“Kitschy as he is, he is one of my most cherished objects, a constant, visible reminder of things I learned from and loved about my dad: whimsy, patience, discernment, a willingness to try something new. He taught me to trust silence and my own instincts.”
–Off the Wall: Reflections on the Old Year
“High-waisted trousers in all manner of substantial, tweedy fabrics.”
–Don’t Dress Like a Man Who Is Dating His Mobile Device: Addressing Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ and His High-Waisted Vision for Men’s Pants
“People related to the desire to do something creative, and to the myriad ways in which the world will try to stop you before you even begin.”
–‘Girls’ Is More Implausible Than Ever in Season 3 — So Why Are We Still Pretending It’s Realistic?
“Some of America’s most productive cities for medium- and low-income families—Boston, Honolulu, San Jose, New York—are also the most expensive. This is often due to (or at least, exacerbated by) exclusionary zoning and housing regulations that limit the number of available units, which drives up the price of housing, ensuring that low-income families can’t afford to live there. The sad irony is that density is a good predictor of upward mobility, but sunbelt cities with affordable housing often sprawl deep into the exurbs, where families aren’t anywhere near the best jobs. The very thing that makes those cities attractive places to get to also makes them bad places to get ahead.”
–Why Americans Stopped Moving to the Richest States
“The sinking is fastest in the Chesapeake Bay region. Whole island communities that contained hundreds of residents in the 19th century have already disappeared. Holland Island, where the population peaked at nearly 400 people around 1910, had stores, a school, a baseball team and scores of homes. But as the water rose and the island eroded, the community had to be abandoned.”
–The Flood Next Time
