The Tenacity of Marriage
Despite the brutal racial segregation of apartheid in South Africa, noted photographer David Goldblatt captured this triumphant moment at a wedding party in Soweto in 1970. An exhibition of Goldblatt’s beautiful and heart-wrenching work is at the Jewish Museum in New York until September 19th.
Are School Uniforms a Good Idea?
My friend, a former dentist, loved going to work wearing his scrubs. Getting dressed in the morning was a breeze. No decisions about color or silhouette. No insecurities about making a fashion faux pas. His closet was a sea of blue. I can’t imagine. I’d get so bored. But the other day, this friend’s niece was at the house, all giddy about the uniform she’s required to wear when she starts high school in the fall. (Maybe it’s genetic.) Tell me, is there an upside to dressing like your peers?
Artwork: Us and You, 2007, by Sidney Pink (pencil and watercolor on paper)
How To Update Your Wardrobe
What woman wears only one outfit for 60-plus years?*
When I need a fashion freshen and money is tight, I buy a lipstick. If I can spare a little cash, a couple of new t-shirts can make a difference. But if I’m feeling flush, the best single item to update last year’s clothes, is an awesome pair of boots. Wonder Woman, who appeared in this mod look, in 1968, doesn’t have to choose. She’s getting a complete re-d0. Check out her before and after –
Some Things You Can’t Do Alone
There were times after a relationship sputtered out, that I’d consult self-help books to learn what I could do better next time. I’d comb through the pages for exercises to practice, like musical scales, or the pliés and tendues I do in ballet class, only to realize that I couldn’t brush up on my coupling skills alone. I needed a partner for that.
Photograph: The Wedding, 1994, by Sandy Skoglund
When Short Term Gain is Enough. As Least for Now.
I yanked the ice from the freezer, knowing full well that it wasn’t going to work. I know, because I pay attention to OLD WIVES TALES that have been debunked as medical MYTHS, like antibiotics cure colds, and sugar makes kids hyper. And I remember reading in the Science section of the Times that ice doesn’t speed up healing from a burn, in fact, slows it down, but I grabbed a cube, because I was sure it would feel soothing on my hot flesh, and just maybe, the paper got it wrong. (Benefits of the aloe plant on burns are inconclusive.) It reminds me of all those one night stands, and the gut feeling right beforehand that I’d wake up feeling lousy, but forged ahead anyway.
Illustration: Little Aloe girl, 2010, by Sarah Goodreau
Does Dating Need a Purpose?
Today I read about a barbershop in the East Village that serves drinks as they shear. What an odd bit of multi-tasking. The reporter covering the story complained about wisps of hair and shaving cream falling into his martini, and how each time he wanted a sip, he had to ask the barber to STOP. I ask you, isn’t cocktail hour good enough to stand on its own? Along the same lines, I’ve learned about Dating for a Cause, which allows you to speed date at the same time that you’re repairing the world. If that sounds appealing, and you’re near Chinatown in NYC tomorrow afternoon, stop by for a 5 minute stroll around Columbus park with someone new (for a $10 donation to the American Cancer Society), and then both of you can decide afterwards if there’s enough interest for a second round. On the other hand, you might just want to curl up with a good book.
Image: Woman Reading, 1970, Will Barnet
Foolproof Way to Cook Fish (Thanks, Julia!)
I’m not good at cooking fish, so I never attempt it for dinner parties. It’s hard to get the timing right. One extra minute and your main course is overdone. When non-meat eaters came to the house recently, I decided to give it a try, but only because Julia Child was in the house. This salmon recipe (from Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home) is perfect if you’re dining alone, or easy enough when you’re entertaining a crowd.
Image: Woman Who Loves Fish, 2003, Maggie Taylor
Early Typecasting
One of the early model typewriters, which received its patent on this day in 1868, had flowers printed on its casing so that the weaker sex would feel more comfortable using it. And use it, we did. While being a secretary was originally a job for men, the invention of the typewriter brought unprecedented numbers of women into the workforce and by 1910, according to the Census Bureau, 81% of the professional typists (or type writers) were female. After all, we worked for cheap. Here’s the earliest record of an ad for women typists, placed in a New York paper, on December 15, 1875 by Remington:
Is Obsession With the Latest, Just an Excuse to Shop?
Last Tuesday, I was one of 600,000 acolytes ordering the new iPhone. It took hours, and several attempts of filling in the form, before the site was ready to accept payment. I was a click away from techno-climax, when I decided to take a breath and ask myself the unthinkable: Do I really NEED this phone? I hovered on the “purchase now” button, for a long, couple of minutes, as my heart raced, sweat beading up. This frenzy, so brilliantly engineered by Apple, put me in good company, but it made me feel uneasy. And the point was hammered home in the Times a few days later, when it devoted one of its few editorials to the Half-Life of Phones, asking us to soul search as to the environmental impact of our obsession with novelty. Last Tuesday, I found the discipline to wait. And mostly, I’m glad I did. But if you’re looking for me this weekend, I could be off the wagon, waiting in line with the masses at the Apple store.
Image: VHS, 2010, by Hollis Brown Thornton (permanent marker on paper).
5 Reasons to See “I Am Love”
I did not love, I Am Love, a lush new film, directed by Luca Guadagnino, which peeks into the lives of the very rich. But it was still a pleasurable way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Here’s why:
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