SARA BLASK

I know it’s kinda uncool to reblog a post about...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:21:45 -0500

I know it’s kinda uncool to reblog a post about yourself… but I’m excited and flattered to be a featured Longreader.

Featured Longreader: Sara Blask, communications manager for The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones. See her story picks from Texas Monthly, Smithsonian magazine, plus more on her #longreads page.

ckck: Eleanor, Detroit, 1942 by Harry Callahan.

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:19:10 -0500

ckck:

Eleanor, Detroit, 1942 by Harry Callahan.

"He crossed the Atlantic because it was there, and the Pacific because it was also there. He made..."

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:05:00 -0500

“

He crossed the Atlantic because it was there, and the Pacific because it was also there.

He made both crossings in a rowboat because it, too, was there, and because the lure of sea, spray and sinew, and the history-making chance to traverse two oceans without steam or sail, proved irresistible.

”

- The lede to John Fairfax’s obituary in the Times, easily one of the most beautifully crafted obituaries I’ve ever read.

nprradiopictures: The Internet is coming! Our very own Pam...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:45:47 -0500

nprradiopictures:

The Internet is coming!

Our very own Pam Fessler found this memo from waaaay back in the day while she was moving desks.#nprlife (Sam Sanders/NPR)

"Living alone comports with modern values. It promotes freedom, personal control and self-realization..."

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:07:00 -0500

“Living alone comports with modern values. It promotes freedom, personal control and self-realization — all prized aspects of contemporary life.”

- Eric Klinenberg, a sociology professor at NYU and the author of “Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone,” in a NYT column about living alone.

Simplicity. nevver: Slice

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:07:36 -0500

Simplicity.

nevver:

Slice

wheresnagy: Dood. officiallyrad: Flying People in New York...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:53:00 -0500

wheresnagy:

Dood.

officiallyrad:

Flying People in New York City (by ChronicleNYC)

via benjaminpalmer

Love this. theatlantic: An Artistic Comparison of Paris and New...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:11:43 -0500

Love this.

theatlantic:

An Artistic Comparison of Paris and New York

As polar opposite as Paris and New York may seem at times, it’s hard to love one city and hate the other. Each is complex in its offerings, diverse in its appeal, and the debate over which city is supreme evidently warrants its own blog. Vahram Muratyan is the author and artist behind Paris versus New York: A Tally of Two Cities, a blog that pits the pride and joy of both cities against each other in a magnificent series of minimalist prints. Through colorful graphics that border on 8-bit simplicity, Paris and New York come head to head, making it harder than ever to choose which city does it best. Read more.

[Image: Vahram Muratyan]

"And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing..."

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:22:39 -0500

“And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”

- John Steinbeck, in a letter from 1958 on falling in love.

Things I learned about Costco from The New Yorker

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:28:00 -0500

I highly recommend Patricia Marx’s piece in The New Yorker last week (Jan. 16) about grocery shopping in New York. Not only is it incredibly funny, it really captures the economics of groceries here.

“If Costco were a country, its revenues would make it the sixty-fifth largest in the world, ahead of both the Republic of Microsoft and Applestand and right behind the United Kingdom of Procter & Gamble,” Marx writes in “A Bushel and a Peck.”

The following facts about Costco are quoted directly from the piece, including the figure from ABC News, and should be attributed to The New Yorker:

Last year, Costco:

Sold 92 million hot dog-and-drink combos at $1.50 each (same price as in 1985)
Grossed $4.6 billion in meat sales, $855 million in seafood sales, $3.9 billion in wine (it’s the largest wine merchant in the U.S.), $1.9 billion in TVs, $1.1 billion in baked goods, and $3.9 billion in produce
Per ABC news, Costco sells $300,000 worth of cashews every week, buying more than half the world’s supply of the nut
Biggest selling items: toilet paper, nuts, and rotisserie chicken excluding tobacco and gasoline
Last year, Costco pumped 2.6 billion gallons of gas; filled 35 million prescriptions

Photo

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:22:40 -0500

"Perhaps the calendar, gazed upon from a distance, actually illuminates the miracle and mystery of..."

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:16:00 -0500

“Perhaps the calendar, gazed upon from a distance, actually illuminates the miracle and mystery of life. Populated with our personal details, it accompanies us. It is our signpost, our road map, our book of moments. It is available so we can make sense of the days that we remember and, perhaps, a vault of permanence for the days we do not”

- A poignant essay by Ted Anthony about the power and legacy of a calendar.

make-nonsense: (via Cy Twombly Gallery 1)

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:59:04 -0500

make-nonsense:

(via Cy Twombly Gallery 1)

As much as I love, use and value technology, you just...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:27:04 -0500

As much as I love, use and value technology, you just can’t do this with a Kindle or an iPad. There will always be something really special about books.

"When I was 17 years old, I sent away for a NASA astronaut application, received it and tacked it to..."

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:56:00 -0500

“When I was 17 years old, I sent away for a NASA astronaut application, received it and tacked it to my bulletin board. Sixteen years later, the application still hanging, I have finally applied. I have done my part, now let’s see if NASA does theirs.”

- Facebook post from one of the most extraordinary and qualified people I know who has applied for the NASA astronaut training program. Like me, he’s dreamed about getting to space since he was tiny. Unlike me, he studied astrophysics, has spent the last three austral summers working in Antarctica, and actually has the chops to make it happen. Best, best, best of luck to you, Ben. Make it happen.

"Leaving and moving on — returning to a familiar sense of self-reliance and autonomy — is..."

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:41:31 -0500

“Leaving and moving on — returning to a familiar sense of self-reliance and autonomy — is what I know; that feeling is as comfortable and comforting as it might be for a different kind of person to stay.”

- Carrie Brownstein, co-writer of Portlandia, on her previous relationships. Quoted from this wonderful profile about her last week in The New Yorker.

Photo

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:32:09 -0500

"You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown into a blender. Your mass is reduced so that..."

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:27:22 -0500

“You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown into a blender. Your mass is reduced so that your density is the same as usual. The blades start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?”

- WSJ’s piece in Weekend today on how to ace an interview at Google and why brain teaser questions are spreading to other picky employers.

David Attenborough’s version of What a Wonderful World for...

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:20:45 -0500

David Attenborough’s version of What a Wonderful World for BBC.

Beautiful!

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:56:34 -0500

Beautiful!