Custom

Morris Staffin, 92, of Northeast Philadelphia, who owned Quality Cabinet Crafters Co. and became a sculptor at 78, died Monday at Jeanes Hospital. Mr. Staffin's custom-built cabinet company was on Kaighn Avenue in Camden for more than 30 years. He also made custom tables, china closets and ornamental woodwork. He retired in 1977. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, he came to the United States when he was 4. He learned to work with wood in shop at South Philadelphia High School. After retiring, he began painting at 75 and sculpturing at 78. In 1986, he entered Pennsylvania's Senior Arts Festival.

The stalemate that blocked the renomination of Chief Justice Robert N. Wilentz to the New Jersey Supreme Court finally has been broken. Senate Democrats decided Thursday that the time-honored tradition of "senatorial courtesy" does not apply to sitting members of the high court. The decision was a deserved rebuke to state Sen. Peter Garibaldi (R., Middlesex), who had invoked the custom because he disagreed with some of Chief Justice Wilentz's opinions, particularly in the controversial Mount Laurel II case.

A little more than 20 years ago, Bridget Morris was set to embark on a career as an interior designer. But during a semester in Italy, papermaking and book restoration stole her away. She dropped out of Philadelphia University and returned to Cortona, Italy, for two years to study the craft. When she came back to Philadelphia, Morris worked from 1991 to 1996 at William H. Allen, Bookseller, on Walnut Street, toiling beneath a multicolored crystal chandelier on rare volumes in Greek and Latin.

A whine of indignation arose last night from diners at restaurants with "bring your own bottle" policies when they learned that the state is proposing to do away with the popular custom. "I'm against (the proposal). I like to bring my own wine," said Marilyn Paucker of Chestnut Hill, who was celebrating a friend's birthday at Mom's Homestyle Restaurant on South Street near 17th, which has a BYOB policy. "I think we should get rid of the Liquor Control Board instead," she said firmly.

As you walk along a bustling street in a foreign city, a smart suit or fashionable dress in a store window catches your eye. But what if it doesn't look as good or fit as well when you get home? Thus, the foreign custom tailor - insurance, more or less, that you get the clothing you want with the fit you should have. And thanks to the Internet, you can get impeccably tailored clothing long after your trip - or without ever leaving home - for the same price as quality U.S. clothiers charge: $300 to $500 for a man's suit, $100 to $200 for a woman's skirt.

Got a minute? Can we discuss why watches in advertisements display the time as 10:10? It doesn't matter what make of watch, what kind of ad. Almost without exception, the time will be 10:10, or at least 10:08 or 10:11. Is this a law? Were watches first invented at 10 after 10? Bill Shuster of the trade magazine Jeweler's Circular/Keystone in Radnor says he was once told it was the custom because "it gives watches a happy face. " The explanation, says Peter Laetsch, president of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, is that it's "the most balanced position.

A grande dame of designer showcases at the Jersey Shore, the annual Ruth Newman Shapiro Cancer and Heart Fund show house is going contemporary this year. "Meadows Edge," a 22-room fieldstone-and-clapboard home in Linwood, provides the setting for 22 designers from New Jersey and Pennsylvania to go a little more mod in their room presentations than in the past. Martha Hatrack and Christine Betsy of Kroungold's Furniture in Marlton took a dated great room and gave it hip leather Barcelona chairs and a zebra rug in a lounge area.

"Let me tell you what I think of bicycling," said suffragist Susan B. Anthony in an interview for New York World in 1896. "I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride on a wheel. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. " Almost 100 years later, women make up 55 percent of America's estimated 50 million recreational riders. Yet, historically, bike manufacturers' only concession to their female customers was to lower the top bar to accommodate the voluminous skirts worn by Victorians.

Susan Snyder is an Inquirer staff writer I have spent many New Year's Eves circling the block with an empty suitcase in my hand. My sister-in-law insisted. It's her custom, brought here from Mexico, to ensure happy travels in the year ahead. We had to wear red underwear, too, and eat 12 grapes, making a wish upon each one. But my sister-in-law, Azucena "Sid" Snyder, has brought me more than New Year's customs. Sid is one of the most generous and loving people I have ever met, and she has brought an intimacy, warmth, and strong sense of family to my siblings and parents, who at times lacked that closeness.

Sometimes it takes a duffer to notice what other duffers need on the links. Michael Garwood has played golf for 30 years, and while he'll never be confused with Jack Nicklaus, he has come upon a way to play a better game. Garwood custom-fits golf clubs. "I fit the club to you, not you to the club," Garwood said of his new business, Flattery Golf Co. "I don't say you should use a certain club because I have thousands in stock. " Garwood is one of an increasing number of custom-club makers who offer an alternative to buying a set of irons and woods at a sporting-goods store or pro shop.