Yesterday I went to the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for the "Faster, Cheaper, Newer, More: Revolutions of 1848" exhibit. My favorite item was a book on color theory, "De la loi du contraste simultane des couleurs." One of the theories was that of the "effet charge," or "vibrant effect." The placard didn't really explain what that meant, but I liked the phrase and the design of the color schemes, which were shown on a computer screen since obviously you couldn't actually look at the book. The use of stamps begun in 1847. From one of the placards: Until the summer of 1847, when the first postage stamps were issued, U.S. mail required the sender to pay a postman for any given letter. With stamps, those individual transactions were unnecessary, and the system became modern - that is, impersonal and infinitely expandable. This placard caught my eye as well: Prosperous cities and lives in Europe and America were being reconfigured around the new central social and economic activity of modern people: buying inessential things in shops. That certainly hasn't changed! And this is from the intro to the show: Imagine the political and cultural tumult of the 1960's occuring concurrently with the technological boom of the 1990's - and multiply it by 10. Everything was strange. And for better or worse, nothing seemed impossible. Some notable events of 1848 or thereof: Communist Manifesto published; Northern Mexico becomes California and gold is discovered; Seneca Falls women's rights convention; French monarchy ousted by democratic insurgency.

Last night we went to Luna Lounge. A band called ilash was playing. I really liked the singer's voice; he reminded me of Felt, and I told him so afterwards but he'd never heard of them. I will probably try and catch these folks again if possible.

We ate dinner at Highline, the newest spin-off of the Spice dynasty. Definitely recommended. We all liked our food (I had the Ginger plate with tofu) and the pad thai spring rolls with tamarind crust were delicious and had a yummy peanut/cilantro dipping sauce. Upstairs was a bar that was eye-level with the highline, and since the walls were all just giant windows you got a great view, all whiteness and sunshiny and a little patch of sparkling Hudson. Later I went back with G and had one of the fancy cocktails, a kiwi margarita, and I am ashamed to say how much it cost so I won't. We then made our way down to Tortilla Flats for more affordable drinks. To sum up Tortilla Flats on a Tuesday night: If Bowie is on the stereo and someone sticks a bingo card in my hand, I'm not going anywhere.

Reading:

July 5 issue of The New Yorker. This cartoon made me laugh. And the Caitline Flanagan article on working mothers vs. stay-at-home mothers is hilarious and touching: The starting bell of the academic decathalon was about to ring: nursery school (carefully chosen, highly regarded)was around the corner. There, I naively assumed, the children would fall into two easily recognizable camps: the wan and neurotic kids of working mothers and the emotionally hardy, confident kids of stay-at-home moms. What a bust. There was no difference at all that I could divine - if anything, the kids of the working mothers seemed a little more on the ball. My boys (who had been slavishly catered to by besotted late-life parents) would drop their sweaters and toys on the playground and forget they existed, while their friends whose mothers worked took care of their own things, putting sweaters in cubbies, keeping track of toys and shoes. Many of the children of the working mothers marched into the classrooms without a backward glance; they were used to not having their mothers beside them. They looked ready to take over the world.

Listening:

Ian Brown remix of "Desire" (gus gus). A letdown. I keep waiting and waiting for it to kick in, but it never does. The first few seconds make me really excited for something grand...then...nothing. The original is better.