teenybooks

culture

this american life

Ok. You won. I finally listened. And yes, I absolutely loved it.
I’m not sure how to describe This American Life, Ira Glass’ radio show that was around a full decade before I started seeing his defaced posters in subways. I had no idea what the premise was so for the record showtime, those ads weren’t [...]

wednesday night show

I’m excited to see Esperanza Spalding at Highline this week.

Also I have to admit, she’s my fro-spiration.

the diving bell and the butterfly

Today while waiting the two hours and forty minutes to pick up my defective iphone, I had the great pleasure to read my second favorite gift from cover to cover The Diving Bell and The Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. I’m sure by now everyone has heard of the excellent movie chronicling the former editor of [...]

Museum Mile

Yesterday evening I went to museum mile, thereby crossing another New York event off my ever growing list of things to be done. The festival covers the mile long stretch between 82nd and 105th on Fifth Avenue that includes free admission to the Met, Neue Gallerie, Goethe Institute, Guggenheim, Jewish Museum and a few others.
This [...]

Alice Smith

I saw Alice Smith perform last night at Highline Ballroom.
In June 2006 I came across Alice Smith on Big Stereo and sought out a couple of her song. March 2007 I met someone else who dug the song “Dream” as much as I did, and had a deja vu experience. “What song is this” I [...]

French Kisses and Bad Days Made Better

I went to see the film Un baiser s’il vous plaĆ®t or Shall We Kiss at the IFC Center as part of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. A film by Emmanuel Mouret, who spoke after the screening. Quite entertaining and if it finds American distribution, I’d recommend seeing it or renting it.
It tells [...]

Be Kind + Muppet Babies

I was trying to think of a cutesy way to say how much I liked Michel Gondry’s New film Be Kind Rewind, but I have to just start by saying I just plain enjoyed it. The movie was funny, it had heart, it made you feel sentimental without feeling overly cheesy. The feeling I got [...]

Are You Normal?

Last night I found myself engaged in a discussion about normalcy in regards homosexuality, but it ended up spreading into the larger idea of normalcy itself. Normal is by definition confining to social norms; living up to social expectations set by the society in which we lived. (A redundant statement but one which I [...]

In Praise of Melancholy

I came across this article as sort of happenstance, reading about the dumbing down of America. Eric Wilson’s name was briefly mentioned and I had the urge to find out more about his beliefs regarding false happiness–as I wondered about my own pervasive happiness, which seemed in some ways a denial or rather a [...]

The Internet has Murdered My Already Fleeting Attention Span

Last night I stopped to write my friend a letter, on the train ride home I’d been composing it in my head, working out all the nuances and thinking of the perfect turn of phrase. Its one of the things I find fun and exciting.
Once home though I turned on the computer and [...]

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