"Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl"

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Really enjoyed Carrie Brownstein’s impressive, observant, terrifically titled memoir. 

Silverblatt & Knausgaard

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Having just finished book three of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle (I enjoyed the first two more, though this volume’s still captivating), I was eager to listen to both part one and part two of the author’s interviews on Michael Silverblatt’s “Bookworm.”

It’s great listening. These insights from Silverblatt — which followed his comment that Knausgaard clearly knows his “great literature” — rang especially true for me: 

What’s daring about My Struggle is that you’re willing to put the difficulty of the literature of the century — Joyce on — aside, to recapture the human. To make it human again, or to restore it to humanness. And in doing so, you risk being wildly misunderstood…. 

These works of great literature, in some way, speak to readers. And they speak from a world of genius. And I feel that in order to restore the possibility of originality, and even grandeur, you had to enter the zone of shame and the zone of ordinary life, which is banality. And you had to ask, Can great literature be made of such things? Am I willing to try to write six volumes of daily life, when all of us are feeling that our daily lives are disappointing and dissatisfying? Can the novel of Knausgaard restore our feelings of the importance of daily life? 

I can’t think, personally, of anything more important. I’m very grateful when I read these books, because I feel like you’ve restored my interest in human beings. In going to the grocery. In feeding a child and making sure things are taken care of from one day to the next.

Year in Review: 2015

Friday, January 1, 2016

Continuing a 15-year tradition (though one that’s gotten briefer with age and fatherhood), here’s a roundup of some of my favorite things experienced during the past 12 months: 

Books

  1. My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante

  2. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, Elena Ferrante

  3. The Story of a New Name, Elena Ferrante

  4. The Story of the Lost Child, Elena Ferrante

  5. Lila, Marilyn Robinson

  6. My Struggle: Book 2, Karl Ove Knausgård

  7. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

  8. H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald

  9. The Balloonists, Eula Biss

  10. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande

  11. Becoming Steve Jobs, Brent Schlender

  12. Stress Tests, Timothy F. Geithner

  13. Van Gogh: A Power Seething, Julian Bell

  14. Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo, Nicholas Carlson

  15. Bark, Lorrie Moore

  16. Girl In a Band, Kim Gordon

So-so:  Grace: A Memoir; I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel

Movies

  1. Ida

  2. Ex Machina

  3. While We’re Young

  4. Birdman

  5. Boyhood

  6. Mr. Turner

  7. Carol

  8. Interstellar

  9. Magic in the Moonlight

So-so: Spectre; Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

TV

  1. Borgen: Season 3

  2. Mad Men: Final Season

  3. An Honorable Woman

  4. Black Mirror: Season 1

  5. Master of None: Season 1

  6. Veep: All Seasons

  7. The Good Wife: Seasons 1-6

  8. Sherlock

Podcasts

  1. Design Matters with Debbie Millman

  2. Slate Culture Gabfest

  3. The Longform Podcast

  4. The Monocle Weekly

  5. Serial

  6. The Entrepreneurs (Monocle)

  7. The Political Scene

  8. Section D (Monocle)

  9. The Foreign Desk (Monocle)

  10. Mom and Dad Are Fighting

  11. The Talk Show

  12. Connected

  13. ATP

  14. The New Yorker Radio Hour

Music
I used to make long lists of specific albums purchased and enjoyed, but since I’ve gone to paid streaming (and, maybe, since I’ve become a committed podcast listener), it’s harder for me to point to specific recordings at a year’s end. This is especially the case since Rdio shut down, and I’m now starting fresh with Spotify — my digital records are kind of a mess. While I listen to hours of classical and ambient/lush music through the headphones during work, a few specific artists I spent more time with in 2015 include Angel Olsen, Youth Lagoon, Sun Kil Moon, Sharon Van Etten, My Bubba, Jennifer O’Connor, Girlpool, Atlas Sound, Earl Sweatshirt, J Cole, Common, Pusha T, A$AP Rocky, Villagers, Natalie Prass, and Perfume Genius.

NYC + D.C.
I had the good fortune of accompanying my wife on a work trip she had to NYC, and it was incredibly culture-rich. Highlights included the new Whitney, MoMA (Yoko Ono and Bjork special exhibitions), The Drawing Center, David Zwirner Gallery (Serra show), Neue Galerie (sensational collection), the Cooper Hewitt, and “Drifting in Daylight” in Central Park (where I shot this short phone video). We also enjoyed a long weekend in D.C. with family, with pleasant dips into the National Gallery (terrific Caillebotte show) and The Phillips Collection (first time, great time).

Work
I’m fortunate to have a great job at Forest Park Forever, and 2015 saw a few especially fun projects ship. This includes the introduction of our new brand platform, our launch of Forestparkmap.org and the formal introduction of Forever: The Campaign for Forest Park’s Future, with a new website that features a beautiful campaign video we made with the team at Once Films.

Family
As referenced appropriately at top, so much of this year — and so much of every day — has been about Tamara and I raising our son. I’d been told that right around 2 is a fun age, and it’s true. This year had a ton of special moments, including — just to pick one, which we happened to catch on film — Leo’s changing expression during his first ride on a carousel at the Saint Louis Zoo. 

My Bubba

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzzVdi3HOfU?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]

My Bubba — great discovery for me via NPR Tiny Desk Concerts.

David Remnick on "CBS Sunday Morning"

Friday, December 4, 2015

He continues to be near the top of my list of working professionals I admire. 

Adam Gopnik: "Practicing Doubt, Redrawing Faith"

Friday, December 4, 2015

Terrific “On Being” conversation. 

"Status Update" — This American Life

Thursday, December 3, 2015

The first segment on high school freshman and Instagram (“’Relevance’ is a big term right now…. In middle school, we were definitely really relevant… ”) is a pretty incredible window.

Ta-Nehisi Coates on Longform

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Two of my favorites.

Ida

Saturday, November 28, 2015

A film with gorgeous black and white shots from start to finish.

"I Was a Refugee"

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Veneta Rizvic, writing in the St. Louis Business Journal.

"Unfollow" — Conversion Via Twitter

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Incredible story.

A Eulogy for Rdio

Sunday, November 22, 2015

I’ve been a happy subscriber and many-hours-a-day listener for years. Bummed they couldn’t make it work.

Kjartansson in Central Park

Friday, May 15, 2015

Watching Ragnar Kjartansson’s “S.S. Hangover,” part of “Drifting in Daylight: Art in Central Park” from Creative Time.

Year in Review: 2014

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Back before Tamara and I had our son in the summer of 2013, I used to keep regular lists of my “Annual Favorites” of the year — the best books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, exhibitions and so on that I’d consumed that year.

To say my rate of cultural digestion changed with fatherhood would be an understatement; that said, I still have an interest in logging the great stuff (if only for myself). So while I skipped 2013 entirely, here’s a go at some highlights from 2014: 

TheGassInterviews.org
In May, I published a project I’d been working on for some time: The Ear’s Mouth Must Move: Essential Interviews with William H. Gass. I chose to publish this on Medium at no cost to the reader, and included a range of footnotes, photos and videos. Thanks to all the contributors who made this possible. 

Books

  1. On Immunity: An Inoculation, Eula Biss

  2. My Struggle, Book One: Karl Ove Knausgård

  3. Little Failure, Gary Shteyngart

  4. Notes from No Man’s Land: American Essays, Eula Biss

  5. What We See When We Read, Peter Mendelsund

  6. Inferno (The Divine Comedy, #1), Dante Alighieri (Mary Jo Bang, Translator)

  7. Becoming Freud: The Making of a Psychoanalyst, Adam Phillips

Movies

  1. Like Someone In Love

  2. Inside Llewyn Davis

  3. Her

  4. The Grand Budapest Hotel

  5. La Notte

  6. Jane Eyre (2011)

  7. A Most Wanted Man

  8. Gone Girl

  9. Take This Waltz

  10. Enough Said

  11. The One I Love

  12. Your Sister’s Sister

Podcasts

  1. Design Matters

  2. Slate Culture Gabfest

  3. Serial

  4. The Monocle Weekly

  5. Longform

  6. In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg

  7. The Entrepreneurs (Monocle)

  8. The Stack (Monocle)

  9. The Political Scene (The New Yorker)

  10. New Yorker: Out Loud

Articles & Essays
If you follow me on Twitter, you have likely already seen links to the best articles and essays I read in 2014. I use it mainly as a way to praise and recommend. 

Music
I listen to Rdio every day of the week — on my Mac, iPad and iPhone. A great deal of what I stream is classical, since I listen while I work. And on that front I do a poor job of logging what I like, as I hop quickly from label to composer, from soloist to trio. So for this post I’ll skip classical (and hip-hop, where I also jump around) and point simply to a handful of indie albums I enjoyed this year: 

Life

Launched: TheGassInterviews.org

Saturday, June 7, 2014

readinggass:

Readers: I’m very pleased to announce the launch of TheGassInterviews.org.

Free to all and readable on any device, the microsite collects a dozen essential interviews that Gass gave between the late 1970s and 2011. It’s titled “The Ear’s Mouth Must Move,” a phrase of Gass’ own. The pieces feature text, related historical photography, video, and a handful of marginal notes and links that might be of interest to readers. 

Hope you dig in.

Leo @ 1

Monday, May 19, 2014

"In Prison, Preparing for Home"

Monday, December 2, 2013

In my first post on Medium, I write briefly about attending a performance of Prison Performing Arts, whose Board I’m on.

"On Becoming a Father"

Friday, September 6, 2013

A lovely short essay by Alexis C. Madrigal. 

Life News: I'm Joining Forest Park Forever

Sunday, September 1, 2013

This is an exciting week for me: I’m joining the staff of Forest Park Forever as the organization’s Strategic Communications Director.

For those unfamiliar with St. Louis, Forest Park is my hometown’s larger-than-Central-Park gem that’s home to the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Saint Louis Zoo, the Missouri History Museum, and several other terrific organizations; there’s also tennis, golf, running paths, paddle boats, fishing, you name it. FPF is the private nonprofit, created in 1986, whose mission is to “restore, maintain and sustain Forest Park as one of America’s great urban public parks, for the enjoyment of all now and forever.” (If you’d like a glimpse at the remarkable work FPF has done over the past few decades, here are some before-and-after photos published in the RFT last month.)

The Park’s a special place for me — it’s where, as a kid, I played in junior tennis tournaments and sledded down Art Hill. And it’s where, as an adult, I met my wife … and even where I married her.

It’s been such a pleasure to work at TOKY these past few years — the firm is packed with kind, talented people creating smart, beautiful work. I’ll miss the team and the clients, and wish them all well.

Looking ahead, I’m incredibly excited about this new opportunity at Forest Park Forever. Everyone I’ve met so far has been impressive, upbeat, and passionate about doing great work for the good of this incomparable place. Can’t wait to get started on Tuesday. 

Leo Visits Mama at Her Pulitzer Office

Friday, August 30, 2013