Not so Palpable: PITT-POLLARO

I must say I had never been a huge fan of Brad Pitt the actor - albeit he has been named the sexiest man on a number of reputable publications and has many hit movies under his belt and is engaged to the most beautiful women in the world - until... a couple of years ago when his designs came to public eye under the flagship name of Pitt-Pollaro - furniture designed by Brad Pitt and manufactured by the reputable furniture establishment of Frank Pollaro. Now that really got my attention and I thought-  wow, this guy is more than a pretty face, he is genuinely talented, he has an eye for style and form and function, the three ingredients necessary for any successful furniture design and his artistic aesthetics are interesting to say the least.

Fours years of collaboration between Pitt and Pollaro have resulted in a few but pretty interesting pieces - all carefully manufactured and numbered by Pollaro establishment and signed by Mr Pitt - but that's what kind-of bugs me as well...

Frank Pollaro

His designed furniture is too exclusive, too limited, too select - aimed only for people with deep pockets and palatial homes and Brad doesn't strike me as that kind of a person - he has shown serious commitment to sustainable, affordable architecture, environmental issues and is well known for his humanitarian projects all over the world. He is one of those who genuinely wants to give back and elevate the common man's misfortunes, whether economically inflicted, state inflicted or nature inflicted- and as a self-taught designer/architect, Brad surely must see there are people much, much less fortunate than him who are perhaps as talented -but never get the opportunity to showcase their designs or have one of their designs brought to life. Now, what I would have expected from Brad was to realise his own design dreams but at the same time with his wonderful eye for design,  seek out improvised designers world-wide who deserve to be showcased and give their designs and names a chance to shine besides his in the Pollaro establishment.

Maybe he will come around to that one day who knows, perhaps introducing a more affordable line by relatively unknown, talented designers -  in the meanwhile, the not-so palpable Pitt-Pollaro designs  can be viewed on their website www.pitt-pollaro.com

LIVING with GRACE

Grace is my all time favourite attribute in people and one I wholeheartedly strive for every day of my life - but there are days when I get frustrated by the nervous, narrow and neurotic minds I come across and the abruptness with which they pounce on people, thinking and imaging the worst in every situation.

Very few people know how to be truly graceful in their lives and dealings with people and situations these days-  it's easy to be benevolent and graceful when things are going your way but the true test of character is when things don't go your way- most end up accosting others without thinking rationally and blowing everything way out of proportion - making things worse than they actually need to be. And it's really hard to react with grace when you are at the receiving end of someone's neurotic thoughts and ramblings. I know, because I was at the receiving end of one such encounter yesterday at work...

But that's exactly what you need to do - be graceful and not react in kind - but at the same time make a mental note to give these people a wide berth next time you see them. Believe me, you can do without these people in your life to continue your quest to live with grace!