twoday's perspective

the rain gave me sunshine. 

theend. 

the historic circle

for the 40th anniversary of ny magazine kurt anderson gives a look back to 1968 in Boom-Bust-Boom Town there are many parallels for new yorkers today, and what has been going on time and time again.




the blackout of 1968





today: the downfall of Lehman Brothers

words to be expanded, thought on, dreamed-of, skipped to

"Love easily confuses us because it is always in flux between illusion, and substance, between memory and wish, between contentment and need. Perhaps there are times when the contradictions of love and lust are so intermingled that the only way to see the truth of love is to pit it against the irreducible reality of lust.

Of course, love can never be stripped bare of illusion, but simply to arrive at an awareness of illusion is to hold hands with truth--and sometimes the hard light of lust affords just such an awareness."

Tom Robbins

babar land

go figure. i cross the pond and make my way to this european realm, similar to a grand tour, minus a handful of train rides and pocket-sized tutors by my every move. But despite some of the drawbacks and struggles (the weak dollar for one!) compared to the former victorian social and intellectual elites, i am here. and as i am here my favorite childhood pleasures, Barbar the Elephant, has found it's way to New York with the exhibit "Drawing Barbar: Early Drafts and Watercolors" at the Morgan Library Museum. thanks ny times art review for the tip.

check out these illustrations. presenting the early stages of barbar as originally thought-up from the bedtime stories of Cecile de Brunhoff and then elaborated by her husband even later on their son, Laurent de Brunhoff, who is still in charge of the Barbar name.


and like a 10-year-old with a big box of crayola crayons and large sheets of paper these initial creations of Barbar do not disappoint. look at him in his immaculately-tailored green suit and cute elephant gray body--what a childhood joy!