S: Is for the social caring of Dr. Lauri Romanzi

"We live in a society that is at war with bodies. We allow women to become anything we want except women". Our bodies are meant to bear children between the ages of 16-24. That is when our bodies can repair themselves the quickest and with the least amount of damage.

There are times you are grateful to know certain individuals because they contribute so much and you feel blessed because you know them. I am blessed to know many of these amazing human beings. One of them is Dr. Lauri Romanzi who spends her time and money going to Africa to help women who have gone through child birth and ended up with fistula problems and are damaged sometimes beyond repair. Lauri is what's known as a plumbing specialist.

She doesn't remember a time when she didn't want to become a doctor. Her parents gave her medical kits and a life size nurse doll. When other children are asking for dolls, Lauri was performing surgery on them. Her love and infatuation of becoming a doctor is largely due to the fact she had a crush on Dr Kildare ie: Richard Chamberlain. At 18 she went to a gynecologist and had such a horrific experience that she decided then and there to become one. When she got to college it was the doctors who were less academically inclined that became either OBGYN's or General practice physicians. Makes you feel safe doesn't it to know that fact? Lauri wanted to change that. Did you know 80% of doctors go into plastic surgery, Internal Medicine, and Dermatology because that is where the money is? Lauri graduated and began teaching at Columbia, and Roosevelt. Her specialty urogynocology, plumbing, fistula and words I don't even understand. She then opened up her own private practice. Her new office is located at----- . She also started a blog to help women understand their own bodies.

We are not told how dangerous pregnancy is. The statistics are 1 in 1,800-4,000 die in America baring children and in a 3rd world country 1 in 10. It is unprecedented and not spoken about. Something we take as common place is actually taboo least the population stop. They say it takes a village to raise a child and that statement is true if you take what scientifically our bodies are meant to do. If we had a child at 16 the village raised it as we learned the necessities of life would this not make a more balanced world. We would care about others instead of fighting for the fittest to survive. There is no easy way out of full term pregnacy. No matter how you look at it your body is going to be damaged.

Lauri is on her way to starting a gynecological spa for women. Did you know if you do kagel exercises not only will it help you stay fit but your orgasms will be more intense? True! Dr. Lauri Romanzi is inspiring and that also is a F.A.C.T.

T: Is for the abundance of chocolate

I have written about my chocolate downfall before and New York City definitely indulges that delight. If your a girl you become possessed once a month. If they are smart, the men who love you, find ways to satisfy that animalistic craving. I personally grin with a Cheshire type smile when sated by a scrumptious treat. Tom and I went to the Papieridoll event and we left rather hungry. Tom asked me if I wanted to go to the Chocolate Bar. Thinking he meant the 2 for 1 Martini's at Chocolate by the Bald Man which we were no where near I was rather irritated thinking he was taunting me because it was that once a month obsession time. He lead me into the village to this hole in the wall place. What I mean is that had you not know this was there, you would pass right by. The Chocolate Bar is retro in design and heavenly by sight. My vision was assaulted with delights that made me sigh in anticipation. More than chocolate I love caramel, and there were an assortment in jars. I had a Kahlua one which was a moutwateringly oasis of taste. Then I had a chocolate peanut butter rice crispy treat that was sinfully amazing. I kept sighing as Tom feasted on a truffle of raspberry and coconut. I definitely had the better choices, not that his wasn't good. Mine was Fabulous and had me purring. So of course I shared. We ended with a raspberry peach ice tea and a iced coffee. Alison Nelson is the owner of this decadent delight located at 48 8th Avenue or mail ordered from www.chocolatebarnyc.com. Can you believe it, they have chocolate tea and that is a F.A.C.T.

C: Is for the clothing style of paierdoll

Papierdoll was started November 2004 and launched after much research in May 2005 by fashion stylist Michelle Bell and Sam Francois. It is a unique online fashion magazine done in a daily blog which combines the formatting of a formal magazine with a top notch editorial team. Supplying photography from all over the world makes it lush in texture. Covering fashion shows, parties, emerging designers this team of award winning writers gives this a unique perspective. In November 2005 they merged with ThriftyChick.com a leading online magazine and their only competition. Taking the chick into the big leagues increased marketability.

ThriftyChick.com began in early 2003 bringing secret sales and fabulous finds to the masses via blog. Forbes voted the blog at Thrifty Chick “best of 2005” creating more media buzz and a swarm of interest among the fashion e-zine community. Among the interested parties, www.Papierdoll.net. An undisclosed deal was struck and the world of high-end couture embraced secret sale shoppers for a perfect match. Women from all over the world could now shop on line at a bargin. “Thriftychick was an important and well recognized brand/concept when it came to Internet shopping. Papierdoll was recognized for it's fashion sense, it made sense for them to team up. Named best coverage of fashion and online shopping by Forbes and TheStreet.com in 2006, their traffic jumped 150% over the previous year" (stats provided by traffic facts).

I met Michelle and her team and Fashion Tribes at their 2nd anniversary party held last Friday at Lotus. These people throw a party and it was well thought out while supporting the Human Society of New York. There was a puppy that I thought Tom should adopt. I can't as my cat Kismet (or should I say I'm his human?) would have a fit. Though Kismet was rescued from a trash can just after he was born by Jasmine Guy and made it to me a month later.

Papierdoll allows us in this fast paced society that now runs on the Internet to stay connected to the fashion industry in a easy, bargain hunting way and that is why it is so trafficked and that is a F.A.C.T.

A: Is for the Richard Serra

When one thinks of Richard Serra the word mammoth comes to mind. His usage of raw industrial materials brings out a brutality stilled by moments of awing peace. Minimalist and unconventional he accents the physical urban properties of steel. Through their mass they invade space and create environments of their own. It is proven architecture filled with internal power. I was first introduced to Serra's work at the Gagosian Galleries in Chelsea and I have sought him out ever since. Being next to a Serra you get a glimpse of God at work.

Richard Serra is present for every step of an installation since the 1970s, when a worker was crushed. It happened in Minneapolis when one of Serra's artworks toppled over on him. The new MOMA building was specifically designed for Serra's work. On April 14th of this year, the museum knocked out a series of walls on the second floor and opened up the side of the building to get some of the works indoors. The work was supervised by Joe Valardi, whose rigging company usually installs boilers and massive air-conditioning units. He's the only man Serra trusts to lift his art. "This is a piece of steel, but we treat it like glass," Valardi says. There's always a glitch, though.

Why did the MOMA knock down walls? Because Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years opens
June 3 and will run until September 10th. Starting with his early experiments with rubber, neon, we are lead to his monumental pieces. Three new works will have their premiere and NYC will be the first to see them. The pieces will be on view throughout the Museum and in The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, giving one an extraordinary vision of this formidable artist. Two pieces are already in the Sculpture Garden - Intersection II (1992-3) and Torqued Ellipse IV (1998) giving you a glimpse of his genius before the show officially opens.


Torqued Ellipse is a moment of grace. As the viewer you are drawn into the gentle swirls of light playing off the steel, encompassing you in moment. I recommend that you see this at sunset. In 1981 Serra was rejected by the public. He installed Tilted Arc, a gently curved, 3.5 metre high arc of rusting mild steel in the Federal Plaza in New York City. The workers in the buildings surrounding the plaza complained that the steel wall obstructed passage through the plaza. They took it to court and four years later the sculpture was dismantled by the federal workers and taken for scrap. Serra has come full circle for now he is considered one of the most preeminent sculptors of our era and that is a F.A.C.T.

F: Is for & Fork

Publicist extraordinaire Laura Rubin and her partner Desta invited me to the Thom Bar located inside the Thompson Hotel for the release of the new book "& Fork: 100 Designers, 10 Curators, 10 Good Designs". Published by Phaidon this is the follow up to the extremely successful SPOON. AND FORK features 1,000 color illustrations of hundreds of innovative products created by the most forward-thinking young designers today and weighs in at 8lbs. Not only will this look good on your coffee table but you can use it to exercise flabby arms. Considering this is a part of my body that needs attention right away I was a fan. This book will be an indispensable reference for students, designers, architects and the general public interested in design and where it is headed. Easy to flip through each designer is in alphabetical order, and is allotted four pages that include photographs, curator explanations on the whys their works will have a significant impact and influence young designers.

Here's a list of my favorites:

Yves Behar/Fuse Projects/San Francisco this 37-year-old designer has Nike's vice president stating "he's a fantastic design force . . . [who's] about to explode onto the world scene." His futuristic vision is in his new design for the Toshiba laptop. Done in a red lacquer, it opens, revealing a sleek, ultra thin computer that's been buffed a metallic silver. Employing a collapsible hinge, the Transformer's 17-inch screen extends up and out toward the user, turning the computer into a flat-screen TV. "I had the idea of an envelope," he explains. Behar envisions a future in which technology can be present when we want it to be--and invisible when we choose to be free of it. His designs are driven by emotion and a desire to connect. Behar's growing body of work is so distinctive that he is being honored with a solo exhibition (running through October 3) at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Jennifer Carpenter/Truck Product Architecture/New York I love her designs because it allows kids to construct their own tables, step stools and benches. "It gives them an ownership of the piece. Realizing that kids' stuff spills into the adult areas, her pieces have to appeal to grown-ups. "I heard that someone was using our Friend Bench as a television stand, and I loved that." TRUCK Product Architecture also designs for the home's surfaces. Table, Floor, Wall, Ceiling. They view their work as architecture. They want to bring pleasure to the home through design that is both straightforward and unexpected. www.the-truck.com

Paul Cocksedge/London is the rising star of lighting design at 29. He creates visually spectacular and technically ingenious lights that celebrate the magical and transformative qualities of illumination. He uses polystyrene vending machine cups or exquisite hand-made glass, Paul Cocksedge designs lights in surreal sculptural form. His work was shown at the Design Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum and was one of the four designers nominated for the Design Museum’s Designer of the Year prize in 2004.

Simon Heijdens/Rotterdam has designed the coolest thing ever...moving wall paper. For an ADD brain and someone who has a hard time sleeping this sound like the most interesting way to pass time and stay creatively stimulated. Tomorrow he starts an exhibition at Milk Galleries located at 450 West 15th. Heijdens studied experimental film in Berlin before enrolling at the Eindhoven Academy, where he began to work in design. The influential Dutch design group droog® selected Moving Wallpaper, one of Heijden’s graduation projects, for its collection and then invited him to contribute to a series of international exhibitions.

Patrick Jouin/Paris
My mom once did a painting that is very reminiscent of Jouin's work. It was hypnotic and I remember her painting it. Besides the piece that made me choose him he creates stereo-lithography furniture. Through a process known as 3D layering that makes his new furniture truly inspiring.

These are just 5 of a 100 new designs that are sure to fascinate anyone with an imagination and or a brain. Thank-you Laura, Desta and Phaidon for a truly wonderful book and night and that is a F.A.C.T.