I think my subconscious goal every morning is to dress like a mermaid.  Or maybe just some kind of mythical creature in general.  But with a gorgeous necklace like this can you really blame me?

So.  It’s election year.  I think they planned so that it would fall on the same year as the Olympics.  You know, so everyone’s in good spirits before they get all pissed off.  In New York it’s also Fashion Week.  Something I forgot to pay attention to because I was too busy pretending that summer would never end (I’m still in denial — today was the hottest it’s been in weeks.  Ask my sweat glands.)  So we’ve got the Presidential Election and Fashion Week.  Ironic that the two should come to the forefront of my attention at the same time as they have nothing to do with each other.  I mean, Hillary’s pantsuit (and I’m sure Palin’s, too) isn’t exactly screaming avant-garde.  But I guess that’s what’s going on in the world and since I don’t live under a rock, it’s hard to avoid.

Fashion and politics.  When something goes wrong in one, children ask why Mommy used to dress like a slutty disco queen.  When the other takes an unfortunate turn, they ask why Daddy isn’t coming home.  One provokes a cringe, the other an ache.  I think this is why I don’t understand politics and government.  They are not beautiful things.  They are entities that were, somewhere along the way, deemed necessary to preserve order.  I don’t know if it all started with good intentions or was immediately about taking over the world, but in my 20something years of observation, it hasn’t looked good.

In politics there is a huge division of people.  They are only unified when they are for something and against something else (did you NOT hear the crowd at the Republican National Convention?)  Fashion, like the Olympics, unites people.  It brings countries, cultures, and people together to celebrate beautiful work.  And it’s subjective, which creates tastes and style and allows for individuality.  I don’t see that in politics.  Differences aren’t celebrated.  I see red and blue.  Might as well be black and white.

Now, I don’t follow politics all that much, just as I don’t follow fashion trends (I set the trends, duh).  So when I look at this election and there is a big, huge war (apologies for the double positive there) in the middle of it that has put the world into such a sorry state and neither candidate plans on pulling out of it because they can’t, because it’s an issue of national security, it’s quite disheartening.  If we just put down the guns, put our hands up, and said, “We just want to help you be the best you can be, take it or leave it,” do you think they’d gun us down?  Well, I don’t know if they would, but fighting fire with fire doesn’t stifle the flames.  Then again, aren’t we over there for oil?  So maybe we don’t really want to *help* them so much as *control* them.

My prediction?  If we continue along the same course, self-destruction.  Just like every powerful civilization in the history of the world.  I just hope we leave something behind as cool as the pyramids.

*wink, wink*

These are the dog days of summer.  When everything seems to slow down a little bit and life seems a little more relaxed and enjoyable.  But, as with the best of everything, they are fleeting and last for a very short time.  Of course, this makes them all the more beautiful.  In any case, better to bask in that hot August sun than worry about the setting of it.

All that smog makes the skyline look pretty surreal.  Not particularly beautiful, but interesting nonetheless.

As the days are obviously getting shorter, which means we’re getting that much closer to the dreadful ice and snow, I’ve been trying to snap lots of photos of the city in the midst of its summertime goodness.  Oh, I know what you’re thinking, “Fall fashion is so great!”  Not as great as sundresses and sandals.  And definitely not as great as this watermelon.  Fuck fall; I’m rejecting it this year.

This girl is my cousin, former roommate, and best friend.  She is pretty much the most fun person I know and always makes me feel better if I’m having a bad day.  Or week.  Or month.  I’ve had a pretty rough few days involving, but not limited to, a bike crash and that gut-wrenching overall feeling of, “What the hell am I doing?”  Since she was supposed to come for a visit this weekend but is not, I’m channeling her smile to cheer me up.

Do you really think the Empire State Building will last 2,000 years?  I certainly don’t.  It’s too tall and skinny and made of things like glass which can break and metal which can melt.  I sure hope I get proven wrong.

Anyway, just pretend you see the lions and gladiators and women who look like goddesses.  At least that’s what I do.  It helps alleviate the frustration created by the massive amount of tourists snapping photos of the ruins.

Going through the archives of my escapades through Europe, I realized that although I have an insatiable appetite for travel, I’ve already seen some really cool things (like this sweet astronomical clock in Prague) and been to some beautiful places (like here and here).  All have been invaluable experiences.  There’s a lot of world to see out there and I’ve barely seen a square foot of it, but I’m still young and time is on my side.  That’s the thing about travel: the places you want to experience firsthand aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Looking back on the springtime blooms, full of hope and promises of warmth, it’s difficult to grasp that in a few months time everything will be cold and dead again.  Time to move to the tropics where a cabana boy with cold beverages is the year round norm.