October 23rd, 2013 | Education, General, Politics, United States, visual arts, Women
I want to be snarky. I want to be elitist and scorn cultural credibility bought by Walmart money. I am not altogether succeeding. Fact is, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is pretty damned amazing. It has the best collection of American moderns that I have...
October 20th, 2013 | General, Women
The ride from Kansas City, Kansas, to Bentonville, Arkansas, was all gentle terrain underneath low cloud cover, soft cottony batting with tufts reaching down toward us, picked out by warm light. There is little to see, not even much autumn color in the trees that rim...
October 18th, 2013 | General, Memory, Travel, United States, visual arts
Once upon a time there was a town called Independence, Missouri. It was famous mainly—at least to us denizens of the right and left coasts of the country—as the hometown of Harry S. “Give’em hell, Harry” Truman, 33rd President of the United States, the Vice-President...
October 16th, 2013 | General, Travel, United States
Under the grey sky, in the grey light of early morning, Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch looked dully grey as I peered through the window of the plane as it descended toward the St. Louis airport. I am sure the view from the ground—now that there appears to be some kind...
August 11th, 2013 | Cooking, Kitchen and Table, General, Memory, Travel
I did it. I baked a bread that was almost like the bread Danute served with breakfast at the Nemunas Tour guesthouse in Kaunas, Lithuania: dense, sweet, nutty with seeds and whole grains, crunchy of crust. I have pined for good Lithuanian bread from the day we got...
May 28th, 2013 | Education, General, Memory, Popular Culture, Society at Large, Time Passes, visual arts
Since the class of 2002, Beloit College has published an annual “Mindset List,” a statement of cultural milestones and realities that current college freshman may or may not know or share. Needless to say, it is a list that makes my Baby-Boomer’s heart clank...
May 26th, 2013 | Gardens and Gardening, General, the world and Mother Nature
Such a beautiful Saturday in May, a brisk wind, temps in the sixties, irresistible gardening weather. What to do, what to do. Weeding. Pruning, General cleanup. We are coming up on the 8th anniversary of our moving in. In August of 2005 things looked pretty drab. The...
May 19th, 2013 | Cooking, Kitchen and Table, General, Popular Culture, Travel, Women
The only available time slot for the trip fell after exams, papers and final grades and before my Young English Friend’s presumed departure on Monday. The Cubbies were in town hosting the Mets and there were games on Friday and Saturday afternoon. The best flights on...
May 14th, 2013 | General, Memory, Popular Culture, visual arts
There was an interesting piece in The New York Times this morning. Under the headline “An Artwork Turns to Mush, All According to Plan,” William Grimes described sculptor James Grashow’s desire to be the “architect” of his own work’s demise. In December 2006,...
