A Scarf Can Hold the Universe Together
Nette wrapped each scarf in tissue, tied it with a bow, and added a note with washing instructions. I doled out these packages with diffidence; they offered nothing cool, trendy, or stylish.
Arts & Letters
Time Shard Passages: Christopher Stark and 48 St. Stephen Premiere New Duet
Not only did 48 St. Stephen pull it off, but they paid Stark the consummate respect of performing their premiere immediately after such a powerful piece of music with so much historical weight. They also were maybe dropping a breadcrumb to mark a path.
Streaming Killed More Than Just Music
To find what you sought was an object earned. There was no “file” piped through the internet.
Time as the Spooky Thing
Even without tricks, time is spooky. Things move in its medium, are changed, disappear as if never formed. We acknowledge this uncanniness with a holiday at the end of the growing season devoted to ancient fears of death and magic.
When Childhood Trading Cards and History Lessons Collide
Art Spiegelman, the force behind both Wacky Packages and the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Maus,” is that rare artist who knows great art may disregard the precision brush strokes of attempting “the masterpiece.”
Where’s Waldo Now?
Waldo accrued rather a lot of wisdom in his travels. His books teach us to pay attention, if we want to spot the hidden details of the universe.
Disappointment and Horror
We expect to get our way and often think we will get away with cheap and easy and quick. Nowhere is this more obvious than with food.
Why Lessons in Chemistry Reduced Me to Tears
Some griefs, like my overreaction to “Lessons in Chemistry,” overlap with our own past hurts.
Nick Cave’s “The Mercy Seat” Is the Best Halloween Song You Have Never Heard
“The Mercy Seat” is a five-minute tour of a death-row inmate’s dirge and final thoughts before death by electric chair pits an ancient Old Testament object against New Testament teachings, turns everyday objects into hallucinations, and laughs at the idea of knowing truth from falsehood, or justice from mercy, when faced with death.
Not-So-Random Acts of Kindness
Shepherd’s Centers is a network of fifty-seven affiliate chapters across the country that offers some 165,000 people “services such as transportation, handy helpers, friendly visits, grocery shopping, and respite care to help older adults remain living in their own homes and communities.”