Lucy in the navigator seat
Finished up my grades yesterday and set off for Ithaca to visit my nephew, BJ. He’s working at the Ithaca ScienCenter, and his supervisors have given him heaps of responsibility as the Museum Services Coordinator (suckers!). But seriously–BJ seems quite content with his job, and sees his important work as valuable for a business law degree in the future (forget NYU and Columbia, come to Boston College!).
Crossing an old railroad bridge outside Albany
Lucy has been dealing with the road well, only getting excited when we slow down at a rest stop or an intersection (New York rest areas blow Massachusetts’ away).
I listened to the the first half of A.M. Homes’ The Mistress’ Daughter, a beautifully written and at times, disturbing (Homes’ signature style), memoir of her maddening, mysterious relationship with her biological parents (she was adopted at birth). At one point she muses on the sexual tension between fathers and daughters–particularly with her gruff, ex-quarterback of a biological father–and their rendezvous in hotel bars. Also began the first couple chapters of Anderson Cooper’s Dispatches from the Edge–not nearly as literary, but moving for Cooper’s reflections on the suicide of his brother and the wandering path to his career as a journalist.
Today to Ann Arbor to visit my friend P.F. and his new wife, Honor. Hoo-rah!
Filed under: art, politics, pop culture | Tags: anderson cooper, election, hologram, obama, president, victory, will.i.am
I’m over-the-top with glee at the election of our next President, Barack Obama. My students were abuzz today, the sun was shining on Chestnut Hill, and even all the parking tickets that I owe the City of Boston seemed to recede from my mind (well, not completely, but I’m trying to sustain the feeling of hope).
I must admit that I got a bit teary-eyed at Obama’s acceptance speech last night in Bryant Park. The scope of his remarks, his nod to history and the relevance of the American Dream, all resonated.
One thing, however, disturbed me last night. Have you seen this footage–via hologram–of Will.i.am being interviewed by the ever-intelligent and dashing Anderson Cooper? It’s Rock Star meets Star Wars. Kinda cool and kinda disturbing at the same time.
