um, so… I got new glasses. I do like them, but I’m still getting used to them.

They have round frames.

For many years I wanted round glasses. I used to have some cheep, colored sunglasses that were also round. I thought they were cool, and I thought I was cool wearing them. When I see pictures of myself from that era, with those glasses, I am mostly struck by how much better I looked then and how much thinner I was. I don’t really notice the glasses.

Now I’ve got a pair of prescription glasses with round frames and I think they are cool too, but maybe they are also a bit funny. I’m not sure. Maybe I just need to be thinner to make them “work.”

I order to assuage my concerns of potential funniness I am reminding myself of certain famous people that wore round glasses. Here is a short visual list of round spectacles and their wearers.

I begin first with some of my heroes (of sorts).

The heroes:

John Lennon

When I was in highschool I think I liked Paul best. As I grew up, became more educated, more thoughtful, and became more sophisticated in my musical tastes, my preference switched to John. He was, in my opinion, the best of the Beatles.

and again, Lennon

Also, when I was in college, had long hair, and wore cheap, sound sunglasses, people sometimes said I looked a little like John Lennon. I can’t really say that I did, but I thought it was a kinda cool compliment. Maybe it wasn’t meant as a compliment. Anyway, his glasses were round and so are mine.

Henri Matisse

I didn’t know much at all of Matisse until I majored in Art History as an undergraduate. His use of color and simple forms still gets me. When he wore glasses they were round, as are mine.

Bertolt Brecht with his son

Most of the cinema that changed my life was heavily inspired by Brecht. Sometimes he wore round glasses, as I do.

Edith Head

I can’t think of another person’s name that I’ve seen more in the credits of movies. She was one of a kind. She also wore round glasses as I do.

Phillip Johnson

I love architecture and almost began a career in that direction. Johnson was one of the greats, and he wore round glasses like me.

Kurt Weill

Only recently have I studied any of Kurt Weill. The more I do the more I am impressed with his art. Plus, those are really round glasses which, coincidentally, are as round as mine.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

As a kid I had the Berlin Philharmonic’s version of Scheherezade. I practically wore the grooves off the record. I am also wearing round glasses, and so is Nikolai.

The others:

Jean-Paul Sartre

You know him, probably read him in college. He may be one of the most over-rated philosophers of the past hundred years, but he was a great protester. And here he is with glasses like mine, round.

Heinrich Schliemann

He taught himself Greek, read Homer, and with his copy of the the Iliad in his hands, searched for ancient Troy. Though his methods were crude, he practically began modern archeology. I think my glasses are a little more round than his, but he did quite well.

Osip Brik (photographed by Rodchenko)

I don’t know, or care, anything about Mr. Brik. But I love the photography of Rodchenko. Brik, needless to say, has some Russian letters reflecting in his very round glasses.

Ozzy Osbourne

No comment.

Sigmund Freud

For years I dreamed of having round glasses. Could I have had a round-glasses-complex? Maybe. At any rate, Sigmund and I see eye to eye when it comes to the shape of our glasses.

Thank you for your time.