Today’s science experiment was a trip to the local Wegman’s during the 7-8 AM shopping hour dedicated to people over 60. There was not much of a line outside, and not many people shopping, but the shelves badly needed re-stocking (and in fact were being re-stocked, with boxes of products waiting to be opened and shelved in many aisles), but the main takeaway was how much younger looking sixty-year olds have become.
To keep myself busy and relatively sane, I’ve been keeping a plague journal, and have decided that the day things got real for me regarding the virus was Friday March 13, 2020. All that week I’d been keeping up with things, with increasing trepidation, but that Friday during the PBS News Hour, the reality of it and the threat to the people I love sent a shiver down my spine.
After March 13, I began the coping process which of course still continues and will for the foreseeable future.
I’m curious about your marker - what was the actual date (if there was one) when shit got real for you?
If you walked into this exhibit at the Boston Museum Of Fine Arts and saw this incredible two-sided hanging mural, you’d think from the sign on the wall that it was by Jackson Pollock. It’s not. It’s by Katharina Grosse. There is a smaller Pollock mural on one of the other walls, but this is the featured item. I’m not calling it misogyny, but it is quite confusing.
There really is no good outcome to this. The president* has been acquitted, and will likely be re-elected in November. Even if - big if - Democrats win the Senate and keep the House in November and succeed in impeaching the president* a second time on obstructing and covering up [your choice of crime], and somehow convict and remove him from office, I fear that our grand experiment with democracy may soon be over. I fear there will be a civil war.
The public impeachment hearings begin tomorrow on all the major broadcast networks and cable news channels, and everyone should immediately lower their expectations. There will be important live testimony and political shenanigans, but those people whose votes will matter most likely won’t be watching live.
This is different from the Nixon impeachment hearings in the 1970s, when people did watch the hearings live, and their opinions were informed by the live testimony. This time around, opinions will be formed after persuadable citizens have retreated to their usual news silos, like CNN, MSNBC and FOX NEWS, as well as absorbing accounts and clips on Twitter and Facebook.
All context will be obliterated by curated sound bites and spin, and we will be back into the same space we have been existing in over the past three years.
The only thing that will ultimately matter is next year’s general election. Do whatever you can to convince swing voters in the battleground states to vote for your candidate so that this time, the electoral college mirrors the popular vote.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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!
Mueller Report, Volume II
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.
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.
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.
And in other news, there is a Psychic Boutique on Revere Beach Parkway, just outside Boston. A Psychic Boutique.
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.
On display at the Boston Museum Of Fine Arts for a little while longer. There are many correspondences to current events here.
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.
In the Courtyard at the Boston Museum Of Fine Arts, on a perfectly beautiful Sunday.
