Lifestyle Experts

   I read an article on the internet where Martha Stewart titled an article about holiday desserts "Conscious Coupling". This of course was meant to be a not so discreet slam against Gwyneth Paltrow who has her own lifestyle website, Goop.
   I have to admit part of me thought it was pretty funny. It's bad enough that another celebrity saw fit to make a big announcement about a divorce. (Do they really have to do that?) It's even more ridiculous when it has to be phrased in such dramatic terms. I suppose you must be really special and cultured to 'consciously uncouple'. The rest of us just break up or get a divorce/annulment.
  I have a hard time taking the name Goop seriously. Where I come from Goop is a soft lanolin based soap that is really good for getting grease off your hands. You can buy it at Fleet Farm right next to Gunk and Lava. The name Goop does not conjure elegant living to me.
  You've guessed by now I'm not a fan of lifestyle experts. Frankly I consider it a form of bullying. It's not enough that women are being told they need to be slender with flawless skin and long lashes dressed in the latest fashions to be considered beautiful. Now we are being told that our homes need to be fashionable and conforming to someone else's idea of tasteful and beautiful.
  I can still remember the first time I saw part of a Martha Stewart show. She was making some sort of fish dish. I remember that the first thing you needed to do was find a reliable fishmonger. I had to look it up because I had no idea what that was. It means a person who sells fish. Who in Minnesota buys fish from a fishmonger? If I looked it up in the Yellow Pages would I find one? Would it be all right if I just consulted with someone at the meat counter of the local grocery store? Needless to say at that point I turned it off.
  I have a hard time taking advice and direction from someone who has no idea about the kind of life a normal person leads. Yes, I could set the table with chargers and elegant cloth napkins in hand made holders. While I'm doing that who would take care of the cats, clean the kitchen and the rest of the house? For that matter why would I set a dish on the table that is only meant to have another dish set on top of it. It's just going to be one more thing I'll need to wash later. How do you plate food and serve it without it getting cold? If someone wants a second helping can you go into the kitchen and replate? You must be kidding.
  I've looked at some of the furnishings put forth by lifestyle experts. I can tell you for a fact that if you have a child or pet most of that stuff would be wrecked in a matter of  days. Colby would have lots of fun chewing on the fringes of pillows and getting hair over the throws.
   Do we really need someone else to tell us how to decorate our houses, cook our food and set our tables? Do we really need to follow what's in for decorating this year? I don't think so. I'm doing just fine in my house with the Ty Wilson prints on the walls painted by the previous owners of my house. I don't care that it isn't in a certain style. I don't care that my furniture has a little cat hair on it. I'm comfortable with it and that's all that counts. You home should be the one place that reflects your taste, not someone else's.....