The Imelda Marcos of sunglasses, on development

Bono must have enjoyed blogging about international development at the venerable Financial Times, since he’s just announced he’ll be writing an occasional column for the New York Times.

This got me to wonder again: why is it he always wears rose-colored glasses? (And could this explain his enthusiasm for the Millennium Development Goals?)

To find out the answer, I naturally turn to that other venerable institution of journalism, Rolling Stone:

First off: Where do you get those sunglasses?

Bulgari. A lot of people think that, when they see a “B” on the side, that it’s just my own megalomania. Only half the time it is. I’m the Imelda Marcos of sunglasses.

Why do you wear them all the time?

Very sensitive eyes to light. If somebody takes my photograph, I will see the flash for the rest of the day. My right eye swells up. I’ve a blockage there, so that my eyes go red a lot. So it’s part vanity, it’s part privacy and part sensitivity.

He gets my sympathy, but maybe it’s time to move away from the color rose…