As many will know, I have a hell of a time finding shades which don't make me look like Rivers Cuomo or Henry Kissinger. There's a fine line between Henry and Peter Sellers, but I always seem to land on the wrong side of it. I don't know whether it's my alien face-shape or something, but to me, the mirror seems to indicate that most candidate shades are convex instead of wrapped appropriately. I look weird enough and don't need this, trust me.
The last pair of shades I liked was lost on a hike in Yosemite, winter 1997. Serengetis. So not exactly cheap, either. Of course, the firm immediately realised the mistake they made (making a pair of shades I liked) and immediately discontinued that entire line.
This is rather like aircraft seat manufacturers immediately killing any design in which anyone manages to fall asleep.
My driving glasses are Serengentis too, as the optics are excellent - but those are major league nerdy. I drive fast mainly so that people don't notice them.
Anyway so recently I finally found a pair I could deal with, in the shop in the lobby of the hotel in which we were staying in Hurghada, Egypt. The logo said "Ray Ban", but my suspicions, together with the rather cheap asking price (even pre-haggle), suggested that the otherwise cool and friendly proprietor (he taught me how to write my name in Arabic, and drew a cartouche for me) was painting on the said logo prior to sale.
These worked fine, and there was much rejoicing. There are even some pictures of me wearing them and smiling. I thought I had at last triumphed in my quest and the Holy Grail was mine.
When I got back to Oakland, this is how I found them in my luggage.
