After the Party


In the last two weeks we felt the loss of both a cultural icon and a long-time friend.


Both deaths caused me to pause and consider.  Lucky, and aware of it, I was relieved and reassured that  I am doing what I want to be doing.  What I think I should be doing.


You might have seen Steve Jobs's Stanford commencement speech and while it acted like heated oil to several kernels of ideas, most significantly it made me wonder what I would do if one of my boys wanted to quit college and start some crazy business in my garage.  Or be a fisherman, as one claims he will.


Sharing this with a friend at dinner he wondered, "If he's happy, what difference would it make?"  "It's important to live up to your potential," I replied and he asked further, "But how do you know if you are?"


Then he rose to pull the chicken from the oven leaving me with a mental party favor that I've carried around since - setting it on the counter here, loading it in the car there.  We won't know, I suppose, any more than these artists knew their work would live for centuries.  At the time they were just making brushstrokes on wood or silk or porcelain.

All images from Exotic Taste: Orientalist Interiors by Emmanuelle Gaillard and Marc Walter published by The Verdome Press.  The book includes hundreds of images of rooms and objects influenced by the Far East, India and the Islamic world.  It's stunningly beautiful and if you have a strong connection to Chinoiserie or porcelain or unbelievable tile, it is a must.  All images Marc Walter.  The publishers provided the book for review.

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