I won’t be posting anything for the next couple of days. I’m busy packing up all my stuff and moving out of my apartment. I leave for South Carolina tomorrow morning, where I’ll be with my family until Christmas day. And then I leave for Ecuador on December 26th. (Related item: my friend Peter sent me this excellent article about Ecuadorian new year’s celebrations.)
I finshed Harry Potter #1 and have moved on to #2. It’s ridiculous, but a few friends have rolled their eyes at my newfound love of J. K. Rowling’s wonderful books–and they are wonderful. To my friends and family who expect more from me, I say this: yes, I am, indeed, still a literary aesthete. But give the books a chance. They’re exciting and consuming and interesting.
David Brooks discusses hanging out, hooking up, politics, and success: the lives of elite college students. (An updated version of last year’s “The Organization Kid.”)
Has the South taken over America? Michael Graham thinks so.
The New York Times Magazine‘s second annual Year in Ideas issue is excellent.
John Podhoretz says Weblogs kept the Trent Lott story alive: “If Lott is forced to resign as Senate majority leader, which is devoutly to be wished, credit must go to the blogosphere.” (Via Nick Denton.)
Here’s a funny site devoted to facial hair styles. Scroll down for illustrations.
I’m not afraid to admit it: I’m almost finished with the first “Harry Potter,” and I love it. Great book. Harry’s a compelling character; he and his friends get into cool adventures; and most important, it’s just a good story. So since my mind’s been drifting toward the Potter-inspired magical realm of late, I was interested to see the following. Web usability expert Jacob Nielsen says technological advances will one day make our world more like Harry’s. Or as Nielsen says, “In the Future, We’ll All Be Harry Potter.”
Sometimes-boyfriends. As if the phenomenon’s unique to New York.
Wow. Trent Lott said almost the same exact thing about Strom Thurmond in 1980. (Also, I didn’t know that as an undergrad, Lott was a male cheerleader at Ole Miss.)