On (Standing In) Line(s)

In the Way of Explanation

On the recommendation of a mutual friend (whom we will call “Dr Vanderburg”), a far-flung person (whom we will call “Cuthbert”) began corresponding.

This is not the kind of invitation I tend to accept.

You two have so much in common!

Right.

It turns out, the correspondence is of great interest and entertainment. Let’s not tell Dr Vanderburg.

I Will Follow

 

When debt ceiling negotiations fall apart (or in almost any other circumstance), it is best to listen to old U2.

Pete Townshend & The Kinks

Glenn Gould, Goldberg Variations, Aria (1981)

U2 Bullet the Blue Sky (Live)

Kurt Vile, Freak Train (Live)

Lumberjack Checklist

Is the author of all plaidout a lumberjack?  Fourteen signs to consider:

1. Set in British Columbia
2. Is “OK”
3. Sleeps all night
4. Works all day
5. Cuts down trees
6. Eats lunch
7. Goes to the lavatory
8. Shops on Wednesdays
9. Has buttered scones for tea
10. Likes to (a) skip and jump (b) press wild flowers
11. Wears women’s clothing
12. Hangs around in bars
13. Wears high heels, suspenders and a bra (see 11, supra)
14. Wishes he was “a girlie like [his] papa”

Thank you, Python (Monty)

Democracy’s Sheen

There is the old saw in the politics of democracy: We, the People, get the representatives We deserve. 

This may be a difficult concept to grasp. In part, when people say this, I tend to think about giants. George Washington. Abraham Lincoln. FDR. Towering figures of our political history who, regardless of the complexities specific to their lives, have assumed a mythic importance in our political culture. We want these giants here, now, to solve our problems.

Who wouldn’t pale in comparison?

On Atavism & Hashtaggery

Not so recently, Allergic Girl (who’s new book, Allergic Girl: Adventures in Living Well With Food Allergies, is published 7 March), a “friend and colleague”—a description at which we have arrived after to-age and fro-age—, wrote an excellent post about her renewed interest in studying Hebrew. Sitting in the garden of the Museum of Modern Art discussing the subject with her, I had asked whether studying the language of her forebears filled her with “atavistic thrumming.”