Mid Week Round Up

It’s Wednesday. Read this. I have places to be.

Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows. OWS Makes Dangerous, Violent Ones
Michelle Malkin, Red County

The next stage of the Aimless Occupation of America is upon us: On Wednesday, rabble-rousers in the San Francisco Bay Area will walk off jobs they don’t have and encourage everyone else around the country to abandon work to protest high unemployment.

GOP Wastes Obamacare Opportunity
Micahel Tanner, National Review Online

Yet Republicans have seemed strangely quiet about the issue of late. So much so, in fact, that the Washington Times was led to wonder if Republicans have “given up” on repeal. There certainly does not appear to be much evidence that Republicans are still making repeal a top priority.

Did Congress Authorize the Obama Refi’s?
NetRightDaily.com

“Some of those things that are being advocated for us to do really go beyond what Congress has given us the authority to do,” said FHFA director Edward DeMarco.

Uh oh: Witness found to Cain incidents?
Hot Air

Could Wilson be more than just a witness in this story? Could he be a source? It could just be a coincidence that a witness to these alleged incidents did work for an organization pushing Perry, and that the story mysteriously got to Politico as Cain took support away from Perry in mid-October. If he is the source, then conducting an interview on the topic has to be one of the dumber political moves I’ve seen.

He could knock ’em dead at the Gridiron Dinner.

Herman Cain Sings “I Must Tell Jesus”

Born On This Day
1734 – Daniel Boone American explorer (d. 1820)
1755 – Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (d. 1793)
1795 – James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States (d. 1849)
1913 – Burt Lancaster, American actor (d. 1994)
1934 – Bill Gothard, American minister and speaker
1938 – Pat Buchanan, American journalist and politician
1942 – Stefanie Powers, American actress
1961 – k.d. lang, Canadian musician

I’m Having a Crisis of Style

No, seriously.

I realize that my current style is probably “older than I think I am.”  But I’ve been thinking a lot about the clothes I wear to work, to casual events, etc. 

After all the years I spent in politics and a decade in D.C., I know the corporate/political uniform.  In my early days as campaign staff I once showed up to an event where multiple pre-primary candidates were speaking.  I stood in the back with the other advance guys.  As I looked around I realized that all five of us were wearing a grey pin-stripe suit, white shirt and red tie.  Our mommies couldn’t have planned it better.

But see, I’ve got this artsy side to me.  So when we lived in D.C., I shopped a Nordstrom far more often than I should have.  But it was the 80s and I was stylish. At least I thought I was. I had the requisite dark suits.  But for summer I had the seersucker and bowties.  And in those days I could still tie a bowtie.  Now, the only bowtie I have is for my tux and more often than not I get frustrated and just go back to the clip on.

Moving to Richmond where I got older and wider (that’s not a typo), I started out in the political job with the suit. But now that I’ve settled in as a state employee by day and an internet vigilante by night my wardrobe has become more casual.

I no longer have to wear a tie every day.  That’s a good thing because I no longer have a closet full of suits and shirts.  I can dress up on the occasion that I need to.  Weddings, funerals and important meetings.  But it’s not an everyday thing.

I know that the old adage is to “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.”

Thing is, I want to be a freelance writer working from home.  I see my days as going for a swim, heading to a coffee shop to catch up on email and reading, then heading home to write through the afternoon.  Not many suits required there.

Still, in building this writing career, I have the occasional meeting with clients.  I’ve got one coming up with a fairly conservative group.  Here I am with the spikey hair I’m too old for and wearing more jewelry than most business men would wear.

Do I go for the artsy writer in khakis and a blazer?  Or do I unbedazzle myself and put on the suit and tie?

For the most part, I’ve had no problem dressing for the occasion, and I suspect I will for this meeting.  But is that not being true to who I really am?  I don’t want to lose a client because I’m not willing to comb my hair.

Reality is that I’m not like Steve Jobs.  I don’t have a closet full of black turtlenecks and I couldn’t carry it off if I did.  And I’m not going to be the hip, young social media guru.

What I want to be is a respected, well published writer.  I think I can be that.

And to get there, I’m willing to comb my hair.