os·ten·ta·tious
adjective: Characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; designed to impress or attract notice.
Synonyms: Showy, pretentious, conspicuous, flamboyant, gaudy, brash, vulgar, loud, extravagant, excessive, too fancy, ornate, overly elaborate, more.
This is it. A building that is purely ostentatious. No apologies. Just gaudy and over-the-top, designed entirely to impress. It’s just one of many such buildings all over the country. Let us hope he will not paint the White House with gold and glitter. No one, apparently, ever told the man that “All that glitters is not gold.”
Quite probably, he wouldn’t care anyway.
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Categories: Anecdote
FIFTH AVENUE MEMORIES 
BABY BIRDS ON DISPLAY 
URSULA LE GUIN LED US HERE 
THE RUSSIANS IN LIBERTY 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
perfect response Marilyn. Did you read that his buildings on the West Side of NYC are removing his name from the facade? I loved hearing that!
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So who did Trump make pay for that golden wall?
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Um, the Las Vegans?? Good question. I don’t think HE pays for anything. Wish i could make that work for me. You have to be rich to get away with not paying your bills.
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LoL. Interesting jab at Trump.
By the way, you have a typo. The saying is “All THAT glitters is not gold.”
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Fixed the typo. I never see them no matter HOW many times i read the post. Thank you!!
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It happens to the best of us when we edit our own work 🙂
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It is glitzy. I wonder if there is gold in those gold windows. I know the Royal Bank of Canada has some of its gold stored in it windows. They have that same golden hue.
Leslie
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I am not a big fancier of gold. I like silver better. Especially paired with turquoise 🙂
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It was those glitzy windows on that Trump tower that reminded me of the Royal Banks windows. I thought it was a unique way to store the gold.
Leslie
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Ah, I see what you mean our minds wander down similar alley ways…
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It was the first thing I thought of. I wasn’t surprised when it was obviously what YOU thought of, too 🙂
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Yep. I wish something would happen to disqualify him. . . I wish I wish I wish something that would disqualify him in the minds of his followers, too.
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I know. Many of us wonder if there’s any chance we’ll wake up to discover it was all a nightmare. But somehow, I think it is our fate to live through this. Oy. Make that an oy gevalt.
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😦
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Simplicity – the opposite of ostentation – is central in the religion Mr. Trump claims as his own, Presbyterian Christianity and the Reformed tradition. A non-extravagance lifestyle (simplicity) is closely related to the emphasis on authenticity and sincerity. Acts and project that cover up reality – we are dust and to dust we shall return – are exercises in mistaken pride. “Simplicity is very close to sincerity. It clears away the ornaments, the ostentations, the contrivances, the pretenses that obscure the real.” [John H. Leith, “Introduction to the Reformed Tradition: A Way of Being the Christian Community,” John Knox Press, 1977.]
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The church we attend — when we attend which is not often anymore — is Christian Reformed … used to be Dutch Reformed (lots of people around here originally from Holland). I love simplicity. I love Japanese decorating where one beautiful thing is the focus and there’s no “stuff” all over the place. But my house doesn’t really reflect that. it’s pretty much a mishmash of stuff we’ve collected as we have lived our lives. I keep getting rid of stuff, but somehow, it never seems to leave any room.
Simplicity is my goal, but sadly, so far, we haven’t gotten there. Yet. Still working on it though.
Read a lot of C.S, Lewis in recently. I’m taking a bit of a sabbatical from theology this year.
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I think you might find some of us Europeans will be saying “typical American” to that photo, but thank goodness America has a lot more to offer than Las Vegas. I would say, “typical Trump” and may the gold go rusty if it every rains in Las Vegas.
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I should have picked a pictures of some other of his towers. They are all rather over-the-top, but that one was the right size. ALL of Las Vegas is kind of ostentation. Fortunately, it really isn’t typical of US cities. it is very much an exception, NOT the rule.
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You’ve got to feel a bit sorry for Trump, having to slum it in the White House for the next four years…
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I think he’s going to stay in his tower. Apparently he really DOES feel the White House doesn’t meet his high standards. To be fair, it’s an old mansion. I’m told the plumbing is sometimes a bit dicey and there are mice. Just like home 🙂
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Enjoyed reading your short but effective post. Exactly right
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Thank you. It was exactly what popped into my head when i saw the prompt.
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If you got it flaunt it. Seems people are mad because they don’t got it. Whinny babies
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I’m sort of the opposite. If i’ve got it, I’d rather hide it or at least, play it down. I’m very uncomfortable about flaunting anything.
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Yeah, not enough money. Trump isn’t showing us all he has and has plenty of smart intelligent people around him to protect him, his family and assets
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Wandering, I get your point. Hey, it lights the fire for some folks.
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Yes, I know. Gold has always had that effect on people … but how come not on us?
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Not everyone who is upset by this election campaign or the results is a whiner, friend. Simplicity, honesty, hard work, truth-telling, and moderation are important to many. Some of us don’t “got it”(extravagant wealth) and we don’t crave it. Among those who do have such wealth we respect the Warren Buffetts of this world who still live in the same house they’ve had for generations. That’s the difference in values.
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It’s that whole “truth” and “facts” thing that gets me. Despite everything, people are still repeating stuff that has been repeatedly disproved. Fact checking? How about just believing facts when they are presented? I have a lot of trouble dealing with people who don’t care about truth. Honesty. Or even reality. I don’t know how to talk to them.
And “whinny” is the sound a horse makes. “Whiny” is what some people are 🙂
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I cannot visit Las Vegas comfortably — I go into instant sensory overload as I get off the plane or as I drive into town and onto “the strip.” This is truly the epitome of ostentation!!!
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Ostentatious really is THE style for the Las Vegas. I think there must be a contest going on to see which building is going to be the most vulgar and over-decorated. There are quite a few European cities that have plenty of too much. There’s always Versailles, sort of the standard-bearer for ostentation. The older i get, the simpler I want both my life and my “things.” Funny about that 🙂
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I think as we become more comfortable with who we are it becomes less important to show the world who we are.
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Slmret, I’ve never been to Vegas and it’s not on my bucket list. I’m even put off a little by the TV shows set in Vegas. You’d think my “Guy” brain noodles would perk up over all the sexy ladies and the glittering backdrops. No. I’ve always found it over the top.
But — I do wish I could’ve seen some of the “Rat Pack” shows. That’s all.
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