Julia Child
> “Don’t for the love of heaven let anybody rush you into anything.” Happy birthday, Julia Child! http://t.co/4NdTrP5U35 — Explore (@Explorer) August 15, 2014 [https://twitter.com/Explorer/statuses/500326819548393472]…
A Question of Standards
Last night's rebroadcast of a Jeopardy! tournament game presented a stunning contrast to the current corruption trial of former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell. One contestant, Alex Trebek announced, had forgone travel expenses and any prize money because he was a (high-ranking, I think) federal employee; McDonnell accepted a…
The Need for Speed
I was stunned the other night as I listened to a rebroadcast of Jian Ghomeschi interviewing Aisha Tyler [http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2014/08/11/best-of-q-aisha-tyler/]. The two talked about the pace of their lives, and the exchange went something like this as the talked turned to visiting…
Slowing Down
> The faster the world moves, the further most of us fall behind--with the result that the world starts moving slower than ever before. — Pico Iyer (@PicoIyer) August 11, 2014 [https://twitter.com/PicoIyer/statuses/498866606873645056] It even took me a couple of days to get this posted.…
Paying Attention; Slowing Down
> > In my experience with students—talented students of writing — the most important thing for them to remember is that someone who is not them and cannot read their mind is going to have to read this. In order to write effectively, you don’t pretend it’s a…
Getting Lost
> “For now she need not think about anybody. She could be herself, by herself. And that was what now she often felt the need of—to think; well, not even to think. To be silent; to be alone. All the being and the doing, expansive, glittering, vocal, evaporated; and…
Worth Remembering
“It is a grave error to assume that ice cream consumption requires hot weather.” —Anne Fadiman via The Paris Review [http://theparisreview.tumblr.com/post/94120880164/it-is-a-grave-error-to-assume-that-ice-cream?utm_campaign=SharedPost&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=TumblriOS]…
Unexpected Find on the News
On the PBS NewsHour yesterday [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/destruction-upheaval-wwi-pave-way-ukraine-mideast-conflicts/] , Margaret Macmillan offered an extraordinary insight into how resistance to globalization hurts us— > JEFFREY BROWN: Staying with you, Margaret MacMillan, I was seeing that it’s still with us even in Europe. I was just reading today…