cultural commentary from the desk of Don Shewey
the stars of this week’s trip to Fairway
meanwhile, back at the amaryllis…
the tulips are filling in with colorful blossoms
speaking of two lips, Croft nibbles the DJ’s birthday cake at Big Apple Ranch
the theme was “Spring Break,” so Team New York Aquatics sold raffle tickets dressed for the beach
Team New York Aquatics benefit at Boxers in Hell’s Kitchen — here’s Timothy Nolen with Elizabeth Turnbull-Brown
Audie and Win
comics store stash
Astoria street scene
Poetry in Motion
SUSTAINABILITY
I run a non-profit that is anti-growth. I am not interested in the “building an empire” model of ever increasing productivity and annual income, but something that is sustainable . My definition of sustainable is a system where you put more resource in than you extract — the balance is always towards keeping energy and resource within the system. True abundance is always having a positive balance in the bank so to speak (debt, which runs the capitalist system is the opposite of this). Since I am a valuable resource within the system, to be sustainable it is important that my energy not be completely mined out. I experienced this in my first non-profit endeavor–I was expected as a person “doing good work for the good of society” to give every last bit of my personal resource. I find it amazing that those of us who are socially conscious expect that of ourselves at the cost of our mental and physical health. So if I treat myself as a valuable input into my work I recognize the important of self-care and nurturance–that once my energy and health are tapped my work can no longer happen.
— K Ruby Blume
INTERNET
Jacques Ellul is a twentieth-century philosopher. The core thing I took from him is we should look at any new development and ask, “Will it dehumanize us or make our lives better?” The biggest mistake made with the Internet is allowing anonymous comments. People act like the Vandals or the Huns. Teenage girls are bullied. People post nude pictures without consent. It’s a complete junk medium.
— “T Bone Burnett Explains His Musical Influences,” New York magazine
The best thing about this week’s New Yorker is Barry Blitt’s cover, titled “Sic Transit Gloria Mundi,” though I also read with interest Jeffrey Toobin’s profile of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Larissa MacFarquhar’s post-mortem on the troubled, enigmatic Aaron Swartz. (One of the many benefits of subscribing to The New Yorker Out Loud podcast via iTunes is that I now know how to pronounce Larissa MacFarquhar.)
While I’m at it, let me mention the highlights of last week’s issue, starting with the great Roz Chast cover, “Ad Infinitum” (below):
Then there’s “Hands Across America,” David Owen’s piece on the rise of Purell hand sanitizer, a detailed description of how one small company has managed to get rich capitalizing on the weird germ-phobia that has taken over America;
also Ryan Lizza’s piece on Eric Cantor, one of the Republicans most in charge of obstructing any political progress in Washington;
and John Colapinto’s fascinating article, “Giving Voice,” on the surgeon who repaired Adele’s vocal cords (and those of many other famous pop singers).
And the odd cartoon or two….
another eye opens 