I’m really stoked for Art & Copy, a documentary exploring the history behind some of the most infamous creative advertising in the modern age.
Cherlin believes the reason for this paradox is that Americans hold two values at once: a culture of marriage and a culture of individualism. Or is it an American spirit of optimism wedded, if you will, to a Tocquevillian spirit of restlessness that inspires three out of four Americans to say they believe marriage is for life, while only one in four agreed with the notion that even if a marriage is unhappy, one should stay put for the sake of the children.
Sandra Tsing Loh rationalizes her marriage and subsequent divorce in The Atlantic. She mostly rambles on about the age-old debate of (in)fidelity and the intrinsic differences in our biology that requires us to either start a family or run out and fuck anyone we can find in plain sight.
I am a 47-year-old woman whose commitment to monogamy, at the very end, came unglued. This turn of events was a surprise. I don’t generally even enjoy men; I had an entirely manageable life and planned to go to my grave taking with me, as I do most nights to my bed, a glass of merlot and a good book. Cataclysmically changed, I disclosed everything.
In a rather unsurprising twist, the ‘I’m-not-all-that-interested-in-men’ angle is met with an affair of some sorts. It’s kind of depressing, if only in the sense that she waited two decades to think through what marriage would entail.
Via Core77. Check out lunchbreath for more goodness.
NY Mag interviewed graduates from ten different schools on their outlook for the future. Check out the full pdf for fancy pie charts, quotes, and statistics.
I found that I’m pretty much on par with most of the answers to the survey, though some of the results were unexpected. Most have done or tried marijuana, cocaine, ’shrooms, or ecstacy. 57% never discuss sex with their parents. 58% have had unprotected sex. 42% do not have a job lined up. Finally, backup plans include ‘winging it’, and ‘Mom’s house.’
Though, the little tidbit about average starting salaries from the surveyed schools are depressing at best. NYU averages $32,000 per annum, making it $8,000 less than the next lowest average.
Sigh.
NY Times gets a hold of a few twenty-somethings struggling to get by in Williamsburg with the slumping economy.
It can be hard to see the signs of financial troubles in Williamsburg because residents are so loath to show that they had money in the first place. Robert Lanham, author of “The Hipster Handbook,” said in an interview that many newer residents tried to blend in with the area’s gritty history and dressed “half the time like they’re homeless people.”
Via @mlproject. (Sup Jack?)
On a day-to-day basis, I find it hard to get anything done of significant value. It seems unlikely, though, since I’m always preoccupied with the mundane multitasking of multiple stimuli. Since closing down my Facebook a year ago, my attention has turned to googling random things. That sidebar google search on my browser has been used and utterly abused. There’s the constant updating of Twitter, random e-mail checks with, as usual, no important messages, and the monotony of ‘instant message received’ coming through my chat client. And then there’s this blog here that I’ve so casually neglected. NY Mag’s piece on our attention spans in the 21st Century, The Benefits of Distraction and Overstimulation, reminds me of how little I accomplish with so much at my disposal.
“Your mind is not getting the dopamine or the hugs that it needs to keep you focused on what you’re doing. And any time your work gets a little bit too hard or a little bit too boring, you allow it to catch on to something that’s more interesting to you.”
Isolation seems to be a natural bi-product of the Internet age despite the growing trend toward social networking. Cursory communication has numbed our sense and do not nearly replace the full experience of leaving the web. The brief bursts of stimulation seems to have conditioned me to be very spacey, and all the bummin’ around I’ve been doing lately has reached a critical mass.
“Where you allow your attention to go ultimately says more about you as a human being than anything that you put in your mission statement,” he continues. “It’s an indisputable receipt for your existence. And if you allow that to be squandered by other people who are as bored as you are, it’s gonna say a lot about who you are as a person.”
Internet, I can’t quit you.
LIFE discovered an archive of unpublished portraits of Marilyn Monroe.
It’s an online summer reading group for endnote lovers. Infinite Summer will try to get you motivated to read through all 1079 pages week-by-week.
You’ve been meaning to do it for over a decade. Now join endurance bibliophiles from around the web as we tackle and comment upon David Foster Wallace’s masterwork, June 21st to September 22nd. A thousand pages ÷ 93 days = 75 pages a week. No sweat.
My copy just came in today. It’s trying to usurp priority over my precious Macbook Pro.
Pixar is making your allergies act up
Pixar grants a young girl’s dying wish to see Up in a private home viewing. She passed away seven hours later from a three-year struggle with vascular cancer.
Damn you, Pixar.