I think I am the most popular “birthday wisher” on Facebook. While most other folks wish the birthday person with a simple “Happy birthday,” I try to do something special.
I have great success because of an app called, PhotoFunia. It has over 450 photo effects and filters that I can choose from. I usually lift a photo from the birthday person’s news feed and match it with a funny image. It only takes a minute to do and the recipient is overjoyed. Now you know my secret.
A few days ago, I showed you an app called ShiftWear that allows you to change the designs on your sneakers. Today, I am stepping up “the designer in you” by introducing you to Shoes of Prey, a website that gives you the ability to design your own shoes. The video gives you a fun explanation how the design function works.
You will be able to pick from countless number of styles, heel height, material, color, size and width. Shoes of Prey, founded in Australia, has been around since 2009. The company just moved its headquarters to Los Angeles. Shoes of Prey claims that five million women worldwide have designed shoes from their website.
Not only can you design shoes online but you can visit six Nordstrom stores across the U.S. that have physical Shoes of Prey design studios. You can also design shoes at Nordstrom.com.
It’s going to be very interesting to see how many more women will be interested in designing their own shoes.
Shoes of Prey has been funded by BlueSky Venture Capital, Greycroft, Khosla Ventures, and Nordstrom. They are in good financial shape.
This is going to be one of my favorite posts. The whole purpose of DigiDame was to give people over 50 new ideas on how to reinvent themselves. Just because we are finished with one career, doesn’t mean we can’t find real purpose in another.
Enter Sarah Oliver of Sarah Oliver Handbags, an American accessories company in Northern California. All of her exquisite handbags are hand knitted by seniors, a.k.a. The Purlettes +1. Her mission was “to re-engage seniors in the American economy and empower them with a new found sense of purpose and passion.”
I first learned about Sarah and The Purlettes on a recent episode of Shark Tank. Sarah was asking for a $50,000 investment from one of Sharks because her business has been growing faster than she ever anticipated. She needs to buy yarn and other supplies in greater quantity so she can keep up with orders. She also has to keep The Purlettes busy.
Images from Sarah Oliver Handbags
Sarah came up with the idea of employing seniors because, as a young girl she used to knit with her mother and grandmother. She asked seniors at The Redwoods Senior Retirement Community, in Northern California, if they would be interested in working with her. The response was an overwhelmingly “yes” and thrilling.
If you want to get chills and teary-eyed, watch the video to hear the seniors comment about their new found profession.
The Purlettes hand knit every one of the bags, even 98 year-old Kay. The seniors average three handbags a week. Some say they have never been happier in their lives.
Both Marc Cuban and Lori Greiner of Shark Tank ponied up the money and now Sarah has the benefit of consulting with two major business people. Keep knitting away please.
Warning, the video below graphically shows a man being killed by Miami Beach police. It’s brutal. Consider yourself warned.
So there I was, minding my own business in a Miami Beach nail salon, when a shirtless guy gets gunned down a block away on Alton Road. Bang, bang. Without any warning, a group of five or six men and women, rush in to the salon, looking for place to hide.
I had no idea what was going on a block away but apparently a white man had just held up a nearby Bank of America. He was armed with a straight razor he allegedly took from a barbershop after the bank robbery. The police fatally shot the possibly deranged guy as he appeared to attempt to attack them.
The whole scene started at 10:30 yesterday morning. All of the young folks in my salon witnessed the five police cars come to a screeching halt on Alton Road after receiving a alarm warning from the bank.
I think everyone was in a state of shock and loudly recounting what they saw. Everything happened so fast. I didn’t get nervous as my feet soaked in a tub of soapy hot water. I instantly knew everything was under control.
I also didn’t feel the need to rush out the door to find out exactly what happened. I knew from experience that all I had to do was wait a few minutes and everything would be posted on YouTube and Twitter.
Sure enough, Marcellus Johnson, a Miami-based event photographer, captured the entire disturbing showdown on his smartphone. He immediately posted them on several social media sites and within seconds the video went viral.
If you ever find yourself in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, you must visit a new experimental venue that nurtures contemporary music. It’s called the National Sawdust, a nonprofit performance space and recording facility which used be an old sawdust factory.
The founder is Kevin Dolan, a former senior vice president and general tax counsel at Merrill Lynch & Co. Kevin, also an accomplished organist, is my neighbor in Miami Beach.
A few weeks ago Kevin told me that a few of the artists from The National Sawdust were performing at an Art Basel party at the Wolfsonian Museum sponsored by Vanity Fair magazine. The list included: Glenn Kotche, formerly with the band Wilco; Jeffrey Zeigler, formerly with the Kronos Quartet; Magos Herrera, a Latin jazz artist and Helga Davis, singer who toured last year on the Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach.
We were invited to attend and I got to include a few friends.
Kevin with Eliot
Art Basel crowd. lined up outside behind velvet ropes to get in.
One of the many National Sawdust performers.
On loan from National Sawdust
Howard, Ruth, Elliott, Mindi, Eliot and me.
Creative Guests
Steve with other guests who wanted to cause a stir.
Art patrons are very serious about what they wear when shopping for art. This year’s Art Basel, the biggest art exhibition in America, did not disappoint.
Li Hongbo is represented by the Klein Sun Gallery in New York City.
It is really worthwhile for you to view the videos. His work his magical and filled with surprises. Hongbo’s pieces consists of 7,000 to 8,000 sheets of white paper stacked on top of each other. They are glued in a honeycomb structure so they are flexibile and sturdy.
Each concept is very different from the one previously conceived. They are priced around $16,000
DigiDame 