Simplify

I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of time I spend on social media, especially on Facebook and Twitter. I maintain my author presence on my book’s Facebook page, visit a few friends’ pages, and occasionally catch up with breaking news on Twitter. But with the exception of a couple of Facebook Groups I belong to, none of it really sparks joy for me. And it creates a huge distraction from my writing and editing.

So I’ve been writing more, reading more, and just generally feeling better about how I use my time. The compulsion to document and share my experiences in the highly temporal world of social media is not enjoyable for me any more.  

What I’m Reading These Days

I’ve read The Mueller Report cover-to-cover. It’s the first analog book I’ve bought in nearly ten years. (I’ve bought and read hundreds during that time, on my Kindle and on Audible. I added the free Audible edition of The Mueller Report to my library, but this book really wants you to dog-ear its pages and make notes in the margins, and it rewards a tactile relationship. Kindle and Audible books suffice for me in most cases, but this one is different. You want to see it on your desk, as a thing, as an analog work product.)

I am astonished at how well-written The Mueller Report is, and how riveting. And how clearly it is an impeachment referral. The redactions really don’t seem to get in the way of the narrative.

If you do decide to read The Mueller Report, order it from Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge MA. They print every copy of this public domain book right in their store and benefit directly from its sale. I like to support independent bookstores whenever I can.

At the same time, I’ve been engrossed in Astroball on my Kindle as I continue my education on baseball analytics. I recommend this book as an adjunct to Moneyball for anyone interested in broadening their appreciation and understanding of baseball. Advanced analytics are what players are using to improve their performance, and what their agents are using to negotiate contracts for them.  

Astroball doesn't need to be analog purchase. I bought it for my Kindle. 

Fifty years Later: Four Dead In Ohio

The Ohio National Guard fires at Kent State students protesting the Vietnam War, killing four, on May 4, 1970.

Four weeks later, with things still very raw, Neil Young debuted “Ohio” in Boston with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash at the Orpheum. I was there.

Karma’s A Bitch

Hillary Clinton, to Rachel Maddow:

 “Imagine, Rachel, that you had one of the Democratic nominees for 2020 on your show, and that person said, you know, the only other adversary of ours who is anywhere near as good as the Russians is China. So why should Russia have all the fun? And since Russia is clearly backing Republicans, why don't we ask China to back us?”

“And not only that, China, if you're listening, why don't you get Trump's tax returns?” Clinton continued. “I'm sure our media would richly reward you."

Free From Audible: The Mueller Report

I’ve been reading the analog edition of The Mueller Report, published in-store by Harvard Bookstore, but now an Audible edition is available - and it’s free!

Money Shot

Mueller Report, Volume II 

Greenway

Last Summer, there was an installation of landmark Boston-area neon signs along a section of the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, which included the sign from The European - a restaurant in the North End that is long-gone, but memories of which will always be alive. It was a place to go for pizza with the kids before Bruins or Celtics games at the old Boston Garden, back in a time when those things were affordable to do for an average family.

If you haven’t visited the city since the completion of The Big Dig in the 1990s, when the Expressway was dismantled and removed, you will find it hard to believe (and positively thrilling) that such beauty has replaced such ugliness.

Art Therapy

After a particularly difficult week in America (and a disgraceful performance by the Boston Red Sox last night) it was time to visit the Boston Museum Of Fine Arts today, and experience beauty and tranquility.

The gallery of Modern American Art was especially helpful.

Girls In The Windows

Photographed by Ormond Gigli on East 58th Street in Manhattan in 1960, just prior to the building’s demolition in order to make room for a high rise.

Prime “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” era.

There Should Be A Pulitzer Prize For Newspaper Headlines

And in other news, there is a Psychic Boutique on Revere Beach Parkway, just outside Boston. A Psychic Boutique.

Boston Garden

I had a chance to tour the Boston Garden recently. It’s nice and all, but I found myself really missing the original Garden. Even the rats.

The Art Of Influence

On display at the Boston Museum Of Fine Arts for a little while longer. There are many correspondences to current events here.

Kids These Days

Boston kids born in the twenty-first century take it for granted that, in the words of Mick Jagger at a Rolling Stones concert at Fenway Park in 2004, “Boston is a championship city.”

Those of us who’ve been around a little longer don’t take these things for granted. So an occasional reminder just before the start of another NFL season seems appropriate.

Al Fresco

In the Courtyard at the Boston Museum Of Fine Arts, on a perfectly beautiful Sunday.

Back-To-School Time

Ch...Ch...Ch...Changes

1990 vs 2018

National Harbor

Look at who I met at National Harbor last weekend!

Not Normal

As with most things these days, this is no longer “standard”. 

Neighborhoods

Manhattan

French Pastels

I hadn’t expected to enjoy this exhibit at the Boston Museum Of Fine Arts as much as I did. It focuses on the use of pastels by French Impressionist painters like Mary Cassatt, one of my favorites. 

As some of you know, I love pencils, and although pastels are very different in composition from wood-and-graphite, they have a kind of creative synergy with pencils that intrigues me. And as with pencils, pastels have a very special relationship with fine papers. 

They make me wish I could draw. Maybe I should try.