5 things I thought about this week:
MEGHAN MARKLE
It's no secret that I'm fascinated by social climbers. Firstly, to be a successful social climber implies a degree of intentionality about your life that perhaps few of us can or want to exercise. Secondly, it is frankly hard. So I like to give credit to Meghan Markle as one of the most successful social climbers in recent history. I don't much care for her role in the Royal Family, or her current pursuits, but I am in awe of her ascension from a "hot girl on Wheel of Fortune" to Duchess of Sussex.You might think -- she is a gorgeous woman who happened to catch an eye of a prince. End of story. But no. Because let me tell you -- I've had an opportunity to stay at some of the most exclusive clubs in the world (through no merit of my own) and there are tons of beautiful women there. Most of the eligible bachelors at one of these clubs would not have to look much further than three doors down to find a partner who is beautiful, well-spoken and from a fabulously wealthy family. Imagine the kinds of women that were already
And how was Meghan introduced to Prince Harry? He saw her on a mutual friend's Instagram, which means that Meghan built a network that was so vast and/or powerful that she was featured on the Instgram feed of a friend that was also friends with Prince Harry. And the friend then helped arrange their date. I love my friends, but they are not going to set me up with a prince let me tell you that much.
Meghan Markle, a successful TV acctress but by no means an A-lister, was able to meet and befriend people who ran in the same circles as Prince Harry. I find that to be quite a feat. What she then chose to do is, as I said, of little interest to me. But let's give credit where credit is due. Who are your favorite social climbers?HAVING TASTE
I often think about what it means to have taste and how difficult it is to acquire it. The problem starts right as we try to define it: What is good taste? Is taste not simply a way to exclude people based on their class or socioeconomic status? Why are we being told by arbitrary rule makes (hi, Vogue) what is or isn’t tasteful?
But no matter how difficult it is to define taste, it’s impossible to miss it once you see it in someone. Having taste in life is of great importance. It is the cinematic gleam that reflects off of the most ordinary objects and settings. You can eat a burger with taste. You can read a book with taste. Fake Rothko often makes fun of people for their superficiality (of which I’m super guilty of) but also for thinking that having access to expensive things can compensate for lack of taste (aka 5 Cartier love bracelets on one hand). Fake Rothko in its essence is about both seeking money and status but also rejecting those things.
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