Dear Maker of Khakis:
It has come to my attention that a number of designers, executives and creative directors in the apparel industry read this blog. Therefore I’d like to address you directly with an idea for how to get a quick sales spike this fall with an otherwise quotidian commodity item like khakis.
Put a buckle in the back.
Sometime around 1956, khakis with a buckle in the back became a huge trend among the young and collegiate. A useless and trifling furbelow, the buckled khaki hit the market like a starting pistol launching young men in a race to be the first on their block with a pair.
Buckled chinos (or Heiney Binders, or whatever you decide to call them) have come up in my interview with Bruce Boyer, and most recently in the J. Press interview and “Tea and...
Lifestyle
My Dear Brother
I was very happy to hear from you after a long time. It is a pity that we are reconnecting under sad and painful circumstances which have prompted you to write an open letter to me.
I remember you from our days in Mozambique, when you worked at the Mozambique Information Agency and when you were editor of Tempo magazine and later of Noticias.
I cannot forget the friendship that Mozambique accorded my comrades and to me personally. In fact Mozambique became my second home and it remains my home.
You are in pain as your letter indicates, because of the deaths of Mozambicans and the general attacks on foreign nationals in parts of our country. South Africans are also in pain because of the tragic and senseless killings of all seven persons in the past weeks. These...
2,833
Dear sweet Sequoia family,
As many of you know already, my 18-year-old child Sasha was seriously burned on Monday afternoon. Sasha woke from a nap on the 57 bus to find that, apparently, another passenger -- accidentally or on purpose -- had lit Sasha's skirt on fire. Sasha is now in stable condition and being very well cared for in a terrific burn center in San Francisco. We
have every reason to believe that Sasha will eventually be able to return to life as usual, although the recovery process will take some time.
I wanted to take this time to send thanks to everyone who has offered words of support and love. And many even contributed to the online fundraising site set up by Sasha's cousin Josh. I can't tell you how moved we have all been by the outpouring of loving kindness, and...
2,364
Dear Mr Abbott,
I am writing on behalf of your daughters, and indeed all women in the country you lead.
We face financial ruin, but most of us don’t realise it. We think our superannuation system is ticking away in the background, taking care of our future while we’re busy taking care of everything else. Instead, super is inherently sexist. And if we don’t act together I have no doubt the new GFC will be the Girls’ Financial Crisis.
We live 4.4 years longer than men – and no, I know there’s nothing you can do about that. I only point it out because it means our super stash has to stretch further.
Advertisement
The problem is that super is earnings-based, so our stashes are invariably smaller than our male counterparts’.
Remember that we earn 18 per cent less than...
2,378
Dear Whoever Created This Louis C.K. One Tumblr,
You are my new favorite. I'd be comfortable leaving our correspondence at that, but since I'm also using this public platform to shoehorn you into my life as my new best friend, I should elaborate.
You are a genius. I'm not sure how this pun was never made until now, but somehow you beat everyone to it. For that, you deserve all the interwebs propers that bitcoins can buy.
Aside from the wordplay, you've combined three of my favorite things in this world—Louis C.K., Calvin Klein minimalism, and the '90s—into one masterpiece of a meme.
Louis C.K.
Another fake Louis C.K. One billboard.
Photo: Louis C.K. One Tumblr
See, the phrase "Louis C.K. One" on its own, while clever, probably only warrants a side-smirk and a head nod...
2,913
Dear Micromanager:
Owners of thoroughbreds never stop their horses mid-race, every ten seconds, to remind the horse and jockey how to run, where the finish line is, or that it’d be good to finish first. Why? It would slow them down. Only an idiot would do this.
If you’re a manager, you must assume you have thoroughbreds working for you. Your job is to give them what they need to win their respective races, agreeing with them on goals and rewards, but then getting the hell out of the way. Until they start jumping fences or attacking other horses, you must let them run their race.
Even if you are 30% better at a task than someone who works for you, the time it takes for you to check on them every few hours, and demand approvals over trivial decisions, costs more in lost morale,...
2,630
Dear Krishna:
Warm Salutations!
At the outset let me clarify that this letter is not from a wizened newspaper scribe with pretentions of being a critic but from a genuine rasika to a much-admired musician, a singer who holds pride of place in the contemporary generation of singers in the highly competitive field of Carnatic (or Karnatik as you would like to term it) music. That I also happen to be a friend is an icing on the cake!
Objectively speaking, it is common knowledge that Krishna, the musician, has been riding a huge wave of popularity given his vibrant voice, committed style and a keen eye for aesthetics of presentation. Unfortunately, of late, some changes seem to have surfaced on the concert platform which do not seem to be in tune with the style that endeared him to...
3,551
Dear AP Stylebook:
I just want to start by saying that I love you — I need you in my life. You are one of the few guiding lights for me amid a time of much turmoil. This is why I felt compelled to write you this letter.
Please stop adding pointless entries to the stylebook.
I don’t want to disable the e-mail alerts you send me with my online subscription; but I’m afraid that with every message, you’re breaking my heart and leaving me wondering what your true intentions are.
You are relevant, you will always be relevant, so please tell your editors to stop worrying.
You’re better than that, AP.
I remember the good ol’ days when the AP Stylebook would be available every year, and I would spend countless smoke breaks trying to find what you had changed. Then, you added a...
2,348
Dear Open Letter,
Seeing as how we don't actually know one another and personal letters don't generate any blog traffic, I've decided to publicly air my grievances against you in a format that positions you as the powerful elite and me as the scrappy underdog willing to take you on.
I will begin with a backhanded compliment, thanking you for making it easy for bloggers like me to issue one-way rants against the people we don't like while maintaining the appearance of a conversation.
The compliment is just a formality intended to make me look generous. Don't worry; things are about to get ugly.
The fact is, Open Letter, it has come to my attention that you are overused. (Actually it came to my attention about three months ago, back when everyone else was blogging about open...
2,662
Dear Praise Band,
I so appreciate your willingness and desire to offer up your gifts to God in worship. I appreciate your devotion and celebrate your faithfulness – schlepping to church early, Sunday after Sunday, making time for practice mid-week, learning and writing new songs, and so much more. Like those skilled artists and artisans that God used to create the tabernacle (Exodus 36), you are willing to put your artistic gifts in service to the Triune God.
So please receive this little missive in the spirit it is meant: as an encouragement to reflect on the practice of "leading worship." It seems to me that you are often simply co-opted into a practice without being encouraged to reflect on its rationale, its "reason why." In other words, it seems to me that you are often...
2,513