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Robert Forst - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
I was born in Columbus, Georgia and raised until the age of sixteen in San Francisco. Educated in California, Georgia, and Washington, DC, I took my Ph.D. in political science at the University of Texas - Austin. While my doctorate consisted of concentration in public administration, American government, and comparative government, my principal area of interest was government and politics of the Middle East. This program was funded by an award known as the ... [More]
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- Paying For Your Self-Indulgence By Living the Life of An Expatriate
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Humanities] Let's say you're old or at least getting up there, living on social security, maybe a small pension, and living with your spouse in a house that may or may not be paid off. Let's add that you've been reasonably intelligent during your worklife, investing at least moderately - maybe just in time - in a 401K. So you're retired and content to live out your days in New York or Washington or Virginia or wherever you've chosen to let time run out. The years go by and despite warnings to be careful of your withdrawals from your IRA, you realize that the money tree is becoming a bit bare. Indeed, in these times, in this market, in world conditions the U.S. hasn't had to face before, you strongly doubt that there's going to be a turnaround that keeps you from going down the tubes. Or worse, your financial advisor tells you that he can assure your lifestyle but can't say your wife will thrive after you've thrown in the sponge and gone to meet your Maker.
- Fabulous Glassware for Your Table Settings - Today?
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Visual-Graphic-Arts] Does anyone who isn't on the social registers of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. really care about her table settings? If she isn't responsible for the way her table looks when entertaining the social upper crust or the diplomatic community, what's wrong with the fine glassware offered by the best shopping mall chain stores? Nothing at all, really! I would offer in fact just one little caveat. You can use glassware of exemplary beauty and appropriateness without having to hock the silverware to do it! You can easily go beyond the day-to-day offerings of glass- and stemware available in the mall to offer your guests small works of art in which to enjoy their wine, champagne, martinis, brandy, and beer. On our site (please see below) we present a range of Romanian glass and crystal stemware that is hand-made, hand-etched, mouth-blown, lead-free, and 100% safe. More important, each piece is a masterpiece in a tradition of glassmaking that goes back centuries. And yet you will discover how inexpensive it is to own sets of these unique products that will add a large measure of color and prestige to your table service.
- China With a Little "c" OR Buying China in China
[Shopping-and-Product-Reviews] China is all over the news. We Americans owe the Chinese a lot of money. We owe them big bucks because they fill our toy stores with stuff for kiddies. Someone is always dumping on them for shoddy or dangerous materials in their manufactured goods. Their packaged food may poison us or our pets.
- Making It in Oil When You Discover the Right Artists
[Arts-and-Entertainment] How do you know you want to buy an original oil painting that costs over $4000 (I've chosen the price arbitrarily)? What tells you that it's worth every cent of its price? If you're an investor can you be sure it will appreciate? If you're a collector will you like it 25 years later? Do such questions take on a special significance if you can't tell a Van Gogh from Andy Warhol? There is an easy answer to each one of them - each may surprise you but may not satisfy you.
- The Elusive Cevik - A Title Inspired by an Old Movie
[Home-Improvement:Interior-Design-and-Decorating] To this day I'm an avid moviegoer, just as I was even more so as a kid. The title of this article is inspired by a movie - "The Mask of Dimitrios" - with Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre (1944). I thought it was wonderfully creepy, scary, and atmospheric when I saw it at the age of 8. When I saw it again not too long ago, I still thought it was atmospheric, maybe a little less creepy, a little less scary. It's still a mystery that holds your interest. What's this got to do with Cevik crystal? Absolutely nothing except that I've pictured Cevik as something belonging to an eastern European mystery - or even an American one like The Maltese Falscon! However, finding out about Cevik using Internet sources is a real challenge if not exactly a mystery.
- What If I "Mistrust" My Own Taste?
[Shopping-and-Product-Reviews:Gifts] What if you want to select a gift for your wife, husband, mother, father, brother, sister, intimate other and you don't know how to choose a collectible that has intrinsic value? Most of the time this "problem" doesn't exist. You pretty well know what the gift recipient will like. But sometimes, maybe some critical time, you're not sure. Then what do you do?
- The Connoisseur Goes To Europe
[Shopping-and-Product-Reviews] Vienna, Innsbruck, St. Moritz, Stresa, Lugano, Lucerne, Hewlett Packard, Dell, Apple. Do the last three belong in the short listing of jet-set shopping sites? Ask yourself a simple question: Where would you rather do your holiday shopping? Well, the lovely narrow streets of Stresa, for example, with rows of shops, each offering an incredibly enticing selection of figurines and porcelains, are pretty hard to resist. Unless, of course, you're not independently wealthy.
- Home Decoration the Connoisseur's Way
[Home-Improvement:Interior-Design-and-Decorating] Why is a connoisseur a connoisseur? The "New World Dictionary" says a connoisseur is one who has "expert knowledge and keen discrimination in some field." It adds "especially in the fine arts or in matters of taste." In today's relativistic society can someone really assert that he's more knowledgeable and discriminating than someone else and get away with it? Is anyone making $75,000 a year prepared to concede that his wall-to-wall carpet bought at Sears is less beautiful than his $500,000 a year neighbor's carpet bought at an exclusive carpet dealer's? I doubt it. So the purpose of this article is to assert the value of the word 'connoisseur' in determining whether the Capodimonte figurine in Jane's house is more valuable intrinsically and personally than Betsy's off-the-assembly line Chinese miniature of Rodin's 'The Thinker.'
- Limoges is French, Isn't It?
[Home-Improvement:Interior-Design-and-Decorating] True or False: Limoges is a town in France. Absolutely true, although it's also a region in France. True or False: Limoges - a name found on porcelain pieces and dinnerware - is produced at the Limoges Factory. Absolutely not! And the reasons why not will both surprise and inform you. First and foremost, Limoges was produced in France by many factories from the late 1700s until around 1930. Now, it didn't go away in 1930; this is an arbitrary date that's applied to denote changes in the global economy that led Limoges to change from its characteristic elaborate design to something simpler. According to one authority, at some point in the 1920s, more than 48 companies were producing Limoges pieces. First, just to provide a definition, the name "Limoges" can be used on any piece that is made with kaolin clay and made in the city of Limoges.
- Another Look at Crystal and Porcelain Masterpieces by Makers You've Probably Never Heard Of
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Visual-Graphic-Arts] Times have changed in the few short months since I wrote to talk about beautiful crystal and porcelain in this article. The really savvy will ask whether I mean times or financial markets. Specifically, I'm talking about the further deterioration of the dollar vis-a-vis the Euro, the currency in use throughout much of Europe. Some of you will respond that plenty of crystal and porcelain is available that isn't affected by currency fluctuations. That's true - to a point, if you're willing to accept second and third-level quality. Let me bring you up to date and explore how we might be able to help a bit.
- Romanian Glassware and Stemware
[Food-and-Drink:Wine-Spirits] Wine is in! Regions all over the world - even some never before associated with world-class wines - are entering the lists against established world champions. Some (e.g., New Zealand and South Africa) and proving to be worthy competitors. I won't pretend that I know enough to advise you which wines to buy; I will strongly suggest that how you serve your wines (as well as beers, champagnes, etc.) will affect the overall moods of your guests. So has it occurred to you to go beyond the day-to-day offerings of stemware available in the department stores to offer your guests small works of art in which to enjoy their wine, champagne, martinis, brandy, and beer? Maybe it should - especially when the cost might be much lower than you think.
- The Laura Mostaghel Home and Interior Decor Collection
[Home-Improvement:Interior-Design-and-Decorating] One of the great things about "buying American" these days is that you don't have to worry about currency fluctuations that greatly inflate your price for a purchase (e.g., when you're in Europe and you have to deal with converting dollars to the sky-high Euro when U.S. currency is devalued due to variables over which you have no control). The Global Connoisseur offers you the opportunity to obtain world-class paintings and objects d'art from one of America's best known artists, Laura Mostaghel. In addition to presenting her entire current catalog to give you access to the full range of her gorgeous work, we have also arranged an exclusive online service: You can give Ms. Mostaghel a direct commission to provide you an oil painting created within her style but to your specifications. Even in her choice of materials Laura has spared no effort to assure the long-life of her beautiful creations. Connoisseurs and collectors will find everything they need to compel the appreciation and the artistry that went into their purchases and the care taken to preserve them.
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