March on Media: Part II in an Ongoing Series on the Place of Technology in Our Lives
Once upon a time, when a mariachi band or barbershop quartet or stray female vocalist stepped into the subway car, we passengers had strong, palpable reactions to the sounds that were about to come streaming into our midst, the positive as well as the negative variety included. No longer. Nowadays, nearly everybody is wearing headphones as they ride the rails. The equanimity commuters seem to display in the face of such performers is just them failing to notice the music spilling out into the tight spaces we’re all traveling through. New Yorkers already have the soundtracks set to their days; they’ve got their own private playlists on a perpetual loop. Isn’t that the way to keep pace with progress? Continue reading
Posted in American Culture, New Media, Spiritual Life
Tagged Call and response, Headphones, Hymns, Ipods, Noise pollution
March on Media:
Part I in an Ongoing Series on the Place of Technology in Our Lives
A few months ago, at a family get-together that took some pains to arrange, I looked around our assembled group and saw just about every single relation staring at the small, glowing screen of a smartphone. They hardly noticed one another, let alone my staring; their attention was held captive by a series of three-inch squares in shifting shades. That family picture has stayed with me since then, although I never snapped it with a digital camera. No electronic copy of it sits anywhere on my laptop or Ipad or Blackberry or e-mail inbox. I simply see it in my mind’s eye and it still saddens me. Continue reading
In my prior incarnation, I was an English teacher, serving as adjunct faculty in the English Department at a local university, where my colleagues were literary and imaginative and favored felines. As an esteemed professor, the former chair of the department, so succinctly stated: “We are cat people.” Shortly before starting in the English department, I had adopted a very young kitten, just weeks old, entirely gray except for a spray of white at his throat and chest. My colleague from the department observed that the tiny cat appeared at all times to be wearing his “bib and tucker,” an observation that instantly earned Tucker his name. Continue reading
Posted in Interfaith Encounter, Spiritual Life
Tagged Cats, Poets, Prior incarnation, The Prophet Mohammed
Although I come from a long line of beachy people, I am not a beachy person myself. I burn too easily to worship the sun. Instead, I wear broad-brimmed hats and scurry to the shady spots along the shore. Because I grew up bouncing in the waves, though, I am a watery sort, especially where the water is warm. Every year or so, my husband and I try to head to points southerly where the seas are clear and the fish are friendly, and we join them there. We are not deep-sea divers; we are humble snorkelers. Continue reading
Posted in Pilgrimage Places, Spiritual Life
Tagged Baptism, British West Indies, Hallelujah, Sergeant Major fish, Snorkeling
Each of us needs wise counselors in our lives, and I was blessed to meet one of my wisest as a teenager. My best friend from high school and I had an awful lot in common. For instance: we both spent an inordinate amount of time in Saturday-morning detention. That time can rack up rather rapidly if you attend a girls’ academy with a zealous Dean of Discipline. Still, I wouldn’t trade our hours of cleaning the hallway baseboards with toothbrushes for anything. Our friendship was forged beside those baseboards — so thanks for the memories, Dean! Continue reading
In my youth, my friends held far stronger opinions than they do today. One of the most fervent and unusual debates between two of my friends centered on the otherwise benign topic of holiday cards. Who even remembers how it got started? Continue reading
 | nikka.rain on Praying for Good Weather |
 | Millie Ehrlich on The Man in the Gray Cat S… |
 | Julia on Somebody Else’s Holy… |
 | lgk on The Facts of Fast Friends… |
 | The Reverend Dr. on The Facts of Fast Friends… |
 | Pushie on The Facts of Fast Friends… |
 | Ruth Weiss on A Sinner in Macy’s |
 | Lawrence Unger on A Sinner in Macy’s |
 | disciplegideon on A Sinner in Macy’s |
| nikka.rain on Miss Newport 1938 |
 | Lucinda Antrim on Miss Newport 1938 |
 | Fran Granger on Miss Newport 1938 |
