The "Blue Sky Blue" Edition
Dear Readers,
Happy 4th of July holiday weekend. Or holiday week. Or two weeks. Or whatever your hybrid life has blessed you with.
My semi-high-powered, full-time, pre-historicCovid era job may not give me the most accurate perspective, but it sure feels like the shift to work-from-home has made holiday weeks even longer.
No more mad crush at the half-day “get out early” day before the holiday. No more “taking the day off” in order to leave the day *before* the day before the holiday. It’s more like people are everywhere they need to be whenever they need to be there.
Instead of ‘plausible deniability’ I think we’ve shifted to ‘plausible accessibility.’ This is evident in the changeovers on the tennis court in between service games. Yes, there’s plenty of time to sip some water, have a chat, or eat a banana while the worker bee of the foursome (usually the youngest of the bunch, working earnestly, to be fair) mutters “sorry, guys, I’m actually working, so I just have to send a couple of emails…”
I wonder if my work-life would have been literally transformed in this mode of modern work. Though it had it’s downsides, to me it was a gift when “remote email” got invented and we could leave, do whatever we needed to do at home, and get back to work after dinner, baths, and bedtimes were seen to.
I guess it was another sort of gift when “mobile” got invented (Blackberry, then iPhone). But also maybe it was the beginning of the curse of the true 24/7 workday.
That’s why I think today’s post-Covid, seemingly permanent work in an office only four, or even three, days a week is hugely beneficial. You get all the in-person benefits of collegial interactions, time to brainstorm with peers or the necessary facetime with bosses, but you can seriously, SERIOUSLY, have a huge amount more downtime, even if that is just the ability to save a day or two of debilitating commuting, or to wait at home without panic for a repair person, or…sneak an hour of tennis at 9 in the morning and feel better all day.
Independence, indeed.
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Off to Wisconsin for a wedding next weekend, so I will likely see you in two weeks!
LZ
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The Pic(k) of the Week…:
The Unfiltered Charm Of Jet’s Beauties Of The Week via The New Yorker
POLITICS:
Kamala Harris Is Having A Surprise Resurgence As Biden’s Campaign Unravels via Bloomberg
Justice Amy Coney Barrett Is Charting Her Own Path On The Bench via The Washington Post
CRIME & PUNISHMENT:
The Irresolvable Tragedy Of The Karen Read Case via The New Yorker
HEALTH & WELLNESS:
Malicious Midwives, Fruitful Vines, and Bearded Women: Sex, Gender, and Medical Expertise in ‘The Journal’ via The New England Journal of Medicine
The Ephemeral Organ: Researchers Look Closer At The Placenta via Undark
THANKS FOR THE MEMOIR-IES:
At 17 She Fell In Love With A 47-Year-Old. Now She Questions The Story. via The New York Times
Portland Printmaker Blue Butterfield’s Memoir Cuts Deep via Down East
THE ARTS & POP CULTURE:
Christy Hall Shares How Dakota Johnson Helped Snag Sean Penn For Her Filmmaking Debut ‘Daddio’ via Variety
A Fashion Recap: Vogue World Paris 2024 via Instituto Marangoni
SPORTS:
Elite Gymnasts Are Aging Up via The New Yorker
Summer Olympics Marks Historic Moment For Gender Equality via Axios
The Eight Women Calling The Shots In The NBA via Elle
OBITUARIES:
Nancy Azara, Sculptor Who Created A Haven For Feminist Artists, Dies At 84 via The New York Times
…AND WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT…?:
At 94, June Squibb Is Scaling The Box Office In ‘Thelma’ and ‘Inside Out 2’ via The New York Times