“The World Health Organization errs when it defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being.” A related error is made by the agrarian poet and social critic Wendell Berry, whose work… sarahendren.com/2023/06/0…
Currently reading: The Way of Medicine: Ethics and the Healing Profession (Curlin/Tollefsen). Prepping for a seminar!
We saw Bruce Cockburn at the Cabot in Beverly last night. Best kind of concert: small sit-down venue, beautifully preserved old theater, BC with bright white beard and voice as strong as ever. Acoustic, 12-string, Dobro, dulcimer.
Can folks here recommend some good reading on what unites sports that have balls of any kind? Looking for philosophical, theoretical, historical treatments especially. What does a ball as equipment do to the character of a game? How is its presence most effective in making fun/suspense/challenge?
My daughter had her last lacrosse team dinner last night. She’s in 9th grade, first time on a big team. I’ve been skeptical about the lofty claims people make for sports and character, but I have to say: one brilliant coach can be transformative. Here, a sweatshirt with her last name on the back, a group photo on the field under night lights, and a small card with the word “optimism” on it.
the tent and the estuary: sarahendren.com/2023/05/3…
One lucky Mass MoCA visitor got to ride EJ Hill’s roller coaster for one—like a track of stretched pink taffy, very Wonka-esque. Hill says roller coasters are “public monuments to the possibility of joy.”
Today I learned the word “opusculum” from Hernan Diaz—something less than a novella even, a “minor literary work”—and now I feel immense relief that one can just claim the modesty for a project up front. www.nytimes.com/2023/05/1…
Just half the haul from U Chicago Press I got to pick for doing peer review. 🙌
We got some shirts designed for our son’s Unified track team. Today was the state meet. If you have Unified near you, allow me to recommend it: kids with and without disabilities playing together. A natural evolution of Soecial Olympics.
Design is commitment + provisionality. sarahendren.substack.com/p/design-…
I have an essay in Elizabeth Guffey’s new book, After Universal Design. On Carl Sagan, wonder and skepticism, and lessons learned from social practice and critical design.
“Women, the ancient lie, the unattainable mystery, / the apple high on paradisal branches, / the history of heaven and hell, of fall and pardon; / innocence unmasked in God’s own Garden.” Gilbert ends with an affirmation: “Nuns are the fictions / by whom we verify the usual contradictions.” via Micah Mattix: https://themillions.com/2023/05/the-literary-lives-of-mid-century-nuns.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Everyone gets a double major: engineering and history. That’s it. That’s all we offer… sarahendren.com/2023/05/1…