Is Candy Spelling The Ultimate Simplifier? Maybe. Sorta. Kinda.

I don’t watch reality television much, but I surfed by this show yesterday – a repeat of HGTV’s Selling Spelling Manor. 

Wow.  Aaron Spelling’s monster mansion – Spelling Manor – has been sold by his widow and she’s moving to a Century City condo and getting rid of an amazing amount of stuff.  Anyone downsizing or who has downsized can find something with which to identify here. 

Admittedly, there’s much to be said that all of this is the Anti-Simplicity lifestyle.  True, so true.

However, this woman has undertaken a major life change and she’s gone through all those same pangs other simplifiers have:  letting go of the vase that has memories but needs to be tossed; boxing stuff for donation; giving away things that you’ve discovered in the attic stash to someone who’ll love them. 

Look, this country is in a depression and we all know it even if so many are too afraid to use the word.  Is it the Greater Depression?  I don’t think we know yet.

However, when so many are having to scale back and scale down, maybe knowing that Aaron Spelling’s widow Candy has vacated Spelling Manor to live in a condo the size of her former attic may help them feel they are not alone.

Just don’t ask about the slabs of pink Italian onyx going into the kitchen or the private swimming pool being built on the 42nd floor. 

Happy week, Dear Reader! 

How Much is Too Much for a Purse? $280,000 Comes to Mind

Hermes Birkin Handbag
in Pink Leather
(not the blue croc w/diamonds
model described in the ad)
source: Wikimedia Commons
public domain

It's been a long, long time since I've posted anything under the category "examples of excess," and that's been intentional.  After posting a couple of times on things I found to be the total opposite of voluntary simplicity and simple living, I thought it brought a negative vibe to things.  Simple living is about positive, happy, peaceful, quality living.  No time for a negative attitude.

However, there's always an exception to the rule -- and today, while doing research for an article, I stumbled upon the following and just had to share this.  Not as criticism - it goes past that.  Really.

This is just laughable:  an online ad for a special deal (that's right, it's a bargain) on a Hermes bag, made of crocodile dyed blue and lots of little diamonds -- the "Queen of all Handbags," the reader is informed.

It's being sold for Two Hundred Eighty Thousand and No/100 Dollars ($280,000.00).  I have written this sum in the way that we always did in our legal documentation back in my lawyer days just to make it clear that I really do mean 280,000 smackeroos.

Check out the ad here for the "Hermes Birkin Handbag 35cm Blue Sahphire Diamond Porosous Crocodile," which is available for shipping the next business day after purchase!!!

Example of Excess.  Sure.

Good laugh, too.   The next time I'm debating with myself whether or not to spend cash on a purse (because I am a sucker for purses and shoes), I may still be questioning the price.  One thing's for sure, though:  $280,000 is definitely too much for a purse. 

What kind of person thinks this is acceptable?  I really really wonder about that.  Betcha Hermes doesn't ask too many questions, though.  Hee Hee.

I'm still laughing. 

Examples of Excess-7: "Excessive Leverage and Greed"

Eric Fry over at the Rude Awakening offers the following quote today in his post:

“Looking back, what was the cause of this credit crisis?” CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo asked Bank of America’s CEO, Ken Lewis, during an interview yesterday morning. “What caused this whole mess?”

“Excessive leverage and greed,” Lewis responded.

Wow. At least they know who they are -- I've always thought Richard III was less evil than Iago, when comparing those two great Shakespearean villians, because at least Richard III was honest about what he was doing.

Today's News - Lehman, AIG, and Merrill Lynch

In today's news, banks are pack-ratting their cash in a way that would make Ebenezer Scrooge proud -- Bloomberg is reporting that the cost of borrowing money doubled overnight -- to the highest rate since the fears right after 9/11 - and there's rumors it's not just Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and American International Group Inc. that are in serious trouble. (AIG stock has lost 94% of its value over the past year, and Lehman just filed bankruptcy.)

In response, the Federal Reserve added $70 billion to reserves - and news is still breaking by the hour on what's happening with the Dow and when the other shoe is going to drop (or if it's going to drop, or if there is another shoe ...).

The Big Kahuna Meeting

The Scotsman has a good read on the Lehman story -- the Big Kahuna meeting on Sunday where Lehman wasn't saved by Fed Reserve Chairman Bernanke (the stuff of movies, who will George Clooney play?), how Lehman began as a small little business in Alabama to become the "biggest overseas bank in America," ....

That was a big meeting on Sunday, by the way -- as The Scotman describes, not only was Lehman's fate decided, but so was AIG's and Merrill Lynch ... who had a happier ending to the day: Bank of America (remember that quote at the start of this post?) rode in like the cavalry and tookover the stockbrokerage firm for $50,000,000,000.00.

And it was just last week that we were reeling from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Long ago, in a time far away, I studied finance - and I remember my professor being almost in despair at the continued deregulation of the banking industry. He foresaw doom, he valued frugality, and he bought gold. To give you an idea, back then the market hadn't hit 1000. That's right: 1000. That wasn't so very long ago, you know.

Today, I see his face clearly and I remember his concerns: money is a temptation best left in different pots, and we're so far from being out of the woods. Letting a major national bank takeover a stock market firm is troubling to me. Should banks own brokerage firms?

"Excessive leverage and greed. " Indeed.

Example of Excess 5: Huge Homes

TMZ.COM has collected photos of various celebrity homes, and they are simply amazing.

How many rooms do you really need? (Candy Spelling has a gift-wrapping room.)

How many planes and cars? (John Travolta has two private jets (not just planes -- jets) with their own runways at his home, along with a garage for 16 cars.

Example of Excess 4: Zany Prices

This morning, The Drudge Report has three links to news reports on unbelievable prices --

1. $150,000,000 for an apartment in New York City's Upper East Side. That's right - an apartment. Not even one tree is included in the purchase - you still gotta walk the dog. (Or, assumedly, have someone to do it.) One-hundred fifty MILLION, folks.

2. A $25,000 chocolate sundae being sold by New York's Serendipity 3, which includes La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier on the side ($2,600/lb.) as well as 5 grams of edible gold and a gold spoon encrusted with chocolate and white diamonds. And, yes, you get to take the spoon home with you.

3. A $1000 bagel at New York's Westin Hotel -- it comes with white truffle cream cheese (according to the article, only caviar is more rare than this stuff) and something that just sounds like it was written for comedians out there: "goji berry infused Riesling jelly with golden leaves."

No word on who has actually bought the sundae or the bagel. These are being offered for sale, the bagel's profits are going to charity.

But the apartment? That's a done deal, baby.

Personal Post 4: "Upscale Lifestyle Intelligence"

From Wooden Horse Magazine, June 10, 2007:

"FORBESLIFE EXECUTIVE WOMAN, which will be launching in October, has as its
mission: "To provide Forbes' community of executive women with luxury
lifestyle content that they value and respect ... and they won't find
anywhere else." The publisher asks: "Powerful women turn to Forbes for
business insights. But where do these women - who have everything except
time - turn when they want upscale lifestyle intelligence?" Based on a
quick scan of the magazines' features and departments, that lifestyle seems
to include an awful lot of shopping..." [Emphasis added.]

I debated about posting on this blurb ... then I thought, what the heck. This, and Lesley Seymour all in one week: don't you know that she's gonna subscribe to this rag, for the latest in "upscale lifestyle intelligence"? Of course she is.

How can anyone possibly know if they are buying the right brand, the right label, taking the right vacation, wearing the right jewelry, if they don't have reference manuals? Lemmings need leadership.

Who am I to criticize? I'm a former big-firm attorney who several years ago woke up and decided much of the way that I lived my life was wrong. Morally wrong. And, stupid to boot. So, I changed. I'm still evolving, I suppose.

But, I think that my past gives me a license -- as a former member of the Club -- to laugh at "upscale lifestyle intelligence." Geez Louise.

And, to pray for all those trapped in this -- what did Mary Hunt call it? Oh yes, "entitlement, greed, and self-centeredness". Right.

What do I do now? I'm a professional writer (which means I'm paid to put words on screen, or on paper) and I finally found a place where that Atticus Finch feeling really exists: I represent abused and neglected children in the local Children's Court.

One last thing before this rant is over. This afternoon, I was chuckling because I have found my very favorite purse of all time: you know, the one that is just perfect. It comes from Ross, on sale for $19.00 -- and after I spent all that money on Prada. LOL LOL LOL

Example of Excess 3: "Tweens R Shoppers"

First, there's the 04/22/07 New York Times article "Tweens R Shoppers" by Lesley Jane Seymour (appearing in its entirety here).

Then, there are the web responses - which are growing, but not in as great a number to constitute a vocal majority. That the backlash is anything less than in tsunami proportions reveals a lot, as well, doesn't it?

Here are three of those responses:

1. A letter to the NYT editor:

"Oh, please! I was so disgusted by the tone of ''Tweens 'R' Shoppers,'' by Lesley Jane Seymour (April 22), and put off by the photos of these spoiled, super-sophisticated sub-teens. If the majority of children in our country grow up with these values, we're in deep trouble...."

2. The Chicago Foundation for Women provides research to back its position, providing readers with a fact sheet on Materialism and Family Stress by CommercialExploitation.Com:


"What it didn’t say: The story is a commercial for various products that market to tweens. It presents the commercialization of children as an important new trend—going so far as to say shopping offers children a “safe” outlet in these troubling times. No experts are used to talk about research that shows a negative effect between materialism and the development of children. Numerous studies cited by the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood say the central premise of marketing—buying things will make us happy—is not true. Actually, research shows the pressure to spend and consume actually makes people less happy. Read a fact sheet on the issue..."

3. Mary Hunt, founder of Debt-Proof Living and nationally-known writer, blogs about her take on the article, cutting to the core:

"Our hopes and dreams for our children are no different today than they were the days they were born. We wanted to raise strong godly men who would be kind, self-sufficient, and generous. And it’s been an uphill battle given our culture that peddles just the opposite: entitlement, greed and self-centeredness....

"By the 19th paragraph I was getting uncomfortable. This can’t be for real. Surely she can’t be condoning such ugly attitudes of entitlement and self-centeredness.

"If Seymour’s goal was to get me to read her column right to the last word, she succeeded. And I arrived with a sick stomach. ..."

Mary Hunt says it well: it is a fight against "entitlement, greed and self-centeredness." I believe this is the same fight that anyone attempting simplification must face, regardless of age.

The same attitude that is discussed in "Tweens R Shoppers" exists in their parents. They just shop at different stores and look for different labels. That's why Lesley Jane Seymour didn't have a different ending to her article. She's proud of her girls' shopping day.

We are in a Culture War in this country, and anytime you choose to be thrify, or to buy organic, or to turn off the television and read a book to your kids, or (gasp!) change careers based upon your value system, you're fighting the good fight.

One of the purposes of this blog is to help you know that you are not alone. Heaven knows, simplifying isn't easy. It is, however, I believe worth all the effort.

Image: David and Goliath (remember, David won)

Example of Excess No. 2

Here's another example of what simplicity is NOT about.

Example of Excess No. 1: Know What You're Not

After debating whether or not to include Examples of Excess on this site, I have chosen to do so. Why? Because part of defining what you are includes the understanding of what you're not.

When you're tired, and this alternative lifestyle does take effort, perhaps these Excess Examples will remind you how far you've come. Or maybe, they'll just give you a chuckle.

And, now, Example of Excess Number One: ParisHilton.Com. I don't think I need to type another word.