Some — too few — days the news is so-o-o good. In today’s NYT, Disney Chairman Robert Iger said that one reason Bob Sherwood would be a good head of Disney is “his creativity and storytelling“! When was the last time any corporate or other organizational leader was so described? When did any recruiter or college program even mention creativity, imagination or even ideas?
Then, in the same day’s NYT were stories about Shigeru Ban, who designs wonderful — or maybe marvelous — “temporary” buildings made from paper tubes and won this year’s Pritzker award, at least in part for so doing. Humanity, art, engineering all in one — who’da thunk it (in the language of Greg Brown’s songs which exhibit some of the same characteristics). Ban’s “temporariness” may be just what we, people of perpetual change, need. They would certainly make our struggles with adaptation and resilience easier. I love the ever-amended libraries, houses, workplaces, and schools that try, but maybe more temporary structures would make routine the changes required of generational shifts, creakier-knees, environmental surprises (see TCE note in prior post), gas prices, latest research findings, and, of course, the ubiquitous technology. I love architect Ban’s curtain walls, paper tubes, metal shades, re-imagined containers, and the bamboo hat roof, too, even without the disasters he typically confronts before building. Today the newspaper, hot coffee, and the windowed outdoors were just about perfect, despite the below zero wind chill on March 25 at 7:00a.m.
Ten friends will know for / sure this picture was taken / ten different places.
If any of the six of you read my updated last post, you will already know that Scott, who has been part of RB from the beginning (1985), smoothly pointed out that I was dead wrong when I mentioned the good cinnamon rolls and oatmeal in Rockland at Good Home Cooking; the noteworthy breakfast+ destination is really named HOME KITCHEN CAFE. Please note that I got HOME right, and now I have saved you all from distressing phone calls or emails to Rockland Chamber of Commerce and/or always harrassed telephone information operators.
While Scott is in my news, I will remind him that he is to read Eva Murray’s Well Out to Sea to see if mention of his grandmother or her lemon bar recipe are included, as this would give RB yet another reason to always have this oft-mentioned book about life on Matinicus which, with Jim Sterba’s Frankie’s Place, appeals to cottage-renters who wish they were at least summer people or — dream of dreams — year-rounders.
Another note about an earlier note: remember the false Wikipedia fact about someone being the President of PEN who had never so been and who couldn’t get Wikipedia people to remove it? Howstarting a Wikipedia page of “zombie entries”, for those entries ” that should have been killed by evidence but refuse to die? (Thank you, Paul Krugman.)
Tenants Harbor in / spring waiting to be filled with / the likes of you all.
Book club mea culpa: A million years ago, fresh from demanding Jesuit-college courses and teaching teenagers who were demanding in a very different way, I joined a Great Books book club which in 1962 I thought might be a way to keep my liberal arts learning honed. This might have worked except for the jerk that came every time and dominated every “discussion” with harangues about Jesus. Save me from the ninnies, O Lord! So I went to Graduate Library School instead, learned about sources, flow, and choices and never looked back at book clubs which I hope is acceptable because I have ever since been in the midst of people who read and have lots of suggestions and Roseledge Books assures me that the good times will continue. Having said all of that James Atlas’s essay about book clubs makes me know what I am missing.
Enough dawdling. I read new-to-me author Karen Rose’s Watch Over Me which was mentioned in the NYTBR‘s “Short-list” some weeks ago. I am a sucker for a good romantic suspense page-turner, but this one had too much soul-searching dialogue for me and maybe too little suspense. The mix in David Baldacchi’s Hour Game was more to my liking. I neither read the Harry Potter books nor saw the movies. This has sharply curtailed my ability to solve smoothly the NYT crossword puzzle for almost any day of the week and makes me wonder if my definition of a classic book (long available, widely read, knowledgeable, well-written) should be amended to include puzzle-worthy, at least from Wednesday on.