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MODERN HERITAGE | 2010-08-13
Fashion designers have been scouring the archives of American heritage brands and reinterpreting them in ways that make sense for today’s modern lifes...

FUTILE BUSYNESS | 2010-07-25
Did you know that in 1839 it was considered elegant to take a tortoise out walking?

I came across that tidbit on the “Idler” website, www...

SOMETHING FROM NOTHING TEST | 2010-06-17
My mother is 83 years old, and sharp as a tack. That said, she does occasionally forget something, or make a mistake. (Sorry, Mom.) Here’s a g...

THE HAPPINESS PARADOX | 2010-05-23
Here we go again. The stock market is fluctuating wildly, countries are going bankrupt, and who knows where the Dow will end up tomorrow? If your ha...

MOROCCO'S ALLURING CONTRADICTIONS | 2010-04-25

“Morocco is like a tree whose roots lie in Africa, but whose leaves breathe in European air.” That is the metaphor that King Hassan I...

LUXE AUSTERITY | 2010-03-14
Mademoiselle Chanel was the ultimate paradox. Born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, the woman we know as Coco Chanel rose from a childhood of poverty and ob...

DESIGNER DOUGHNUTS | 2010-02-20
I’m curious. What did you give YOUR Valentine this year? Red roses, perhaps? A box of chocolates? Or maybe a bottle of champagne? I find m...

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD | 2010-01-03
The month of January is named after Janus, the mythological Roman god of gates and doorways, beginnings and endings. He is most often depicted as hav...

A WHOLE LOTTA LESS | 2009-12-16
The holidays are upon us. The airwaves are flooded with Christmas carols and stores are filled with shoppers. Retailers are discounting, e-tailers a...

DENTAL VACATION | 2009-11-15
A trip to the dentist takes on new meaning these days. Last year over a quarter of a million Americans packed their suitcases and their toothbrushes ...

VIRGIN CONTRADICTIONS | 2009-10-25
I wonder. Is it possible to love a brand without ever really experiencing it? And if you could, would that qualify as a paradox?

I’ve ...

URBAN FARMING | 2009-09-20
We’ve been eating a lot of tomatoes lately. My husband planted several varieties in large terra cotta pots this summer. We had plump red Big Bo...

PERFECTLY IMPERFECT | 2009-08-17
Last week I baked a birthday cake from scratch that was perfectly delicious, but definitely not perfect. It was an old-fashioned 2-layer chocolate ca...

FANCY vs UNFANCY | 2009-07-19
Summertime and the eating is easy…that is to say, uncomplicated, inexpensive, and unfancy. I’m talking paper plates, picnic tables, and din...

BACK TO BIKES | 2009-06-18
There’s been a lot written about the struggling automobile industry lately….most of it not good. American car makers, traveling in the slow...

HURRY UP, SLOW DOWN | 2009-05-26
Summertime, and the living is easy….at least it’s SUPPOSED to be ‘slow and easy.’ For most of us, however, that’s not the ca...

THE ROMANCE AND SEX LIFE OF THE DATE | 2009-04-01
Every once in awhile during my travels I come upon an amazing story that I can’t resist sharing. This one is about dates, and a farm boy from Io...

GREENER GRASS | 2009-03-23
The month of March is known for two green holidays, St. Patrick’s Day and the first day of Spring. On St. Paddy’s day we WEAR green, and on...

THE SUNSHINE PARADOX | 2009-02-24
I am on vacation in Maui, Hawaii, as I write this newsletter. I’m trying to take my own advice and practice a little “extreme relaxation.&#...

THE PARADOX OF THRIFT | 2009-01-13
Our economy hasn't been this tough since the Great Depression. The reasons are both complicated and simple, but one of the major culprits is our hype...

WE or Wii? | 2008-12-19
The holidays are a time of giving and togetherness, a season of ‘we.’ We do for others, we share our bounty, we give our time to meaningful...

POSITIVE AGING | 2008-11-22
Frances Lear was a wise woman. She once said: "I believe the second half of one’s life is meant to be better than the first half. The first hal...

IN LOVING MEMORY OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS | 2008-10-24
I was lying awake early this morning worrying about my 401 K. Or what’s left of it. As a baby boomer contemplating retirement, I’m feeling...

THE SAME, ONLY DIFFERENT | 2008-09-28
“The Leopard,” one of Italy’s best-loved books, tells a story about the decline of a noble Sicilian family. The novel, written by Guis...

PENNY POWER | 2008-08-25
The dollar may be on a downward slide, but in true Trend/Countertrend fashion, pennies are trending upwards. Some would say that the penny is practic...

SERIOUS FUN | 2008-07-28
Scientists have only recently begun to realize that people may do their best thinking when they are not concentrating on work at all. It turns out th...

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE ELSEWHERE | 2008-06-01
Ahhhh, summer is finally here. In Minnesota, that’s a big deal. Growing up, I remember anxiously awaiting the start of summer vacation. It too...

CLEARLY AMBIGUOUS | 2008-05-21
I recently attended two art events, one in my hometown of Minneapolis, and one in Chicago.  They couldn’t have been more different from eac...

THE NEW RURALISM | 2008-04-22
My dad was ahead of the times. As a custom homebuilder in the late 60’s, early 70’s, his business ran counter to the trend of suburban spra...

FAST, FINE, CHEAP.....FOOD? | 2008-03-24
You know the old adage: "Fast, fine, or cheap; you can have any two." That used to hold true for food. Fast food is cheap, and usually not that g...

BASIC DELUXE | 2008-02-19
What do pillows and pasta have in common? More than you might think. Both are great examples of Basic Deluxe, everyday products that when presented ...

GIVE MORE. EXPECT LESS. | 2007-12-20
I keep an “I” file. (“I” is for “Interesting.”) It’s where I put bits and pieces of inspiration that I come acros...

THE NEW RAGE FOR OLD MASTERS | 2007-11-16
Our Thanksgiving turkey arrived FedEx at our doorstep yesterday. Her name is Red, as in Bourbon Red. She's a small-breasted beauty from a good family ...

GLOCAL | 2007-10-23
It’s awfully dark out there when you get out of bed these mornings. Soon, we’ll be setting our clocks back in an effort to manually adjust n...

THE BEAUTY OF DOING NOTHING | 2007-09-01
I’ve always been a hard worker, and as such, not very good at doing Nothing. But that’s changing. I’m happy to say that I have learne...

GLEAMING DARKLY | 2007-08-10
One expects fine crystal to glitter brightly, but an interesting counter-trend has been developing in the world of home décor. Today, high fashi...

THE PARADOX OF DEMOCRACY | 2007-07-04
You’re probably wondering how I could turn the 4th of July into a paradox. To be truthful, it’s not my original idea. Ever since I heard G...

LIVING SMALL | 2007-06-28
America is the poster child for everything super-sized. From the McMansions we live in to gigantic food portions served at our favorite restaurants, ...

THE PARENTING PARADOX | 2007-05-09
It’s no secret that in today’s time starved, overworked society, many parents are finding it extremely difficult to balance work and family,...

FINDING THE SWEET SPOT | 2007-04-13
A good Trendmaster knows how to find the sweet spot on the trend curve…the place where new is exciting and attractive, yet understandable and acc...

LITE GREEN | 2007-03-16
St. Patrick’s day is upon us, and Americans will be spending millions of dollars on everything green, from T-shirts to party hats to beer. I hav...

A GLORIOUS DILEMMA | 2007-02-14
A glorious dilemma. In case you’re wondering, I’m talking about the game of golf. If you’ve ever obsessed about your golf game, you&#...

ROUGHING IT IN COMFORT | 2007-01-23
There are many worshippers at the altar of luxury, where “having arrived” is defined by the status symbols we accumulate and “living th...

SIMPLIFYING YOUR LIFE CAN BE COMPLICATED | 2006-12-14
Not enough time. Too much stuff. Sound familiar?

The holiday season is upon us, and I’m betting that like me, most of you have been...

QUIET IS THE NEW LOUD | 2006-11-14
Sometimes a soft whisper can be clearly heard above a loud roar. In “The Hummer and the Mini: Navigating the Contradictions of the New Trend La...

THE BEST KNOWN UNKNOWN U.S. ARCHITECT | 2006-10-20
Welcome to my first issue of Trend/Countertrend, the official RW Trend newsletter. Some of you may know me as the Trendmaster. Others may know me as...