Pre-Ramble:  Every year about this time, I steel myself against the inevitable flack I must endure on behalf of my beloved wardrobe workhorse — the turtleneck.

This year, the first shot was fired across the bow by none other than Clinton Kelly, the other half of the “Clinton and Stacy” duo from the popular show on TLC ”What Not To Wear.”

In case you aren’t a fan, or don’t have daughters who threaten to submit your pathetic profile to the show on a regular basis, ”What Not To Wear” takes some poor, unsuspecting slob; throws out all of her horrible, ill-fitting clothes; and releases her onto the streets of Madison Avenue with nothing but a few fashion tips and a loaded credit card. The fashionista-in-training invariably comes back with bags of new horrible, ill-fitting clothes and eventually Clinton and Stacy are compelled to take her out and dress her up in stuff that is flattering, stylish and suited to a new fashionable lifestyle.

Well, so, apparently, Clinton is teaming up with a local alterations chain to bring his fashion-guru-ness to our own Minnesota Mecca of Americana – the Mall of America. Based on the premise that “the essence of style is fit,” “Perfect Fit by Clinton Kelly” tailoring, alterations and style consultation service will debut in the Mall this weekend.

Frankly, he couldn’t have chosen a better venue; the MOA is host to all ilk of fashion violations, at all levels of the fashion spectrum.  However, given this missive around turtlenecks, it is clear that pretty-boy Clinton (he is pretty cute), has NEVER set foot in Minnesota in the winter.  In an interview to promote the “Perfect Fit” opening, Clinton gives the following “haute tip for surviving a Minnesota winter” …

“Beware of the turtleneck … Don’t get me wrong, a turtleneck can be a wonderful thing, and I have a few of them myself … But they should be saved for a really cold day when you’re skiing or spending time outside.”

Seriously?! …  “Saved for a really cold day” … ??  You mean like, EVERY DAY FOR FIVE MONTHS STRAIGHT??

The Take-Away:  Clinton, baby, It’s COLD outside” — !  See below for What To Wear in from the MOA parking lot.  (Turtleneck strongly suggested.)

Pre-Ramble:  Almost as good as a cupcake high is checking in on the websites of great thinkers … to see what they’re thinking.

On that score, Daniel Pink’s site is a must-read – he’s a triple-threat-thinker: 1) insightful; 2) articulate; and 3) the kind of decent all-around good guy that you’d want to sit down and have a cupcake with.

Well, so, in a recent post, Daniel discussed an art installation called “The Idea Store” by two brilliant Brooklyn artists, Athena Robles and Anna Stein. Their work was featured at the (e)merge art fair which was held last month in Washington D.C.  The (e)merge art fair “celebrates galleries, artists, and the creative process with an energetic environment of collaboration and discovery” … Or, in DP’s experience, the affair was, “… a sprawling assemblage of creations from up-and-coming painters, sculptors, photographers, and performers.”  Here he recaps the premise of The Idea Store installation’s concept …

“People who visited a makeshift storefront – think Lucy Van Pelt’s psychiatrist’s “office” (modified version shown at right) – could fill out a card offering an idea and get paid a penny for it. Robles and Stein then placed the card on the kind of rack you might find at a Hallmark store. Then other visitors could select an idea from the rack and purchase it for two cents.”

As you can imagine, the proposed ideas ranged from trivial to considerable, however, as DP so astutely observes,

“The best idea of all may have been the notion of the store itself. It evoked all sorts of associations – the marketplace of ideas, contributing your two cents worth, etc. … And it raised lots of interesting questions: Why is one idea “worth” more than another? Why are some ideas easier to “sell”? Is it possible really to “own” an idea?”

The Take-Away:  For my money, this is the kind of concept (and thinking) that totally delivers the dopamine rush. These gals (Anna and Athena) are sharp – this is but one of several of their clever conceptual art projects — and the deceptively simple Idea Store concept resonates on so many levels. It’s interactive and playful and sparingly executed so as not to wash out the pure core of the idea with flashy, extraneous elements. The Idea Store concept is subtle and elegant — I wish had had been there to experience it firsthand.  Better yet, I wish I had thought of the idea for The Idea Store – !

As DP points out, although The Idea Store was originally conceived as a piece of art, there are many potentially fruitful applications for the idea-exchange-dynamic in other settings, … like schools or businesses, or in other random public venues.

Let’s put one on Wall Street, and let the 1% pay more than 2 cents if they want.

Pre-Ramble:  It’s a bird, … it’s a plane, … no … it’s a German satellite, potentially headed for a backyard near you!

The satellite, known as ROSAT, was launched in 1990 by the German Aerospace Agency, DLR. The agency estimates that ROSY (far less menacing with a cute nickname), packing a combined mass of 1.7 tons, is likely to fall from space at speeds of up to 450 kilometers per hour somewhere between Oct. 21 and 24.

Apparently, there are currently more than 22,000 pieces of space debris orbiting the Earth (map shown at right), with bits and pieces entering the Earth’s atmosphere on a weekly basis — !?  DLR scientists put the risk of being hit by a stray piece of ROSAT at 1-in-2,000 (i.e., the probability of someone on Earth getting injured is one for every 2,000 “de-orbit events” … ).

The Take-Away:  Well, one thing’s for sure – if big hunk of burnin’ German love ”de-orbits” into in my yard, I’m going to keep it and make it into a coffee table.

Post-Note:  If you want to keep tabs on ROSAT’s orbit in real-time, go to n2yo.com.

Another Post-Note:  If you’re into space junk, you’re bound to be bowled over by the curiously striking beauty of the Binary Low Table (shown below). According to its creator, BRC Designs, the table was “inspired by pallets of obsolete computers and electronics that were collecting dust in a local warehouse … The surface is completely covered with a collage of motherboards, computer chips, led screens and hard drive discs … “ (… And, there’s a matching chair!)

Pre-Ramble: I really don’t know what to make of this whole Occupy Wall Street situation … I grew up in the 70’s, so I guess I should be more astute.

According to their website,

“Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in … ” … blah, blah, blah …

Yep - the OWS movement has a website. It also has a Facebook page, Twitter account and an entry in Wikipedia. For a brand new movement, they have quite a presence … (must have some time on their hands …)

Well, so, protesting against something like a war makes sense to me – I could paint up a nice big messy sign and march into the Oval Office tomorrow to give Barack a nice big piece of my mind about the huge misallocation of resources and lives our current military involvement and policy represents.

But, to line the streets of lower Manhattan to protest against … bankers? … Or stock traders?

Let me get this straight … So, because the economy is in a precarious place, … and “economy” somehow equals “money”? … and we want more money in the hands of more people … we should go to the place where … money changes hands? … and set up tents? … and chant stuff? … and eat hot dogs in the middle of the street?  (Which actually sounds like a pretty normal  occurrence in Manhattan … )

With a few exceptions, I think the majority of folks are hanging around the OWS action not because they have a burning passion to protest ”the corrosive power of multinational corporations” … but, because it’s fun and a novelty and they’ve somehow got nothing better to do with their time. From here, the scenario looks kind of like playing house or urban camping … roughing it … They’ve designated a poster painting area, set up a little “library,” and created a special space for “quiet time” … I guess all we need now is new crayons and some juice boxes.

In the words of one protester, as quoted in The New Yorker Magazine:

“Honestly, it’s great here,” said Kevin Monahan, a twenty-five-year-old former garbage-truck driver wearing a yellow rain poncho and a headband with skulls on it. “We’re well fed, warm at night. I’ve made more friends here than I did in college.” He pointed to a group of punks who had formed a circle on some blue tarps and were teasing one another’s hair, and said, “I probably get along with those guys best.”

The Take-Away: I get the general beef here. I get their right to peaceably assemble.  And, I get the value of their overall message … corporate and government corruption, … fiscal mismanagement, … Check.  Yup.  I’m just not so clear as to what the protesters think the outcome of their efforts/antics will actually be?  How will they know that their effort has been successful?  Do they have some solutions in mind?  Or are they just complaining?  Or worse, are they just making a ruckus for the sake of making a ruckus?

For starters, if they want to boost the sagging economy and redistribute some wealth, they could put their money where their mouth is (like bloke below) … and get a job to put more money into their own hands, … or give some of their money away, if they think somebody else should have some.

Post-Note:  I love the poster of the ballerina on the bull (shown above).  Not sure what it means, … but love it.

Another Post-Note:  Keep it!  … I’m all for the redistribution of wealth, but I sure DON’T WANT the bill that’s been taped to that Dude’s mouth for a month.

Pre-Ramble:  This photo was splashed across the screen of my homepage yesterday morning — an arresting vision of imminent disaster off the coast of New Zealand.  According to the Associated Press …

The Liberian-flagged ship, Rena, ran aground October 5th on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand’s North Island. A vertical crack on the starboard side of its hull has caused the ship to lean.  About 70 of the 1,368 containers onboard (11 of which contain hazardous materials) have fallen overboard as the 775-foot vessel continues to list, … hundreds of tons of oil have spilled into the surrounding water, washing up onto the pristine white beaches along the coastline … Brutal weather on the reef, with swells of up to 16 feet, have made mitigation of the situation impossible … the piles of containers remaining on deck continue to shift and move, making salvage work dangerous and all but impossible. Six vessels have been mobilized to intercept the drifting containers and other debris in the water.

Sure, there have been disasters of much greater magnitude … earthquakes, tsunami, crashes, bombings … It’s not my intent here to slog through the grimmest of the grim, but something about this picture strikes me as particularly vexing.  I think it’s the precarious, teetering, frozen-in-time, on-the-brink-ness of the situation.

And, I wonder what is in all of those containers, … Each with a destination and purpose, … Each presumably part of 1,386+ other projects and plans.  I wonder what will happen to everything, … as it sinks to the bottom of the ocean … or floats randomly out into the open seas … just lost.

You can see where this is headed and it isn’t good.  The impending environmental damage is disheartening, and, accidental or not, the element of reckless human stupidity is infuriating.

The Take-Away:  What a waste of time, energy and resources.

Post-Note:  Actually, there are some days where I feel exactly like this ship –

Pre-Ramble:  Well, it’s all over social media, and regular media too. Yesterday’s death of Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, has brought out a powerful reaction all over the world.

My artist friend from college (Hi Jules!) lives in Palo Alto.  Today she placed a bouquet of homegrown roses alongside the notes and candles … and apples (with one bite out of them like the Apple logo) that continue to be laid outside the fence around the perimeter of the Jobs’ house.  I’m guessing this news has an even bigger impact in the Pacific Northwest … he’s one of their own.

Actually, Steve Jobs has had an impact on all of our lives in one way or another.  If you’ve ever downloaded a song or app from iTunes or chuckled at a scene from Toy Story, you have been touched by his magic.

Let’s face it – the guy had vision, tenacity, and a knack for figuring stuff out. (I swear, you could put me out in the garage with every single solitary chip and wire that belong in a computer … for a few decades …, and I would still NEVER be able to invent one.)

The Take-Away:  The only thing more amazing about Jobs than the breadth of his gifts, is the depth of his thinking.  In what has come to be known as the “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” speech, Jobs told the Stanford University graduating class of 2005,

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.  Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Pre-Ramble:  Here’s a noteworthy and potentially paradigm-shifting event (and one big nasty story-problem) …

If physicists at a giant particle accelerator near Geneva, fired a beam of neutrinos toward a detector that was 454 miles away in Gran Sasso, Italy, only to discover that the neutrinos seemed to be reaching the detector 60 nanoseconds faster than light, does that mean that Einstein’s theory of relativity which says that the speed of light in a vacuum (approximately 186,282 miles per second) is the ultimate speed limit — nothing in the universe can travel faster — is all wet?

The speed of light is a big deal … It shows up everywhere …

“… from estimates of the size and age of the universe to the radius of black holes to the power generated by nuclear reactors. Over the years, experiments have rigorously and repeatedly tested relativity and quantum mechanics and found no discrepancies — until now.”

Einstein’s theory of relativity, “a pillar of modern physics” has been called into question here … Any nanosecond now, physicists everywhere will be scrambling to replicate this daunting-if-true phenomenon, the fall-out from which would represent a scientific revolution of unfathomable magnitude. Most scientists believe it still too early to call, but if the CERN experiment is independently verified, the evidence would represent a big fat “X” in the “oops, never mind” column for our celebrated genius.

Take heart, dear Einstein … a recent WSJ article supports, in fact promotes, the role of failure in the active pursuit of creative and innovative solutions.  University of California, Davis psychology professor Dean Keith Simonton advances the idea that successful innovators are those who aren’t afraid to take risks, and in doing so, experience failure on a regular basis …

“Many people succeed at producing innovations because they churn out a very large number of ideas, both good and bad … The most successful people tend to be those with the most failures.” 

It is interesting to note that Dr. Simonton has authored over 500 studies and articles and 12 books on creativity/innovation.  Based on his own risk theory, we can assume that either some percentage of this work would be considered a failure, or that he has an even more prodigious pile of stinkers to account for the successful lot.

Luckily for Einstein and Dr. Simonton, the article suggests a variety of tactics born out of the “failure as a key to creativity” school of thought that employers can use to foster an innovative work environment.  Here is an adaptation of those ideas for use in your own personal environment:

• Make innovation a priority and build the expectation into the structure of your day
• To that point, schedule “free time” where you can meander around, day-dream and otherwise work on creative pursuits
• Play a game
• Take a nap
• Go to an art museum or gallery — or add some new pieces of original artwork to your personal collection
• Draw, paint or sculpt something fabulous yourself
• Build an atrium in the middle of your house — natural light can inspire enlightened thinking (I just made that up, but I know I think better when I’m working in a nice sunny spot)
• Take a hike — natural light is even better outside!
• Meditate — while I’ve not really gotten into this, the experts swear by the capacity of meditation to open up creative valves in the brain
• Run around the block or ride your bike — like meditation, physical exercise loosens up new pathways in the brain
• Listen to new kinds of music
• Take risks — try new stuff, ask potentially stupid questions, look at things from different perspectives, try on different hats, etc. (I keep a tiara by my desk, just in case I need a change in perspective … “What would Queen Katherine do??“)

The Take-Away:  It’s okay, Einstein, … if this whole theory of relativity thing goes down, look on the bright side … It will free you up to try a new creative approach.  Get yourself one of those fancy new super duper particle accelerators, roll it out onto the sunporch, put on some Black Eyed Peas – and see what pops!