of the museum envelopes you in style and grace.  All for the general admission price of $10.   Certainly one of the least expensive and best ways to broaden the mind and fly away for a couple of hours.

Classic Beauty

Rita Hayworth in front of a 1941 Lincoln Continental.  The car is wonderful. You notice the split wing waterfall grill on the car.  This is a classic design element for Lincoln cars.  All of the current Lincoln's are employing this split wing waterfall design in a return to the understated elegance that Lincoln once exuded. I'll have to ask my wife what she thinks about Rita's style, but the car looks great.

To our Friends Enduring the Blizzard of 2011

May your hearths be warm and your kettles be full.

Pine Ridge -- A Sterling Swirl

http://www.pineridgewinery.com/

THINK -- A GREAT IDEA

Thomas Watson started IBM in 1914 using the simple motto of THINK. His point being that the starting point to any great enterprise is to just think.  THINK became IBM's first trademark and to this day dominates its corporate culture.  It has been said that IBM employees were required to keep note pads with them at all times to record their thoughts -- to help them think. Thomas Watson, Jr. [pictured above] took over the company in 1952 and he was the driving force behind the IBM powerhouse that we know today. 

Watson, Jr. is a story in and of himself.  Having spent his life on less responsible pursuits prior to taking over the company, he sank his teeth into the company and pushed it into greatness.  Clearly at some point he was transformed by his thoughts
In the 80's IBM was the epitome of corporate culture. The perfect suit and long hard hours were its reputation. A friend of mine's Father worked for IBM as an executive and I can attest that he worked very hard to push that company forward.

Today the value of thoughts and the confidence to transform those thoughts into action are a part of all of our lives.  But the diligence to record those thoughts, review those thoughts and produce results from those thoughts is another matter entirely.

A company named Rhodia makes small notepads and also makes mouse pads that double as notepads.  I have been trying to capture my thoughts and keep my Rhodia pad at all times for this purpose.  I find the real challenge for me isn't thinking and recording thoughts but rather its transforming the thoughts into action.  Stated another way its easy to dream, its not so easy to perform the dream.

But dreams take a while to develop.  Keep thinking, recording thoughts and trying. There is a payoff for your efforts somewhere down the road.

A link to the life of the founder Thomas Watson: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/biography/10152.wss

Jenkins Garrett a True Gentleman

Jenkins Garrett was a true Texas gentleman who served his community well, was a fantastic lawyer, scholar and extremely interesting person.  I only knew him a short time in the summer of 1990 when I had the pleasure to work with him. He inspired me in my profession and even though he has passed his memory is an inspiration to this day. 

His obituary lists his impressive resume but nothing captures his persona quite like being in his presence. 

He lived a truly "sterling" life. 

Jenkins Garrett Obituary

Weddings: To M&C on their nuptials this weekend

Understated Elegance

Over the Christmas holidays I bought a new 2010 Lincoln MKS.  This is by far the nicest car I have ever owned. I really like the car and I like what Ford is doing with Lincoln.  In 2006, Mark  Fields, Executive V.P. and President of the Americas for Ford Motor Company identified Lincoln customers as “self-made people, with enough confidence to be elegant and understated.”   [emphasis added]

 When I think of understated elegance Mad Men fits the bill.  But I also think of old movies with Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Carey Grant and Frank Sinatra.   More recently movies like Oceans 11 and the remake of the “Thomas Crown Affair” strike an elegant but understated chord. But each of these movies and the people who give them their elegant but understated quality are not flashy people – Grace Kelly won people over with her style, not with revealing poses. And Carey Grant, while fit, wasn’t a perfect six pack gut kind of guy either.  Likewise, Julia Roberts and George Clooney haven’t sought to appeal to America with risqué or flashy scenes, although they are frequently listed among the sexiest people in the world.   Instead of flash these people have used polished style. 

Likewise a car does not make the person -- my level of understated elegance did not change simply because I switched from a Nissan Altima (a fine car) to a more luxurious Lincoln. I agree with Mark Fields of Ford Motor Company, understated elegance is produced by confidence.  That doesn’t mean that insecurities aren’t lurking, but it does mean that we face daily challenges with confidence – sometimes we succeed and sometime we fail.  It is a person's enduring confidence that produces a series of intangible character traits which manifest themselves ultimately in understated elegance.   

Grace Kelly with a hometown hero, Louis Armstrong, in the film High Society. 

Understad Elegance at its best.

Opera: The Pearl Fishers

I had a nice time at the Opera last night.  The Pearl Fishers was performed.  Despite its title, the story has nothing to do with actually fishing.  Rather it is an age old love story involving two friends who have a falling out over a girl.  One of the friends leaves the village for a year. The friend who remains becomes the King of the village. When the long lost friend returns he makes up with his friend the King, and of course they promise to never let a girl come between them again.  But that promise doesn't last long. In their fictional culture there is a "goddess" who is brought in to pray over the village and the fishermen.  This "goddess" it is discovered is the very girl who came between the friends. She swears an oath to forsake the pursuit of a husband or lover.  The penalty for violating the oath is death.  No sooner does she make the oath then she realizes her long lost love has returned.  Quickly the oath is broken as the two lovers reunite.  They are caught and are prepared to die when suddenly the King sets them free.  Unfortunately for the King since he let the two lovers go he is put to death instead.

Of course the story line fails miserably at expressing the beauty of the event.  The song between the two Friends captivates those feelings of friendship that we all know so well and cherish in life.  The song that the returned friend sings about the lovely goddess creates a sensuous, passionate almost erotic sense of love, that leaves you speechless.  The performance that I attended was complimented with ballet dancers performing a silhouetted semi-erotic ballet to accompany the love song.

The night reminded me of the very high value that should be placed on friendship, love and loyalty.  And is a shining example of how to passionately love others.



  

Unbroken: A World War II Story

I am presently obsessed with a non-fiction book titled Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand.

It is the story of a World War II airplane crash survivor, Louie Zamperini, who is lost at sea then captured and horrifically interred as a POW by the Japanese.  The author makes the point that while being  lost at sea, starving and dying of thirst is bad -- being deprived of dignity is worse.  As she puts it "Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food and oxygen." The loss of dignity she finds can be as "lethal as a bullet."  The book places starvation and loss of dignity in stark contrast because our hero Louie gets to experience both with his very survival hanging by a thread.   Louie is a marvelous example of a person who chooses to keep his dignity in the face of oppression -- thereby being defined by himself, on his own terms rather than by his oppressors, whether his oppressor be Mother Nature or a Japanese Guard.

It is a wonderful example of what Steven Covey in the Seven Habits calls the "last of the human freedoms" -- between what happens to us and our response lies our freedom to choose the response.  "Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose."  Louie's choices and Hillenbrand's telling of the story make for a captivating and motivating read.  

Enjoy the Season

Life brings us into many seasons.  These seasons are often where the paths of our lives have led us as we dilligently strive toward the ultimate destination.  This blog represents the Sterling Season.  It is a season for all people in any age - a season of quality, but not flash, a season of weathered softeness, but not rotting age.  Not so much a season to shine as a season to be polished. Like many blogs it is simply one person's outlet -- a commentary on style, beauty, wonder, life and love.