Peter Schjeldahl is dying.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/23/the-art-of-dying
You have probably never heard of him unless you read The New Yorker or live in that weird place known as the art world. He is the art critic for The New Yorker, and widely considered to be the best art critic of our time. I have known of him for 30 years, and have met him a handful of times. He is not the chummy sort with us mere publicists, but he is always unfailingly friendly and courtly. And if you read Steve Martin's novel about the art world, Schjeldahl's cameo in the book is spot on perfect.
Peter wrote a long, rambling, heartbreaking, beautiful reminiscence for the new issue of The New Yorker. It's a bit of a rough sled, but it really gives a good glimpse into the critic everyone knows and the person I suspect few of us suspected was there all along.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/23/the-art-of-dying
I doubt I will meet Peter again. The exhibitions coming up at my museum don't seem like his sort of thing, even if he has the strength to make a visit. But I am glad that I got to meet him and that there has has been at least one art critic of his caliber in my world and our world. I hope that your last days are comfortable, Peter, and that you find one last work of transcending beauty before you go.
- Current Mood:
sad
Dusting off the old blog to wish all those that ovserve a shana tova, a good new year as the Jewish year 5779 rolls over into 5780. May the old year and its curses end. May the new year and its blessings arrive.
Hope everyone out there is hanging in, I am pretty much the same as I have been for a while, just not using Dreamwidth much (who is?).
Hope everyone out there is hanging in, I am pretty much the same as I have been for a while, just not using Dreamwidth much (who is?).
And now you can listen to them at home, using any device, and no longer need to get any sort of rented MP3 player.
Tours.TheJewishMuseum.org
Enjoy.
Tours.TheJewishMuseum.org
Enjoy.
Greetings fans of filk! There will be a housefilk on Sunday, June 30 at the home of Josh Kroenengold and Lisa Padol, 39-20 52nd Street, Apt GD in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens, NYC.
Please RSVP to me at this blog or to Josh at mneme@labcats.org, and spread the word to any other filkers or potential filkers.
If you have concerns about accessibility, the apartment is on the ground floor, but the entrance is up 4 steps. If they is an issue, call ahead and someone can meet you near 39-40 52nd Street and let you into the side entrance with no steps. Number is 646-361-3257.
Directions:
By subway: Fastest: Take the 7 to 52nd street, turn north (towards Cafe 52, away from the Filipino place) and walk to, cross, Skillman; turn left and walk back to 52nd Street, the entrance is on your left.
Less Fast: Take the R to Woodside, walk south, then make a right at 39th Avenue and a left onto 52nd Street. Destination is on your right.
Also less fast, but sometimes necessary: Take the 7 to Woodside. Get out and go to ground level. Walk west (numbers go down), turning on to Skillman. When you get to 52nd Street, turn right and walk along 52nd Street until you get to the place (on your left).
Please check MTA.info as sometimes one of these lines is rerouted on the weekend.
By LIRR: Take the LIRR to Woodside. Follow directions as "7 to Woodside" above.
By car: Go to the neighborhood. (Northern Blvd is probably the ticket, but you likely have a GPS that will give you something better). Find somewhere to park (not entirely trivial, but possible, usually by driving around the nearby park until something turns up). Then go to the apartment.
If all goes according to plan, we will be at HELIOsphere, the new-ish NYC-area con that is trying to be the replacement for Lunacon, the first weekend in April. The guest filker will be the one and only Tom Smith, among other notables attending.
And then we are looking towards Balticon on Memorial Day weekend once more, where last year's D&D-style LARP will continue.
Hope to see of you at either or both.
And then we are looking towards Balticon on Memorial Day weekend once more, where last year's D&D-style LARP will continue.
Hope to see of you at either or both.
So as some of you know, I have a Facebook account that I use very sparingly, and don't plan to start using it more. And a Google Plus account that was never of much use and is about to go away. So I wonder what people use that isn't FB and isn't DW. i do have an Instagram account for work purposes, and not averse to adding anyone who one to my list, but I don't plan to post there much either. Are there social media sites that you use that are not the big ones? Should I be using them?
Greetings and felicitations fannish types and Bostonians. Batya and I will be attending Boskone next month. As I know many of you attend Arisia instead, I figured it would be a good idea to give you a head's up that we will at the other con. If you like to meet up with us, regardless of whether you are attending the con, please give up a shout. But be aware that Batya is slated to do a concert on Friday night, and you might want to attend..
Hope we get to see at least some of you soonish.
Hope we get to see at least some of you soonish.
Let's welcome the new year with this classic poem no longer under copyright.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Greetings. If you haven't left Dreamwidth and are among my regular readers, glad to see you. If you left DW and are returning as the Tumblexodus begins, welcome back. As you may have noticed, I have been posting a lot less. Some of that is because DW has been quiet overall. But of late, it's because I broke my scapula. Here's my story.
Out for a walk on November 11, as I often do on Sunday mornings. Dunkin iced tea in one hand, the drug store two blocks away and ready for me to make a pickup. I trip. I fall. I lose the iced tea. I land on my hands, as one does. I am in a lot of pain. A lot more than from a routine trip. I slowly stumble to a small park a block a way, land on a bench, and make phone calls to the volunteer ambulance service and to Batya. Soon enough we are both at the nearest hospital, and I am in the devil's own pain. It is incredibly hard just getting my shirt off for the x-ray. It is not fun.
One x-ray later, and it's determined I broke my scapula (shoulder blade). This is not an easy thing to do, as scapulas are well padded by surrounding muscles, tissue, etc. I have no idea how I did it, but I did. Go me. I come home, make an appointment the next day with an orthopedist, and begin the long process of recovery. Which meant two weeks out of work, three weeks of typing one handed, and six weeks of wearing a sling when I slept and a lot of time when I am awake. Lots of Advil and icepacks. Physical therapy twice a week. And slowly starting to do all the things I suddenly couldn't do.
Seven weeks later, I am at about 75 percent of "what I used to be able to do." I can't reach out or up. I can't lift anything beyond a certain weight. I am still in pain a lot, albeit manageable pain. I have only just begun to wash dishes again and use a knife. And I am appreciating every little thing that I am once more able to do again. I honestly missed doing the dishes.
There is a long road ahead yet. But the doctor says I am where I should be at this point. And it's kind of amazing that bones can grow back, isn't it?
So that is one reason I have not been posting much. Longer stretches of typing are still a bit uncomfortable, and I need to save that for work. But I am getting there. And I totally recommend that you should avoid breaking your scapula.
PS: This is also why I didn't say anything about Stan Lee's death. But by now, I doubt I have much to add.
Out for a walk on November 11, as I often do on Sunday mornings. Dunkin iced tea in one hand, the drug store two blocks away and ready for me to make a pickup. I trip. I fall. I lose the iced tea. I land on my hands, as one does. I am in a lot of pain. A lot more than from a routine trip. I slowly stumble to a small park a block a way, land on a bench, and make phone calls to the volunteer ambulance service and to Batya. Soon enough we are both at the nearest hospital, and I am in the devil's own pain. It is incredibly hard just getting my shirt off for the x-ray. It is not fun.
One x-ray later, and it's determined I broke my scapula (shoulder blade). This is not an easy thing to do, as scapulas are well padded by surrounding muscles, tissue, etc. I have no idea how I did it, but I did. Go me. I come home, make an appointment the next day with an orthopedist, and begin the long process of recovery. Which meant two weeks out of work, three weeks of typing one handed, and six weeks of wearing a sling when I slept and a lot of time when I am awake. Lots of Advil and icepacks. Physical therapy twice a week. And slowly starting to do all the things I suddenly couldn't do.
Seven weeks later, I am at about 75 percent of "what I used to be able to do." I can't reach out or up. I can't lift anything beyond a certain weight. I am still in pain a lot, albeit manageable pain. I have only just begun to wash dishes again and use a knife. And I am appreciating every little thing that I am once more able to do again. I honestly missed doing the dishes.
There is a long road ahead yet. But the doctor says I am where I should be at this point. And it's kind of amazing that bones can grow back, isn't it?
So that is one reason I have not been posting much. Longer stretches of typing are still a bit uncomfortable, and I need to save that for work. But I am getting there. And I totally recommend that you should avoid breaking your scapula.
PS: This is also why I didn't say anything about Stan Lee's death. But by now, I doubt I have much to add.
Comments