Slouching toward New York

I'm here on the prairies of Kansas, yes, but at times, when the season is ripe, I miss New York's bountiful theatre. From Christopher Isherwood's review of Ruined and Scorched: These plays are vital signs that theater artists continue to engage deeply with the intractable problems of the world. And theater's responsibility to bear witness to the mass crimes of humanity may only increase in coming years. Journalism is a more immediate forum, and one in which the exigencies of aesthetics are not as urgent. But it is also imperiled. By comparison the fabulous invalid looks positively robust.

Ego Stroke, Mindless Chatter

Trolling the internet to see if anything by me was actually still posted anywhere (I freelanced for several years and had articles posted on the online versions of various magazines, but it's been a while), I was disappointed to find that, no, the things that came up when I googled my name were the long lists of books for young readers I wrote for several publishers during those freelance years. Some were awful, some were OK, a few I am quite proud of - but the pages of hits were nothing more than lists at bookseller sites. Still, I stumbled on an item by a librarian who specializes in "reluctant readers" - the audience I often wrote for - and was thrilled to find a few kind words for me among others. I take her praise much more seriously than that of book reviewers, because as a librarian who works with these kids, she knows what she's talking about - and because the kids themselves passed the final judgment. Excerpted from this little essay:

...The display of attractive books caught the attention of more than just the remedial students. I soon noticed other students whom I recognized as reluctant readers lingering at the display. Boys, in particular, enjoyed checking out the non-fiction titles, especially any about the U. S. armed forces or their vehicles, such as Attack Helicopters by Bill Sweetman, Attack Submarines by Michael and Gladys Green, or any dealing with animals; Bear Attacks by Patrick Fitzgerald and Vampire Bats by Anne Welsbacher were popular choices....

A small victory, true, but I take them where I find them.

What victories have YOU celebrated lately? I'm so pleased to have received items from friends to post here. Please don't be shy. Send along your essays, letters to editors, or ruminations on art, science, or the prairies. I confess to have drifted rather further into politics than I had intended to do with this blog, but given our past year, how on earth could I NOT have? Besides, depending on your leanings, the dances and leaps of fancy that occupied our airwaves last year could be observed as either science (using spin to shift thinking in frontal lobe brain waves) or art - that low-brow, performance art, strange business you generally see in tiny lofts on either of the northern coasts.