Transcribed from Examined Life (Zeitgeist Films), the words of Avital Ronnell. If we’re not anxious, if we’re okay with things, we’re not trying to explore or figure anything out. So anxiety is the mood of ethicity. Now I’m not proscribing … Continue reading
If my father were alive, he would’ve turned 90 years old this week. He was the youngest of six children, born of Russian Jewish immigrants—the only one to be born in the United States. He grew up on the streets … Continue reading
From the marvelous Elizabeth Gilbert, in her book Committed: There is nothing wrong with a married person launching a friendship outside of matrimony—so long as the “walls and windows” of the relationship remain in the correct places. It was Glass’s … Continue reading
Many years ago, it was my dream to be editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. But I had to run against my best friend to get the position, and my background put me at a disadvantage. I was a creative writing … Continue reading
On my Facebook profile, I state my religious beliefs as “The story of your life becomes your life.” After my happiness post, I realized I didn’t comment on one of the key linchpins in happiness: storytelling. Daniel Kahneman, in his … Continue reading
My job as Writer’s Digest publisher often leads people to remark what a great life I have. So young, so accomplished, so happy! Well, you know the old cliche about people who appear to be living the perfect, enviable life? … Continue reading
From “Slow Fade” by Arthur Krystal, about F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood (The New Yorker, November 26, 2009) Fitzgerald’s scripts were hobbled by the same quality that lifted his fiction above the superficial: the complicated nature of his mind. Although … Continue reading
The curse of overactive minds I know—and so (or yet) I’m a devotee of sleep. It’s the only way to escape and regenerate. So on weekends when I’m home, I amble into Coffee Emporium well into the afternoon. During a … Continue reading