Is "professional organizer" a real job?

I read Apartment Therapy every day and lately, it's been more a source of daily irritation than it has daily inspiration. That website's huge and it publishes upwards of 50 posts a day and the logistics of sorting through, editing and posting 50 posts from 30 writers every day has to be a daunting one. I get it, they work hard. However, the editorial voice of that site is getting progressively whine-y and the whole staff seems to have come down with an alarming case of what Ayn Rand called "me-too-ism." There seems to be nothing these kids won't gush over. Nothing.

Well, last week, they ran a series of articles promoting someone who bills herself a "professional organizer." Apparently, this woman makes a living by going into peoples' homes and getting them organized though something called an Organization Bootcamp. I had no idea there was such a thing. And the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.

I don't begrudge this woman a thing. She saw a niche and she's exploiting it. Good for her. However, what kind of a society has the US become that people think they need such a profession in the first place? Have people degenerated to such a state that they need to pay someone to remind them to clean up after themselves and not be pack rats? I can already hear the rationalizations. "We're too busy nowadays!" What a load of crap. 

I'll save you some trouble and you can just send me the $100 you'd pay to attend this Organization Bootcamp.

Step one: buy one of these.

Step two: use it.

If it's important, put it in this filing cabinet. If it's not important, throw it away. Ta-daaa! You're organized. Now go make your bed and do the dishes.

Go see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I just saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night and man oh man what a movie. It's a love letter from Brad Pitt to the great city of New Orleans for starters, and it tells a tale that had me enraptured for its full three hour duration. It's a love story, a human story, an interesting story and a fantastical parable all at once. It manages to be both poignant and touching without reverting to easy emotion or sentimentality. The film delves into the nature of life and of happiness and details the necessary trade offs and compromises all human beings make in the pursuit of their dreams. Where Benjamin Button diverges from the pack is in its insistence that although the pursuit of happiness and adventure entail sacrifices and trade offs, these compromises aren't something to be mourned. Rather, these compromises are to be celebrated because they are the adventure. All hail Brad Pitt and may he win every award out there for this brilliant movie. Bravo!

Christopher Peacock follow up

Wa-a-a-a-y back in April, I wrote an entry about the amazing world of Christopher Peacock. I ran a couple of photos of his now-famous Refectory Kitchen. Here they are again.

That article gets a lot of Google traffic and I get asked about that Refectory a lot. I received a note from a reader the other day and she asked me about the pendants that are hanging over the island. I'd always assumed that since they were hanging in a Peacock publicity shot, that those lights would have to be originals. Well, I was mistaken.

The pendants in question are from Vaughan Lighting, a label only available to the trade.

It took a bit of sleuthing, but I found the answer to the source of those pendants on a blog called Willow Decor. Willow Decor is written by a woman named Gina Milne and I owe her a debt of thanks for solving this mystery.

New cool stuff from Jennifer Squires

Jennifer Squires, whose work I've discussed here previously, has a new desk calendar featuring her photography. The calendar is an interesting take on the flip card and its compact size won't take up too much room. What better way to ring in the new year than a new Jennifer Squires photograph for every month? You can find her calendars, and the rest of her growing body of work on her Etsy shop. 

Another contest at Whorange

On Christmas Eve, I reported that I'd won a signed print by Matte Stephens in an essay contest sponsored by the talented and beautiful Tula over at her great blog, Whorange. I love Matte Stephens' work and I love Tula's blog and yesterday's arrival of that print made my heart grow three sizes. I dropped it off at the framer yesterday afternoon and it will hanging in my living room within a week. I cannot wait.

Well, she's at it again over there, and Whorange is running another contest for a different Matte Stephens signed print. Why not head over to Tula's great blog and enter? Accuse me of double dipping if you will, but I just entered again and you should too. Consider this an incentive to click on over to Whorange to get a heaping helping of LA Style served with a huge side dish of humor. Not to mention the chance to have a Matte Stephens of your very own. Go! But hurry, the contest ends on Monday.