Archive - Sep 2007

As of last week I thought I was finally getting a handle on this season. It seemed there were 5-7 really good teams and then it was a crapshoot after that. That theory has been shot completely to hell. Oklahoma, Florida, Rutgers, Texas and West Virginia all lost this weekend.

Riddle me this: what is the heart exactly? Tell me why we refer to our hearts when we discuss emotions. There's about a million phrases that tie our hearts to our lives.

My heart is broken.

You've gotta have heart.

Follow your heart.

Who decided that our hearts should be what makes or breaks us? Why isn't it another body part? Perhaps...your elbow? I was watching something on television earlier today, and I realized that it was entertaining because it held the key elements: action, drama, and of course love. Love makes the world go round, right? And there was this line.

What's that, you ask? My newest favorite installation that I've never seen? Kohei Yoshiyuki's "The Park," currently on view at the Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea takes the cake ferr sherr. Yoshiyuki's photographs chronicle a collection of toms peeping in on an array of couples having sex in a public park. Taken in 1970s Tokyo, the pieces demonstrate the slightly sickening social phenomenon of looking in on others' intimacy. (Sex videos, much?)

This simple question, if asked sincerely, with the proper amount of time and attention, can really make a difference to someone. All too often in conversation we're waiting for the other person to stop talking so that we can say what we want rather than actively listening to what they're saying.

It can be difficult to quiet your own thoughts and announcements and devote yourself to listening. However, listening helps build understanding. The more you listen, the more you'll learn.

So, I'm reading this book for a sports journalism class. It's called Little Girls in Pretty Boxes by Joan Ryan (published in 1992 then updated again in 2000). It focuses on elite gymnastics (and a bit of elite figure skating) and the hidden struggles the athletes go through such as eating disorders, injuries and delayed menstruation.