Archive for the ‘History’ category

Still rapturous after all these years

Marfa, my dear:

“The interloper” redux

In 2011 I published a story on this site called “The interloper”. In it, a teenaged girl named Jessie falls in love with her best friend Sarah. They eventually break up when Sarah can no longer take the pressure of being queer in high school. Sarah gives Jessie a box of the notes they’ve exchanged […]

Weekend recs

A Night with Lou Reed (live at the Bottom Line, 1983) Here’s a full hour of Lou Reed in great form, not long after The Blue Mask was released, and featuring (as the album did) Robert Quine. There’s so much good stuff here, but it’s best just to think about this as 40-year-old Lou, back […]

Not the British children

America! You don’t look a day over 235! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7iVsdRbhnc[/youtube]

Click on it for more treasures

Today is Victory Day

It is only in the last few years that, thanks to one of our resident Russophiles, LP, I have come to appreciate a good May 9th party. May 9th, as you may know, is the day that Russia and the other former Soviet republics celebrate as Victory Day, when the Allies finally overcame the Nazis […]

1st class dinner, April 14, 1912

On Sunday night, RB and I went to a restaurant in central California to indulge in a recreation of the last meal served on the Titanic.   The restaurant, called the Vintage Press, has a dining room modeled after the Titanic’s own dining room. The interior was magnificent, and a five-piece string quartet set the […]

Stuff and story

There is always a moment when the holiday season kicks in: the first fluffy snowfall, the first decorations on sale in September, the Macy’s Parade, the smell of baking spices wafting through the house. With respectful acknowledgement that celebrations and interests vary, our family loves Christmas time and it begins when we bring the first […]

Tuesday updates, 2011 edition

For those of you who like closing the circle, as they say, here are a few updates on posts from earlier in the year. 1. Vroom, Vroom. Though I was tempted to go ahead and purchase a 1964 Ford Futura, the lure of being sensible won out, no doubt to the relief of friends still scarred […]

End-of-year playlist: what year is it, again?

Today I really loved my job. In the morning I taught Colson Whitehead’s Sag Harbor, which takes place in the summer of 1985, when the narrator is 15. (The book’s climax, if it can be called that, is the day that Lisa Lisa—and Cult Jam!—come into the ice cream shop where the narrator works and […]