Tag: life
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Marveling at masks amidst the plague experience
In his latest column “Are Face Masks the New Condoms?” (paywalled), Andrew Sullivan reflects on how difficult it is to change pandemic-induced behaviors: With HIV, as with Covid, a transformation of the facts did not necessarily mean a transformation of psychology. Human psyches take time to adjust to new realities; fear and trauma have a…
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What music is that noise?
We were driving with Mr. 2 Year Old and he heard some noise outside and said: “What music is that noise?” And I’ve thought a lot about it since.
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At the age you are
“I love you at the age you are, and every year you grow / into more the special someone I forever want to know.” — I Love You All Ways by Marianne Richmond I love that line (from a board book that’s in his regular rotation) because it reminds me not to focus on hitting…
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Final lines on second chances
(Spoilers for the films Soul and Driveways, two of my favorites of 2020.) At the very end of Driveways, Brian Dennehy’s elderly Del finds himself recounting a story. He concludes: You know what I wish? I wish me and Eddie were just leaving Joplin this morning. I wish we could do that whole trip all…
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Memories make us rich
Former Packers columnist Vic Ketchman likes to say “memories make us rich.” I think about this a lot, but I gave it special consideration during this year’s annual viewing of It’s A Wonderful Life when, at the very end—in arguably the film’s best moment—Harry says, “A toast to my big brother, George, the richest man…
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The wit and wisdom of ‘Grumpy Old Men’
Grumpy Old Men has become one of the few movies I return to every Christmastime, along with The Family Stone and It’s A Wonderful Life. Though (or maybe because), like those other movies, it’s only partially about Christmas. It’s schmaltzy to a fault, but also an hilarious showcase for the legendary comedic chemistry between Jack…
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We are who we deeply are
Listening to the latest episode of the On Being podcast, with evolutionary anthropologist Agustín Fuentes, and I heard the host Krista Tippett say something while quoting Fuentes that gave me pause. From the transcript: And even filling out the picture — this is from your Gifford Lectures — “meaning, imagination, and hope are essential to…
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Hope to love you long
In his post on the emotional intelligence of long experience, Alan Jacobs spotlights a letter from the great 18th century writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson to his younger friend, who at one point thought he had said something to offend Johnson: You are not to imagine that my friendship is light enough to be blown…
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Pick up your kid
There’s a post by Jason Kottke I’ve thought about almost every day since he wrote it last year. He links to an animated version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, then reminisces about reading picture books with his now-older kids: We’ll likely never read any of those books together again. It reminds me of one of…
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Recent Views (in my kitchen)
We’re finally redoing the original kitchen in our 1956 house. Once the old metal Youngstown cabinets were removed, I noticed this collision of patterns on the unfinished wall: I also discovered some old-school miscellanea:
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Healthy not-knowing
Hat-tip to Austin Kleon for the above snapshot of his journal entry: “The true gift of children is they destroy what you think you know and provide the opportunity for healthy not-knowing and growth.” Children aren’t necessary for achieving healthy not-knowing and growth, but they’re a hell of a good catalyst. See also: “The rules…
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Homeworking, day one
Thanks to COVID-19, today was my first day working from home. (That’s my new makeshift workspace above, squished into the space between the closet and extra bed in our guest room. I’ve since added a second work laptop.) My library is closed to the public indefinitely, along with most everything else, but as my work…
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On the magical realism of Mister Rogers
My now one-year-old and I have slowly been going through the episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood available on Amazon Prime. He’s generally not interested in extended screen time at this point, but Mister Rogers is one of the few figures he recognizes and enjoys. (Along with Alex Trebek. #proudpapa) There’s not much I can say…
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Inch by inch
My son walked for the first time today, the day before his first birthday. I was in front of him, bouncing on our exercise ball along to some music (Kira Willey’s “Everybody’s Got A Heartbeat” to be exact). He wanted in on the bouncing action. He was already standing—he’s been standing strongly in place for…
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Meaningful markers of time
Derek Sivers: A new year begins when there’s a memorable change in my life. Not January 1st. Nothing changes on January 1st. … Your year really begins when you move to a new home, start school, quit a job, have a big breakup, have a baby, quit a bad habit, start a new project, or…