Exercise Your Franchise
With more than 800 million people, India boasts the largest electorate in the world. During the last 6 weeks, often in blistering heat, Indians have been casting their ballots in Parliamentary elections at 930,000 polling booths set up in walking distance of their homes. Hear that, America! Results are expected to be announced shortly. It’s inspiring.
Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP
Taking the Plunge
It’s sweltering in L.A. this week, with temperatures nearing a hundred. There’s a swimming pool where I live, and I’m ready to jump in. Plus, I like the metaphor. What spring leaps are you contemplating?
Art by Mira Ruido
What Do You Miss?
A friend of mine used to be a dentist and remembers smoking a cigarette while working on his patients. He’d keep it stowed in a nearby ashtray and take puffs in between drilling. In California, where water has become a luxury, I miss being able to keep the faucet running while brushing my teeth. And I’m starting to feel a nostalgia for plastic bags.
Illustration by Ryan Heshka
Nostalgia for the Subway
I grew up taking the subway, and though I griped about it at the time, it was the best way to get around NYC. Now often stuck in slow-moving traffic, I really miss efficient public transportation. Last Friday night, I went to a book reading about a mile and half from home, and decided to walk, rather than fight the weekend gridlock on Sunset Blvd. Is public transportation available where you live and do you use it?
Image of the NY Train Project from kateoplis
Don’t Believe Everything You Read
For the most part, I’m avoiding articles about Monica Lewinsky, but I did read a column that infuriated me. I’m quoting (slightly out of context) from the Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus, who I used to enjoy, but now find really out of touch. In describing Lewinsky’s post-Clinton life, she insinuates what a failure it has been, calling it “irreparably damaged.” And one way we know that is because, “now 40, she has never married.” Grrrrrr…..
I love this tee shirt, photographed in Brooklyn by Reuben Radding
Word for the Dustbin
Over the weekend, I went to see Finding Vivian Maier, a new documentary about an unknown street photographer whose brilliant work was first discovered when the filmmaker bought her negatives at an auction. In trying to uncover Maier’s mysterious life, there’s an interview with a genealogist who looked into her family history, and he describes Maier as a spinster. It has been awhile since I’ve heard that word, and I find its use lazy, reductive and unsatisfying. It still rattles me.
Digital papercut illustration by Eiko Ojala
Archive for May, 2014
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FIRST PERSON SINGULAR is a guide to surviving, thriving and sometimes just getting through a single day. Created by Wendy Braitman (more…)
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