OF A GOLDEN AGE

It is genetic, so I could see this . . .

The research begins with the question: Why isn’t depression more rare? Maybe, like obesity, it afflicts us because modern conditions are so different than the ones in which we evolved. But no, apparently depression is common to all cultures, even small scale, isolated ones.

Andrew Sullivan guest blogger Hanna Rosin links to a Scientific American article in the above-quoted post on depression.

The possible genetic motivations for depression could be an emphasis on analytical thinking, the article says, of scrutinizing a problem on a micro level. I guess the problems start when you fractalize a problem until its minutiae paralyze you. Also: In what way could loss of appetite or energy be considered a genetic advantage?

Will at A Suitable Wardrobe asks bespoke shoemaker Tony Gaziano about patched shoes after noticing them on the feet of Prince Charles:

[Gaziano:] “To be honest it looks better on black which is ok because most of the guys that would have this done come from an era where only black shoes were worn.”

The problem with owning a rotating roster of not-expensive shoes is that they tend to wear out all at once. Bonding a patch to leather that’s paper-thin in the first place doesn’t accomplish much.

But the good thing about owning a rotating roster of not-expensive shoes is how I have one fewer thing in common with Prince Charles!

frog design has a funny and somewhat provocative essay on the Star Wars universe and its, well, terrible aesthetic choices. It focuses on greebles, needless details added to futuristic objects in order to make them seem bigger, more complex — think of the ornately rendered Borg cube from Star Trek TNG.

The original Star Destroyers were an exercise in selective greebling, extraneous parts protruding everywhere on the overall form to give the effect of scale and drama. The Millennium Falcon is essentially one large greebled serving plate. The desire for an imperfect form is a quest for more believability, based on the idea that, as humans, we respond and empathize more with imperfection than the perfect sculpted object.

The starship Enterprise is enormous, with, well, varying quantities of greebles over the years. It still manages to be somewhat simple among its peers in the world of science fiction.

From Bernard Malamud’s A New Life:

“The more I tried — I hope you don’t mind hearing this — the less I could. There were days when I almost didn’t think of you, when I felt I had killed you in me, but the very thought renewed my feeling of loss so profoundly that sometimes I felt I had left drops of blood where I was standing when I had thought of you last.”

Compare this passage back to the feelings I expressed in my post on (500) Days of Summer and you’ll see why I found meaning in seeing and reading them at the same time.

I will probably post a few more passages from this novel in the next few days. The writing is so lush and expressive without being over the top, which is one of Malamud’s great gifts.

Today is Arlington Heights’ A Walk in the Park Fine Arts Faire, which was similar to my hometown’s annual festival, except awesome instead of completely terrible in every way. I bought this charming little item:

It’s the right size to be a soapdish or a kitchen spoon rest, but I really just like looking at it so it will probably remain decorative. Dishwasher safe, food save, microwave safe — good stuff.

The artist is Sue Dix of Suramics. Her more serious-looking pottery is beautiful and really well crafted. She explained to us how one particular copper glaze is used, where you fire it in the kiln and then place it in a sealed space with something that’s burning. As the material burns, it uses up the oxygen and changes the way the copper oxidizes, giving it a lovely varied patina in a very short time.

Five books that school ruined for me:
1. Jane Eyre
2. Wuthering Heights
3. A Tale of Two Cities
4. The Tempest
5. Julius Caesar

Five migraine triggers:
1. Soy
2. Avocados
3. Aged cheese
4. Onions
5. STRESS

Five things we did at our work party last night:
1. Grilled
2. Chain smoked
3. Made mojitos
4. Listened to a coworker’s former band’s record
5. Tried to remember any Eddie Money song by name OR tune

Five people I’ve talked to while out on the shipping dock:
1. The manager of the furniture store
2. A woman whose daughter is finishing veterinary school soon
3. A guy in a jumpsuit who works at 6:30 a.m.
4. A delivery guy who was not excited about several grosses of printer cartridges
5. This really uninteresting guy whose name began with M but was so dull I can’t remember

Five kinds of animals that woman’s daughter apparently had to learn about in veterinary school:
1. Large
2. Small
3. Water
4. Tropical
5. Fish

Five animals I no longer see regularly:
1. Cattle
2. Horses
3. Hawks and turkey vultures
4. Canada geese
5. Deer

Five magazines I read most of, if I have them:
1. GQ
2. Esquire
3. Real Simple
4. National Geographic
5. Vogue*

* I have no delusions of being even remotely vogue. Or . . . vaguely vogue? Either way, I’m not.

Five magazines I am repulsed by:
1. Seventeen (57 Ways to Tell If He’s Into You!)
2. Cosmo (57 Ways to Win Men With Sex!)
3. O (57 Ways to Lose 10 Pounds!)
4. Family Circle (57 Ways to Decorate with Snowmen!)
5. FHM (57 Ways to See Down Her Shirt!)

Nauru, my favorite tiny island nation, is long plagued by insane international corruption and has a terrible economy.

Recently I read a WSJ book review on somewhat obscure place-name changes which included a Nauru shoutout:

Take, for example, Pleasant Island, the South Pacific atoll that now calls itself the Republic of Nauru. It was once richly valued (and plundered) for its ­deposits of “super-phosphate,” a mixture of chemicals used in artificial fertilizers. [ . . . ] It has since tried to set itself up as a tax haven, started a smuggling operation for North Korean defectors, and even—you can’t make this up—invested its tax dollars in musical theater, all to no avail.

Yeah, to keep referring to it as Pleasant Island once it became a burned-out strip-mined shell would be, well, disingenuous. See also: The great Greenland/Iceland hoodwink.

In other island topics, this weekend I learned about Yerba Buena Island, a residential spot in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Yerba buena means “good herb,” similar to yerba mate, a popular variety of tea.

The island is accessible by bridge, which reminded me of Pigeon Key, a nature preserve-ish educational center off of the now-shut-down A1A Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys. The new Seven Mile Bridge runs alongside the old, and in places the old bridge is preserved for pedestrians and fishing. On one side it runs long enough to allow access to Pigeon Key.

In honor of the mostly-dead, great website 5ives, here are some lists.

Five poets I truly love:
1. Charles Bukowski
2. Pablo Neruda
3. Edna St Vincent Millay
4. e e cummings
5. Stephen Dobyns

Five favorite rearrangements of my name:
1. Leronica
2. Cornelia
3. A Corn Lie (the title of my tell-all expose of farm lobbies — originally An Inconvenient Corn)
4. Ion Clear (my successful line of cleaning products, not yet invented)
5. Lo, carnie!

Five bands or performers that remind me of important males from my past:
1. Saves the Day
2. The Album Leaf
3. Blackalicious
4. Songs: Ohia
5. Nine Inch Nails

Five paperback authors I’ve read obsessively at some point:
1. Michael Crichton
2. Stephen King
3. Sue Grafton
4. Brian Jacques
5. John Grisham

Five pastimes I am very into:
1. Scrabble
2. Doodling
3. Knitting
4. Underlining in books
5. Xacto-knife crafting

Five foods that make me really sick:
1. Corn (regular or popped)
2. Milk, ice cream, cream sauce
3. Bananas
4. Onions
5. Citrus fruits

“You can’t beat Walmart’s unbeatable prices.”