Reading

I just re-read Joseph Conrad’s novel The Inheritors. Written in 1900 by the author of Heart of Darkness, The Inheritors is a critique and prediction of 20^th century politics: the old order is dragged down by Machiavellian materialists who value only expediency and power.

Tack “and pink chiffon” onto that last sentence, and you have Project Runway winner Christian Siriano’s tome, Fierce Style: How to Be Your Most Fabulous Self.

Kidding. The ebook’s fun and fierce. Fierce, like, undefinably, positively positive, not, like, literally fierce, like fictional politicians who are keen on killing British aristocracy…

Using

CovetShop.com is designer clothing consignment with eBay prices and Net-a-Porter.com gloss. Authenticity is guaranteed, and CovetShop.com calls their curated collection of second-hand, designer duds “pre-loved.”

Aren’t we all.

I love editing my closet almost as much as I dig choosing fresh pieces for it, so I’m selling clothing on CovetShop.com.

And no, this isn’t one of them…

Hating

People who have witnessed me on the beach — arms and legs the color of sand, covered in a KD-monogrammed shirt dress and a Marlies Dekkers bikini — won’t be surprised:

Apparently I’ve got mutant skin.

I’ve only done 1.85 SensEpil laser hair removal sessions, and I’ve killed two SensEpil refill cartridges.

Even though a SensEpil refill cartridge costs $50, that’s still cheaper than laser hair removal at a medispa.

Or a matcha green tea soy latte at Urth Caffe…

Wanting

The Honest Courtesan, a study of Venetian courtesan and writer Veronica Franco’s life and work, is written from a feminist perspective. The Honest Courtesan shows how Franco used her social position to write in defense of women, and how Franco argued the courtesan’s role as having intellectual and artistic — rather than erotic — significance.

Franco was probably a tease like me — The Honest Courtesan isn’t an eBook yet, which is why I’m left in “wanting”…

Hating

One of the freshest pieces of The Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl series, you’re in luck –

Despite what people say about Americans’ (lack of) culture, The Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl ebook is no longer available on Amazon’s US site.

If you need a refresher — then I applaud you — The Diary of… was a sappy series of books about a 30-something Manhattanite who cooed at designer shoes she paid for with sex…

Reading

Everyone’s selling it, to some degree.

So I’m reading about two self-made women who did it blatantly, and retired in their forties with what would amount to $22,000,000 cash, in today’s dollar…

Using

Call me a 69-year-old grammy, but I hate Twitter and I always have. A stream of verbal diarrhea, Twitter is over-sharing gone dull: mildly inappropriate talk thanks to the facelessness of the web is sometimes funny, but constant reporting of “now” means “Kristopher is… yawning.”

So welcome macro-blogging site Woofer: you can’t post anything less than 1,400 characters.

Unfortunately, Twitter has so culturally warped us that no one can string together grammatically correct sentences, let alone build a sequence of ideas: Woofer’s somehow already taken over by porn- and spambots. This just proves how ADD 2.0–

Oh, look, The Picture of Dorian Gray trailer on Perez…

Hating

Sure, most people equate a Porsche with dough, but a Porsche is like an Hermes bag — timeless form-meets-function design that only evolves, instead of fashioning itself after trends.

So this Porsche Design USB flash drive key is antithetical to the beauty of the brand: it’s a cheap piece of flash that pretends to have a purpose.

Wait, I think I just made it sound attractive to 50% of the population…

Using

I don’t smoke — or drink. Or dance — but I hate having hotel matches lying around for candle lighting (or, worse, one of those red BBQ “torches” from CVS).

Elegant in the economy of its lines, this Porsche Design PD5 lighter looks so lush on my nightstand, next an equally minimalist Jimmyjane massage candle…

Wanting

A simple twist of this coin-sized LaCie CurrenKey USB flash drive reveals a USB plug the plays nice with Macs and PCs…