“ Unfortunately, the problem is that many people who operate cars don’t realize they’re operating machines, and this is because cars have become so coddling that operating one requires only slightly more effort than watching the Tour de France on your sofa in a state of semi-consciousness while wearing a pair of adult diapers. Yes, the roads are full of bloated vehicles driven by people who need interior microclimates and crow’s nest vantage points and nine airbags and DVD players to distract their kids and 70-point monitoring systems to keep them awake.
July 7, 2009
June 28, 2009
“ …Michael Jackson was one of popular culture’s greatest artists. Nobody danced better. Few sang more compellingly. No one understood more about stage spectacles or music videos. He was an innovator. His reach was global. Was he post-racial, as some say? I’d call him trans-racial. He never left the classic elements of black style behind; he kept mixing them with new material and bringing them to new audiences.
Reading this and listening to “I Want You Back” got me thinking: MJ may have suffered something of a messiah complex, which complicated the last 20 years of his life. In a way, though, he is a sacrificial lamb of sorts. This man, who (it appears) never had an intimate, trusting relationship with an adult in his life, somehow made music that brought—and brings—together millions of people worldwide. Perhaps he got a little help in the songwriting component, but still, his performance deepens the irony.
RIP, Michael. Thanks for sharing the gift.
2 years ago • 1 note
May 17, 2009
dinner with Mother tonight: catfish po’boy and a little bread pudding. Monday’s gotta be detox day… but in this town?
photo: www.mothersrestaurant.net
2 years ago • Notes
May 8, 2009
“ If economists can shed their inclination to serve as priests of the current cult, they will play a crucial role in helping us understand what options we have, what scales of enterprise may work to solve all our needs, which kinds of efficiency help and which harm. For them—for all of us—this is a far more interesting intellectual adventure than merely trying to keep the present system accelerating a little longer.
May 7, 2009
“ …fussy, trendy, anachronistic rooflines, cupolas, and turrets [in]
contemporary suburbs are palliative attempts at endowing these spiritless developments
with aesthetic substance.
contemporary suburbs are palliative attempts at endowing these spiritless developments
with aesthetic substance.
May 6, 2009
“ A note to parents: If you have a 25-year-old college graduate living at home, do that person a favor: Next time he or she leaves the house to “meet up with friends,” gather up all his or her stuff, put it in the car with a $100 bill and have a locksmith change the locks on the house. (Chances are you don’t know how to change a lock yourself, right?)
May 1, 2009
“ I would never recommend this, but if an accident happens at least you could claim to be a true competitor.
“ At some point, no amount of dancing will help you learn more algebra.
