This cool dialogue about noticing made me think of three connections.
The first one came before I read it. The idea of noticing reminded me of a passage in Anne Fadiman’s book, Ex Libris, that I quoted in my review and will quote again because it’s funny:
The proofreading temperament is part of a larger syndrome with […]
Sculptor Richard Serra gave the 2008 commencement speech at Williams College. I like his comments about thinking, obsession, and play:
If it’s not broken, break it. One way of coming to terms with the prevailing language of a cultural orthodoxy is to reject it. It may be necessary to invent tools and methods about which you […]
I divide this world into two classes—the cruel and the kind; and I think a thousand times more of a kind man than I do of an intelligent man. I think more of kindness than I do of genius, I think more of real, good, human nature in that way—of one who is willing […]
A worthy bit from The Disadvantages of an Elite Education:
The opportunity not to be rich is one of the greatest opportunities with which young Americans have been blessed. We live in a society that is itself so wealthy that it can afford to provide a decent living to whole classes of people who in other […]
Innocent people should never talk to the police. Take the 5th. Very good advice from a couple of law school lectures. [via waxy]
I couldn’t make it up if I tried. I saw this tonight. Only about 30 feet separates this from the worst parking I’ve ever seen incident earlier this year. There must be some sort of psycho-electro-magnetic field in this parking lot that disrupts human motor functions.
This fall, I’m thinking about running in the FATS Forty 40-Mile Ultra Trail Run or the Pine Mountain 40-Mile Ultra Trail Run. The most I’ve ever run in one stretch is about 17-18 miles, and that was a couple years ago. I have done day-hikes in the 30-35 mile range several times, though. I figure, […]
I’m joining the group working up to 100 push-ups over the next few weeks. Seems like a fun arbitrary goal. Should be cool. [via Get Fit Slowly]
I wanted this to be better. It starts off well, introduced by Nick Hornby. With a few exceptions, most of the other 40-something essays in the book didn’t do much for me.
Rodney Rothman’s piece—”I Still Like Jessica”—is probably my favorite. It’s a transcript of an interview with an old sweetheart (hear the interview and see […]
Drivers of cars with bumper stickers, window decals, personalized license plates and other “territorial markers” not only get mad when someone cuts in their lane or is slow to respond to a changed traffic light, but they are far more likely than those who do not personalize their cars to use their vehicles to express […]
The last time I was in Texas I was maybe 1 or 2 or 3 years old. It’s going to be an awesome weekend with friends, without computers.
This bothers me more than it should:
The parking meters reduce the walking width of the sidewalk. Without room for two people to pass comfortably, someone gets forced off onto the grass. Thus, long dead streaks of dirt. It’s a car’s world.
It is upsetting when we have to conclude that someone is “simply a bastard.” Partly, we are upset because of the initial offense that led us to conclude that. But we are also upset because, as tolerant, educated, broad-minded, empathetic people, we want to have a better explanation. We want to be able to attribute […]
“The Birth Clock is a fragile glass object containing a digital clock that is not working; it is designed to help you to come to a decision when you’re stuck at a specific point in life. Smash the glass, and the clock will start to work, leaving you with the broken object as a reminder […]
Writers really do die young, especially poets, based on research in The Cost of the Muse [$, or use your library’s access]. [via maud newton]
“David Rakoff, who swore off TV in college, returns to it in dramatic fashion: he attempts to watch the same amount of television as the average American—29 hours in one week.“
Rob Giampietro is blogging via postcard this week. I got my first one this afternoon:
Today I spent some time sorting through a bunch of old documents, notes, letters, tickets, playbills, etc. I came across an old letter placed in the mailbox back home when I was away at college. A summer of cutting the grass earned me a bad reputation that Dad must have continued into the fall that […]
Eddie Murphy riffs on wanting McDonald’s food when you were a kid. “I had one of those mothers, no matter what you want, she has the ingredients at home.” It’s Eddie Murphy so, nsfw.
Eyeglasses and the pushing up thereof, an analysis of optical adjustment techniques. Good commentary from the audience.
The Thurber & White send-up on the knee phenomenon:
Simply stated, the knee phenomenon is this: occasions arise sometimes when a girl presses her knee, ever so gently, against the knee of the young man she is out with… Often the topic of conversation has something to do with it: the young people, talking along pleasantly, […]
Maybe a bit of an alpha-male slant here.
Ernest Hemingway
Donald Rumsfeld “I like to use a chainsaw and cut wood and chop wood.”
Thomas Jefferson
Winston Churchill
Thomas Wolfe
Vladimir Nabokov
John Dos Passos
John Adams
Douglas MacArthur
Virginia Woolf
Leonardo Da Vinci
Benjamin Franklin
Napoleon Bonaparte
William Gladstone
Shop Class as Soulcraft, an article about the value of working with your hands and the increasing assembly-line nature of knowledge work:
Much of the “jobs of the future” rhetoric surrounding the eagerness to end shop class and get every warm body into college, thence into a cubicle, implicitly assumes that we are heading to a […]
You Are Not Dead: A Guide to Modern Living, an online essay + soundtrack, “was born out of fraughtful observations of the state of our States and the repetitive, empty monotony of consumer culture and electronic music.” [via waxy]
In the wake of our tornados last weekend, a fellow Atlantan has invented the tornado drinking game, which I’m assuming you could apply to your own regional weather concerns. “When you hear a TV reporter or anchor say ‘war zone,’ ‘epicenter,’ ‘path of destruction’ or ‘ground zero’…”
From an interview with Christian Landers, he of Stuff White People Like:
We have a generation of white people who want nothing more than to distance themselves from being white. They need to believe that the earth is being destroyed by evil white people, culture is ruined by the wrong kind of white people, and that […]
Recent photos of the Atlanta tornado. I was totally oblivious to the whole thing. I noticed a thunderstorm earlier in the evening, but late at night I was strolling around, returning some overdue library books while other people were picking up the pieces. Crazy.
An economic perspective on long-distance relationships. In addition to the financial side, economist Tyler Cowen says “There’s also the problem of pressure. You get on a flight or you drive for a few hours, and then it’s like, ‘Gee, we need to have a lot of fun right now.’ You don’t get to experience much […]
Why Mars & Venus Colllide is about stress and communication between men and women. Our modern lifestyle is breakneck-paced, relationship roles have changed, our responsibilities and stress levels grow as our time to deal with them decreases. Welcome to today, nothing new. So what do you do?
According to John Gray, the first step is to […]
Against his better judgment, Austin dragged me in to a meme thingy. My instructions read as follows:
Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you’ve written. But there is a catch:
Link 1 must be about family.
Link 2 must be about friends.
Link 3 must be about yourself, who […]
Subscribe