Tuesday morning’s French headline on yahoo.fr led with the story of President Obama’s beer invite to the parties involved in last week’s arrest of a prominent Harvard professor. I don’t know what struck me as more remarkable – the lead position of the headline (to a global audience), or its content. The original incident For […]
Telling commentary – erotic literature, art nudes
What are you reading, Part Deux! I’m enjoying a variety of books this summer, and my reading habits include juicy art texts with sensual images from mid-century surrealists to modern and contemporary portraiture, along with a photography reference I’m anxious to crack open. It promises to be an interesting read, and again – filled with […]
You CAN fight city hall: in praise of public servants
Mad as hell Remember the scene in Network, with Peter Finch yelling “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore?” That was me, yesterday, railing over meter madness and an undeserved parking ticket, determined to “fight city hall,” despite the odds. Guess what – it worked! (If you didn’t read this morning’s […]
Celebrate with Red, White, and Blue – Artwork!
It’s the 4th of July! To celebrate in high style, how about a glance at some color-charged fine art from the 20th century. It’s all-American, it’s hot hot hot, and it’s red, white, and blue! On the RED Team: Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and Philip Guston On the WHITE Team: Robert Ryman and Agnes Martin […]
Nek Chand’s Mosaic People, Meg Ryan’s Hair
I am wandering a darkened hallway. Somewhere, the sun is rising. I know it is morning, but the arches and carved stone go on and on like this interminable day of subways and airport shuttles, staring at tracks and walls that begin to tighten around me, more suffocating with each passing minute, the train, now, […]
Word: Le mot juste ou juste un mot
It must be morning, somewhere. But not here. Where then? Where I am. Here. Now. This place. In your head ? Word. What? Word. You know – “you’re good, you’re fine.” WORD. What does that mean? I just told you. You’re good. You’re fine. Well said. Mais qu’est-ce que tu as ? T’as oublié tes medicaments, toi ? […]
The Metamorphosis: Mrs. Kafka and the Storage Closet
Awake at 4:30. Something is awry. Sleep again. Restless. Waking, as I try to roll over. Armor back. Trying to sit up. Burning thighs. Bristling, twitching legs. So many of them. What’s happening? Lifting my head to see. Throwing the covers off. My body appears in brown sections – my abdomen, divided and ridged. My […]
Traffic calming. $138 later, I’m not calm.
Just a few years back, in my leafy little burb, my pocket of proprietor’s paradise, near my 1400 square feet in desirable location-location-location, the proverbial “they” began a project. A “Traffic Calming Project.” Calming, I thought to myself. Traffic calming at that. It had to be a euphemism for something subterranean and a little less […]
Hands across the planet
So… what if I’m trying to do my morning writing, and “hands across the planet” is suddenly more than a slogan for an international non-profit? What if it is more than a dawning reverie of something resembling a sex life? What if I’m attempting to craft a morning missive, even a rambling reminiscence about something […]
Sex in San Francisco?
I was packing until midnight. Television until after one a.m. to fall asleep, finally. Then up at six, shower, dog, repacking. . . Enough clothes for a week, and it’s only a long weekend. My hair, wet. Now headed to the station. And they’re showing previews of The Taking of Pelham 123, the remake. In […]