Thought Oven

That's Why They Call It "Memorial"

2009-09-11T09:37:00.008-04:00

Does the drowsy yet relentless passage of time really heal all wounds? Should it?For the first time since that fateful day eight years ago, I woke up, got ready, and walked out of the door without clutching a flag, without remembering what day it was.When I realized that I'd forgotten, I got a brand new ache in my heart. Now that the pain is abating. . . are we turning it into another empty

Paranoia In Shifts

2009-09-01T21:15:00.018-04:00

Some people will believe the very worst about others. Well, not all others, just some others . . . People will believe that president Obama would euthanize their grandparents. They will believe that he "hates white people." They will cry in public and ask for their "America back" -- when to most of us America doesn't look all that different from last year. That is, unless there really is no

Oven Still Off

2009-08-04T19:14:00.005-04:00

Make that mid-August?Oh, what the heck, let's make that "until labor day," that way, if I do re-start earlier, I can congratulate myself.Speaking of labor, I apologize for not telling you all about my labors this summer, because, you know, the details of my life are so endlessly fascinating :-)Stay well, my friends.p.s., I do want to point out one little thing: before it's replaced by the next

Oven Off

2009-05-27T15:03:00.006-04:00

Thought Oven will be turned off for a bit. It needs to be cleaned along with other stuff in the "Thought Kitchen" generally. Hopefully there will be more baking in a few weeks -- I'm thinking mid-July. Please come back then. Happy summer!

Big City, Dim Lights

2009-05-19T09:01:00.022-04:00

I was in India this January. I kept "in touch" as much as possible -we live in a small, virtually-wired world. But I completely missed a little regional story that is nothing short of momentous for me, but that went completely under my global-sweep radar on the other side of the world. The Amato Opera in Manhattan's East Village is closing.I am devastated. I can't claim to have grown up with Tony

Make the Recession Work for You

2009-05-17T11:34:00.006-04:00

Lots of our habits are bad for us. We keep them anyway, until they start being bad for our wallets. Here’s a list of things you probably should have tried a long time ago but you now have extra incentive (junior’s future, your retirement, or… um, rent?). The way to enjoy the recession (yeah, I said “enjoy the recession”) is to remember that in more flush times these things would be considered “

Life Is Short

2009-05-07T12:00:00.001-04:00

They say life is short. They don’t mean to be depressing when they say it. On the contrary, they intend to encourage appreciation for the fullness of the moment. The exquisite preciousness of it all. But what if “life is short” is not an abstracted universal truth? What if your doctor essentially tells you, that YOUR life might be winding down? What if you have been battling a chronic

My Bad

2009-05-04T14:24:00.003-04:00

I just thought about my last post. Maybe Tavis wasn't saying the citizens abdicated to the body politic but that they abdicated their responsibilities to the body politic. Well, that's what I get for being snarky!

Tavis, I Love You, But. . .

2009-05-04T12:28:00.013-04:00

I just heard Tavis Smiley say a couple of great things and one, um, stupid thing on the Leonard Lopate Show.It was refreshing to hear someone echo me on the need to please not be infatuated with the new president. Tavis insisted that we (especially those of us who celebrated the possibilities that an Obama election signaled) had better make sure that he does what said so that "there really is

All Eyes On Dark Places

2009-05-03T18:51:00.011-04:00

Last night I tasted a really nice Montepulciano and read the torture memos. How did you spend YOUR Saturday night? Stop staring at me. Anyway, so I come home early last night, trying to get a little rest (no, I don’t have swine flu, thanks for asking) because I’ve been suffering from an allergic eye condition that’s left me a little drained. But can I just shut them and

Just Between Us Bleeding Hearts

2009-05-02T23:17:00.000-04:00

My last post was a rare tribute – or as close as I’ll ever get to one – to a supply sider. Today, I want to pay my respects to another one. I note the passing of one Mr. Jack Kemp, the “bleeding-heart conservative.” I never liked your economic ideas, but you loved our country and you hated racism and oppression, and for that I thank you and wish you a fond farewell.

Legends Of The Fall

2009-05-01T20:15:00.012-04:00

Sometimes the world gets better. Twenty years ago tomorrow, Hungary began taking down the barbed wire partition between itself and Austria. It wasn’t attended by all the fanfare of the fall of the Berlin Wall a few months later. But it was a quietly heroic start of that gloriously literal, physical dismantling of the Iron Curtain. We in America like to celebrate it as a

The Absolute Value of Truth

2009-04-23T23:06:00.026-04:00

Some people have so little credibility that even if they happen to say something correct, we are entitled to tell them to shut up. But that doesn't mean we adopt the opposite posture just because we want to oppose them. Imagine you have a friend whose spouse leaves him/her for someone else. Then, when your friend makes the mistake of being emotionally vulnerable, the cheater has the gall to

American Appetites

2009-04-20T22:43:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I was inspired to finally try my hand at something I've been planning to make forever: matzo ball soup. So I start the process, planning to have it for lunch by myself -- not quite ready to make someone else the guinea pig on this yet. Because some of the steps have to be timed, I looked at the clock. That's when it dawned on me that I don't have that long before I have to start dinner

Time Warp

2009-04-19T11:00:00.006-04:00

Ouch! The last few weeks have been rough on me and my little blog. I had a painful eye ailment that forced me to keep computer use to a minimum, which is not easy in my business – or in any business, come to think of it. Then there were a few days of jet lag (I recently returned from a three month trip to India).To make matters worse, I just realized none of my posts from the previous few weeks

The Properties of Property and the Reality of Reality

2009-03-21T19:31:00.003-04:00

I was talking yesterday to a friend about my concerns regarding assertions of absolute private “property rights” over stuff taken out of the public domain.An architect by training, my friend is an executive of a large multinational corporation operating out of Delhi. She is vehemently opposed to anything that remotely resembles a restraint on commerce and wealth accumulation and describes herself

The Carefree "Carefully"

2009-03-20T10:07:00.000-04:00

Last night I went to hear a really interesting band in midtown. Well, they don't call it "midtown" here; it's "central" - I think - but you know, old habits.Anyway, the band calls itself "Shamle"; which is Bengali for "carefully" or "watch your step"; its literal meaning is something like "having handled" - it's an adverbial derivative of the verb "to handle" - I'm no linguist, but I'm trying my

News Banner

2009-03-09T23:12:00.002-04:00

Evening news, Monday, March 9, 2009Something utterly generic about the global economy is being reported as the main story right now. I won’t remember it tomorrow. But I will remember the banner of summary headlines running at the bottom of the screen: Robert Mugabe speaks out against violence at the funeral of Morgan Tsvangirai's wife; 33 people killed in a bomb attack on reconciliation talks in

The Image vs. The Idol

2009-03-01T12:30:00.001-05:00

Like most self-respecting adults, I don’t pay much attention to “American Idol.” But, I was channel surfing last night when I happened upon it, and, homesick for America (I’ve been away for two months now), I decided to watch. I think I’ve seen an episode or two of it before, but never watched it. It was more like, the TV’s on while I’m cooking or getting ready to go out.But last night I watched

Lovers Touch Their Beloveds, Don’t They?

2009-02-27T12:07:00.002-05:00

Yet another friend expressed some shock, as many of the avid readers in my life have done over the years, to learn about my habit of pencil-marking in the margins of books – only my OWN books, I should point out, so please don’t refrain from lending me yours!But I don’t get this worshipping books from afar thing. Love from a chivalrous distance may be dignified. It may even be elegant. But can

The Banality of Identity and Its Strange Attraction

2009-02-25T12:14:00.004-05:00

Anyone who knows me well knows who “Essie” is. She’s the main character of my Civil War novel. Without immodestly (and undeservedly) elaborating on a project that’s gone on well, let’s just say “beyond its initially projected time budget,” let me just say this: it’s turning out to be focused on the making of her “identity.” It didn’t start out that way. But somehow, everything I touch these days

A New Uncertainty Principle: Some Uncertainty In Your Principles Is Good

2009-02-19T11:54:00.004-05:00

The world is on the brink of economic – and perhaps ecological – disaster. Instead of looking at the possibilities with some humility, there are people, with real power, raring to push their long-beloved ideologies harder than ever.I want to make a humble plea: stop being so damn certain about everything.About ten years ago I read a book that is now more than twenty years old, from which I

The Fundamentals of Terror

2009-02-04T07:58:00.004-05:00

Here in India (yes, I’m still here), there is a disturbing new trend of “Hindu Fundamentalism” that mirrors the same sort of culture war incited by all reactionary movements. In fact, there is only one Religious Fundamentalism, designed to cultivate a shared sense of righteous rage at some perceived “enemy” among a certain historically identified group. That group is encouraged to internalize a

Circumstantial Evidence: a review of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers – The Story of Success

2009-01-31T10:41:00.002-05:00

Malcolm Gladwell takes an engaging and colorful stab at what may be one of the biggest hoaxes of all time: the myth of the self-made success. It’s so entrenched in the popular imagination that Jeb Bush can get away with claiming to be a “self-made man.” According to Gladwell, however, it’s a person’s circumstances – and not some innate measure of his “merit” – that plays the starring role in the

Republic Day

2009-01-26T07:57:00.003-05:00

January 26 is "Republic Day" in India. It's the day their constitution was ratified and it is celebrated with almost as much fanfare as the day they got their independence from Britain. People -- some people -- volunteer to register voters in remote villages. Kids enter essay contests. In Calcutta they have cookouts (it's actually mild enough in January to do that!) and, of course they blast the

Up With America!

2009-01-22T19:58:00.001-05:00

It’s weird to be abroad this week. I must admit, I am missing the around the clock coverage American media must be giving to the transition in Washington. Of course, the whole world is watching – and I’m thankful for the unique perspective I’m getting (especially since I’m in a country where the Bush administration was not universally detested – more about that later). But the media here (

Time to Say “Bye, George” – By George!

2009-01-21T10:21:00.002-05:00

Sometimes it’s embarrassing how much of a sappy streak I have. I even felt a pang of nostalgia for W. when they played “Hail to the Chief” for him one last time. Just one pang. Then it was gone.

A Speech For One Age

2009-01-20T23:45:00.004-05:00

It was no speech for the ages.Where was the precise distillation of some elegant truth (about the better angels of our nature or the only thing we have to fear)? Where was the stirring call to meet the great challenges of this moment in history?The call was there, of course. But it wasn’t particularly stirring. . . .All the mundane policy references really belonged more in a state of the union

Checking In

2009-01-13T07:53:00.003-05:00

Sorry to be MIA -- I'm out of the country for a few weeks. Not that that's any excuse. . . . The good news is, I have interesting (professional) writing opportuntities that have kept me away from blogging. So, wish me luck!One thing I should report, however, is that I'm in a place where, although it's a democracy (and not one of those sham ones with just one party), there's actually a province

Bread With Gary Continued. . . Pro-Suffering or Anti-Altruism?

2009-01-02T12:40:00.013-05:00

I wrote a series of posts on happiness and suffering (Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV), which (aside from being graced with a very, VERY tortured, extended "bread" metaphor) had the (ahem) "rhetorical flair" of being addressed to my friend Gary, who claims to be in favor of suffering. In response, Gary made some interesting points.He criticized the western, liberal assumption that

Happy Birthday, Thought Oven!

2008-12-31T18:52:00.007-05:00

One year ago today, I first fired up this oven. It was, as it is tonight, New Year's Eve. Here's what I had to say about that.In a few minutes, I will fly off to the ancient, exotic land of my ancestors. So, you could say I'm traveling to the past this New Year's Eve. On the other hand, since I'm flying east, technically I'm accelerating to the future!Either way, I'll get through the year.It's

Happy and Suffering: Gary Talks Back!

2008-12-31T07:15:00.003-05:00

My friend Gary responds to my four-part series of musings on happiness and suffering (Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV) wherein I used him as a foil, because he just happens to hold the opposing view.[disclaimer: these remarks are not to be construed as a full rebuttal from Gary. He sent them as comments, but since I’m traveling, I thought I'd use them to post an entry without actually

The Bread Will Be Baked, Part IV – Who Should Suffer?

2008-12-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

[Please read Part I, Part II, and Part III of this discussion, if you haven't already]Gary, the apologist for suffering, has never seen a day of it in his privileged, healthy, well-heeled, young life. (I’m not being harsh, he fully acknowledges this – he’s a person of integrity). I would never begrudge Gary a moment of bliss in his enormously charmed life, but it’s a little hard for me to

The Bread Will Be Baked, Part III – What's So Binary About Happiness and Suffering?

2008-12-29T08:29:00.003-05:00

[Please read Part I and Part II of this discussion, if you haven't already]It isn't so much that toiling to bake bread is better than chasing easy happiness. It's more that the satisfaction of baking is a better, more durable kind of happiness than the effortless pleasure of acquiring free bread. But the baking effort isn't suffering. "Suffering" is toiling to bake the bread and then having

The Bread Will Be Baked, Part II – What Good Is Suffering?

2008-12-28T10:04:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I used the views of my young friend Gary (who treats happiness skeptically and suffering reverentially) to talk about happiness. We now turn to suffering. When religions posit a role for suffering in redemption, that’s at least consistent within the theological context of existential sin or whatever. But those of us disinclined to think humans need “redeeming” from an innate

The Bread Will Be Baked, Part I – What Good Is Happiness?

2008-12-27T13:57:00.009-05:00

I have this friend – just call him “Gary” – he’s a good guy. Young, smart (green side of 25, Ivy League, working on his PhD at a top-ten school). He has a slightly unusual perspective that I hope he’ll some day acknowledge as stemming from a youthful will to shock – I used to claim to be a “communist” in the 10th grade – but he is sufficiently bright and articulate to make it sound intriguing.

So What If It's Stupid? I Like It and It's My Heritage, Damn it!

2008-12-23T18:45:00.005-05:00

A friend of mine from New York, in town for a few days, asked if I wanted to do something tomorrow night. I was puzzled. His parents live right here in the DC Metro Area (that's why he's here in the first place) so why is he free tomorrow night, Christmas Eve!?"Why are you free," I asked, "it's Christmas Eve.""So?" he answered. I was still confused. . . . "Wait. 'Cause you're Jewish? So what?

You Know You're Old When. . .

2008-12-17T11:39:00.002-05:00

Your god daughter gets invited to an inaugural ball!A kid that I saw grow up (disclaimer: her parents are older than me and were VERY young when they had her!), and whom I consider my god child (it's not technically correct) interned on Capitol Hill and is going to one of the official inaugural balls! I'm very happy for her, but I wish she'd stop growing up so fast!!!

The Worst Lie

2008-12-16T09:38:00.003-05:00

My poet friend Garcia (another recovering lawyer who really should have a blog, preferably a comedy-oriented one) says: "I love you" is the worst possible lie. Hm. Not a bad candidate, I have to agree. But is it really the worst? What about "I wouldn't lie to you" or "you're special" or "this gun isn't loaded?"

Bit of Boredom

2008-12-16T08:43:00.000-05:00

I just heard yet another person bitch about how stupid the title "Quantum of Solace" is. Really? Is it all that much worse than, like "Octopussy"? At least "Quantum of Solace" has all real words. What's this sudden expectation of elegance based on, anyway?Incidentally, the movie was less than stellar. Don't get me wrong, the testosterone fix is guaranteed. There was a great fight every other

Misplaced Demands: The Bridge Loan and Wage Cuts

2008-12-15T23:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I posted an entry questioning whether a bridge loan/ rescue package from the federal taxpayers to the auto industry giants was warranted. Grace from Michigan commented that ordinary people in Michigan, who work for these companies and have essentially been struggling through a recession for several years, really could use a hand. Moreover, she pointed out, what they are asking for is

Auto-Destruction-Sequence?

2008-12-14T14:46:00.011-05:00

It doesn’t matter, ultimately, that the bridge loan failed in the Senate. Looks like the White House will come through for the car makers. But is it a good idea?I know it’s hard to swallow that the finance industry, which caused the economy to crumble while paying its top execs handsomely in the process and creating nothing of value at all (more on that next week) gets a 700+ billion dollar

It’s the worst of all possible worlds

2008-12-13T14:29:00.001-05:00

Speaking of the “Too Big to Fail” doctrine, a lot has been said about it, but common sense can sum it up this way: If something can get so big that it requires us to collectively absorb its losses (either by bailing it out, or by letting its demise infect the entire economy), then it should have been prevented from getting so big in the first place, or at the very least, it should have been

Bailouts and Neo-Feudalism

2008-12-13T14:09:00.014-05:00

I know that the failure of the auto-industry bailout will hurt a lot of people. More precisely, it will fail to mitigate (in the short term) the hurt a lot of people will experience as a result of other factors. But can we really save ourselves by simply propping up every company or industry that’s doing poorly in this less than stellar market? If we do, then we would no longer have capitalism.

A Gale of Two Cities

2008-12-09T08:27:00.019-05:00

There's a strong force, like a wind, that keeps trying to toss me back and forth between New York and Washington DC.Anybody in New York who has known me for more than a couple of years knows one thing about me: Koli loves DC. New York was always "a great place to visit" and, after 9/11/01, it was also my great love (you know, the kind of tender, raw, protective intimacy that results from shared

Boarding Call

2008-12-07T11:00:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm at JFK -- will fly away to Washington DC in a couple of hours.I was deeply moved Thursday night, when a veritable THRONG of New Yorkers came out to bid me farewell. I can't tell you how much that means to me. I may be returning to the city of my birth, but I will always have a large, soft spot in my heart for my adopted city, to which I will return for FREQUENT visits. However, unlike

Goodbye, New York

2008-11-25T23:32:00.007-05:00

I'm moving to Washington DC. I will miss New York and all of you. Please come and share some laughs and a drink with me before I go.Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008Time: 7:30 PMVenue: VerlaineLocation: 110 Rivington Street, Manhattan, NY (between Ludlow & Essex Streets)

Uncle Justin, The President

2008-11-23T19:21:00.004-05:00

Earlier this week, one of the kids at the homeless shelter kindergarten where I sometimes teach saw a picture of Barack Obama in my newspaper and affectionately called out "Uncle Justin!"I tried to tell him it was our new president. He stared at me blankly. Another teacher, finding the conversation irresistible, came over and tried to explain that this person was "very important" -- yeah, we

Let The Racist Play Ball

2008-11-20T10:00:00.002-05:00

Earlier this month, the University of Texas dismissed Buck Burnette from the football team for posting a racial slur, referring to Barack Obama, on his Facebook page.Perhaps there is a good reason to support this decision. The university's need for some discretion in choosing what kind of judgment or character to condone or chide in their students? Team unity, morale, etc.? I don't know. I'm

My History or Yours?

2008-11-19T12:41:00.006-05:00

My fiction project about a black girl growing up in antebellum Kansas and Philadelphia tends to generate a lot of curiosity. People want to know why I am not writing about Indian Americans. Or about historical indians. What could possibly resonate with me about a black girl in the 1850s? How could I possibly understand such a character well enough to write about her?I'm always struck by that

Executive Hotties

2008-11-07T11:31:00.020-05:00

One way or other, we were going to have a real stunner in the new administration (by broad consensus on beauty). I may be the only one in the universe to ever have thought that while Palin and Obama are both very good-looking people, they aren't, like, you know. . . sizzling hot. They are politician hot, not Beyonce hot.But when my mother (who is in her sixties and is interested in

Democracy: Too Much of a Good Thing?

2008-11-06T01:35:00.006-05:00

The cure for democracy, more democracy? Don't know, really. Although, I am a democracy freak by instinct, I must admit that my better judgment has always tempered that enthusiasm. Tuesday's events demonstrated how capricious the majoritarian will can be. On the one hand a majority of Americans entrusted its most powerful office to Barack Obama, a self-identified member of a historically oppressed

Let There Be No Reason

2008-11-05T02:19:00.001-05:00

I want to take a moment to congratulate The Mac. What a wonderfully gracious, unifying, and patriotic concession. I loved that he recognized, explicitly, the wounds of the past and the salve of progress that has been a hallmark of the extraordinary history of this most extraordinary country. He also recognized the importance of the civic engagement that Obama's remarkable campaign has inspired.

Have You Voted?

2008-11-04T11:51:00.007-05:00

It was a beautiful, overcast morning outside of Robert F. Kennedy elementary school in Jersey City. The lines were long. The faces were friendly. I exchanged a nod with a cute, readheaded guy, whose glasses fogged up from the steam rising out of his Starbucks cup as he leaned his face down toward his torso and took off his McCain/Palin '08 button and placed it inside his pocket before entering

An Ode to the Obvious

2008-11-02T15:40:00.003-05:00

Not to be trite, but have you ever noticed how beautiful life is? Each moment, full of unutterable joy or pain, slipping away literally forever, and excruciatingly, breathtakingly, heartbreakingly beautiful?I don't think I will ever understand how anyone chooses to leave it.

Everything Left Unsaid. . . The Elephant And The Donkey In The Room

2008-10-07T22:37:00.008-04:00

As I start writing this, half hour into the “debate” or “discussion” or whatever you want to call this sad show, I am scared. Really, really scared. These guys don’t know what the hell is going on. They seem to be falling back on the most insipid generalities in "explaining" the financial crisis and the bailout. What an insult.McCain is doing marginally better in that Obama’s “answers” are more

If Music Be The Food Of Love, Why Do I Need This Loaf-Thing In My Basket?

2008-10-04T08:39:00.029-04:00

Maybe human civilization is more resilient than I suspected. A very simple bit of evidence of that came my way this morning. NPR Weekend Edition this morning featured a segment about young people becoming farmers. It's a trend apparently.The reason this struck me is that I've wondered for some time whether the abstractions that make up my life (words, legal theories, financial products,

Immediate Impression. . .

2008-10-02T22:45:00.007-04:00

Did you notice how no matter what Palin was asked, she just wanted to answer either "energy" or "mom"??She came right out and said she wasn't going to answer the questions as asked. . . and she's PROUD of that fact? Doggone it, we really have reached the depths of anti-intellectualism, haven't we? Being dumb and stubborn is now the freakin' gold standard. Thanks, George W, that can be your

A Good Sounding Board

2008-09-24T00:12:00.016-04:00

More than a year ago, I decided to teach myself piano. I bought a keyboard and some books. I am a former violinist and singer, so I can read music. I know theory. I have excellent relative pitch. My natural sense of rhythm isn't the strongest, but I have developed it to a decent degree through considerable effort.How hard could this be?It was. Hard.Making a disciplined study plan and sticking

Going Back To Liberal Roots, Recognizing The Limits of Relativism

2008-09-21T08:48:00.018-04:00

Cultural Diversity?I went to see Bernard-Henri Levy at the Union Square Barnes & Noble the other day after hearing about his new book Left in Dark Times; the talk was compelling enough to sell me the book, and Levy was pretty entertaining, too. He regaled us with stories about Sarkozy's attempt to enlist his support; and said his criticism of the left was a "family" matter, and that he had

There Is No Pain, You Are Receding

2008-09-16T14:17:00.003-04:00

On my way to work this morning, I set the ipod to "shuffle" and the first song that came on was "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. What a beautifully fitting tribute presented by chance.Richard Wright was only 65 -- seems awfully young to die. I may not have thought that at one time. Then, a few years ago, my father died, also around the same age.That's when I realized how terribly young that

The Secret Silence of Verbose People, Scrap Drawers, and Death By Apoplexy

2008-09-15T12:47:00.003-04:00

Hello world.It's been 10 days since I last fired up the oven (actually, I think what I did on Sept 5 counts more as turning it on to the "clean" setting). Either way, it's about par for the course.My oven's been around for about nine months (if this seems vaguely like a pregnancy reference, I assure you its completely incidental -- although interestingly, childbirth and parenthood have been on my

Free Market/Free Society Advocates Finally Waking Up From Their Republican Dream

2008-09-05T18:04:00.007-04:00

A very nice post today on Todd Seavey's blog, where he shares the comments of his non-blogger friend Chris, a Libertarian who has had enough of the Republicans. I think Chris should start his own blog.

Country First. . . Unless It Costs Me Money

2008-09-04T22:28:00.003-04:00

Ok, I'm a little confused. It's about the thousandth time that the Republicans have blamed some amorphous "them" for living by the "me first, country second" philosophy. Aren't Republicans the ones that want to "keep more of my money" instead of contributing a bit of it for the country????

The Karl Rove School of Double Standards and Doublespeak, Part I: Sexism

2008-09-04T10:44:00.016-04:00

Sarah Palin is an EXCELLENT Republican.That means mastering the use of unabashedly self-serving double standards.My first example (and I might have to make this an actual series): complaining about sexism, by all usual Republican standards and according to Sarah Palin herself, is the same as "whining" except when YOU are doing it.

The Republicans' New Chant

2008-09-03T23:06:00.007-04:00

Fuck the planet, Baby!"Drill, Baby Drill"? seriously? Have we sunk so low that damaging the environment is not just a necessary evil for a practical goal, but the inspiration for a chant?

Flexible Family Values

2008-09-02T10:32:00.009-04:00

Isn't it wonderful that the Palin family has a strong, ambitious mother and a father who took several months out of his career to be a stay at home dad to his kid? Isn't it great that the Republicans seem to be admiring all of that? Isn't it great that their reaction to the teen pregnancy issue is "things happen in life, they are dealing with it as a family" or something to that effect?I'm not

Gossip Girl Moment, With Apologies

2008-09-01T18:54:00.009-04:00

What a summer!! A dramatic, historic presidential primary, followed by the the biggest olympics blitz ever. Perhaps the most pageantry-filled Democratic convention in a century (or EVER). All kinds of anniversaries (women's suffrage, MLK's march on Washington, Hurricane Katrina, Lincoln turns 200, LBJ turns 100. . . many others noted by the media (you know how they love "significance" -- I

Poetic Epithets: To Honor Or To Slight?

2008-08-31T10:20:00.008-04:00

I keep hearing pundits pontificate about Obama's failure to mention Martin Luther King by name in his speech. Instead, he said "a young preacher from Georgia" and apparently this has all kinds of subtle and vaguely unsavory implications. OF COURSE it does. Nothing is more delectable than the unsavory. Oooo!! Juicy! Is Barack Obama uncomfortable talking about MLK? Is he afraid it'll make him

How About Some Credit, Young Man?

2008-08-29T17:06:00.001-04:00

Did anyone notice how Obama's line "it has always been about you" is being commented on without anyone pointing out that it was lifted verbatim from Clinton's stump speech from the primaries?He even called skeptics "naysayers" (like her husband used to do all the time in the '90s)!

Buyers Beware!

2008-08-29T12:31:00.009-04:00

John McCain has chosen an unlikely woman, Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, in an obvious attempt to seal the deal with disaffected Clinton supporters who feel slighted -- perhaps understandably -- that women were told yet again, to put their issues, their candidates, their hopes on the back burner. Both McCain and Palin made shameless appeals to Clinton supporters (even Ralph Reed

World View In Six Words

2008-08-27T11:28:00.010-04:00

Chuck Schumer thinks we can learn something from Republicans (besides posing for a photo op at a shooting range). He says Republicans can sum up what they stand for in 6 words: traditional values, strong defense, smaller government. He challenges Democrats to think about distilling their own essence in the same away.Keeping in mind that this is an aspirational description (certainly Republicans

Worried About the "Dinty Moore Dad" Vote?

2008-08-26T11:37:00.006-04:00

Here are some key demographics that will determine the election!!! Trust the Onion :-)

Veepsqueak

2008-08-23T10:29:00.005-04:00

After all this hype, Joe Biden is sort of unsatisfying, no? I kind of expected it would be someone like Biden or Chris Dodd, but an utterly conventional choice like this just feels disorienting at the end of a dizzying media hype.Biden is both boring and dangerous for Obama. He has said lots of negative things about Obama (including comparing McCain favorably to him). He has made more than one

The Democracy Twins

2008-08-23T08:33:00.004-04:00

Pakistani presidential hopeful (or should I say “heir apparent”) spoke to NPR’s Scott Simon – in a roughly three minute conversation, he said “democracy” at least twenty times!Doth the gentleman protest too much?By the way, I think he was separated at birth from our very own symbol of democracy denied (for real, in his case): Al Gore!

Taking "By The People" To A New Level

2008-08-22T08:23:00.006-04:00

CHECK THIS OUT.Couldn't have said it better myself!

viewers may love replays, but athletes keep sprinting forward

2008-08-20T09:58:00.004-04:00

This morning I heard Michael Johnson tell BBC's Julian Marshall (when asked for his reaction to the prospect of having Usain Bolt break all his records) that he is thrilled. "it's all about breaking world records, not holding them." This is the very best attitude, not just about competitive athletics, but about achievements generally. Or maybe I should say it's the attitude of the very best

Hamming It Up Old Style

2008-08-15T23:05:00.001-04:00

This morning I got a nice pumpernickel bagel with Virginia ham. It was yummy. It made me homesick for Virginia.It also reminded me of a concession speech at the end of a long-ago senate race by (now-former-governor) Democrat Mark Warner. He made a good showing for a relative unknown, but lost to veteran Virginia Republican, incumbent John Warner. The younger Warner seemed content and even excited

yes, quite!

2008-08-14T11:19:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Shawna emailed me a joke that you’ve probably all seen by now. The little boy who thought a zoo directory advertised “a frickin’ elephant” (African elephant). Hee hee.But it ain’t so cute when they STILL spell like that after graduating from high school and college.I’m sure many of you are tired even of being exasperated by the bizarre grammatical practices and

great party, too bad the police had to break it up. . .

2008-08-12T13:35:00.003-04:00

On August 7, I saw the final show of The Police in Madison Square Garden. The B52s opened for them and were very good, except I can’t help regretting that the opener wasn’t Elvis Costello (who played the Philadelphia show).The Police delivered a surprise opening number: a musically mediocre but energetic cover of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" and followed up with an upbeat "Message in a Bottle"

better late than never

2008-08-11T11:21:00.002-04:00

A blog is kind of like a high maintenance friend. The longer you go without engaging it, the harder it is to pick up where you left off. Your sense is that after a gap, you really need to do something special to regain your relevance in the relationship. You wouldn’t call up a friend you haven’t seen in years just to say your boss is being an ass this morning. So how could you possibly resume

come sing at my birthday. . . or just enjoy the party

2008-07-27T20:03:00.004-04:00

On Tuesday, August 5, please come join a double birthday celebration (mine and that of my friend Todd Seavey, whom many of you know from various political and media events in New York).The place is Iggy’s Bar at 1452 Second Ave, in Manhattan (between 75th and 76th Streets). The time is from 8 PM until whenever but after 9, they have… wait for it: KARAOKE!! (I swear you DON’T have to sing if you

Happy Fourth of July

2008-07-04T12:02:00.006-04:00

It’s that day of the year when I get all sappy and red and white and blue and I don’t care who thinks I’m corny or what stranger shushes me when I sing the Star Spangled Banner in public (that actually happened to me once!). But let’s talk about why we get all gooey over our country. A lot has been said about it lately, in relation to the presidential campaigns; about what patriotism means and

not walking in mother walker's shoes

2008-07-02T15:55:00.010-04:00

Here is a sensitive, richly stated response from Phyllis Chesler to Rebecca Walker's letter.I want to draw special attention to the following (although it's certainly not among the most revealing or original of Chesler's many insights):The children of greatly talented public figures, as Alice surely is, are often sacrificed to the Great Work. The children can barely breathe in the shadow of --

you can't keep a good woman down... but what about her kids?

2008-07-02T11:37:00.002-04:00

If you look at the animal kingdom, it will become apparent that ferocity is a key ingredient of motherhood. This is why as a feminist I have always found it surprising that some feminists and many more anti-feminists have tried to set up some kind of conflict between motherhood and the strength and independence that feminism has encouraged in women.Rebecca Walker's account of her childhood as a "

21st Century Lost and Found

2008-07-01T23:19:00.000-04:00

I had dinner tonight with a friend I haven't seen since high school two decades ago. In some ways, it was as if we simply picked up where we left off. For all the morphing we've done over the years -- the lessons learned, the fears conquered, the mellowing of egos, the strangely liberating acceptance of the world's flaws and our own limitations -- in many ways we found we are still very much

length is tyranny

2008-06-22T12:45:00.010-04:00

I am saddened that Morgan Tsvangirai is bowing out of the fight.I don’t really know enough about him to know whether he is the kind of guy I’d want running my country. But I know enough to know that I’d pick him over Robert Mugabe in a heartbeat. In fact, I’d take almost any non-dictator politician over almost any person that’s ruled my country for 28 years.In fact, Mugabe (having ascended to the

Saw REM at MSG on TDN; it was TFA

2008-06-21T16:46:00.010-04:00

That’s “Thursday Night” and “totally f*$%@!g awesome” if you’re wondering,I was in a skybox courtesy of my employer. To paraphrase Michelle Obama, it was the first time in my adult life I was really proud of my employer. There were drinks. There was a bathroom. We were among friends (some of whom were quite young, I was happy to see, as a representative of the ancient, original generation of REM

Goodbye Little Chalkboard

2008-06-14T08:33:00.003-04:00

There was something special about Tim Russert. He was no pompous anchor with an obvious (and feigned) erudition. Neither did he have that annoying "I'm-not-an-elitist" self-consciousness. He just seemed relatively normal and endearingly nerdy and he got excited about things!Even when I thought he was wrong (in the way he framed a question or a point he made during his roundtable of pundit buddies

Speaking of Mars. . .

2008-06-11T12:14:00.001-04:00

We have so many operations there right now Phoenix, Spirit, Opportunity, Odyssey -- can you believe it? The bodies of old missions like Pathfinder all the way back to the Viking missions that got my imagination all fired up as a kid... Mars is littered with Earth technology. If there is water on Mars, perhaps life will arise there (again?) in the future as the sun heats up; maybe even

the long habit of invention

2008-06-11T10:26:00.001-04:00

After initially stumbling on clumpier-than-expected Martian soil, the Phoenix lander has successfully revised its soil-delivery methods to fit the conditions on the ground, so its research can continue.What's awe-inspiring about that (aside from the fact that we have robots smart enough to fly to Mars, navigate the atmosphere to land properly, explore the surface, conduct research, and adjust to

still shopping. . .

2008-06-10T23:01:00.000-04:00

For a follow up on my search for a smaller-government liberalism, check out my response to the "creeping socialism" discussion on that libertarian blog I mentioned.Probably why libertarianism won't work out for me....

Thomas Paine's Brickyard

2008-06-09T23:13:00.022-04:00

Thomas Paine died 199 years ago yesterday (yes, I had to look that up). I’ve been thinking a lot of about Paine lately. Partly because I recently read a book about him by Harvey Kaye and partly because I’ve had some of my political instincts questioned rather rigorously by an inner voice in the past couple of years and it made sense to go back to perhaps the one founding American who inspired

How are we going to amuse ourselves when the election is over?

2008-06-07T08:45:00.009-04:00

Need a little help choosing a president? Here is a helpful summary of the qualifications of mccain and obama to guide you. In related news, you know a candidate has really made the cut when Jon Stewart starts taking shots at him!

In defense of the candidate I am not supporting

2008-06-03T22:51:00.002-04:00

It's been some time that people have been clamoring for Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race. Ostensibly because it would be best for the party to have a united front. By that logic, though, why not just have one candidate to begin with? Why bother with primaries at all?I should clarify, for those who don't know, that Clinton is not my candidate. She was, once upon a time (and I was

The Simple Reason That Michigan and Florida Delegates Should be Seated

2008-06-02T20:51:00.000-04:00

Granted: Clinton wants to make sure “every vote counts” because she needs to, er… “make every vote count” at this point. But regardless of her motives, there is a very good and very simple reason to seat those delegates. The Michiganders and Floridians have a right to weigh in, if this is going to be a democratic process.Don’t give me that crap about “rules” and “everybody agreed.” Everybody?

mass media and the real "liberal" bias

2008-05-31T10:54:00.002-04:00

A bunch of claims about “The Media” have become cliché now. The usual accusations of “liberal bias” or “corporate domination” (depending on your world view) are taken for granted and used to premise entire arguments, especially in one’s own political circles where examining the assumed premises has become a shocking violation of ethics.I find it especially interesting and disturbing when the

getting all your tacks in a row

2008-05-29T12:11:00.001-04:00

I never solved Rubik’s cube. As an ‘80s kid, you can bet I tried. I worked on it obsessively in junior high. One time I got so bad, my Mom had to put a moratorium on it, perhaps because she was sick of seeing the damn thing or she began to doubt herself as a parent and socialization agent when I started bringing it to the dinner table.I have played with it on occasion over the years. But I never

I’m not a morning person

2008-05-27T22:49:00.002-04:00

I like mornings. I like the quiet. I love letting my eyes soak in that unbelievable, mellow gold morning light. You know the one. I like the stillness in my soul. I don’t know if it’s from having rested, or the softness of the sun’s brilliance at that hour, or the romance of waking up with my hemisphere. The early morning is perfect for sitting still. For watching a loved one sleep. For reading

Reheating the oven

2008-05-25T16:17:00.004-04:00

Is anyone still out there? Of course you are. Let me rephrase. Is anyone out there still even remotely interested in the thought oven?It’s been a hectic couple of months… professionally and personally. New job, a couple of writing gigs, mostly good things. Those of you who care to know more details already do know them.I don't know if there is a protocol for resuscitating a blog (especially one