I’m big in Japan

So there I am at my desk doing some institutional shareholder analysis for a client and I get a call on my cell from a weird “949” number. I don’t usually answer numbers I don’t know, so I googled the number and up came Killer Dana’s Surf Shop.

Wasn’t sure why a surf shop was calling me since I (a) have never been surfing (b) have no interest in learning to surf (c) don’t live in Cali, but I decided to answer the phone.

A sweet-sounding surfer chick on the other end asked if this was Laura and then asked to confirm my billing address for the purchase I had just made.

WHAT?!?!?!

She started rattling off my old address on the Upper East Side (I’ve moved).

WHAT?!?!!?

I freak out into the phone, “I didn’t buy anything! This isn’t me! I don’t live there! OMG, Identity theft!!” (I didn’t say O-M-G, said the full phrase).

Then the surfer girl says, “ya, thought it was weird that we were gonna ship this stuff to Japan.”

WHAT!??!!

The surfer girl hears the panic in my voice as I repeat that I didn’t make this purchase, someone has my identity and that she has to cancel this order. I mention that this has never happened and that I have to get off the phone to call AMEX immediately.

She asks me, “WHOA, I’ll cancel the order now. SCARY, dude! Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yes,” I reply. “Do you have the info of the person who placed the order in Japan?”

Needless to say, I’ve spoken with American Express (the best credit card company ever). They’re taking care of it. No other weird charges on my card. PHEW!

Now, since Mr. Tune Trnh Thanh so graciously tried to steal my identity to buy $250 worth of board shorts, I want to publicize his information. You can call Mr. Tune at the following Japanese phone number: 0 81 125 609 7305.



Crazy...

C’mon Kate, you’re better than that!

When I woke up this morning and checked my mail, I had an email from Kate Spade entitled “idiom bracelets.” I’ll be honest, I got excited. I thought about how fun having silly little idioms wrapped crisply around my wrist – might be a fun new jewelry piece. A bird/bush bracelet with the line “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”, “High as a kite” with pretty kites, “turning over a new leaf” might have been a beautiful bracelet for fall.

Alas, I opened the email.



Really? This was the most creative you could be with IDIOM bracelets? ‘Ooops a Daisy’ doesn’t have a single daisy on it. ‘Tickled Pink’ is just white polka dots. “Grass is always greener” is just stripes. What is this???

These are hardly creative and if I was wearing one, I assure you that I would NEVER think of the idiom that apparently inspired their design. It’s like your design team came up with a beautiful line of enamel bangles and then some kook in marketing had to come up with a common link, a theme. Why waste the idiom idea? It’s spectacular. These bracelets are not as great as ‘idiom bracelets’ could have been. These should have just been called classic enamel collection. That’s all they are.

You’ve left me disappointed. You’re better than this, Kate!