what's on your mind? what's really important to you? what makes you happy or feel sad? what's worth your time? i love a
liet motif, a theme, an organizing principle so
i'd been thinking about the frame (and if there were one) around my seemingly
nonsequitur interests in food, art & architecture, traveling, work/business management, self-improvement and "success," shopping and fashion, and flea and antique markets.
to figure it all out,
i'm reading a mix of books, journals and magazines. periodical-wise: the
harvard business journal (for theory); inc. (for business management practice); the nonprofit quarterly (one of my trade's rags); vogue,
elle and w (now as skinny as the models who appear therein--fewer ads!);
martha stewart living and
bon appetit (homage to cocktail serving, apron-wearing, housewives of another era); and best life and men's health (great for fitness and tips for the men in your life).
in books:
the nine by jeffrey toobin about the supreme court gives you a sense the justices are and how they change intellectually during their tenures. the section on the bush/gore post-election issues sets out that game and the legal issues related to
gitmo are clearly set forth. i was a little
disappointed that it seemed thin on
scalia (maybe his clerks wouldn't talk?). i
didn't get a real sense of the man, but maybe i just wanted more on him because he's so smart and, like many lawyers, find his confidence in, and principled application of, his worldview refreshing and a relief from much of the
pc equivocating that passes for reasoned thinking among jurists and politicians even if you
don't agree with him.
o'conner's role gets a lot of play (fitting under
toobin's theory that she controlled the outcome of important cases during many years of her tenure) and
thomas gets the most generous write-up
i've ever seen. i
ncidentally, if you live in dc or are in the area when supreme Court is in session, you really should go down to see an oral argument, it's
surprisingly intimate, awesome and free!
another book really resonated with me,
shop class as soulcraft: an inquiry into the value of work by michael crawford. to dip into the subject, check out the
2006 essay that grew into the book. the more philosophical and historical aspects of the book, talking about changes in the labour market, the intrinsic satisfactions in certain types of work (here work that relates to material objects) and what do and can we expect from our work were more interesting to me than where many reviewers put their
focus. i
didn't read it as a
paean to manual labor and i certainly
didn't see, as one reviewer proposed, that it was sexist and that it left women out for some bad reason. ideas that make you think include an exploration of the connections (mystic and sentimental) we feel with material objects (hey, who
hasn't fallen in love with a
cartier, a
bmw, a super-sharp #2 pencil or a frosty coke bottle?) and the need to feel our work is connected to something real--whether it's a
material object or an idea or ideal that has meaning for us at some deeper level. another cool thought by alexandre k
ojève: "the man who works recognizes his own product in the world that has actually been transformed by his work: he recognizes himself in it, he sees in it his own human reality, in it he discovers and reveals to others the objective reality of his humanity, of the originally abstract and purely subjective idea he has of himself. the satisfactions of manifesting oneself concretely in the world through manual competence have been known to make a man quiet and easy. they seem to relieve him of the felt need to offer chattering interpretations of himself to vindicate his worth. he can simply point: the building stands, the car now runs, the lights are on. boasting is what a boy does, who has no real effect in the world." (sounds like
howard roark, no?)
my next read is by the philosopher,
alain de botton. options are a novel about love or his new book,
the pleasures and sorrows of work.
i've decided i love him because he writes about what i think is the only stuff that counts: travel, love, architecture, shopping, and work. he also founded a school in
london that has weekend courses on the areas identified as the five big issues in life: love, politics, work, family and play.
odds and ends. for a laugh, make a jello fish bowl with vodka. ok, the vodka was my twist, a la jello shots. this is a really easy, fun and funny project. in red (swedish fish are the best), white (tic tacs for bottom of the bowl gravel) and blue ("berry" flavoured jello), it's july 4 picnic fun (not for kids of course!).
query de blog: anyone up for an october weekend in london for a class about work at the school of life?
peace out,
flatsie
time value of time
everything old was new again in miami beach this year. locals dress circa 1981 whilst snacking on export sodas with guava paste and cream cheese (yum!), tried and true artworks predominated (like warhols) at art basel miami beach, nada set up shop at the deauville beach resort and the vintage stores were overflowing with good quality, well priced items. head over to 650 lincoln road to enjoy the calm and curated fly boutique ; i had gone first to the stuffed to the gills recycled blues around the corner at 1507 washington avenue and became a little overwhelmed by all the coats (abandoned shearlings and furs abound), tee shirts, jeans--a lot of everything really. if you're patient you can get some great stuff (everything was 50% off), my "ny state of mind" needed lunch first. grab a delicious and authentic buckwheat crepe at a la folie tucked away on the nearby and very charming 516 espanola way that's right off washington avenue. there are a lot of cute boutiques and restaurants on espanola and washington; a couple of blocks away is lincoln road that's a bit fancier (there's even the parisian patisserie paul on lincoln along with boutiques with selections that would play well in the "expensive" part of barneys).
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