Tuesday, April 04, 2006

How Can Having 42 Pairs of Shoes Be Wrong?

In surfing the net at work today I was intrigued by three different books...

  • "The Joy of Much too Much" by Bonnie Fuller (editor-in-chief of: YM, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, US Weekly & now Star)
  • "Fabulosity" by Kimora Lee
  • "Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping" by Judith Levine

While I haven't read any of these books I investigated each a bit further to see if I should. My favorite quote from "The Joy of Much Too Much" is...

"...the current obsession with simplifying life is boring and pointless. An over-the-top, jam-packed, crazed life is the secret to happiness." - Bonnie Fuller

I can appreciate that - I can appreciate Isaac Mizrahi's quote even more..."Bonnie's book is great. She understands the importance of excess."

"Fabulosity" - I learned, is defined as "1: a state of everything that is fabulous, 2: A quality ascribed to that which expresses glamour, style, charisma, power and heart." This book claims to be a step-by-step guide to achieving ones wildest dreams by following Kimora's 16 laws of success. I've seen her house on MTV Cribs - it's seems Kimora Lee understands the importance of excess too.

Finally, I was most intrigued by "Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping". I myself made a New Year's resolution to cut back on buying stuff that I don't really need so I read Levine's interview on MSN with much interest.

Right off the bat I had a problem with Levine's definition of "necessities" - toilet paper was okay, but not Q-tips. Hello? I use Q-tips every morning and find them to be as necessary for my ears as toilet paper is for my butt. Takeout food was also taboo - well I can say I've partaken of take-out a number of times in the last three months. For work purposes she and her domestic partner Paul had to share one cell phone and use dial-up internet service at their houses (yes they have two). Well here I was right on the money, my husband and I only have one cell phone between us and we still use dial-up internet. Levine stated at the end of the interview that the experiment taught her "she could live on a lot less and still be satisfied and happy." But having read the whole interview I got a different impression. It seems to me her year without shopping brought her frustration, sadness and longing for things she couldn't have. She also felt bored, restless, isolated and stupid because she couldn't read the latest books or see the same movies as her friends. I'm sure there is a middle ground between Levine's not "splurging" on Q-tips and the excesses of the Kimora Lee's of the world.

Knowing I'm closer to the Levine end of the continuum then the Lee end, I decided to take stock of my own excesses and discovered...

  • 42 pair of shoes
  • 203 books (not including non-fiction)
  • 39 Partylite Candle holders
  • 71 movies on DVD (more on VHS tape)
  • 243 CD's
  • 7 different kinds of dishes
  • 10 sets of bed sheets

From this list it's easy where my weaknesses lie, oh well. A world without some vices is a boring and pointless world indeed.

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