CHANG CHANG CHANG

I was scared of committing, really committing, to this relationship. And I missed Mom, Dad and Rory as achingly as ever. For so many years, Thanksgiving had been something to brave — every year another mark on the wall. But this Thanksgiving, here with Caitlin, wasn’t just one more to endure. History tells us the Plymouth settlers, when sure of a good harvest (and good defenses), repaid their native hosts with mistrust, disease and war. It’s hard to survive, even harder to stop behaving like a survivor.

Will Boast, “Enduring Thanksgiving,” New York Times

Source:

11/26/11 — 12:18pm Short URL: http://tmblr.co/ZcgoayCRyUyP Filed under: #thanksgiving #op-ed #new york times #family

Look at Me, I'm Crying

There is something beautiful about a disarmed stranger. We usually only get to witness that kind of vulnerability with friends or family, when something — sympathy or apology — is expected of us. Public criers ask nothing; they don’t need anyone to take care of them.

In some ways, that kind of transparency is as good a defense against interference as the famous blank New York stare.

…

For me, it’s not that I want apathy, just privacy. To be noticed, but not interrupted. It’s comforting to be seen in our grief, there is a confirmation in it — however awkward it makes us feel. Is that part of why we live here? New Yorkers do tend to be the kind of people with both a need to be seen, and a deep fear of it. Somehow, this place satisfies both.

4/29/11 — 2:21pm Short URL: http://tmblr.co/Zcgoay4in9Ry Filed under: #crying #new york times #New York #life #privacy

Stand Back, Mister Softee: There’s a New Swirl in Town

(photo via nytimes)

7/23/08 — 8:50pm Short URL: http://tmblr.co/Zcgoay2bI09 Filed under: #ice cream #soft serve #new york times #nyt