Little Women
Truth by told, I forgot to get Valentine’s presents for the kids yesterday, so I took them to the book store after school and said they could pick out whatever they wanted. My daughter chose this giant, adorable Puffin In Bloom version of my favorite book when I was her age, Little Women. So it looks like we’ll both have to read it, and we’ll both probably cry, but for entirely different reasons. [Gwen Ihnat]
“Tantrum” by C.K. Williams
I’ve found myself frustrated by a lot this week, from trivial, personal inconveniences to larger anger at the enormity of hurt and indifference in our world. Doesn’t it just make you want to scream? When I’m frustrated, I think of Pulitzer Prize winner—and fellow New Jersey native—C.K. Williams’ poem, “Tantrum.” In the poem, he longs to bottle a child’s temper tantrum, carrying it with him as a replacement for having to articulate our complex grievances with the world: “So useful it would be to carry that preemptive howl/ always with you; all the functions it performs/its equivalents in words are so unwieldy.” [Kate Bernot]
“Another Day Of Sun” from La La Land
Jazz pianist Peter Martin turns the infectious theme song from the Academy Award-winning nominated La La Land into a lovely improvised ditty. [Kevin Pang]