On Generational Personalities

Competitive consumerism wasn’t invented by boomers or yuppies. However, it is deeply rooted in yuppie culture. I win if my house is bigger than yours, or if my cell phone is smaller than yours. Or if my laptop computer is thinner or my hiking boots are thicker.

On Conversation, part III

"“I saw, to my horror, an artfully worn, older-than-me copy of ‘Proust’ by Samuel Beckett...” “If there existed a more hackneyed, achingly obvious method of telegraphing one’s education, literary standards and general intelligence, I couldn’t imagine it.”"

--Augusten Burroughs

On Conversation, part II

Rare is the guy who’d throw a pretty girl out of bed for revealing her imperfect taste in books.

--Rachel Donadio

On Conversation

"No one's had a decent word to say for men's sexuality since circa 1972."

--Howard Jacobson

On Domestic Work and Paid Work

"The measurable erosion of the family-centered culture is hastened when the loudest voices share an agenda to glorify the social import and psychological satisfaction of work, which, coincidentally, justifies and confirms their own decisions. “To date, the prevailing norms for working mothers have been shaped by an influential core of the occupational elite who publicize the presumed universal social and psychological rewards of paid employment . . . while ignoring the social and psychological benefits of unpaid caring and household work"...

--Neil Gilbert

On Dependency and Denial

Why is it that the first thing people do when they decide they aren't alcoholics is go out and drink?

- Anonymous

On Patriotism

I love the freedoms we've got in this country. I appreciate your freedom to burn your flag if you want to, but I really appreciate my right to bear arms so I can shoot you if you try to burn mine.

- Johnny Cash

On Science & Religion

Science gives us Knowledge, and religion gives us Meaning. Both are prerequisites of a decent existence. The paradox is that these two great values seem often to be in conflict. I am frequently asked how I could reconcile them with each other. When such a question is posed by a scientist or a philosopher, I invariably wonder how educated people could be so blind as not to see that science does nothing else but explore God’s creation.

--Michael Heller

On Rank-Link Imbalance

So when they decide that they do in fact have an inner soul and it’s time to take it out for a romp ... . Well, let’s just say they’ve just bought a ticket on the self-immolation express. Some desperate lunge toward intimacy is sure to follow, some sad attempt at bonding. Welcome to the land of the wide stance.

- David Brooks

On Photography

Photography is interesting because it is both a craft and an art. The craft is the ability to take technically correct photos. Good lighting, framing, exposure, focus etc. The art is the ability to convey emotion. If I see a scene that elicits a certain emotional response in myself, the ability to convey that same emotion through a photo is art.

Art can be created with any old camera. Especially if one loves their subject.


--TheJesse

The Glovebox

But we all know that glove compartments are nothing but a practical joke involving crap that falls out when you open the door. And you can never find what you need with the front-load design no matter how long you paw around in there.

- Scott Adams

On the Value of Time

One realizes the full importance of time only when there is little of it left. Every man's greatest capital asset is his unexpired years of productive life.

- Paul Weeks Litchfield, Goodyear executive and ACF Trustee