Who wants to bet that the architect was high as a kite when he created this museum:

 

In this enormous room, the artifacts look tiny, pathetic, and scared. José Rafael Moneo, the architect of the museum, must have really hated Roman art. Or maybe I’m wrong, maybe he really loved it and knew that in order to attract people to the museum, the art had to be delivered in a really shocking, outrageous way. I mean, you come to this museum, see the huge room and the tiny artifacts, pee yourself with laughter, and this becomes one exhibit you never ever forget.

Photography is amazing. See how pictures can be used to tell a story. And I promise to stop re-blogging for today. I just had to share this with those who haven’t seen it yet.

From November and December 2011:

This was a great post about Leo Tolstoy’s most passionate affair that almost destroyed his 48-year-long marriage.

And this one is about a very funny exchange at the library.

From May 2011:

A very short post on the hilarious problem my students had with analyzing Ortega y Gasset’s text.

And from March 2012:

A post where I poke fun at a stupid blog titled “Reasons not to go to Grad School.” For a normal person, the only reason not to go to grad school (or anywhere else) is not feeling like it, so a blog by this name had to be priceless. And it was.

In May of 2012:

I discovered why academics whine so much. That was quite a revelation.

The global used to belong to the elites while the masses had to content themselves with the local. Jet-setting all over the world, flying in oysters and caviar from across the globe, admiring Garcia Marquez if you are not Latin America and hating him if you are – those were the marks of identity of the select few. It used to be expensive and exceptional to have access to the global.

Today, the global belongs to the masses while the elites consider it chic to cultivate the local. The most expensive restaurants in the world serve only the food grown within 30 miles of them. The richer you are, the greater is your network of local artisans who provide your candles, soaps, bath salts, bed linens, writing supplies, etc. The height of chic is to be able to say, “Yes, this jewelry (dress, suit, brief-case) is by this great local designer – you won’t find it anywhere else.” It is now expensive and exceptional to have access to the local.