Keep Singing
Making sounds in unison tells the world we are united; it reminds us of what we share, not where we differ. It also releases enough endorphins to smooth over any doubts.
Dispatches
Fredrik Backman Foils the Critics (and Me)
He understands “the impossible human experience of just trying to get through the day with everyone you love being somewhat OK at the end of it.”
Anatomical Specimens Share a Scone
Wanting answers, we create reductions: I am. She was. The administration will.
Has Style Any Substance?
Humiliating as this is, I fell for it. In the video ad, a woman of my certain age, aglow with enthusiasm, confided that she had discovered her Fashion Archetype. Before I could stop myself, I clicked the quiz link. What might my Archetype be? Bold? Romantic? Early jumble, I suspected.
If Second Chances Are Not Free, How Much Do They Cost?
He seemed almost happy. Maybe because the river, the night, and the freedom felt good to him. He played one of his favorite songs, “My Girl” by the Motown group The Temptations, music from his youth before he went to prison.
The Second Life of African Art in Western Preserves
Heritage is collective, aesthetic, and performative. It is something you inherit. Whereas history, on the other hand, is authored, linear, personal. It is something you produce. Museums often allow Africans the former but not the latter. Our art is heritage; European art is history. Our works are culture; theirs are achievements.
Record an Audiobook? It Sounded So Easy….
There is one blissfully egocentric, thrilling moment: I am introduced as “the talent.” Granted, I ruin the moment by snorting and warning the sound studio team that I have never recorded anything before, let alone an entire audiobook. They nod; they are already braced for an amateur. “The talent” is…
Planking at Costco
Costco is the best place I know where I can enjoy other families and especially their children, now that I do not have a child in my own home who routinely brings other children into my life. At all costs, one must avoid appearing to pay any unwanted attention to any child.
Fighting with the Buddha
Why would I not desire a good Camembert, or a sweater soft as a lamb?
Jennie C. Jones and Fred Eversley at the Pulitzer, and the Perception of a Divided Life
In a museum, we often try to understand what a painting means and where it is coming from, placing ourselves at the center of the experience. This sculpture removed me completely. I was forced to look outward instead of inward, as if I were seeing a world that existed without me.