Living the dream…
One of the themes I’ve taken away from Burning Man is being grateful about the good things in life. This is not only because so many of us (yeah, you reading this) lives in such relative splendor or because the world is an incredible place, but because a positive mindset reinforces itself, just as a negative one does. Dwelling on the positive is good for the soul.
So I thought I’d start a list of weekly favorites, sort of like a Positive Harper’s Index.
Favorite Beach in the World: Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, on the Atlantic side. Though both sides of Costa Rica are mind-blowing.
Favorite Movie Viewed on a Bus: Big Fish
Favorite Movie: Big Fish
Favorite Dinosaur: The latest Nat Geo stars the Spinosaurus, a fifty-foot long amphibious predator that pre-dated the T-Rex. The most complete collection of Spinosaur bones was bombed to smithereens during World War II, until a Bedouin treasure hunter stumbled across some a few years ago. Great story, great creature. http://events.nationalgeographic.com/events/speakers/2014/10/16/spinosaurus/
Favorite Career Move: Lawyer to Doctor- so far I know two people who have made the move, and neither seems to regret it one bit.
Favorite NYC Columnist: Ginia Bellafante. Check out her latest on community colleges here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/nyregion/community-college-students-face-a-very-long-road-to-graduation.html?_r=0.
Favorite Binge Watch of the Week: Transparent. Smart, funny, sad, and so real. Full of beautiful, interesting characters. Watched all eleven episodes in a day and a half.
Favorite Retro Activity: I sat down to watch baseball multiple times this week for the first time in years, and man, was it exciting. Go Royals!
Favorite Throw-back Discovery: I recently picked up a used copy of Doris Kearn’s (pre-Goodwin!) copy of Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream. It’s a fascinating insight into LBJ’s final years in and out of office, from a before-she-was-famous historian with enormous access. At times, she simply quotes him rambling for pages about how he’d been wronged, sometimes quite cogently. Sometimes used books come with bookmarks, and in this case it was a flyer for a movie at the Thalia Theater, on 95th and Broadway. This is five blocks from where I grew up, and I’d never heard of the place. The flyer was from a movie that came out in 1984, and the Thalia closed in 1987. And the book hadn’t been opened since. Anna was born in 1984, and this fascinating account of LBJ was waiting her whole lifetime to be read. Thanks, Doris!
Favorite Photo I’ve Seen This Week: Marsel Van Oosten’s delightful shot of a Japanese snow monkey inspecting an iPhone. It’s up for an award, which it really ought to win, despite some great contenders like “Mouse under Lion”: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/28868787.
Living the Dream 