Daily Office: Friday
¶ Matins: Regarding the future of children’s books (about which Boomers et seq tend to be a lot more sentimental than actual kiddies): Not to worry! Jason Kottke assures us that children’s books in print will be the very last to go, notwithstanding the blandishments of the iPad Alice. He tells us so in his response to Kevin Rose’s despairing tweet.
¶ Lauds: Here’s the finish of a (Murdoch Era!) Wall Street Journal story that Renée Fleming hopes that you won’t finish. (via Arts Journal)
¶ Prime: On our first visit to EConned, we discover the Rahm Emanuel parallax. We forget what a parallax is, and Ms Smith’s entry reminds us of rubbing green twigs together in the rain, but it’s Friday, and we still feel that the Magnetar story needs to be Out There.
¶ Tierce: Dweck’s Paradox: If you praise your child by telling her that she is smart, and she is smart, she will probably conclude that you are an idiot for saying such a thing. In New York Magazine, Po Bronson grasps how hard it is not to use the S word.
¶ Sext: Sam Sifton has so much fun reviewing a fashionable foodery in the heart of Madison Avenue’s tenderloin that we must serve up a generous helping of extracts. The first three paragraphs are setup; go straight to the “crisp artichokes” for the truffles. But be aware that the Upper East Side is studded with places like Nello. For a reason! (NYT)
¶ Nones: As part of our Irresponsible Spring Break Friday reportage, we turn to Al Jazeera for news that some/many Poles are outraged that would-be flight director Lech Kaczynski will be buried in Krakow’s Wawel Castle. We did check the Times first, but it didn’t have a story on this vital follow-up. (via The Morning News)
¶ Vespers: It was inconceivable that Paul Harding’s Tinkers would win the Pulitzer Prize without Cinderella’s stepsisters trying to find out how it happened. Turns out to have been good, old-fashioned gatekeeping. (Globe; via Arts Journal)
¶ Compline: The elusive VX Sterne hated the vacations that his parents put him through as a child, and he vowed to do things differently when he grew up. As indeed he has, given that his family never want for showers or other creature comforts. Nevertheless, our favorite anonymous executive is characteristically haunted.