Advertising Age (but you need to register) reports that Martha Stewart Omnimedia losses increased to $78.7 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, from $52.3 million for the same period in 2004. The reason? According to the sub-head, "Print Ad Sales Improve but Post-Prison TV Shows Suffer."

Hmm. That's odd. One would have naturally assumed that a company based on the premise of marketing the lifestyle of its CEO would suffer no ill consequences at all if said CEO was arrested for a felony, subjected to a very public trial, found guilty, and sent to prison.

Although APW hears that she sent lovely embossed, hand written thank you notes to the prison guards. (APW does not know what “embossed” means.)

Sometimes you just trip over a headline that makes you stop for a second, step back, and ponder how much sheer absurdity marks our collective, defining landscape each day. Reality is a construct defined by what a critical mass of us can agree on. Meaning, if you look at a thing but your perceptions of it diverge from consensus, you are by definition insane. Insanity, like genius, is merely an outlier.

But reality is a lowest common denominator sorta thang. And therein lies the scary part. Its why we can live in a country where 42% of the population choose not to believe in evolution (read God's thoughts on the topic here.)

Why does it surprise us that Martha Stewart is less marketable now that she is a former federal felon? How many convicted felons do you know? How many of them run successful companies?

Or have we simply come to a point where reality can accomodate the notion of Miss Manners getting jailhouse ink from Linda Blair? In which case, I guess, color me insane.