What Your Style Of Eggs Says About You
Throughout the 2012 London Olympic Games, Kwame Dawes is writing verses for the Wall Street Journal that reflect on the previous day’s events. It’s an interesting way to interact with the Games.
The Gymnast
For Gabby, Kyla, Jordyn, McKayla, Aly
Years from now,
having lost the shape
of a hard-tutored body,
you will explain to those
who ask why your feet
bear the scars of the wounded,
you will say, “See these feet
are dancer’s feet—they are
the brutality of grace,
the ugliness of flight;
they remind us of the earth,
how it holds us to itself,
punishing us for leaping
like we do.” And at
every twinge in the knee
at each stair taken,
you will remember
the clamor of cheers
filling the arena,
with you at the center,
nimble, feet planted,
muscles pulsing
waiting for you to leap
again, and fly, fly, fly.
Preen Resort 2013. A weekly meeting at work today inevitably turned into talk about sample sales and Resort 2013, which 2/3 of us preferred as a whole. One knock-out brought up was Preen. What struck me most about these pieces is how wearable they were. Plus, the gorgeous prints and color blocking — and peplum (easily one of the most flattering cuts and a food baby’s best friend).
Regina Spektor - Summer In the City
It was the hottest day of the summer and their bodies stuck to each other, the sheets. Her air conditioner had stopped working, but the fan was on, loud, rattling at the foot of the bed. Earlier they’d nearly knocked it over. Earlier she had curled her toes against the wall and arched her hips for him, needy, begging. He had gripped and pulled and wrestled and fucked her, his fingertips temporary tattoos sinking into her skin. I’ll break everything, he said. She laughed and kissed him. But it was true, he would, one of these days. Their bodies were glistening and tired, and free, for now. But even then, he knew, probably, that he would leave New York. And she would sit, small and aching with the symphony of wants roaring inside of her, while the air conditioner would be fixed, and her room would become cool, calm, and so small.
love her
time
There have been a shocking number of deaths recently, of people too young and too talented to die so soon. From Duke to Yale to Harvard, have tumbled a stream of heartbreaking news about students on the cusp of their futures, only to suddenly evaporate.
The thing is, death resides far far away in the minds of those who are young, and alive. Relegated to the world of the old and the sick, it is a nasty prick to our ignorance when death strikes those who only too closely resemble ourselves. Those who are young, and ambitious, and full of plans for the future. People who seem altogether too full of life to die so easily. We are not so invincible or resilient as we would like to believe. Tragedies like these cause a few moments pause and consideration of just what we are doing with our own precious lives. Those of us who have spent our entire lives to date planning for the future. In middle school for high school, in high school for college, in college for medical school, and so on. How harrowing to think, the fates of those plans already made, stuck, waiting forever to be realized.
It was Sartre who said, “One always dies too soon– or too late. And yet one’s whole life is complete at that moment, with a line drawn neatly under it, ready for the summing up. You are– your life, and nothing else.”
It begs the question, what would constitute the summation of your life if you ceased to exist tomorrow? Would it be all the philosophy books I digested and argued around in circles on typed pieces of 8.5x11 white paper fed through Duke’s eprint within the depths of Perkins and Bostock, or the countless black and white cookies I consumed in the process? The nights I walked back from the library at 2am, basking in the warm safe glow of the light shining down from the clocktower, the main quad so perfectly still, my only problems in the world isolated to the contents of my backpack.Would it be the countless iterations of resumes and cover letters that concisely assert, I am worthwhile! The powerpoint slides I have formatted and reformatted. The trips I have taken to India, and Greece, and Mexico, the friends I have made and lost. The love and appreciation that has matured overtime for my amazing parents and precocious baby sister. The feelings I have felt and the thoughts and opinions I have espoused.
Or is it this moment, on the eve of summer in Boston, after everything has already changed. I find myself an “adult,” but still so very very young. Perhaps, just wise enough to know though nothing in life is guaranteed, it is what we often consider mundane that is truly meaningful upon reflection. Life is all of those things.
In spite of all our best efforts, we may all evaporate without warning. There is nothing we can plan or do, but to be kind, be humble, work hard, and to not take anything, or anyone for granted.
yellow on yellow
City.
First time in a while visiting the city for fun and not business. Some highlights:
From left to right:
1. Dinner @ Ma Peche with some fellow Dukies. Awesome ordering of 2-person dishes on the part of M. and myself. My personal favorite was the heaping order of Kale. Topped the night off with a visit to the milk bar (such a great idea).
2. Some (very rich) New Yorker proposed by printing “will u marry me” across the sky! I was standing on the steps of the Met when all of a sudden everyone started pointing up, at which point I snapped this photo. I wonder if others jumped on the opportunity to take credit for the sky-signage.
3. Afternoon strolling the highline = perfection
4. My favorite room in the met w/ the Temple of Dendur
5. Sunday morning reading in Bryant park
6. Discovered uniqulo! AAMAZING. M. calls it the IKEA of clothing, I think that is about right. Purchased the above outfit. Light/airy and perfect for summer but still work appropriate!
lessons from work
Keep all information meticulously in excel. Never know when a 1 page profile will turn into a massive hundred-thousand entry database.
Google is usually more effective than all the databases we spend I don’t even want to know how much money subscribing to
Its never supposed to be easy. But it also never supposed to take forever**
**forever, in this context, actually means 1 working day, maybe two.
Beer on a Friday afternoon >>> Coffee on a Friday morning.
Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem →
An op-ed by Thomas E. Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Norman J. Ornstein, a resident scholar at conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute.
"jump in, the water's fine"
A senior female partner on joining the private equity group.
It turns out that most of my big decisions are made this way - based on what other people say, based on a hunch, on what is the most coveted, the most lucrative, the most “interesting.”
Because there’s never any way to be sure, we adapt and learn how to be happy anyway. It’s the only thing to do.
On markets and competition →
For all my friends who dream of the start-up world.
why women pay more →
“California, which in 1996 became the first state to ban gender pricing, found that women paid about $1,351 annually in extra costs and fees. Apply that figure to the rest of the women in the country and the total burden is staggering - roughly $151 billion in markups, more than what the federal government spent on education last year and greater than the budgets of 43 states.”
- Marie Claire, April 2012
Warmer weather means I’m craving all avocado everything. Will definitely be trying this, especially since it looks really similar to the 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta that was delicious.