Articles from 2022
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Recommended Places
Qianmen Street – Beijing, China
Qianmen is one of the oldest pedestrian streets in the world. I took a nice long walk on it the last time I was in Beijing. It has a lively balance of the old and the new, with plenty of interesting shops to…
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Arts & Letters
New Mexico Couple's Audacious $150 Million Art Heist
Wonder how an ordinary New Mexico couple pulled off a $150 million art heist? Click here.
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A Word to the Wise
Michael Masterson On Confidence Versus Pride
“What you want in your career is the confidence that follows accomplishment, not the pride that precedes a fall.” – Michael Masterson
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A Word to the Wise
proselytize
To proselytize (PRAH-suh-lih-tize) – from the Greek for “convert” – is to try to persuade someone to change their religious or political beliefs or way of life to your own. As I used it today: “If you can add…
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Postscript
James Veitch's Hilarious Spam Email Responses
Comedian James Veitch responding to spam email…
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Notes From My Journal
I Can’t Take It Anymore!
Like just about everyone else on the planet, The Godfather is on my top-ten best-movies-of-all-time list. So, when PP recommended The Offer, a docudrama series about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s…
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Worth Reading
The Revolution of Hope
The Revolution of Hope By Erich Fromm 162 pages First edition published Jan. 1, 1968 by Harper Row I first heard about Erich Fromm when I was in college, in the late 1960s. Fromm’s most popular book, The Art…
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Worth Quoting
Erich Fromm on Creativity and Uncertainty
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” – Erich Fromm
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A Word to the Wise
Mira mundi
is Latin for “wonderful world.” As I used it today: “I’m a busy person. I don’t want to spend a vast percentage of the hours I’ve got left in this mira mundi on this kind of ever-less-stimulating stuff. So…
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Readers Write
Re my productivity system
“I love [your productivity system]. I still use it. With some modifications of my own. Would be so helpful to me and others, I think, to see how you’ve modified this to consistently get so much done.” – ND My…
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Postscript
Animals Seeking Human Kindness And Assistance
Animals asking people for help and kindness…
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Notes From My Journal
Armando Morales's Undervalued Abstract Paintings
Untitled, 1967, Armando Morales Oil and collage on canvas 40.25 x 32 inches I’m excited about our most recent acquisition. It’s the oil painting you see above, by Armando Morales. Along with Francisco Zúñiga…
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News & Views
In late March, CNN tested an exciting idea
– a subscription-based streaming service that they called CNN+. It would compete with Fox Nation, which has more than 1 million subscribers and is growing fast. They hired 500 employees and invested $300…
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Fun and/or Interesting
About Fox News
About Fox News: Contrary to popular belief, Fox’s audience is far from ideologically homogeneous. A Morning Consult survey found that more independents watch Fox News than any other network. And according to…
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Business & Marketing
Old is new. Retro is back
Target is partnering with ThredUP to take advantage of the growing market for used clothes. Click here. Meanwhile, 80s style leg warmers are bringing in big money on Amazon. To help entrepreneurs cash in on…
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Recommended Places
Izamal, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula
Haven’t been there yet, but it’s on my bucket list. Izamal, was founded almost 2,000 years ago by the Maya people. Named for Itzam Na, a Maya god of healing and resurrection, it means “dew that falls from the…
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Arts & Letters
Aretha Franklin's Fierce Rebuke To Liz Smith
An Infuriated Aretha Franklin Writes to Gossip Columnist Liz Smith In 1993, at New York City’s Nederlander Theatre, Aretha Franklin joined the likes of Elton John, Gloria Estefan, and Smokey Robinson for an…
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Worth Quoting
Michael Masterson On Pride And Humility's Balance
“Pride is the fire that ignites our ambitions. Humility is the fire screen that keeps us from burning down the house.” – Michael Masterson
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A Word to the Wise
provenance
The provenance (PRAH-vuh-nuntz) of a work of art – from the French for “to come from” – is a record of its ownership. It is used to confirm the piece’s authenticity and value. As I used it today: “Suzanne…
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Readers Write
Re my concerns about the US economy in the May 13 issue
“The economic numbers you cited are scary. Have you made any adjustments in your investments in response to them?” – PL My response: No. I haven’t. Since I favor income over appreciation as a general investing…
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Postscript
Contestant's Emotional Talent Show Apology To Girlfriend
On “Britain’s Got Talent,” Reuben Gray sings an emotional apology to his girlfriend (who is in the audience)…
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Building Wealth
The Market Is Foundering. What to Do?
By some metrics, this has been the worst year in the stock market since the Great Depression. The larger indexes are down around 20%, and many tech stocks have lost 50% to 80% of their start-of-the year values…
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Fun and/or Interesting
On Timing the Stock Market
Timing the market – i.e., buying in and selling off according to what you think will happen in the future – is difficult. But if you like the idea, I know of two ways that have, at least, some logical…
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Arts & Letters
Stocks are out. But art is in
Andy Warhol’s “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” sold in four minutes earlier this month for $195 million, an all-time high for an American work. Despite a foundering stock market, 2022 continues to be a big year for…
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News & Views
Meat Speech Is Now Hate Speech
I heard about the all-meat diet when Jordan Peterson claimed that he had used it to treat his depression. He decided to try it after his daughter had success with it treating a series of medical problems…
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Recommended Places
Salzburg
I’ve been to Munich and Vienna several times. I never thought of visiting Salzburg, but K and I did just that several years ago and enjoyed it very much. It is a World Heritage Site, offering all that you’d…
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Worth Quoting
Thomas Sowell On Educational Decline And Civilization's Future
“Ours may become the first civilization destroyed, not by the power of our enemies, but by the ignorance of our teachers and the dangerous nonsense they are teaching our children.” – Thomas Sowell
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A Word to the Wise
Gnathonic
(na-THON-ik) means sycophantic; fawning. It was derived from Gnatho, the name of a parasite in TheEunuch, a comedy written by the 2nd century BC Roman playwright Terence.
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Readers Write
Re what I said about conceptual art in the May 16 issue
“You should listen to your partners about conceptual art. Nobody in the business will take you seriously if you discount it as you do.” – BB, a gallerist from New York “You are so right. Most conceptual art…
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Postscript
Shirley Jackson's Haunting Voice Brings "The Lottery" To Life
Listen to this eerie recording of Shirley Jackson reading her short story “The Lottery.” Click here.
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Worth Reading
Dave Eggers' Memoir Balances Brilliance With Self-Indulgence
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius By Dave Eggers 416 pages First published Feb. 1, 2000 by Simon & Schuster I read it because AS recommended it, saying, “Read it and tell me what you think of it.” (He…
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Arts & Letters
Who Says Art Doesn’t Pay?
On May 16, Sotheby’s wrapped up its sale of an art collection that was put together by Harry and Linda Macklowe over the course of their 60-year marriage. The total take: $922.2 million. That made it, in…
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Worth Watching
The Courier
The Courier Released in theaters Mar. 19, 2021 Directed by Dominic Cooke Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, and Rachel Brosnahan Available on various streaming services, including Amazon Prime I’m…
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Worth Quoting
Carl Sagan On The Nuclear Arms Race Paradox
“The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five.” – Carl Sagan
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A Word to the Wise
Counterespionage
refers to covert actions taken by a country to prevent another country from discovering its military, industrial, or political secrets. In other words, it’s spies spying on spies.
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News & Views
Too Painful to Watch
I cringed watching this. It’s Biden’s new press secretary trying to answer a question anyone that has even the most rudimentary understanding of economics would be able to answer. You can see that her problem…
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Postscript
Irish Dancing Reimagined Beyond Recognition
Irish dancing like you’ve never seen it…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Poor You… You Were Dealt a Bad Hand
Part I: You Didn’t Choose It… and You Can’t Change It… You didn’t choose and cannot change your parentage. Or the place of your birth. Or the culture you were born into. Or the color of your hair and eyes and…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Bill Maher on how we spent the COVID trillions
More evidence to support the fact that America attracts brainpower from all over the world: * 35% of the Nobel Prizes won by Americans in chemistry, medicine, and physics have gone to immigrants. Click here…
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Recommended Places
Tallinn’s Old Town, Estonia
Tallinn – Estonia’s capital – came to prominence in the 13th century as an important trading center for the merchant guilds and market towns in Germany and northern Europe. The city’s Old Town, a UNESCO World…
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Arts & Letters
Ignacio Iturria's Undervalued Uruguayan Masterpieces
Que Pasa en el Cajon, 1994 By Ignacio Iturria 36” x 30” Mixed media on canvas I’m nuts over Ignacio Iturria. He’s probably the best-known Uruguayan painter of his generation. And yet his paintings are…
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Worth Quoting
Lao Tzu On Course Correction And Life Direction
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” – Lao Tzu
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A Word to the Wise
ineluctable
Something that’s ineluctable (ih-nih-LUHK-tuh-bl) is impossible to avoid or escape. As I used it today: “The stress is ineluctable. And unless you are able to handle it, you will spend much of your time angry…
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Readers Write
Re my presentation at the AWAI Bootcamp in Delray Beach on May 10
“Thanks for your advice on copywriting as a ‘financially invaluable’ skill. I never fully understood how many doors it can open in my career. I’m stoked!” – CCJ “Your explanation of the ‘product development…
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Postscript
How Four People Overcame Their Unchangeable Circumstances
Four stories about people who didn’t let what they didn’t choose and cannot change stand in their way….
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Notes From My Journal
My Next Big Book Project and the Problem I’m Having With My Experts
Suzanne and I are working on a sequel to Central American Modernism.It’s going to be even bigger than its predecessor because it covers more ground. The first one was on the modern period – roughly from the…
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Notes From My Journal
What I Believe: About Fine Art
When I think of fine art – the sort of art that the Met or the Prado or the Louvre would display – I think of paintings, watercolors, gouaches, etchings, and drawings. I think of sculpture, large and small, in…
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Arts & Letters
John Cleese's Hilariously Pompous Reply To A Young Fan
In the 1980s, when old-fashioned fan clubs were all the rage, a 14-year-old “Monty Python” devotee named Matt Hyde wrote to John Cleese and asked whether such a club existed in his name. Thankfully, the answer…
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Fun and/or Interesting
What is conceptual art?
Conceptual art is art for which the idea (concept) behind the work is more important than the finished object. It emerged as a movement in the 1960s, and most commonly applies to pieces made from the mid-1960s…
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Recommended Places
Buchanan Street – Glasgow, Scotland
Glasgow was never on my bucket list, but I’m glad I got to see it. And I’d be happy to go back. It has all the charm of any of the smaller English cities, with some extras you won’t find down south. If you go…
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