My last week-and-a-half has been action-packed. Here’s what I’ve been up to:
–My last day of work in DC was Friday, the 13th (hopefully not an omen). I quit my job to move to Ecuador, where I plan to teach English. On Thursday, I’m beginning a month-long TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course at […]
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 […]
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. […]
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.
The 1980 JCPenney Fall-Winter catalog. Killer fashions. Funny how 1) these shoes are now back in fashion, and 2) the dopey-looking guy in the middle of this page looks a hell of a lot like Dubya. (Via Memepool.)
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 […]
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.)
Maybe Trent Lott misspoke, but man is he in trouble–and rightly so. Say what you will about Thurmond, but at least he appeared to have changed his racial views. Lott, however, sounds like a segregationist.
Leora Tanenbaum, post-feminist, uses Ani DiFranco’s lyrics to illustrate women’s intra-gender competitiveness: “Everyone harbors a secret hatred/for the prettiest girl in the room.” Related: “Girls Just Want to Be Mean.”
Dick Cheney lives in a mansion less than a mile from my apartment. And although I haven’t heard the deep rumbling emanating from his compound, other neighbors have. Some speculate that construction crews are undertaking a secret project.