I was fascinated by yesterday’s New York Times story on artist Jamie Livingston, who took a Polaroid every day for 18 years. He started in 1979 when he was 22 and continued up to (and including) Oct. 25, 1997, when he died of cancer on his 41st birthday. Livingston’s Polaroid from August 31, 1997 Livingston’s…
In the News
A Sad Case
The health-care situation in the U.S. is terrible. But I can’t stand people who act like health care in other nations is sheer perfection. I’ve been following the sad story of a U.K. reality-TV personality named Jade Goody who is only 27 and has advanced cervical cancer. She suffered from symptoms for THREE YEARS and…
I Feel a Little Famous
I did a double take over a story in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine about the websites of troubled financial institutions. There are about four paragraphs on the Lehman Brothers website — and that site was one of my responsibilities when I was Lehman’s managing editor for e-commerce. Image from the New York Times The…
Buh-Bye to Lehman Brothers
I drove by my old Lehman Brothers office building this week and saw that the giant screens on the outside of the building now display the logo of Barclays, the buyer of bankrupt Lehman’s core businesses. Photo from the New York Post I expected this to happen, yet I was still a little sad. I…
The Prodigal Bumpe Returns
Last year, when I wrote about my 9/11 experience here, I mentioned how — adding minor insult to major injury — Bumpe the cow disappeared from my abandoned office at Lehman Brothers. Bumpe Let’s take a moment to reflect on the type of person who loots a stuffed cow (as well as laptops, loose change…
RIP Hair Hat Lady
Not long ago, photos of “hair hats” went viral, showing up on numerous blogs and websites. Hair hat But I didn’t know till I read it on Fashion Hayley that the artist responsible for the hair hats, Nagi Noda, died on September 7 at age 35. The cause of death is said to be “surgical…
In the News: Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers, the investment bank, filed for bankruptcy protection. I worked at Lehman from 2000 to 2005. In the past, when people asked me about my work history, I used to say that I worked at “the Wall Street Journal, CNN, People Magazine and an investment bank” because no one except people in the financial…
Laughing While Crying
I didn’t get a chance to post this yesterday, so here is the sleeveless turtleneck I was wearing on 9/11/01, when I worked in the World Financial Center, across the street from the World Trade Center. I didn’t keep it as a memento. I just wear clothes for a really long time. I did get…
9/14/01
Recently, I was talking about how less familiar images of a tragedy can have an unexpectedly big impact. On September 14, 2001, Wall Street Journal employee Jared Sandberg went back to his offices at the World Financial Center, across the street from the ruins of the World Trade Center. He took these pictures of the…
Melissa Goes Gamine
When my gorgeous client Melissa told me she had gotten a pixie haircut, I insisted she take a photo. Click to enlarge.Check out Melissa’s previous hairstyle here. I was thrilled by how glamorous she looks. Those big shades are just right with that cut. And I had to agree with her comment, “I think my…