December 2011

Getting paid in links

by David Alm December 28, 2011

You can call it narcissistic, but sometimes I Google myself. Who doesn’t? If you’ve done anything in the public eye — writing, especially — you’re bound to show up in unexpected places on the Web. When I Google my own name, it’s simply to find those places. And each time I do this, I find [...]

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William Wegman, His Dogs, and His Soul

by Crista Cloutier December 20, 2011

Hanging out with William Wegman and his dogs in NYC. I am there to interview him for my forthcoming Working Artist video. Up until a few years ago, I worked in the art business and Wegman w as one of my artists. In my office I had the last photograph he ever took of his first [...]

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The literary ghosts of New York City

by David Alm December 20, 2011

I had no idea what to expect. A holiday party for ghostwriters sounds like scene in a Woody Allen movie from the late 80s. A bunch of disgruntled, hyper-cerebral guys in well-worn corduroy jackets sipping G&Ts and swapping stories about dropping acid with Cary Grant or Henry Kissinger’ s bathroom habit s. So as I [...]

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Rafael Torch, 1975-2011

by Contrary Magazine December 18, 2011

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind: Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned. [...]

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Amanda Knox, Writer

by David Alm December 13, 2011

She was ensnared in a draconian justice system for more than four years. She endured a humiliating trial and conviction for murder, and was then locked in an Italian prison while legal experts, journalists, and countless others rallied either to defend or condemn her. When Amanda Knox was finally exonerated for the murder of her [...]

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Musical madness… The Musical!

by David Alm December 6, 2011

Let me state right up front that I don’ t like musicals. I don’t even like much theater, for that matter. But I have a unique distaste for musicals, which typically lack the compositional sophistication of opera and by definition are not carried by the stuff of a traditional play: namely, acting and dialog. To [...]

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I Brought No Italian With Me to Rome

by Crista Cloutier December 5, 2011
Vik Muniz

I brought no Italian with me to Rome. At the Brazilian Embassy, I tell the guard that I am to there to see visiting artist Vik Muniz. He speaks no English. My best mime only warrants a raised eyebrow. In desperation, I plead, “Parlez francais?” though I do not. A call is placed and I [...]

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Safety and Zen in New York City

by David Alm December 2, 2011

The Metropolitan Transit Authority, or MTA, in New York is not known for a lot of things: reliability, friendly service, cleanliness, reasonable pricing… It’s a sprawling, filthy system that’s made many a New Yorker scream in disbelief every time the fares go up. How dare they cut service, close stations, and charge more to ride [...]

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