Authenticity

Presley Boudreaux - Editor in Chief

To begin, I would like to thank those who have been so supportive and complimentary regarding our first issue. Your encouraging emails, Facebook posts and even a few tweets have been an inspiration to the entire editorial staff and particularly motivational considering the current budgetary cutbacks. "The Luggage" suspended Verde Home's webzine expense account for charges accrued while conducting a legitimate investigation into single malt scotch, but I will allow Graham Culpepper, travel writer and brown liquor aficionado, to further expound on this affront in his submission on Scotland's distilling regions.

That said, I would be shirking my responsibility as editor in chief if I did not, at the very least, briefly respond to the occasional suggestions within your notes, that, perhaps, and I cannot fully relay to you how awkward it feels to type the following words, but, nonetheless, that just perhaps, I do not in reality, exist. If these insinuations merely questioned my credentials as an editor, I would respond with the characteristic aplomb that has defined my long and storied career, however, it is quite something else to be confronted with the existential burden of proving one’s authentic self. A burden compounded by the fact that many of you, in addition, questioned the existence of the entire editorial staff. In this age of social media where people literally have on-line personas, I understand reader reservations regarding authenticity, however, let me assure you that the inner workings of the Verde Home editorial staff are steeped in what can best be described as a terrible honesty.

In order to be exact, I will confess that possibly the use of the term editorial staff is a bit misleading. Patrick Fitzsimmons, Graham Culpepper, Laura Clappier, myself, and as I must begrudgingly admit, "The Luggage", do indeed make up the entirety of the staff but writing editorial for the website is by no means our only responsibilities within the Verde Home organization. As showroom manager, Patrick Fitzsimmons works tirelessly to maintain visually stunning, coherently merchandised and obsessively clean display areas. Graham Culpepper spearheads all outside sales, calling on residential and commercial design firms, alike. Laura Clappier splits time between attending to the varied operational requirements of running an enterprise such as Verde Home, while also fulfilling her duties as design associate with our sister company, Laura Walker, Ltd. And last but certainly not least, in addition to my editorial prowess, I bring many years of marketing experience to formulating an articulate, enthusiastic and, at times, provocative advertising strategy. What about, “The Luggage” you may be asking? I have been told through an intermediary that he is laboring on quite an opus, but I have thus far been unable to gauge any actual progress considering he makes it a habit of calling in to inform the staff that he will be working from home.

And yet, regardless of how respectable this may all sound, perhaps, it is not exactly genuine.

I fear in my eagerness to slam the door shut on this nonsense that I may have exaggerated our daily contributions to Verde Home. Patrick Fitzsimons has in fact worked with Verde Home to help merchandise their showroom, however, his contributions have always been on a consulting basis. In that same regard, Graham Culpepper does travel extensively but in the capacity of a home furnishings manufacturing representative who occasionally supplies Verde Home with product. My previous efforts have, as well, centered more along the lines of consultation. The billboard on Howell Mill Road above the Northside Tavern: My idea. And finally, Ms. Clappier, well, she actually does fulfill the responsibilities as previously stated. And let me be the first to relay the deepest of sympathies for her plight. In addition, I am eagerly awaiting the opportunity to relay a less empathetic sentiment to, “The Luggage” but he doesn’t seem to be answering his home phone.

And still, as if compelled by a force that defies explanation, I continue to fall short of the absolute truth.

Perchance this is proving exceedingly easier said than done because the human mind is not programmed to be totally honest with itself. And that is a good thing. Can you imagine the horror of a real and complete self-awareness? I think this is what leads to extremism or at least insomnia. I am not advocating for delusion as a personal philosophy, but little lies are what allow us to fall back asleep at 3 am. And, frankly, what if, hypothetically, Pressley Boudreaux didn’t actually live and breath and was, along with the rest of the staff, simply loose fragments of a misappropriated imagination? This doesn’t necessarily make the experiences, opinions, aspirations or beliefs written in these columns any less meaningful or, hopefully, entertaining. But no excuses, we are who we purport to be and will suffer the consequences.

And so, skeptic, we accept that you question the authenticity of our identities, however we think you're unreasonable to ask us to some how, literally, prove ourselves. We are comfortable in who we think we want to be and appreciate being afforded the opportunity to explore the possibilities. Even if these endeavors do not amount to much more then an ephemeral mist hidden among the haze of an occasionally lofty, intermittently whimsical, sometimes threatening, and always-patchy fog of websites and blogs that the modern browser wanders into and out of everyday. We hold ourselves only to one standard, best summed up by Kurt Vonnegut who once wrote “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” And by that definition what we have come to realize is that we are…a malcontented mastermind…a frustrated facilitator…a reluctant investor…an ill tempered critic…and quite possibly a problem social drinker. And now you see the agonizing consequences of dipping a toe into the murky waters of self-awareness. I know I won’t sleep for a week.