This week – as we near our move-in date – I’ve gone down a couple rabbit trails, which I am excited to share with you. Let’s get right to them!
“There was never a time in my youth, no matter how dark and discouraging the days might be, when one resolve did not continually remain with me, and that was a determination to secure an education at any cost.” – Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery . I love the determination and agency this man possessed.
This piece of investigative journalism has it all; death threats, Olympic swimmers, plain-as-day-yet-dutifully-ignored corruption, bags of cash, chocolate cake, and hostage escapes, topped off with a centuries-long legacy and billions of dollars hanging in limbo. The Plot to Kill the Olympics.
I enjoyed Ryan Holiday’s essay for Texas Monthly on opening a bookstore during a pandemic. Supporting local bookstores is important to me, for obvious reasons, and I’m glad to have another small book-loving business to add to my list!
“[G]iven an impossible task, serving the public without interacting with the public.” On the similarities and differences in how libraries have weathered pandemics, in both 1918 and 2020.
Before, but especially since reading Ross Douthat’s recent essay “Decadence and the Intellectuals,” I’ve been obsessed with the question of which of our current authors and thinkers might be recognized by history as world-class? Douthat explores this question, along with which medium is currently the most prevalent and respected form of storytelling. I also highly recommend Tanner Greer’s essay, “Where Have All the Great Works Gone?”, which in part inspired Douthat’s piece and shapes the context.
Currently reading: Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Enjoy your weekend.
