Dwight Garner: The Pride of West Virginia

The Times' published a whimsical little essay by Dwight Garner this week, supposedly about his soul-searching trip to West-Virginia. Of course Mr. Garner couldn't have just hopped in his car for a good ol' fashioned doobie ride, he had to undergo a "cultural cleanse" on Interstate 79-- and then write about it.

Two things struck me about this essay:

1) The short film clips at the top of the essay -- I'm pretty sure these are just GIFs. I understand why the editors thought a constantly looping five-second shot of a nameless highway would be cool, but I personally think it looks pretty amateurish and a bit choppy. Shoulda gone with a full video, Timesmen.

2) Unless I missed an entire extra page to the essay, the only thing Garner talks about is how much he loves music when he travels. That's cool man, I guess only a lucky few can get paid to write about how "music is ridiculously important to me." You must feel very unique in that regard, Garner...I would've been interested to hear about what you actually "found" on your journey, since the title clearly stated you are "in search of" yourself, but I guess providing any sort of legitimate analysis or fact is anathema to you metaphysically mysterious essayists.

John Denver be not proud of you, Mr. Garner

First off, I acknowledge I'm the fool for clicking on the Times' "Arts" section and expecting to find hardcore analytical arguments. But before this blog turns into a twice-weekly hate letter to the NYTimes, I should explain what boils my bean about essays like Mr. Garner's. All too often, the writers churning out the most self-serious, self-pitying lifestyle essays are also penning mournful dirges about America's income inequality, corporate structure, lack of business ethics, etc. I agree Wall Street's contributions to the economy appear increasingly dubious. However, if you receive an upper-middle-class paycheck every month for doing no actual research or fact-digging, but for just relating anecdotes to your readers that you think prove why America sucks (a la Ta-Nehisi Coates) -- or maybe explaining why I should buy a totally sweet Paul Motian CD (natch Dwight Garner) -- please spare me your opinions on why the economy is no good. Think about how lucky you are that you get paid more then 90% of Americans for writing about whatever makes your heart bleed at the moment, and then reconsider whether you really have the knowledge to critique positions as complex and fact-based as economic policy.

Alright, I think I got all the Times-hate out of my system. My next post will be about how I gave an elephant money on its trunk the other day! Stay tuned.

The Campaign: India Edition

My most vivid memory of the 2008 election is parading through campus with my freshman year dorm-mates, and a few hundred other wild and crazy library rats, "lettin' loose" to celebrate Obama's victory. That bright-eyed, strictly PG-rated election riot is missed, to be sure. However, my greatest hope for this campaign season is for Mumbai NOT to erupt in any sort of celebration following November's campaign results. After witnessing today's India Independence Day parade/concert, I just don't think I can stomach anymore loud, grainy celebration music or mass gatherings outside my apartment.

That said, I'm excited for the election, and excited to experience all the political drama from a different culture's perspective. From my view, here is what this election season promises:

a) Lots of Facebookers sharing twee photos of Obama interacting with lil' tykes ever-so-smoothly. Seriously, this guy looks so natural with children, I'm starting to question whether it's a good thing. I like my politicians starched-shirt and grim-faced, thank you very much.

Oh gosh he's just so adorable, let's re-elect him!

b) Mitt Romney completely bombing his inevitable Saturday Night Live appearance (seriously, I'm looking forward to the awkwardness...)

and finally...

c) Racks on racks on racks of New York Times' Opinion writers smugly condemning Romney over and over while simply recycling each other's arguments -- or just declaring completely presumptuous conclusions. Am I the only one who was confused by Ta-Nehisi Coates' guest column the other day? You're filling in for Paul Krugman, dude, you can't just make some half-baked analysis of why you used to gorge yourself at "nice dinners" as an explanation for what you claim is the Republican Party's "culture of ignorance."

I of course would like to hear other people's opinions on the election...particularly my former college roommates...come on guys, give me something to argue with here!