On Props

JAN BROGAN _ As the Boston Globe noted yesterday, our governor of Massachusetts has taken to props. He wore a black fleece emblazoned with the initials for MEMA "Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency," when he toured the town of Greenfield in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene -- even though he took no real part in the recovery action and surely, it was too hot for a fleece in August.

Apparently, it's the same fleece he wore during snowstorms. And he's also been known to put on firefighter jacket when the publicity moment felt right.

It's nothing new for a politician to try to convey an image. Scott Brown wore his barn jacket and drove a pickup truck when he was campaigning, and I think Ronald Reagan might have started it all with an informal sweater.

Tina Fey in her memoir BossyPants (which I heartily recommend) reveals that she first wore her glasses in the the SNL News segment because forgot to put in her contact lenses, but the glasses were so popular, they became du rigeur.

That got me to thinking about props. They're for everyone really. We already talked Tuesday about the high priced yoga pants I indulge in for yoga (although I hadn't yet told you about the mat, the yoga bag, or the Ugg sandals that complete the experience) and now I'll admit I have certain clothes I only wear when I'm on Martha's Vineyard - all of them longer, looser, and maybe a bit more hippyish. I'll spare you and not go into all my tennis gear - which goes well beyond sneakers and racquets.

But I even have props for writing - and that's outright silly. But yes, I have special typewriter earrings for when I'm doing speaking engagements or book signings, and a Shakespeare coffee mug for when I'm writing at my desk. (it was a gift, but still, is that pretentious, or what?)

At any rate, I think we all have our props. My question is: What are yours?

TRUE CRIME: Yoga for inner peace and murder motive

JAN BROGAN: For those of your unfamiliar with LuluLemon Althetica, it a clothes store that capitalizes on the current yoga movement.

Not that I am opposed to that. I hate to tell you how much money I've spent in that store, how many yoga outfits I actually own, and how much money I've spent on the stretchy yet still flattering bottoms and form-fitting tops. This is how both prized and expensive they are: when I come home from yoga, I immediately change because I don't want to wreck my "good" workout clothes.

As my husband points out, there's something just so conceptually wrong with that.

All this is to explain my interest in a murder in a Bethesda, Maryland yoga clothes shop by a woman with a gun. The actual event wasn't funny at all. The woman is charged with killing her co-worker and making up a story that they were robbed at gunpoint. Allegedly she injured herself to make it all seem believable.

But, as a devotee of yoga and a daily meditator, I couldn't help but be struck just a little bit by the irony. First there's the irony that those of us searching for inner peace actually spend that much on clothing for our journey to inner peace. Then, there's the irony of murderous violence in the commercial sale of the outfits needed to obtain inner peace while making the appropriate fashion statement.

Tragic in real life... but you have to admit, it would make a perfect opening for a chick-litty kind of mystery with lots of humor.

But I'm struggling for motive in our newly created chick-lit mystery. I mean obviously, if she were an employee, the accused murderer already got a pretty good discount. Was she trying to coverup outright theft? Embezzlement? Were they in love with the same guru?

You get the picture. The more absurd the motive, probably the better. Any suggestions? Or maybe even some red herrings?

Tomorrow, please join us for an interview with M.J. Rose, bestselling author and founder of AuthorBuzz. She'll be talking about book promotion and whether the time you spend tweeting and on Facebook is actually worth it.