London in New York

I want your love and
I want your revenge
You and me could write a bad romance
I want your love and
All your lover’s revenge
You and me could write a bad romance

I want your psycho
Your vertical stick
Want you in my room
When your baby is sick
I want your love
Love-love-love
–Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”, The Fame Monster 2009

Tiger Woods is on the verge of becoming the first professional athlete to earn a billion dollars in winnings and endorsements. Woods is estimated to have earned approximately $750 million dollars since he began his professional career in 1996. In 2008 alone he earned $110 million dollars.  As a multicultural athlete and the premier player in the game of gentleman his celebrity is certainly international making him a truly global sports icon.  He is married to the beautiful Elin Nordegren who has born him two children Charlie born in February of this year and Sam born in 2007. With so much on the line, the last thing Tiger Woods needs now is to be “caught in a bad romance”, stuck on the 19th hole.  One can only hope that the rumors are false that Tiger Woods is having an affair with  Nightclub Queen, Rachel Uchitel who has worked as a VIP hostess to the stars in Las Vegas, the Hamptons and Manhattan, most recently at Griffin in the meatpacking district.  In America we are protective of our icons and heroes and saddened to see them become just another cliche.  Some say that is the human condition due to the imperfections of man.  I disagree and refuse to accept the inevitability of this type of bad conduct.

The Cardinal Rule: If your wife is loyal, supportive, enabling your success from a platform of security and bears your children, you don’t go off course (say to the Pink Elephant) looking for the 19th hole, even if she is pretty and her name is Rachel Uchitel. You either (a) grant her a divorce on equal and favorable terms (b) suggest an open marriage affording her the the same opportunity or (c) file for divorce and hire an independent professional companion to keep your extra marital relations in the shadows (permanently). You do not humiliate your wife in public. Try to remember, that you are a public figure and she is the mother of your children.

Truth: The truth is that far too many men make the same tragic mistake of getting involved with the wrong women at the most inopportune times in their life. The history books as well as the pop cultural landscape are filled with them. Romantic commitment, especially life partnership(s) based on marriage is extraordinarily complex and challenging, certainly a curvy road with many twists and turns.   Marriage is not always easy.  Sacrifice is part of the equation and with the narcissism epidemic, the me generation may have a harder time with sacrificing their interim personal pleasure for the greater good of their partners and their partnerships.  A further truth, however, is that many men overlook  the great women in their lives once they have reeled them in,  got  them to commit, married and domesticated them turning them into Suzy homemaker. Perhaps it is human nature to overlook that which you already possess.  In domesticity there is a tendency to overlook the independence, sex appeal and yearning you once had for a woman who is engaged in the ultimate sacrifice of providing a support structure to your life.  It’s as if it this is god’s bad joke on the nature of man that we suffocate and reign in the independent spirit of women and once they are caged as a homemaker we go out and look once again for what? A woman who is everything we once admired in our wife, girlfriend or life partner in the first place.  Sad.  It makes no sense.  And yet, I know this and I am the one without the life partner while others are out there making the same mistakes day after day, appearing on TMZ and the National Enquirer reeking havoc on their own lives and that of their families. All I know is that when you wife feels the need to take a golf club to your head while you drive off and crash your Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and or a tree, something is truly busted.  Keep in mind that chances are if you are feeling the need for something fresh and new, your partner might likely be feeling the same way.  Women who sacrifice their freedom to indulge their id and refrain from hedonistic indulgence in pursuit of the pleasure principle,  for the sake of love, security and trust being provided for by their partner, may not always necessarily be as happy as you might imagine,  and they may also be desirous of an infusion of creative sensual energy, from time to time, to sustain themselves.  And if you are out there looking for the 19th hole while ignoring her needs you risk turning her into a desperate housewife.

Sex: Some say that infidelity is never just about the sex.  I am reminded of  the scene in When Harry Met Sally where Harry Burns (played by Billy Crystal) and his buddy Jess (played by Bruno Kirby) are at the GIANTS game at the Meadowlands in New Jersey discussing how Harry found out his wife was cheating on him with “Ira” and planning to leave him.

Jess: Marriages do not break up on account of infidelity. Its just a symptom that something else is wrong.

Harry:  Oh really? Well, that symptom is _ucking my wife!!

So in the end whether or not it is just about the sex, if  your existential crisis makes it inevitable that you find a different companion,  one would be wise to consider the services of a Professional VIP Companion.  Elite Professional Companions are a safer bet, especially if you are going through an existential crisis and not sure if leaving your wife is the end game.  This is safer than getting involved with another public persona, especially one in the nightclub business because in the end, despite her assurances to the contrary that she will not go public with her story, the next thing you know she will hire celebrity attorney Gloria Allred while the story is leaked to the National Enquirer and then play itself out in the mainstream media,  subjecting your wife and family to humiliation.

Avoiding the Male Cliche:  So, you have gone out and had the affair. You could not avoid puttering around the 19th hole.  Maybe you even think you are truly “in love” with the other woman. You are even considering leaving your wife. O.K. Then you must sit down and work out an exit strategy before the story of your infidelity goes public, upon which you will lose any and all leverage, credibility and authority to craft or negotiate an amicable resolution.  If you don’t spare her the anguish of learning of your indiscretion other than via your own confession, you deserve a golf club to the head.  If you continue to pursue sexual thrills while leaving your partner in the dark until she learns of it through a third party or the media, then that makes you a narcissistic selfish idiot (See: A-Rod vs. C-Rod).  So, while I expect that a woman who has experience in the spotlight will rush to the klieg lights much like a moth goes to the light, you can expect that Team Woods will hunker down, work on their situation and get their stories straight. Mistresses do not always understand that when a man and wife are sitting atop a billion dollar empire, it pays for them to put forth a united front so that the alleged “other woman” does not get a piece or the alleged infidelity itself does undermine the value of the empire, especially one tied to the perceived morality of the man atop the empire.  So expect like even A-Rod eventually gave up the strippers or at least his public displays with them, and turned away from Madonna, I would be surprised if Tiger did not do the same leaving Rachel Uchitel out in the cold to fend for herself. So while he plays a gentleman’s game, good manners at this point require this regardless of what the truth is. Although what is interesting in terms of Rachel Uchitel, who lives in New York City and who claims to be trying to play down and dismiss rumors of the affair but she does what? She flies to Los Angeles  to meet with celebrity “feminist” attorney Gloria Allred. Last I checked New York also has attorneys. Excuse me if I nod off briefly until the other cliche shoe falls from the tree. Wake me when Rachel Uchitel appears on Larry King Live with her attorney to advise America of her signing an agreement with Harper Collins to publish her tell all book.  At which point Tiger Woods & Company behind the scenes will write her a seven figure check to maintain her silence so as not to unsettle the billion dollar empire.  In the end, “allegedly” messing with affluent married men and getting a “feminist” lawyer to represent you pays better  than pitching bottle service at The Pink Elephant.

According to Greek mythology Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection. ”And so Narcissus, having come to a pool to quench his thirst, saw his reflection in its smooth surface, and fell in love with it.  And since he could not obtain the object of his love, he died of sorrow by the same pool”—- but not before writing an expose on the teachings of Aristotle and Socrates, the fancy school where they were educated, their expensive after school tutors who helped to inflate the calibre of  their prose and oratory, and  his rather bitchy, but well styled mentor at a large publishing house in Athens who worked him to the bone before Narcissus left to write his novel, leading to a scandal of mythic proportions througout Ancient Greece, before it was made into a movie—ironically the reflection he saw, as recently discovered by archaeologists, was the face of none other than an un named Upper East Side Fauxsocialite.

New York’s Top Socialites now consist primarily of those women who Vogue has tabbed to be the preferred ”reality” models for the designers promoted in the pages of Vogue and Style.com, who also serve as walking mannequins at Society events patronized by New York’s fashionable elite. Blogs have been devoted to documenting New York’s socialite circus, see: Socialite Rank, Park Avenue Peerage and New York Social Diary.  The term Socialite has evolved or devolved depending upon your perspective from what it originally was, a lady of a certain means, style and philanthropic bent who was actively actively social at the highest echelons of urban society, to a glamorous well styled woman who is regularly photographed at Charity and Society events, regardless of whether they come from the guilded classes or possess a philanthropic bent.  These days, in an era where women and men are more equal in all respects in life, many women of whom have achieved a level of career success, financial stature and are philanthopric in their own right, shun the label socialite.   Some of these professional women on the New York Society scene are CEO’s, CFO’s, Partners, Managing Directors and the like in the worlds of Law, Finance, Media, Industry and the Arts.  Many are even working moms to boot.  Some are even secure enough to play CEO by day and party girl by night, if it is for the right cause and in a tasteful environment amongst a certain class of company. And  they  can have fun with the notion of being called a socialite, albeit briefly, and to be photographed along side Vogue’s socialites.

“Faux-Socialites” –pronounced ‘foschialites’,  definition: people adept at social climbing who master who they need to know and for how long before sharing their true nature which is often initially masked even though they wear their raw ambition, couched in apparent insecurity so you will feed their ego, with pride on their sleeve.  These folks often spend more time, money and energy on their publicist, facebooking and twittering to add to their total number of friends, the nail and hair salon, personal stylist and shaking down designers for free dresses under the guise of being famous and assuring said designer that their fame would enable exposure for the designer. Charity? What’s that? Your lucky if you get these folks to “Give back” the dress clean without remains of their personal stank. Often women who have a meteoric rise in society without any social backing are routinely dismissed as “faux” or fake socialites, socialite wannabe’s before paying their dues or gaining their wings (whatever that means!).  Certain fauxsocialites eventually become considered legit socialites and still others bypass that stage entirely. Notably, however. when a fauxsocialite gets her own reality TV show she often graduates to the next level, engages in ridiculous promotional tactics and often becomes known rather as a celebutard, see e.g., Bethenny Frankel. These folks often exhibit a willingness to walk the red carpet at the opening of a zipper and spend time talking about how they juggle a career with nightly appearances on red carpets in NYC, LA and Miami, which itself actually seems like their full time job.

Over cocktails at Bar & Books on the Upper East Side, at random cocktail parties and via telephone, email and chat I discussed with a wide array of private citizens, scenesters and those disinterested or turned off by New York’s current social scene, the evolution of New York’s incestuous social media, its players and the most prolific, but what was most interesting were those who gravitated between engaging in social journalism and infusing themselves into the story they were covering. I took nominations based upon the following criteria:  if you know someone who either cannot (a) spell, b) attribute someone else other than another blogger who promotes them or links their blog  (c) infuses themselves into their coverage of an event or story (d) take criticism and/or e) feels entitled to 100% excellent press for their efforts and/or  (f)) someone you have wanted to or been forced to de-friend on Facebook for talking out of all sides of their mouth trying to be all things to everyone, then nominate them for the position of NYC’s Top FauxSocialite.  The contenders are:

Rachelle Hruska:  The Nebraskan born new media entrepreneur (as stated by her wikipedia entry) is an  internet personality,  with equal parts Holly Go Lightly and Suzanne Stone Maretto (See: Nicole Kidman in “To Die For” ). Yet, it is hard to imagine that anyone who looks like Rachelle with such corn fed good looks and “apparent” sincerity will ever have a tough time in life, regardless of whether she can write or not.  My blog is evidence enough that you need not be Henry David Thoreau, Norman Mailer or Ernest Hemingway in order to have people read you. In fact, GuestofaGuest’s soundbyte’s and photos are perfect communication vehicle for or a dumb downed culture of twitiots with a short attention span.  To her credit Rachelle has mastered speaking to a wide cross section of young folks with ADD, who have neither the patience or inclination to think for themselves.  It matters not when you are a golden goddess, someone else can take the photos, others can do the writing whenever needed and press releases are ever abundant in this world, just put on one of Keith Lissner’s dresses and head out to “cover the party.” If you do not know how to write, all the better, just lift and copy and proofread for accuracy.  It is after all just a social blog. You could be going places. Who knows maybe even become the hot weather girl who gives the “social temperature” on evening newscasts. Rachelle is, however, disqualified, from the title since she has been embraced by the so called real socialites who most recently had her serve on the Benefit Committee for the Whitney Studio Party (which was openly criticized and ridiculed for lowering  the standards of what is supposed to me one of New York’s most venerable cultural institutions and turning into a nightclub fashion freak show for folks who have absolutely nothing to do with Art Patronage in this town— and perhaps a subject for another blog about the moronic publicists who think that bringing Bungalow 8 to the Whitney and getting tabloid coverage  actually advances the interests of art) , and who perhaps see her as an enabler of fauxsocialite culture and serving as their accessory or accomplice to their FameGame (See e.g., Scott Bucheit, Naeem Delbridge). Rachelle should just give in and accept that she is a socialite (under the new definition), as it appears that is what she has been angling for all along.

Micah Jesse:  This New York scenester, an Atlanta native, recent Hofstra University graduate who got a dual degree, a B.A. in Clubbing and a B.S. in Standing Next to Celebrities and is currently pursuing his Masters in Bation, providing you with all the news that you already know or that you do not care to know. Micah serves as the prophet for the “Need to be Seen.”  So if you too want to dress glamorously, attend red carpets, stand next to celebrities and have your picture taken with them, Micah Jesse is your hero who illustrates that it is all in fact possible. See:  “The Circus Came to Town & The Clown Wore One Glove.” While many might think that Micah Jesse already has it in the bag, truth is that he is far too much of a discredited farce and so on that ground alone nobody in their right mind would consider this guy, who wants to be “the nice” Perez Hilton,  any kind of social journalist.  He is a court jester in his own Bozo the Clown show that only ridicutards are actually watching.

Kristian Laliberte:  He is on this list because despite being a Columbia University graduate, good looking, stylish and possessing a relatively strong command of the English language, he is an easy target who is  always on these lists. With a mediacentric persona and unique ability to make enemies in a rather insular social circuit, one is always left with the impression with Kristian that he could be, should be, wants to be doing something else, whether it is blogging for Stylecaster, doing public relations for an emerging designer or angling for his own Reality TV show. For whatever reasons people like to mess with Kristian and Kristian likes to get into trouble. When he is not being petty or centering his participation in an event as part of his own coverage, the stylish dandy boy, has potential. But he is young and New York City has so many temptations which he regularly gives into, and in the realm he is in, I hardly think becoming the next Jim Shi is truly that high a goal to aspire to. There has to be more and maybe Kristian will figure it all out and cast himself beyond the world of style because for him that is simply too easy.

Anisha Lakhani: While we cannot speak much of her book “Schooled” and have not really studied her new blog Pink Memo, I will leave you with a memorable quote on Amazon by a former classmate of Ms. Lakhani: “I can’t recommend a novel that even a copy editor couldn’t bring him- or herself to read. “Schooled” is not funny, it’s not well-written, and the only insight it offers is a peek into the mind of a shallow, and apparently scheming, socialite; it’ll probably be a bestseller.” In fairness to Anisha, the newly single, recently divorced lady likely has a reason to work it on the carpets and for society cameras as her book, regardless of what one thinks of it, may turn into the next Devil Wear Prada.  As a casual observer pointed out, “doesn’t it strike you as odd that all of Anisha’s BFF’s are media personalities, society writers, high tier socialites, publishers and journalists?”

Truth is that to be called a “fauxsocialite” is hardly an insult. It is teasing nudge, a joke.   And all of the foregoing folks have already literally “jumped the shark” as have many who would garner an honorable mention (see, e.g., Devorah Rose, and not just for her latest antics) on the short list but the blog would be way too long.  And I suspect daily or nightly someone is in our midst vying for the title of NYC’s Top Faux-Socialite, so keep your eyes peeled.  Nevertheless, I was surprised when after the phrase was used and rather haphazardly applied in my prior blog post, the first in my Trilogy of Narcissism series, I received a volume of email and telephone calls for what was apparently perceived by some as a horrible insult.  Would it make you feel better if I called you a “REAL”  or “Genuine” Socialite? I mean afterall there are blogs and books dedicated to the subject and you can decided whether you have arrived and are truly “official.”

I remember not too long ago when a certain modelicious paisan with a doll like face and doe eyes was dismissed by some of Vogue’s fasionista’s for being impatient, limelight, camera seeking wannabe. The only thing is that Olivia Palermo was not a “wannabe” but rather from the outset, eveny lensman who saw and captured her  “wanted her to be” —something special.  Olivia Palermo was photograped, accepted as unique and was a phenomenon from the start and raced on the scene like a Ferrari passing Yugo’s.  Many, who were jealous perhaps by the level of attention she received argued that she did not “earn it” necessarily in the manner that “the reigning queen of the socialite circus” (as phrased by Cityfile.com), Tinsley Mortimer had.  They tried to dismiss the adorable little paisan as a wannabe, a “faux-socialite”  if you will.  For a brief minute in some eyes, Olivia was a faux socialite, who’s socialite days are clearly behind her.  She now works in public relations while starring on “The City” a reality show in its second season along side Whitney Port and is in the process of  morphing into an actual legitimate celebrity in her own right. To her credit she seems to have been raised right and is not and has not engaged in any celebutard like behavior. And  while she plays her role as an elitist snotty society girl rather well, I simply will always remember Olivia  as the even more genuinely polite than pretty girl, and that is saying alot, who was almost self conscious, humbled and gracious that photographers were so  mesmerized by her doll like face and impeccable manners.  They could re-issue the Barbie doll and call it an Olivia doll and people would buy it. And you will have to forgive me, if having an Italian surname makes me a tad less critical. Society needs more Paisan. And if you are wondering when this blog will end and what the final point is, I will just stop here as the story goes on.

It has long been postulated from Freud to leading psychologists and  self-help gurus that a certain level of narcissism is part of a healthy self esteem, to be distinguished from excessively high self esteem. One can only wonder whether the pervasiveness of narcissistic behavior in society,  which has risen to epidemic levels,  can be explained by people operating under the mistaken belief that their self indulgence in self promotion and pursuit of the “Fame Game” is some how a healthy activity in pursuit of their ultimate destiny. In a study that explored the rise of narcissism among students in 2007,  Jean Twenge, the author of “Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled and More Miserable Than Ever Before,” said narcissists tend to lack empathy, react aggressively to criticism and favor self-promotion over helping others.  Narcissism can have [some] benefits, said study co-author and co-author the coming book, “The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement”,  W. Keith Campbell of the University of Georgia, but:

“Unfortunately, narcissism can also have very negative consequences for society, including the breakdown of close relationships with others,” he said. The study asserts that narcissists “are more likely to have romantic relationships that are short-lived, at risk for infidelity, lack emotional warmth, and to exhibit game-playing, dishonesty, and over-controlling and violent behaviors.” See: Dr. Sanity Blog

It would seem that a certain level of humility and awareness combined with a degree of introspection is necessary for one to appreciate their rightful place and role in a civilized society. It used to be that those with talent, achieved a degree of success and were celebrated and honored for their accomplishments. Those who achieved stature and prominence in society were more often photographed, written about, sought after for their opinions and perspective. Social standing or fame was based upon some quantifiable or tangible level of accomplishment. Some where along the line, this all got turned upside down.  Now playing the famegame is viewed as a starting point to doing something meaningful with one’s life.  Fame it self, however achieved, can now be lucrative and lead to even more fame with few questioning what’s behind it. So there I am on a Red Carpet shooting social retards in designer dresses wondering why this all matters, as business, community and political leaders walk on by escaping my lens and the eyes of publicists.

Diplomacy or the art thereof is not rewarding liars, hypocrites, poseurs and manipulators for their vapid, inane and sometimes bordering on unethical conduct, but rather is confronting them, illustrating the error of their ways and suggesting an alternative to their existing approach. Critique is only the opposite of manufactured false praise that they have become accustomed to and receive on a regular basis through the rigging of New York’s social media. It is only hurtful if you allow it to be.

In covering “The Society Show” I am not intolerant of a level of meaningless distraction and recognize fully the role of social role-players, even court jesters if you will to spruce things up for the greater good of highlighting meaningful culture and philanthropy and the sake of a more fun party. But something is awry when the circus sideshow ends up becoming the show itself, with the fame seekers taking over and using a philanthropic back drop to extend their notoriety and their brand of a “soulful” engaged and community building citizen when all it is that they are engaged in is a non-stop fame dance worshipping at the Temple of Bravo TV.

I was advised recently by a notable authority that if I wanted to continue to be a society journalist, photographer etc and have access  to cover social life, culture and philanthropy in New York City that I should (a) stop writing and or (b) only say very nice things about the people I write about otherwise I might risk offending gatekeepers (publicists) representing individuals and organizations who do not want a critic at large undermining on any level the positive press that work to create for their clients.  Fair enough. That was definitely good advice, I have to admit.  On location, at a social, cultural or charitable event that I am invited and choose to cover, truth is that I am far from a critic and endeavor instead to operate within the existing framework to be the best documentarian that I can be, to illustrate and highlight the best aspects of an organization’s fundraising initiatives and supporters.

My commentary here at times, however, is about the fabric of our culture and society’s role players. If I fear commenting via my blog about the oddities in our culture that I perceive from my vantage point behind the lens because I fear that folks like Paul Wilmot will give Chris London the Ashley Dupre treatment and deny me access to a red carpet for a “foofy” event,  or that I am persona non grata at GuestofaGuest.com because I dared to offer a critique and did not acquiesce to dispensing more freely with my images, c’est la vie.  That’s the price I will pay in my effort to do something unique in this town.  Despite sharing a birthday with the Devil that wears Prada, I do not suspect that I will ever be the favorite shutterbug of the Fashion Nazi’s in this town, and that has nothing to do with my capabilities. For one, I would have to start taking them and their faux elitism seriously, lose a few pounds, be a little less cranky, become pretty as a popsicle, dress more like a dandy and learn to kiss some major tuchis. Not happening.

Of late, I have witnessed some rather bizarre things, including RED CARPET at Society Charity Events (a) filled with people of literally no accomplishment, social or cultural significance or philanthropic bent other than that they promote themselves on a REALITY SHOW or are angling for a reality show to document their every inconsequential move in life  (b) vanity media outlets being given preferred access to document their friends  and (c) Faux-Socialite Journalists infusing themselves into the story rather than covering the story (d) photographers assigned to cover the event doing the same. WTF is going on here?

Recently overheard at an event where a photographer for one of these “media outlets” was discussing with a friend how while covering the New York Public Library Lions Benefit he spent a good part of the evening with an assistant trying to get in a photo with Dustin Hoffman who was in attendance at said event.  Perhaps not so ironically one of their “journalists” or as the NY Post coined him, “amateur papparazzi”,  got in a scuffle with Sopranos‘ star James Gandolfini for filming him with a camcorder while Mr. Gandolfini was walking around Soho with his ex-wife and son on Halloween.  Not so strange really, considering a couple of years ago I began to notice how a photographer for one of the more prolific agencies in town would regularly take or have taken of  upwards of 5-10 photos of himself at events that he was “covering” and then his counterparts followed suit, blurring the line between what was being covered, the event or the photographers documenting the event. As stated by an anonymous public relations professional: “Don’t you know, they are stars in their own show.” Andy Warhol culture gave everyone their 15 minutes and then reality culture hit and like that the fame dam broke which led to a takeover of New York Social Media by the Scissors Mafia and the Faux-Socialites.  Last I checked “journalists” do not follow celebrities without their permission with a camcorder while said celebrity is shopping with his family and “covering” an event does not mean you follow a celebrity around to get his photo taken with you. Just an F-Y-I.

“Faux-Socialites” (pronounced ’foschialites’, see, e.g. Anisha Lakhani, Micah Jesse et al etc.) definition: people adept at social climbing who master who they need to know and for how long before sharing their true nature which is often initially masked even though they wear their raw ambition, couched in apparent insecurity so you will feed their ego, with pride on their sleeve.  These folks often spend more time, money and energy on their publicist, facebooking and twittering to add to their total number of friends, the nail and hair salon, personal stylist and shaking down designers for free dresses under the guise of being famous and assuring said designer that their fame would enable exposure for the designer. Charity? What’s that? Your lucky if you get these folks to “Give back” the dress clean without remains of their personal stank. When a fauxsocialite gets her own reality TV show she graduates to the next level and becomes known rather as a celebutard, see e.g., Bethenny Frankel.

I have sympathy for the public relations professionals who on some level have no choice but to enable this conduct and perpetuate the culture of “Poseur” Philanthropy if it leads to further exposure and media coverage of the event and their sponsors by faux-socialite bloggers and entertainment media outlets. In effect, what is truly “busted” or even ironic is when these people who come in, suck out all the press and then leave out the back door without ever having purchased a ticket or having any comprehension of what it is that they are patronizing.  Most often their only other payment is to a Wire Service photographer to insure that they are covered “patronizing” said charity event and their own photographer trailing them documenting their presence for the post event coverage on their own blog.  Some have even inquired of me, “Chris, can you tell me which are the TOP 5 most important charity events for me to be seen at.” Or better yet being cornered by an unknown fauxsocialite that I have not photographed and asked: “Where are you from? Who are you shooting for? Do you know who I am? You may want to take my photo, I have over 300 images on PMC and he always takes my photo.”

My critique is simply that, a playful nudge, a tease to the poseurs, as a temporary break from the incessant adulation and fawning that they regularly receive for their every move by their friends in the Faux-Socialite New Social Media (See e.g.: Anisha Lakhani, Rachelle Hruska, Micah Jesse, Kristian Laliberte) I mean after all, besides hyper-linking each other or failing to do, I hardly expect you to question each other’s respective fame dances. If my asking questions gets me ostracized or cast as an outsider so be it. In fairness to Mr. Laliberte, if only he took himself a tad more seriously, the sky might be the limit.  (Coming soon in the Trilogy of Narcissism Series of blogs, a more in depth discussion of the Fauxsocialite bloggers, one of whom has even published a book, which was trashed on Amazon by her former classmate.)  And in fairness to all of the above, democraticization of societal coverage is not necessarily a bad thing if done properly. Please note, this blogger makes no claim to being the next Jimmy Breslin or Norman Mailer but instead is offering up his commentary (which is a work in progress) and alternative perspective that the body of your work, to date,  is more style over substance even though it may have the potential to be far more.