OK, femmes and fellas, let's talk purses. Clutches. Pocketbooks. Things that crack-heads snatch. A man gets a wallet for Christmas, stuffs it with credit cards, coupons and photos of his kids (or car), and never gives it another thought. But many women consider this carrying device to be a "fashion accessory." I learned this via Google, the search engine that ate the Internet.
I wasn't sure what I'd find by using the Google Alert feature I noticed a few months ago. But it turns out a lot of women are gaga for handbags.
Oh, I wasn't searching for purses, certainly. I simply put in my last name. (You may want to avoid this if your name is Dick Peter Johnson.)
To use Google Alert, you go to the Google.com site (click over to "even more"), type in a word you want Google to monitor and then you can get daily "alert" e-mails when that word is newly put out onto the Web in a blog or other posting.
The little messages from the Robot World Computer Matrix start arriving daily. There are blogs by Rafael Amarante, Ari Amarante, Francine Amarante and Michelle Amarante (a photographer), from faraway places.
But more importantly, there's a color -- dark purple like ripe eggplant -- known as amarante.
The color can be traced to nature, I think.
Leather PandoraAn alert took me to the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development and a report on Amarante wood, which is from the family Caesalpiniaceae. (Try saying that with a mouthful of eggplant parmesan.)
Amarante is described there as "purple wood (that) turns to dark brown with light. Also called violettholz in Germany."
And then this unsettling note:
"In the United States, amarante is used to make high-class coffins." The report concludes with, "Tends to split when nailed." I just want to go on record saying that's the wood, not the Amarante people.
On a site called "Straight Razor Place," a fellow known as Jacques13 describes how he hand-carves a "scale," which is the handle of a straight razor. Along the way, he says, "Amarante is a South America hardwood, violet in color and extremely hard."
Now I'm glad I didn't name one of my kids Violet Amarante, which would be redundant.
But back to the purses. It might be a little "2007" for the uber rich, but I recommend the Louis Vuitton Vernis (leather) Sunset Boulevard in Amarante, a very classy purse that will run you more than $600 (or $139 if you buy the knockoff).
The idea that someone uncouth like me could be making fashion recommendations is a tad ironic, but I do get these alerts now and it's hard to ignore the enthusiasm of some.
On something called "The Purse Forum," a woman writes, "It's HERE! My amarante four-key holder! ... Yes, I am really this excited over a key holder. I just love the amarante vernis!"
OK, and suddenly I'm in a parallel universe.
Another Purse Forum post, by someone known as "betseylover," opines that, "I love the amarante, but hate the fingerprints I get on it." That's what she said. Ba-doom!
Coach Wallet ReplicaIn more purse chat, the self-titled DJpimptress asks, "Would a red cocktail dress clash with the red Sunset Boulevard??? Should I get the amarante?? Ohh man: I love pomme but im worried that it will not match other items."
Other articles:
http://blog.xmnn.cn/?uid-660917-action-viewspace-itemid-579898
http://www.lc869.com/Blog/View/?288
