Major holidays in the city are like turning down the volume of a boisterous song. Transient renters scatter to the suburbs of their youth or families. Work mostly grinds to a screeching halt. Those with nowhere to go don’t try. You can walk for blocks without seeing another soul outside. And when you do a question always comes to mind – what are they doing here? Continue reading City on Holiday
There is a collectivist illusion we all share that the social contract governing our behavior extends to all areas of life. That each of us has equal access to basic social needs, or at least some ostensible simulacrum of order devoid of prejudice and social rank. Of course the illusion is absurd – the fact … Continue reading Privilege
There is a musician in Jonathan Franzen’s novel ‘Freedom’ that describes his job as a chiclet salesman. No matter what goes into the production of a single song, the market value is predetermined at $0.99. A value that seems to exist outside of what we might imagine a market economy to be – prices determined by supply, demand, quality, etc. – and where revenue largely accrues to the owners of marketplaces versus the artists themselves. Continue reading A Million Little Cuts
Sauvage. J’adore. Joy. Miss Dior. Acqua di Gio. Bad Boy. Good Girl. You know a holiday gift giving season is upon us when the purveyors of luxury fantasy are beating down our doors to peddle their scents. A perfume or cologne is the perfect impersonal gift to define us. Continue reading Holiday Fragrances
GLAZ 