Subway map memorized and tucked in rucksack — check. Top of Converse sneakers smudged, T-shirt unrelated to any local destination but still slightly ironic, jeans narrow — check. Walk with purpose, eyes ahead, resist upward gawking at buildings — check. Boys ask if they can smoke cigarettes to fit in — no check. Eye roll intact, […]
Archive for March, 2007
No end to the things made out of human talk
This is a painting by Edward Ruscha that hangs in the Hirshhorn Museum of Art in Washington D.C. I was having a conversation with someone recently about how different the world is today. The introduction of cell phones and the internet are making big, fundamental differences in how we interact, think, communicate and socialize. I […]
Jean Baudrillard: He’s “real” dead
As someone who, for the longest time, doubted the possibility of human reality, let alone authenticity, Jean Baudrillard was a voice to put order to my fragmented ideas. Of course, this is hugely ironic since Baudrillard himself would argue that my need to turn to someone else to congeal my thoughts is proof of my […]
Listening to Bach on the subway
I’m getting on the subway to work. I’m raw from lack of sleep the night before, numb from not having had my coffee yet. Thank you, God, for giving us the iPod to insulate us from screeching wheels and mumbling passengers. I consider shuffle play, but I realize the wrong track could utterly destroy me […]
Live music roundup
I couldn’t escape the feeling, growing up in northern New England, that life was happening elsewhere. Somewhere, surely, people drank espresso, had brilliant ideas, made art, circulated in galleries and concert halls, strolled boulevards crowded with boutiques and creatively-dressed bohemians, invented cocktails with clever names, and discussed the Meaning Of Life—but not in my tiny […]
No news is no news
Steamy e-mails shed light on astronaut’s behavior Bread, pizza can threaten lives of mom, son Car carrying pot crashes into trooper’s cruiser Police think dad meant to crash plane Idol’s final cut leaves Paula Abdul speechless Tail-wagging dog pulled from icy lake by diver Elizabeth Hurley wedding deck demolished Unmanned plane finds child sex abuse […]
Tales from the office
Sharon Although she’s in her late seventies and has memory problems, Sharon still recognizes that she enjoys the company of younger men. She has enough money to hire a full-time aide to assist her in all endeavors. And she always chooses handsome and educated men in their early thirties. I’ve met three of them so […]
Be all you can be: South by Southwest
For years I have wanted to go to Austin, Texas, to the South By Southwest music conference (SXSW). This year, through my job, I finally got the chance. As a music supervisor for commercials and TV shows, I can legitimately claim the necessity to go to a 4-day conference in which over 1,000 bands play […]
Respecting believers
The saying goes that an agnostic is just an atheist who lacks the courage of her convictions. Often, though, an agnostic is just an atheist who doesn’t want to offend her religious friends, family, or colleagues. Atheism as a rhetorical stance is particularly, though not uniquely, hard to smooth over. Most of our everyday interactions […]
Know your Idols
With every translation of the Bible comes a new translation of names. These changes are sometimes slight — Jesus becomes Jesús in Spanish — or can be very dramatic — Simon becomes Peter in Greek. Six years ago, a new Biblical translation emerged from a group called 20th Century Fox. Their first translation was so […]
