Cheaper Than Therapy

The shameful lust that lurks in book clubs

laudia Sternbach writes in today's Santa Cruz Sentinel that she's getting tired of "sleeping with dead authors."

Who isn't?

Oh, Claudia, you wanton, wanton woman.

When she writes, "I want to fall asleep with David Sedaris or Dave Barry. Carl Hiaasen or Anne Lamott," I feel her pain. I share her desire.

As one who knows only too well the terrible price you can pay for suppressing these urges, I sent her a note with this advice: "Don't hesitate to sleep with those decadent authors you desire! It's healthy to experiment a little!"

Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Colin Cowie: a Good Thing for JCPenney

Gold beaded napkin rings by Colin Cowie, for JCPenney

I was paging through the October issue of O Magazine – yes, a guilty pleasure – when I came across a four-page advertisement for Colin Cowie’s new merchandising venture with JCPenney.

Subtitled “From Aisle to Eternity,” the ad features Calvin Klein-esque models frolicking in a seaside wedding fantasy, a sunglassed Colin himself arranging a wine goblet just so under a billowing white canopy. (Is it just me or is that tagline some copywriter’s idea of a joke – as in “From (shopping) Aisle to Eternity”?)

It took me back to last May, when I’d had the privilege of seeing Colin’s attention to detail up-close and in-person. My husband and I were among a fortunate group invited to attend a Colin Cowie-designed wedding at the Lodge at Koele, which has been named ‘One of the Best Places in the World to Stay’ by Condé Nast Traveler, on the Hawaiian island of Lana'i.

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