As I sauntered down Wisconsin Avenue last spring, enjoying the weather and the creepy stares of those shopkeepers who stand in their doorways, a rather unusual shop window caught my eye.

There exists an urban legend around home repair stores across America which runs as follows: “An executive for a paint company received complaints from workers in a blue office that the office was too cold. So the executive did a little redecorating, and when the offices were painted a warm peach, the sweaters came off even though the temperature had not changed.”

Last week, a rather extraordinary trend was created in the fashion world. Marc Jacobs, a man highly worshipped for his designs and highly notorious for his inability to do almost anything punctually, began his New York runway show (gasp) on time!

Well kids, we’ve reached that time of year again when certain phrases start to get thrown around. Phrases like, “Love makes the world go ’round,” and, “All you need is love.” The time when, every single year, you make the resolution that next year will be different.

When I sat down to write my column for this week, it had been a few hours since the announcement that the Australian actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment in New York City. While death, obviously, is always a horrible thing to learn of, this news in particular does not sit well with me.

It seems to me that there has been a whole lot of branding going on recently. In the midst of the presidential primaries, as American citizens, we are being asked to define ourselves, to associate our persons with one label or another. Democrat, Republican, Clinton, Huckabee, Obama, Giuliani…