William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism by Robert D. Richardson. I’ve been on a real William James kick lately. I’m working on a piece about James for Dying Breed, so I’ve been reading through all of his writings. I also read this biography of James by Robert Richardson. Kate had long recommended Richardson, as he wrote two of her all-time favorite biographies (his lives of Emerson and Thoreau), but this was my first time reading him. He didn’t disappoint. Richardson does a bang-up job showing how his subjects developed their ideas and how their experiences shaped their philosophies. And James had plenty of experiences to draw from. He dealt with depression and other illnesses all his life, but he managed to take an optimistic, action-oriented stance toward life nonetheless. This book is incredibly readable, and Richardson not only highlights James’ insights, but offers his own in describing them. You’ll feel edified and smarter when you’ve finished it.
Maple Creemees. Our family recently got back from spending a week in Vermont, our second favorite state in the Union. We canoed down the Connecticut River, took a 30-mile e-bike ride through bucolic farms and small towns (like Kate, I’ve become a real e-bike convert), and summited a green mountain. But one of the highlights of the trip, and every trip to VT, is the maple creemee: what Vermonters call soft serve, flavored with real maple syrup. I had a maple creemee every day of the trip. The best I’ve had is at Tozier’s, a roadside restaurant in Bethel that’s been slinging creemees since 1947. You order at the walk-up window and eat at picnic tables under a stand of old maple trees. Great after an afternoon of tubing down the White River.
Thrasher by Brandon Flowers. Back in July, I shared “Plans,” a single off Brandon Flowers’ new solo album, Thrasher. Well, the whole album dropped last week, and it’s been getting a lot of playtime while I’m driving and working out. Flowers goes country on this album. He grew up listening to Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings in small-town Utah, and he recorded Thrasher at the historic RCA Studio A in Nashville with some of Music City’s best session players. “Tiger’s Blood” is probably my favorite. So nostalgic! “Does It Ever Cross Your Mind?” reminds me of an existential version of Johnny Cash’s “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.” And “An American Dream” has an incredible chorus. Lots of other great songs on the album; Flowers’ sincerity and storytelling make him a songwriter unlike any other. Go listen to it.
All This Staring at Our Faces Is Messing With Our Heads. I’ve always had an aversion to taking selfies and doing video calls. I don’t want to stare at my face all the time, and I’ve long thought that constantly seeing your own image makes you unhealthily self-conscious. It just feels weird. This New York Times essay by Catherine Shannon put words to my long-held video-call allergy. She points out that for nearly all of human history, people rarely saw their own reflection (mirrors weren’t even common household items until the mid-1800s), while today we can hardly avoid it. All this looking at ourselves probably isn’t good for us. Shannon mentions a 2010 study out of Italy where researchers had people stare at their own faces in a dimly lit mirror. After a while, the subjects started seeing deformed versions of their faces (and even strangers, animals, and their own parents looking back at them). The precipitous rise of reflection-gazing may explain why the prevalence of body dysmorphia and plastic surgery has increased — among women and men alike.
Quote of the Week
If thou wouldst preserve a sound body, use fasting and walking; if a healthful soul, fasting and praying. Walking exercises the body; praying exercises the soul; fasting cleanses both.
—Francis Quarles
