Archive
Archive for May, 2011
Donna Brodie, of the Writers Room, in her ecstatic footwear
She was lovely to behold, in the way someone you think of fondly looks when you see them after a long time.
The way she tossed her hair, now shoulder length and full, swirling her ice coffee, bracelets jangling on her slender wrist. How I missed her!
She eyed my shopping bag with a slow smile, “Anything fabulous?”
Fabulous? These boots by Anita Moser are fabulous, in my opinion.
I confess, I am longing to take another shoemaking class so that I can make a pair of boots.
I pulled out the white shirtdress with the amazing pleating at the waist that reminded me of the style she always preferred – fitted waist with a flared skirt to highlight her hourglass figure. She practically leaped out from behind her desk to take a closer look at the stitching detail.
And that is when I saw them.
Her deep lilac vegan peep toe wedge sandals from Payless. She practically floated in them. “They match my golf shorts, I love the color, they were fifteen bucks – I am absolutely crazy about them and the price!”
She was radiant. She was poetry in motion.
Keep this in mind
I write a lot about shoes, why you need stilettos, how I was determined to learn how to make my own. To me, they hold a special place between you and the earth. They govern your movement and your posture. Shoes are the foundation of how you present yourself to the world each day. Here are some things about shoes to keep in mind:
Color
Be bold and put some unexpected color on your feet. Somehow, you will find something in your closet that will match. If not, oh well, you’ll have to go shopping and find something that does. The effect you will have on people will be unexpected and unforgettable.
Height
Notice I did not say stature. That is psychological height. I mean the arch and the heel of the shoe and how the shoe lengthens your leg. Not the job for a ballet flat.
Detail
A perky bow? A little toe cleavage? A shaped heel? Small details, big impact.
Elevation
I am talking about your spirits. Do you feel like a million bucks in your fifteen dollar shoes? This is a case of reverse gravity – your sense of Wow! flows upward from the tips of your shoes to the top of your head.
Isn’t it a wonderful thing when you can find a pair of shoes that can carry you joyfully through your day? Simple joys are great pleasures.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
photo by thomas ludovic
Is this you?
You have a dream you carry with you as you go to work in the morning. It sits on your shoulder whispering in your ear that you should be doing something about it. Now. You look longingly at artists who do what they love to do and succeed. Why, if you were given the chance you could do it too. You could be premiering your new dance at the Joyce SoHo. You could be dashing off to a whirlwind of book signings around the country. Your sculptures could adorn the lawns of Governor’s Island.
All of this is is what you have a burning desire to do. To be the creator of your passion project.
Your Passion Project
“But I work. I have a big job, a family with a bunch of kids. I am super busy.”
Yes, and so is the rest of humanity. Here’s a secret from the Universe of Successful People:
You will never have the time to do what you love. You will have to seize, imprison, and grab every moment by the neck. Every single day. Life will whoosh you along into an endless stream of everyday busyness that will distract you from focusing on doing your passion project.
A passion project is a demanding mistress who expects no less than your undivided attention. You know the saying about a woman spurned. That kind of hellish fury you don’t need. And besides, it will be something worse. Fury comes and goes. Regret can last a lifetime.
“But I need money to make art. ”
Show Me The Money
I have spoken to hundreds of artists over the past ten years and have recommended many for funding. The artists who are successful in writing killer grants, attracting donations and loyal audiences are not always the best at what they do, or the most talented. What they all possess is a singular combination of vision, perseverance, artistic integrity and passion. I have bought pieces from artists because I liked the way their eyes lit up speaking about their work. I have supported dancers who could paint a vivid picture of a set of choreographed works they are working on. And I am not alone in being swept up in the passion of an artist who loves her work. Such an artist can build an army of lifelong patrons who want to be part of that unique passion.
I have seen people raise a lot of money by putting their heart into what they do. I have seen people raise money and drop weight. What I never see is people buying into boring stuff.
Make passionate work. Talk about it. Money will follow.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
The season of flip flops, guys in shorts with baseball caps, American flags flapping wildly in the ocean breeze, boys like Sky, with boogie boards tucked under their arms riding their bicycles to the beach and beach bums has finally burst through the last gasp of winter. Welcome summer! Welcome to Rockaway Beach!
My summer checklist
Outdoor grill working? Check.
Outdoor shower stocked with towels? Check.
Patio furniture hosed down? Check.
Fresh supply of sunblock? Check.
Summer in Rockaway Beach is not a season. It is the point of the exclamation ending the sentence, “Surf’s up!” It is the sand in your shoes that will not go away. It is “Margaritaville” cued up as your personal soundtrack.
Did I mention pride?
Locals are swimming in it.
I must confess that Seth and I started our weekend in Manhattan at a Ford dealership on the west side of Manhattan. It is hard to believe but we had a great experience mostly because Todd Nighe, the guy in the picture next to Seth, really took care of us. And you know what? Great service like this just made us lifetime Ford Explorer fans. I feel the same way about my dentist, the woman who cuts my hair and the bank representative who does our refinancing.
Weekend of Gay Honkers
We spent a few early morning hours by the water waiting for our car to be serviced and were startled out of our caffeinated stupor by a sudden flock of geese landing in front of us.
“Honkkkkk!” yelled one of them swimming towards us.
“Honkkkkk!” replied the other one swimming away from us.
Rinse and repeat.
This went on for a while. “They must be mates.” said Seth. “Or they’re flirting with each other.”
I peered at their coloring and said, “Those are males, that’s why they’re honking at each other. Females have different colored feathers and they are much better behaved.”
Seth shook his head. “Those two look the same to me, ” he listened to them squawking across the water and said, “They must be gay honkers.”
Gay honkers.
With that image fixed forever in my mind’s eye, clearly, it was time to get out of Manhattan and back into the Rockaways. I simply cannot take him anywhere anymore.
This first weekend on the beach swelled with high numbers of beachlovers, surfers and boogy boarders. Rockaway Beach shone like seaglass. Hey, we are a beach town nestled in the borough of Queens, really not far at all from Manhattan. Closer than you think. Imagine, a New York City beach!
Here’s how to make sure your inner beach bum rocks:
Wear sunblock
Bring a beach book
Stroll down the boardwalk and people watch
Have a Blue Island Coffee or a Rockaway Taco
Take a surfing lesson
Still here after the lifeguards have gone? Check out the Bungalow Bar for a great meal by the water
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
running on the beach in Rockaway
I confess.
I am the first one to say, “Oh, its raining? Too bad, I’ll just sleep in this morning.”
Then I will roll over and hug my pillow even harder to get a few more hours of sleep. Andrea, my running buddy, is the biggest reason that I drag myself out of bed and out to the beach at 5:00 am – I can’t deal with the guilt.
Besides, there has never been a day, ever, that hasn’t been wonderful after a morning beach run. The five mile stretch we cover delivers us a beautiful sunrise as a reward, although somedays it is simply a foggy mist as well as a clear mind, a burst of energy that some people call “the runner’s high”, and a heightened sense of awareness that lasts the whole day.
From the Art of Manliness, here is an excerpt that I love that gives us reasons to embrace running:
Made to Move
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“Nearly every top killer in the Western world–heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression, hypertension, and a dozen other forms of cancer–was unknown to our ancestors. They didn’t have medicine, but they did have a magic bullet–or maybe two, judging by the number of digits Dr. Bramble was holding up. “You could literally halt epidemics in their tracks with this one remedy,” he said. He flashed two fingers up in a peace sign, then slowly rotated them downward until they were scissoring through space. The Running Man. “So simple,” he said. “Just move your legs. Because if you don’t think you were born to run, you’re not only denying history. You’re denying who you are.” -Christopher McDougall, Born to Run
Our bodies were made to move. We’re beings of flesh, bone, and muscle. If we weren’t designed to move, we would have evolved to be great blobs of tissue–human clams.
And we didn’t evolve to move slowly, either. We’re made to move vigorously for long periods of time…to run, and run far.
How do we know this? It’s written into our anatomy. Unlike humans, walking animals like chimps lack an Achilles tendon and an ample gluteus maximus–both of which are needed for running–as well as the nuchal ligament, which keeps the head steady when an animal is moving quickly. For a long time scientists puzzled over why we have such features and yet are such seemingly ineffective runners…what was the evolutionary advantage behind our slow and steady running ability?
The answer is “persistence hunting.” Primitive tribes hunted by running down an animal until the prey dropped dead of exhaustion. The fact that humans could run for hours on end without overheating was a distinct survival advantage.”
Made to Think
When I run, I think. Or sometimes I think of nothing. Either way works wonders.
Some people I know use this magical part of the day to write. It is quiet, there are no distractions and your brain is rested and ready to go. Seth is up and taking care of as many details of our lives that he can so that emails are ready to go out, lunches are made, bills are paid and lists are made. Laura Vanderkam offers some insightful suggestions about what successful people do before breakfast.
All of this activity happens in my house on a daily basis before 7:00 am. By the time I am looking at breakfast, my mind is already having lunch. A maximized morning places me in the aheadness part of my day – just where I like to be.
At the edge of the moment and on top of my game.
What are you going to do with the best part of your day?
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
photo by bayan 160
He was tall, dark haired with a thoughtful look in his eyes. Everything about him was right, I knew he was the one who could help me.
I walked towards him, the question burning in my mind, my heart beating a little faster with each step. He was sitting alone and I could easily grab his attention.
I took a deep breath and as soon as the words left my lips, I realized how ridiculous I sounded. My face turned a blushing red, my mouth open in disbelief, my God, how did this happen?
He, however, gazed at me and repeated my question with a faint smile.
“Where can I find romance?”
I felt my ears burn.
“Hard cover or soft cover?”
Gulp. “Hard. I mean, hard cover.”
“Second row of shelves in the back of the library. “ He turned his gaze, thank God, to the next person on the information line as I slipped away.
Where do you find romance?
I prefer less mortifying experiences. But that’s just me. Luckily, the ladies in the Carpool Court agree with me that the search for romance should be a less public endeavor and we have decided to get together for Romance Night at our house. We are going to talk about what we like to read, what authors we follow, what types of characters we are drawn to and what we are going to drink. Not necessarily in that order, of course.
Yes, I admit. I am intrigued with romance. And I think you are too. So what I am going to do is capture some great conversation and write a romance story.
In hard cover.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
I write for love and money. It is my everyday passion. What's yours? 
