Y E S T E R D A Y at 3 p.m., as the U.S. lined up fifth in the countries with the most Coronavirus casualties, Ina Garten posted a badly lit photo of a cosmopolitan in Instagram. With 61,966 likes, she adds: “Is it time yet?? Please??!!” Lost among 2,090 comments, phillomaris says: “During a pandemic, every hour is a cocktail hour!” and fanswift68: “I love you Ina so much. It’s definitely time. And a great day to celebrate @taylorswift brilliant new music. [star emoji] Cheers!” (The previous night, Taylor Swift twitted that her new album was coming out, where she pours “all [her] whims, dreams, and musings into.”)
On another note, Laurie Pressman, VP of Pantone Inc, just celebrated the re-imagining and standardization of the Pink Panther Pink, whose “end result is a slightly subtler pink that suits the character’s suave manner without losing sight of the character’s mischievousness and vibrancy.”
Now that we don’t have to shelter at home much, we seem to “shelter” in safe places to counteract the uncertainty of this pandemic, being those places booze, Ms. Swift’s “Folklore” album, a certain shade of pink or, in my case, a performance of John Cage’s Cheap Imitation. Last Thursday, as I worked, I tuned in to listen to this 35+ minute piece for solo piano presented live by Mise-En_Place. The pianist, as you can see in the photo, was wearing an unnecessary bandana which gave the meditative, almost static piece, an additional meaning. Its aural thinness, ambiguous resolution, and elastic tempo seem to reflect the lack of structure of some of our days now—the work was composed in 1969. But as it faded out, the soft music gave me strength to focus on a few essential needs.
— Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 7/25/2020