the paradox of our age

We have bigger houses but smaller families;
more conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgement;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicines, but less healthiness;
We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We built more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever,
but we have less communication;
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.
These are times of fast foods
but slow digestion;
Tall man but short character;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It's a time when there is much in the window, but nothing in the room.

- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

you make a good argument...

Happy Friday, y'all. Enjoy the ones you love.

a fascinating read

Fantastic story in The Times discussing gender-nonconforming children, or those who struggle with accepting the title "boy" or "girl." Really digs into some of the meat of the topic, including cultural expectations for "boys" and "girls" and the power struggle between genders. I've been reading a lot of feminist literature lately, but not much about male identity issues, so it's awesome to see something that addresses both sides. Definitely check it out.

An excerpt:
"These days, flouting gender conventions extends even to baby naming: first names that were once unambiguously masculine are now given to girls. The shift, however, almost never goes the other way. That’s because girls gain status by moving into “boy” space, while boys are tainted by the slightest whiff of femininity. 'There’s a lot more privilege to being a man in our society,' says Diane Ehrensaft, a psychologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who supports allowing children to be what she calls gender creative. 'When a boy wants to act like a girl, it subconsciously shakes our foundation, because why would someone want to be the lesser gender?'"

If girls can be named Dillon and Jamie and Toni, why can't boys be named Amy or Sarah or Susan?

floating through my ipod

new york

Visited New York with my boyfriend this weekend.... the city that will always, for me, be one of opposing forces… the happiness of making new memories with my current
boyfriend – walking across the Williamsburg bridge at 1 am, finding bliss in
the spectacular cityscape in Dumbo, getting lost in the miles and
miles of books at the Strand... And then, butting in, on occasion, when I step
back, in the bathroom, during the pause, the awareness that comes from sharing with him
the old memories, ones that I carved with the other boy, the one I followed here as a bright-eyed college grad almost five years ago – the cheeseburger and the creme
brulee French toast at our favorite cafe,
the weekend farmers’ market at Union Square, the hum of the young energy of Second Avenue,
the eclectic buzz of the Lower East Side (where he lives now) – and the slight
worry that maybe, maybe, he’ll turn up where we are, an intruder on our fresh
memories, or my old memories reborn.

The girl I was, who worked at 46th between 11th and 12th, all the way on the water, who trained, bussed and walked to work and ate $7 lunch specials and was too hard on herself,
the girl I am, whose scenery is very different, who with the slowness and green and air can feel her soul opening up
to being more forgiving.

The love of the bustle and opportunity and people and plenty, the
fascination at the color and convenience,
and then
The yearning for the sacredness of the pause, the inner reflection. How can you
value something if you never want for anything? New York, the Google of
cities,
everything tangible is at your fingertips, everything
spiritual?
Always a distraction ready
for when you don’t want to look inside.

this message brought to you by yummy chocolate

dupont circle

energetic trombonists at night

well-paced guitarist at day
(accompanied by cutest fan club ever)