Up Close and Personal
Biennially, the National Portrait Gallery fosters a competition where artists around the country submit intimate portrayals of a human being – sometimes themselves. In this video portrait, 2013 award winner Bo Gehring presents Esperanza Spalding (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OeZxytSV3M)
Horizons
A favorite amusement during my elementary-school years was a puzzle-map of the United States. The puzzle pieces comprised all the states. The top of the puzzle went beyond the USA halfway up Canada, and the bottom ended halfway through Mexico.
Mad or Sad?
Here I am, taking comfort in the sunroom and emailing off another cartoon to my sister. I have two sisters and have always been especially close to sister number two, Patti. It could be said that we are close because we are nearer in age, but really, we are close because we are pretty much on the same wavelength. We enjoy a lot of the same things including guffawing over clever memes. We like to laugh.
Threshold Moments
A psychoanalytically informed treatment can last for many months or years, yet there are moments in the work that in retrospect serve as markers showing important changes are occurring.
My Late Life Crisis
Two months ago, I jumped out of an airplane at 10,000 feet. It was thrilling. I flew through the air like a bird, experiencing feelings I had never had, manifestations of a new me.
You Never Leave Home
“So, are you Russian?” The short answer has always been, yes. The long answer is, “Well, I am a Jew, from a Russian speaking city in Ukraine on the border with Russia, but really from the former Soviet Union.”
To Sophie with Love
Bonds between humans and pets, especially dogs and cats, share many characteristics of intimate relationships between humans, but relationships with pets are imbued with qualities not inherent in human relationships.
Thinking About Culture and Aggression
Conflict is a pervasive phenomenon charged with emotions driven by difference in cultural perspectives. That applies to conflicts ranging from wars between countries to small “misunderstandings” between individuals.
Thinking about Death?
Thinking much about death these days? I mean your very own death, the one Sigmund Freud maintains we can’t really think about.
Orange Soup
In the toddler room, the two-year olds are busy feeding themselves. Everyone is concentrating, fishing out cheerios and carefully bringing them to their mouths.