As I type this, my laptop is emitting sounds I haven’t heard since I traded in my trusty and much beloved Underwood for a computer keyboard back in early 1980s.
 
Click, click, clack. Ding! Ah, the glorious sound of a manual typewriter.
 
Inspired by Ruby Sparks, a new romantic comedy about a writer who still uses an old-school typewriter, I’m hearing these sounds again thanks to Noisy Typewriter, a free app that you can install on a computer. (Sorry, right now it only works on Macs.) Once installed, it runs underneath your other applications, so that as you peck out a document or email, voila, you have the audio accompaniment of a manual or electric typewriter. It’s as if you were simultaneously typing both the new and the old-fashioned way.
 
For those of us old enough to have learned to type on a typewriter, the click-click of keys and the whirr of a carriage return are comforting. This was the soundtrack of my adolescence — I worked at my hometown newspaper in high school — and early twenties.
 
Installing Noisy Typewriter on your laptop is the eqivalent of opting for an old-fashioned ringtone on your cell phone or loading up your iPod with vintage Bing Crosby and Benny Goodman tunes, or the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Ditto for buying DVDs only of movies made before 1980 or watching black-and-white films from Hollywood’s Golden Age on Turner Classic Movies and your big screen HDTV.
 
In each case, you’re enjoying old-school pleasures using the latest gadgetry. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Technology is a tool; make it work for you.
 
As I began to make like a modern-day Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday (1940), hammering away on my now noisy laptop, I got to thinking about how the evolution of technology is reflected in popular film. Consider my favorite film ever, Shop Around the Corner, a glorious romantic comedy from 1940 that was remade as You’ve Got Mail in 1998 by the late Nora Ephron. In the original film, James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan are bickering sales clerks in a gift shop, unaware that as pseudonymous pen pals they’re carrying on an epistolary courtship. In Ephron’s updated version, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan snipe at each other as proprietors of rival bookstores, even as they flirt shamelessly, and anonymously, online via their computer screens.
 
In movies about journalists, characters have gone from using typewriters (1931’s The Front Page through 1975’s All the President’s Men) to computers (2009’s State of Play) and TV cameras (1987’s Broadcast News and last year’s Morning Glory). Any up-to-date depiction of a halfway competent journalist today would have to show him or her juggling reporting, writing, shooting and filing stories via laptop, smart phone video, Skype and more.
 
Don’t even get me started on cell phones. There would be no Home Alone (1990) if wee Macaulay Culkin had been able to call his parents to alert them they were headed to the airport without him. In movies these days, if a plot is to turn on a character not being able to ring for help, a screenwriter is forced to pave the way early on with expository excuses. Hence, someone loudly proclaims that he has forgotten his cell phone, dropped it in the toilet, has a low battery or, gosh darn, just can’t get a signal out here. In To Rome With Love, one main character dropped it through a grate.
 
(And where, pray tell, now that phone booths have disappeared, is Superman supposed to change from Clark Kent to Man of Steel?)
 
All of which brings me back to the charming Ruby Sparks, opening Friday (July 27). The movie’s hero is a young novelist (played by Paul Dano) who suffers from writer’s block and emotional stasis. Symbolically, he still pecks out his manuscripts on a manual typewriter. When, near the movie’s end, he takes major steps to shift his life into forward gear and put the past behind him, the movie discreetly signals the change by showing him at work, writing on a laptop.
 
Of course, if he installed the Noisy Typer app he could have the best of both worlds.
Click, click. Ding!


The Allure of Old-School Typing

Leah Rozen

I was initially surprised to find The Artist and The Descendants running neck-and-neck for best picture at Sunday’s Oscar ceremony. Not that they aren’t worthy of the gold statuette. What I found curious is that the over-50 Oscar voters didn't seem to be going for War Horse. It is, after all, the sort of movie that made a big impression on us as kids.

	 

	Hold your horses: Maybe that’s its problem. It's the kind of old-fashioned, family film we grew up on — and which eventually drove our generation to the shrink’s couch.

	I saw this Spielberg epic, about a young Devon lad who’s separated from his beloved thoroughbred, shortly after its Christmas Day release. I went to the bargain matinee, which is usually filled with moviegoers my age. I was one of only three people there. I had tried to get my boomer buds to go with me, but they declined, despite their love of cinema. “We saw the previews,” they told me. “No way.”

	 

	War Horse falls into a genre they had hoped never to see the likes of again. From 1946, starting with The Yearling, until 1974 and the release of Born Free, Hollywood loved to make hanky-inducing films in which cherished pets either get whacked or separated from their owners. These are films that people who grew up in those years still get misty-eyed over. More than misty-eyed: They get angry. They haven’t forgiven their parents for taking them.

	 

	Ask any therapist: No one who saw Bambi as a child has ever fully healed from the trauma of watching a helpless fawn’s mother get murdered by hunters. Or how about Old Yeller? In this kids' flick, a boy watches his dad shoot to death his affable lab mix. Today, any parent taking his kids to see either one of those films would be hauled before Child Services. Both were made by Walt Disney, the same guy who gave us that animated film about a woman who skins dogs to make coats.

	 

	If Hollywood had made Babe back then, the cute little pig would have wound up on the breakfast menu at Denny’s. The same goes for Free Willy, Big Miracle and all those other heartwarming movies about trapped whales that find their way back to the open seas. Had they been made when we were growing up, those whales would have been lamp oil by the time the final credits rolled. Faced with our tears, our parents would have told us to suck it up.

	 

	Twenty minutes into War Horse and I was a blubbering wreck. That’s when the horse is taken away from his young master, Albert. For the next two-and-a-half hours, that horse endures one heartbreaking trial after another in his effort to get back home across the battlefields of war-ravaged Europe. The horse’s name alone had me reaching for the Kleenex. It’s not something impersonal like Revenge or Ten Gallon Hat. It’s Joey, for God's sakes.

	 

	I don’t think I’ve cried so hard at the movies since Elsa’s siblings were sent to the zoo in Born Free. Today, those cubs would be posing for tourist photos on the Serengeti.

	 

	 

	 

	 

	 

	 

	 

	 

	 

	 

	               


Oscars: Don't Bet on ‘War Horse’

John Stark

This month, sociologists, film critics and movie buffs mark a pop culture milestone: the 50th anniversary of the release of "The Godfather," arguably the most influential film of the second half of the twentieth century.
Actors Salvatore Corsitto (left) and Marlon Brando in "The Godfather"Some loyalists will go so far as to contend that even this lofty praise is insufficient to appreciate the film. To be sure, "The Godfather," which premiered across the United States on March 24, 1972, signifies a turning point in cinema and a dividing line in our popular culture, separating movies that came out before "The Godfather" from those that arrived later.
"The film was a stunning achievement in every category of storytelling, writing, performances, cinematography, direction and music."
That's how influential "The Godfather" continues to be, particularly when it comes to inventing new ways to tell stories in movies.
"The film was a stunning achievement in every category of storytelling, writing, performances, cinematography, direction and music," noted Nell Minow, a film critic and editor at RogerEbert.com, the site named in honor of the late Roger Ebert, a Pulitzer Prize recipient and one of America's greatest film critics.
"It came at a time when, like other breakthrough movies including 'The Graduate' and 'The Pawnbroker,' the industry was breaking out of the restrictions of the Hays Code era (a period launched in the early 1930s dictating that controversial topics couldn't be shown in films) with more mature themes. And it introduced a whole generation of future superstars," Minow said. 
'The Godfather's' Unforgettable Moments 
At a quick glance, "The Godfather" is notorious for its brutal use of violence. Who can forget the sight of tough guy Luca Brasi's contorted face as he is strangled, or the wails of despair from the arrogant film mogul Jack Woltz when he wakes up with the head of his beloved horse, Khartoum, next to him in his bed?
But violence is NOT at the core of "The Godfather." It is not why people watch the film whenever it is on cable television — and it is on somewhere almost every day.
A Story About Family 
Before the movie came out to great fanfare, word of mouth had spread like wildfire about Mario Puzo's 1969 best-selling novel of the same name. It was a classic page turner, depicting how the fictional Corleone crime family of New York City – featuring patriarch Vito and his three sons, the brutal Sonny, the endearing Fredo and the calculating Michael – had ruled for decades.
Even if you have never "whacked" anybody — and I don't suppose Next Avenue readers have — you can relate to "The Godfather's" timeless and irresistible themes: the great pull of families and the constant struggle we face as we try to prove ourselves in the world while finding our own identity.
Marlon Brando (left) and Francis Ford Coppola on set of "The Godfather""'The Godfather' saga is at its heart a story about family," Minow explains. "While the conflicts are heightened by the context of brutality and criminality, the themes are expressed through the kinds of milestone events — a wedding, a baptism — that remind us of the way that even families dealing with conflict come together and then go back to their struggles for control and independence."
Indeed, when Don Corleone instructs his consigliere, Tom Hagen, to arrange a meeting with his peers, he calls them the heads of the Five Families, not referring to them as criminals or mob bosses.
'The Godfather's' Impact on Hollywood 
"The Godfather" came out at a time when the image of Hollywood movies was changing in the early 1970s, accounting for the rise of the anti-hero and the release of such daring pictures as "Easy Rider," "The Graduate," "Bonnie and Clyde," "Five Easy Pieces," "MASH" and "Midnight Cowboy."
"Leave the gun — take the cannoli." 
Hollywood became known as a director's medium, wresting storytelling away from cost-conscious studio chiefs and bean-counters to put the control into the hands of innovative and visionary film makers, such as Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Robert Altman.
"The Godfather" put its mark on Hollywood forever on many levels. Here are some snapshots:
Financial Impact: The Oscar-winning film from Paramount Pictures generated $135 million at the box office in 1972, which translates into about $711 million in modern times. But its influence was even more valuable. Whenever there is a new way to show a film, going from projectors up to Blu-Ray, "The Godfather" cashes in, as new audiences clamor to examine the quality and depth of the print in the new technology.
Legacy of talent: The film spawned the careers of numerous legendary figures, whose subsequent movies sold countless tickets worldwide.
Before "The Godfather" came out in 1972, Al Pacino was recognized — by anybody, that is, who recognized his name at all — as a talented New York theater thespian. Robert Duvall was known as an obscure film actor. So was James Caan, though he achieved a measure of fame for his memorable turn in the television movie "Brian's Song."
Marlon Brando as Don Vito CorleoneDiane Keaton had appeared in a Woody Allen film called "Play It Again, Sam," but was a virtual unknown. Talia Shire, who went on to co-star in the "Rocky" franchise, was perhaps best known as director Francis Ford Coppola's kid sister.
Coppola himself had won an Oscar for writing the script of "Patton" (he wrote "The Godfather" script with Puzo) but was not yet appreciated as a film director. And the famed Marlon Brando, who had electrified theater and film audiences back in the 1950s, had since lost his muse and been written off as flaky and over-the-hill.
Film style: To show that the film went beyond being "strictly business," it also showed how a daring director could tell a story by using lights and cameras in previously unexplored ways. "The Godfather" employed darkness like no other film, adding to its suspense and tension. No wonder cinematographer Gordon Willis became known in Hollywood as "The Prince of Darkness."
The Mob Movie genre: "The Godfather" ushered in a new kind of film category: The Mob Movie. Think for a moment about "Goodfellas," "Married to the Mob," "Casino," "Donnie Brasco" and "The Departed," not to mention "The Godfather Part II" and "The Godfather Part III" as well as many other films that took their thematic cues from "The Godfather."
Lexicon: How many "Godfather-isms" have entered our culture and lexicon?
“I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”“It’s not personal — it’s strictly business.”“Leave the gun — take the cannoli”Even the term "godfather" has been exploited and occasionally lampooned to comic effect, owing to the familiarity of "The Godfather."
The Last Word 

"The Godfather" has left an indelible mark on Hollywood, and in society. Maybe it's appropriate to give the last word to Al Pacino, whose performance as the cunning, cold-blooded Michael Corleone remains one of the greatest pieces of acting in the annals of filmmaking.
"I am deeply honored by it," Pacino said in The New York Times earlier this month. "I really am. It's a piece of work that I was so fortunate to be in."


An Offer You Can't Refuse: Appreciating 'The Godfather' on Its 50th Anniversary

Jon Friedman

Have a thirst for art exploration this summer? The Art Institute of Chicago or Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York may be on your radar. Journeying instead to an understated destination can provide a window to the world without the parking hassles, crowds and expense of a big city. 
Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, Rockland, MaineThe following destinations are under-the-radar spots for art lovers. Located in smaller communities, each provides the opportunity for a taste of regional culture. Each offers additional unique attractions and recreational opportunities. Several are former homes of famous American artists, with collections you will not find in big-city museums. And did I mention that all are coastal destinations?  
Rockland, Maine
Rockland, Maine wears a mottled veneer. Beyond its working harbor, the village's houses and shops sit windswept and weathered. While some have been renovated to a pristine condition, others stand oblivious to their facades rubbed raw, leaving the town with a feeling imperfect, comfortable, and authentic. For decades, artists have been drawn to the charm of this Midcoast Maine harbor town as well as the natural beauty surrounding it. 
Molly Mugler is one of them. She exhibits her watercolors and oils at Art Space Gallery, a co-op of 16 local artists. Rockland is a vibrant artist community for good reason, she believes. 
"It's monochromatic, but it's gorgeous." 
"It's got the ocean, the sea, the boats. It's got boat buildings, fishing and lobstering. It's got mountains and meadows and so many islands and inlets and coves and bays," Mugler said. "It has a short summer season, but it's got its iconic lupines, and the winter is just gorgeous. You know, it's monochromatic, but it's gorgeous." 
Art Space Gallery sits shoulder to shoulder with over 20 other galleries, most along Rockland's Main Street. Hard to believe that a town of only about 7,000 year-round residents would have any space left for restaurants, but Rockland offers stellar dining options too. This includes both James Beard winners like Primo and casual spots like The Claw, an order-at-the-window quintessential lobster shack overlooking the harbor. 
Main Street Rockland, MaineRockland is not just a twenty-first-century mecca for contemporary artists. It has long appealed to creatives, one of whom is legendary. Andrew Wyeth, twentieth-century realist painter, drew much of his inspiration from the Maine landscapes he viewed while vacationing as a child and later residing as an adult.  
Today the permanent collection at Rockland's Farnsworth Art Museum and Wyeth Center holds works from three generations of Wyeths including Andrew. The museum also holds thousands of works created by American artists like Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keefe. And it isn't Rockland's only art museum. Within walking distance is a second notable collection: the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. 
Additionally, Rockland offers several other points of interest including The Maine Lighthouse Museum and 18 lighthouses within a 40-mile radius of the town. Rockland is also home to a half dozen Maine Windjammers, historic schooners originally used for commerce and now employed for recreation.  Multi-day trips are available aboard the wooden vessels, which cruise around the uninhabited islands and quiet fishing villages of Penobscot Bay.  
Ludington, Michigan 
Much like Rockland, Ludington lays claim to a renowned American artist. Perched on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, Ludington is located about halfway up the pinky side of the state shaped like a mitten. Known for its picturesque sand dunes and lighthouses, it is easy to understand why the adult Manierre Dawson, considered the pioneer of America's abstract art, settled at a Ludington fruit farm next to his childhood vacation home.  
Today, Manierre's cubist-style artwork can be viewed in prestigious, big-city museums.  It can also be viewed at Ludington's West Shore Community College. In fact, the school's Manierre Dawson Gallery holds 10 of his works —  one of the few to hold multiple pieces. 
In addition to painting, Dawson was also a sculptor, and a nine-foot bronze replica of one of his pieces is the newest addition to the Mason County Sculpture Trail. It is one of 20 large-scale, bronze sculptures that illustrate the area's history and culture. Nine stand at Waterfront Sculpture Park, a peninsula park sandwiched between two marinas. To make an afternoon or evening of it, tasty picnic fixings (and bike and paddleboard rentals) are available at nearby Pier to Pier Picnics. Trails End Baking Company is another convenient option. 
"I think as a community we really embrace the full definition of art."
A second art trail opened in 2023 — the cARTier Trail. (This one is on a literal trail.) The mile-long path meanders through the woods, and its paved surface makes it wheelchair accessible. The large-scale exhibits are reproductions of paintings created by local artists. 
When ready to head indoors, downtown Ludington is home to several galleries, most notably one featuring outdoor photography created by a father-and-son team (Todd & Brad Reed Photography) and a second featuring work from nationally known artists working in a variety of mediums (Art by Mary Case Gallery & Studio.)  
Want to take some time to dabble yourself while in Ludington? Mary Case offers classes in clay and wheel throwing. The Ludington Area Center for the Arts, located in an old church, offers a changing schedule of workshops in addition to exhibits and musical performances. 
"I think as a community we really embrace the full definition of art. There's a lot of free public art installations with the sculpture park and murals throughout the community. Also very popular are fine arts fairs and live music," said Brandy Miller, Executive Director for the Ludington Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.  
While in Ludington leave yourself enough time to enjoy the area's outdoor pleasures. Michigan is known for its sand dunes, the largest collection of dunes on a freshwater coast in the world. Ludington State Park is a great place to experience some of them. Also of note in Ludington is the S.S. Badger, a steamship that ferries passengers across the lake to the port city of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. 
The Outer Banks, North Carolina
A siren call to artists, the Outer Banks are known for their large parks, wildlife refuges, and 120 miles of seashore. In fact, towards the southern end of these barrier islands lies Cape Hatteras National Seashore, identified as the United States' first National Seashore in 1937. Nearby Frisco, a tiny village on Hatteras Island, captures the island's natural beauty within art galleries like Red Drum Pottery and Painting, owned by Rhonda Bates and Wes Lassiter, a husband and wife team who have been creating art in Frisco for over 25 years. 
The town of Nags Head, about 60 miles north of Hatteras Island, is another hub of artistic activity. Visitors love to browse Gallery Row Arts District, home to popular spots like Seaside Art Gallery, one of the largest private galleries in the Southeast. Seagreen Gallery, similar in name but quite different in its collection, specializes in art created from recycled objects of just about any kind — antique furniture, farm objects, sweaters, barn wood, bottles, windows and much more.  
Less than 10 miles from Nags Head, Manteo is home to Dare Arts Council, a nonprofit organization that encourages the arts in Dare County. Inside the space, located in a historic courthouse, the organization exhibits the work of over 100 juried artists in a variety of mediums. The council also offers workshops, classes and art festivals. 
Manteo is known for its performing arts, too.
Manteo is known for its performing arts, too. "The Lost Colony" tells the story of over 100 English men, women and children who founded one of America's first colonies in 1585 before mysteriously vanishing. The play is performed under the stars in an outdoor theater and includes drama, music and dancing. First performed in 1937, it is the country's longest running symphonic drama. 
Leave time while in Manteo for a walk through The Elizabethan Gardens, which honor Roanoke Island's fascinating history with living color, fine-tuned horticultural collections, and statues.  
Finally, head to Corolla Island on the northern end of the Outer Banks for a different sort of beauty. Spanish mustangs, left behind on the beaches in the 1500s by European explorers, continue to run wild and free. A variety of guided tours allow visitors to get an up-close view of the horses. 
Sausalito, California 
Sausalito has a vibe all its own. A ferry ride away from San Francisco, it blends a small-town feel with an urban aesthetic. Well known as an artist colony, it draws international visitors who come to see its hillside haunts overlooking the bay, one-of-a-kind houseboats, and galleries filled with pieces from trailblazing artists.  
Gallery SausalitoOne of those artists is Sue Averell, who creates textural artwork (called impasto) of urban landscapes and botanicals. Averell's studio space is on-site at Gallery Sausalito, the gallery she owns and where she exhibits the work of 18 other artists. Inviting visitors to observe her creative process transforms a transaction into an experience, she believes. 
At nearby Hanson Gallery of Fine Art, you will see works of various styles: French-Impressionist style oil paintings, quirky pieces created from bits of U.S. license plates, Jackson Pollock-inspired pieces, and radiant, large-scale poured canvases. 
For artistry found in unexpected objects, visit Scrimshaw Gallery. The nautical-inspired pieces include knives, pens, money clips and wooden collectibles. It also offers antique maps and sculptures. 
The streets are winding, and the views of San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge, spectacular.
And when your stomach growls, you will have plenty of restaurant options. If it is breakfast you crave, Lighthouse Cafe is a great stop. This unassuming little diner has likely fueled many artists with its tasty omelets and pancakes the size of frisbees. 
During your visit be sure to take a drive north of town to see the storied houseboats and upwards through Sausalito's elevated neighborhoods, many of the homes flat-roofed and set into the hillside surrounding the downtown. The streets are winding, and the views of San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge, spectacular.  
"It's a quaint, European-style town with fantastic views of the bay and cool fresh breezes — a perfect summer getaway," said Averell. 


Epic Escapes for Art Lovers

Jenny Wisniewski


	 

	 

	 

	 

	 

	6. Head to the water. Nothing is more soothing or seductive than a pretty body of water. If you live near an ocean, a lake, or a river, you’re in luck. (Again, this may be an idea you'll need to do when the weather's better where you live.) Even if you don’t, a fountain, a pond or a stream will do just as nicely. Get there before the sun goes down to catch the real “wow” factor.

	 

	 


6 Free (or Almost Free) Date Ideas

Sally Stich

Twenty years ago today was the Inauguration Day for President Bill Clinton’s second term and the first time The Washington Post covered a Presidential Inauguration in real time for the online audience. As a producer/editor on the "dot com" team (what were called by Post print journalists back then), I got to be a part of that historical moment.
My editor, Retha, and I were tasked with the very special assignment of reporting from the Inaugural Balls. I pulled a dusty bridesmaid’s dress from my closet for a rare second wearing and brought plenty of quarters along to the Washington Convention Center. After all, it was 1997. We didn’t have cell phones and we didn’t have wi-fi. So in order to make it look as though we were publishing live updates blog-style, but many years before blogs were invented, we had to use pay phones to call a copy editor in the newsroom to type in our reports.
Although our pieces were pretty snarky, the gig was unforgettably glamorous for a young journalist. I still remember how Retha tried to talk Evander Holyfield’s limo driver into dropping us off at the end of the night, a fact that didn’t make the package of stories, probably because we’d run out of quarters.
In today's age of the ubiquitous selfie, it seems impossible that we have no photos from the night. Though considering late '90s fashion norms and my quasi-Rachel-from-Friends haircut, maybe that’s for the best.
Looking at the old pages our team put together for Inauguration 1997 reminded me just how text-heavy our work was. Although people (not me at the time) owned digital cameras, we still had to upload the images directly to a computer before using them. But the lack of visuals on the site had far more to do with the fact that the majority of our audience used dial-up to reach our content at the time. Photos took forever to download in the AOL and Netscape age of web browsing.
So Much Change
So much changed between that Presidential Inauguration night and the next one. Not to mention between then and the next 20 years.
The Post embraced live, continuous news and Washingtonpost.com became, I believe, the best news site in the world for digital coverage of the 2000 Presidential election, which ended in a tie between George W. Bush and Al Gore and triggered a complicated recount in Florida. Ultimately, of course, the election went to Bush through a controversial and split U.S. Supreme Court decision; digital journalists covered the election updates constantly and thoroughly. The country needed digital journalists to step up during that time and especially, many months later after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (I was long gone by that time, though — back in the Midwest, watching the dot-com bubble burst while going to grad school.)
Print and digital reporters were finally working together to tell stories in 2000. In 1997, by contrast, the print edition of the Post sent its own reporters to cover the Inauguration and Inaugural Balls and ran the stories in the next morning’s edition. Although laughable now, The Post — like many newspapers then — still worried about scooping itself by posting a story online before it ran in print in those years.
Since that time, cell phones and digital cameras have become de rigueur reporting tools for journalists. The idea that a reporter would not live-tweet from a breaking news scene because he or she wanted to save the story for print is fairly unthinkable. Audiences now demand constantly updated, multimedia storytelling that they can comment on and share immediately. This ball night, I fully expect to see photos and video of Melania and Ivanka’s gowns on social media the second the women step out of their limos.
Two Decades of Wisdom and Innovation
I won’t be flying to D.C. to cover anything Inaugural for Next Avenue and Twin Cities PBS, but I do look forward to seeing what The Post has in store for this year’s coverage. I’ll also inevitably reminisce about that ’97 Inauguration — maybe tagging Retha and other former colleagues in a Facebook post to remind them how long ago it was and how so much has changed. That goes for both the people we were 20 years and four presidents ago as much as the work we did in those early days of digital journalism.
As bland and basic as those early pages look to me now, I’d love to recapture some of the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, DIY spirit we had back in those early dot com news days. We really went for it and were free to do so in part because traditional print journalism wasn't quite sure what to make of its online counterparts (around that time, a friend on the print side of the Post told me that since the web was a fad, I should consider returning to traditional media). We could cover the Inauguration however we liked. Our audience was fairly small then, but they were enthusiastic early tech adopters who were excited to have access (then free) to The Post in an interactive new medium.
Looking back always makes me look within and think about what I've learned over the years. I'm a digital journalist again. I’m grateful for the technology upgrades and multimedia thinking our field has gained since then, but can't help thinking that those of us who've been working in digital journalism for the past two decades need to lean not only on technical learnings but also on the wisdom we've gained from our work online. We now know more about what our audiences expect and enjoy reading than ever before. We have more access to digital documents and data. We are able to explain history as it quickly unfolds. We can use photos and video but also animation and virtual reality to really tell the story.
We've now reached another critical historical moment in time as it relates to serving our digital audience (which is now most of the news audience). Although the technological advancement in storytelling is wonderful, I have a feeling that we'll need that hard-earned wisdom more than ever.


The Original Dot Com Inauguration

Shayla Thiel Stern

Ask American boomers what comes to mind when they think of Catholic nuns, and they might conjure a story of getting their knuckles rapped with a ruler by someone like Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep's character in the film Doubt). Or they might recall a sprightly young Sally Field as The Flying Nun. Or they might think of the Reverend Mother singing Climb Every Mountain in The Sound of Music.
But you probably don't think of nuns rapping, dancing or jumping on trampolines. YouTube's Field Day filmmakers spent an afternoon having fun with nuns, and judging from this artful, joyful little movie, things have changed a lot since Sister Mary Patrick's eighth grade English class. At the 2:36 mark, you actually see a real flying nun (sort of).


Modern Nuns Challenge Our Stereotypes

Bryce Kirchoff

Singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega, who emerged as a breakout star 40 years ago with her self-titled debut album, traces the roots of her sound to a particular place: her childhood bedroom in New York City.
Suzanne Vega"I grew up as the oldest of four kids," she says. "My parents were very young — my mom had four of us before she was 24 years old, and she had me at 18. So it was a kind of chaotic household, and part of my daily job was to look after the kids. I shared a room with my sister, and I would sing to her at night, to help her go to sleep. So that's the kind of voice I feel I have — the kind of voice you would use to sing to your sister." 
Fans worldwide have embraced Vega's mix of intelligence, wit, questioning and warmth for these four decades. Now 66, she's back with her tenth release, "Flying with Angels." Each song, she reveals, "takes place in an atmosphere of struggle"— helping the singer and the listener confront what needs confronting.  
'I Hoped I Would Have a Long Career' 
Forty years, several big chart hits, multiple international tours, a devoted fan base, and to top it off, three one-woman shows about one of her idols, Carson McCullers (the second, "Carson McCullers Talks About Love," received a Drama Desk Award nomination): Is this what she envisioned for her career?
"So that's the kind of voice I feel I have — the kind of voice you would use to sing to your sister." 
"I would say it has gone the way I'd hoped that it would," Vega reflects. "I hoped I would have a long career. That some things would be successful on the charts was a surprise. But most of it is just me doing my art, which is what I'd always hoped to do." She has been in the fortunate position of putting projects together as she chose, then seeing her work received in ways that allowed her to keep doing it. 
Vega wrapped up East Coast tour dates in June; she's taking a summer break ("I have July and August off, for the first time in like 20 years!" she says) before launching a European tour in the fall and looking at performance plans for next year. 
Asked if the engaging onstage style she's known for came naturally, Vega makes clear that it did not. "I had to learn how to put on a show. I had to learn to talk to an audience," she explains. Early on, she gained insight into how her work did — or didn't — come across. "I learned that if I didn't talk, the songs were considered really odd!" she recalls with a laugh. "A song like 'Cracking' or 'Small Blue Thing' — if I didn't talk to an audience, they'd get quieter and quieter, and everyone would seem to be feeling weirder and weirder." 
"I had to learn how to put on a show. I had to learn to talk to an audience." 
So she figured out what worked. "I learned to tell a story," she says. "To say what the songs are about. To make a joke. When to talk, when not to talk. All of that took years and years and years." 
She also discovered what might trip her up. Some of her initial performances — before the first album — were at Folk City, in Greenwich Village. "I watched other performers," she remembers. "I saw what worked for them, and I tried out all kinds of different things. I learned, for example, not to drink before I went onstage. It made me lose all my timing and it was a disaster. So I don't do that anymore." 
These days, on the other hand, "audience rapport is something I really enjoy," she notes. "I can respond quickly. I can gauge an audience's mood. What was a source of fear is now a source of fun." 
For Vega, as for many of us, fun is a welcome commodity in these often fraught times. Vega's husband, Paul Mills, an attorney and poet, suffered two strokes in early 2023, shortly after he'd contracted COVID; the strokes severely diminished his ability to speak. Knowing that he's improving helps to raise the couple's spirits as they face this trauma.
"I hoped I would have a long career. That some things would be successful on the charts was a surprise. But most of it is just me doing my art, which is what I'd always hoped to do.""He's working hard every day, and he's making huge progress," Vega says. "And people can really see it. So that's very heartening." Community helps as well: "I get a lot of comfort from being on support group websites. I know I'm not the only one in this position, who's being a caregiver and whose family has suffered as a result of COVID. Knowing that gives me courage." "Witch" on "Flying with Angels" is about processing this crisis.
Empowered by Taking Action 
Meanwhile, within a tumultuous political landscape, getting involved helps Vega cope. "I've discovered ResistBot," she says, "and I use that to write to my three elected representatives — either to say, 'Hey, let's fight this part of what's going on' or to say, 'Hey, good work here.' So that kind of thing is what keeps me sane: the feeling that I'm doing something, that I'm taking some kind of action, no matter how small."
She's also facing the widespread issue of disinformation that comes dressed in truth's clothing. "Once or twice," she admits, "I shared things with someone and they sort of snapped back at me, and I realized I might have shared something that I thought was true but wasn't. But I posted it because it fit my point of view. So I took it as a warning to myself, not to go down that path. I try to be more mindful."
Knowing that emotions can cloud our views, Vega takes her own into consideration when absorbing news: "When I look at something in the media, I try to probe it a bit: 'Do I feel this way? How do I feel about this situation?' I try to keep my own counsel. That's one way to keep my sanity — and my moral center." 
The Value of Education 
Though her daughter is a scientist, and her mother was a computer systems analyst, Vega majored in English Literature at Barnard College, with a theater minor. "I think it was really the only path for me," she explains. "I think I took one science course and realized, 'Well, I'm never gonna do well in chemistry!'"
 "I really like that idea, that I could bring someone comfort or make them feel less alone." 
But a liberal arts education served her well. "I feel my education gave me a sense of history that I did not have before," she states. "Of the human spirit, and what people are capable of. And it makes you a better artist, because you have all these different points of view. The Renaissance. "The Odyssey"! This is what civilization is based on. This is what it means to be civil."
"You learn about other cultures," she continues. "It allows you to travel through the world with a sense of ease and confidence. And you get a sense of dialogue with someone wiser than yourself." 
Told that fans say her work has helped them through personal challenges, Vega expresses her own appreciation. "I really like that idea, that I could bring someone comfort or make them feel less alone," she says. "It's the kind of service that I hope that I give. So that matters a lot to me." 


Suzanne Vega's Voice Is Still a Comfort to Her Fans

Pamela Rafalow Grossman

You've heard of picking your own berries, pumpkins, apples and more, but how about combing a field full of colorful flowers to create your very own bouquet? It's a growing trend across the country, and one that my neighbor, accomplished gardener Amy McGinniss (her garden looks like a miniature of painter Claude Monet's famous garden at Giverny) and I tapped into this summer at Brittany Hollow Farm in Rhinebeck, New York. 
Pick-your-own flower farms can be found in most states, offering a fun experience out in nature, a way to support local farmers and the opportunity to have flowers in the house without the usual high expenseFor $20 each, we were allowed to pick as many flowers as we could fit into a reusable bucket.
"Obviously, I love flowers since I love to garden," McGinniss says, "but I had no idea what to expect —how it would work, what kind of flowers they might have. It turned out to be such an adventure that I brought my sister back to pick her own bucket!"
"In this busy world, it is a chance to slow down, enjoy the butterflies and birds and observe nature." 
According to Debby Mosher, co-owner of Brittany Hollow Farm, "Many people love to pick their own flowers because it gives them a sense of ownership and creativity." Plus, she adds, "in this busy world, it is a chance to slow down, enjoy the butterflies and birds and observe nature."
When and How to Pick 
At the farm, McGinniss and I quickly fanned out in the vast field. We had different strategies for picking — she created a curated bouquet, while I filled my yellow bucket to the max.
"Everyone picks flowers differently," notes Mosher. "Some pick a certain color palette, others only like zinnias, and still others only like the more unusual flowers out of the fifty or so we grow." It's all about personal preference and style.
While you don't really need to prep for a visit — and many DIY farms will provide scissors — it's best to be prepared in case they don't. Here are some tips:
Go in the early morning or late afternoon when it’s cooler out.Wear sunscreen and bug spray.Wear a hat.Wear light clothing so you can spot any ticks.Wear good walking shoes.Bring gardening gloves if you have them, in case you end up picking flowers that have prickly stems.Bring scissors or clippers if you have them (another just in case).Snip off the stem of the flowers at the lowest point you can reach. If you pull up a bulb, snip it off and deliver it to the farm stand so they can plant it again next year.Have a plan for how you will transport the flowers back home — you might want to bring your own bucket or vase filled with water, or at least wet paper towels that you wrap in aluminum foil or brown paper to keep the flowers hydrated.How to Arrange a Bouquet of Flowers
Choose a vase to work with and decide whether you would like a multicolor or more monochromatic arrangement, as well as if you’d like a more horizontal or a vertical orientation for the flowers.Pick different kinds of flowers for your arrangement — round flowers like gerber daisies, dahlias, carnations and cone flowers, and taller, vertical flowers like gladioli, poms, heather and snapdragons. You can also choose a few flowers to be the focal point of your design — larger flowers like lilies, roses, peonies, sunflowers and irises.Cut the stems of the flowers you’ve picked on an angle, which helps them stay hydrated and discourages the growth of bacteria that could cause them to wilt prematurely.Shorten flowers to fit the height of your vase. You want to have a variety of heights, so experiment as you go along. Allow flowers to position themselves organically — for instance, if they want to drift to the right, put them on the right side of the arrangement.Strip the stalks of their lower leaves (and any dead leaves) to reduce bulk and prevent the growth of bacteria and mold. No leaves should be touching the water in the vase.Add foliage-only stems for variety. Good choices include eucalyptus, leather or tree ferns, myrtle, lemon leaf, Israeli Ruscus, Bells of Ireland, hostas and Dusty Miller.You can also add filler flowers like white baby’s breath or Queen Anne’s lace.Don’t stuff the vase to capacity; give the flowers some room to breathe and be seen.Place the vase in a spot that doesn’t get direct sunlight or is overheated to make the flowers last longer.Change the water in the vase frequently.Remove dead flowers from the arrangement as they droop; you can freshen the bouquet by adding some new flowers.With any luck and regular water changes, your bouquet may stay fresh for a week or even two weeks. You can also extend the life of your flowers by adding in a packet of cut flower food, a powder that typically contains lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, sugar and bleach, when you do your arrangement and then every few days. Also recut the stems on a diagonal every few days. 
For additional advice and a flower food recipe, Mosher recommends visiting the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's website.
Where Can You Find a Pick-Your-Own Flower Farm? 
Brittany Hollow Farm offers a pick-your-own flowers experienceFlower farms can be found in most states, offering a fun experience out in nature, a way to support local farmers and the opportunity to have flowers in the house without the usual high expense. Picking seasons in the south and warmer climates are year-round, but only run from June to late September in the East and Midwest.
Here's a sampling of some flower farms you might visit:
Wicked Tulips, Preston, Connecticut and Exeter, Rhode Island: This Northeastern farm specializes in tulips, and is only open each year from late April through late May.
Land's Sake Farm, Weston, Massachusetts: This New England farm has over 100 varieties of flowers and fillers.
Southern Hill Farms, Clermont, Florida: This central Florida farm grows sunflowers and zinnias for spring and fall picking.
Emery Acres Flower Farm, Rosemount, Minnesota: This midwestern farm has over 100 varieties of flowers and is open July - September.
Wilderbee Farm, Port Townsend, Washington: Pick lavender and cut flowers here during the summer.
The Farm at Park Winters, Winters, California: Pick from cosmos, marigolds, zinnias, dahlias, poppies, dianthus, sweet peas, love in a mist, agrostemmas, snap dragons, ranunculus, sunflowers and other flowers.


A New Trend: Pick-Your-Own Flower Farms

Nancy Monson

In both her professional and personal experience, Marti Erickson has always been a big proponent of play. “It’s beneficial to children at every age, from infancy on up, and to adults, too,” she said, citing the cognitive, physical, emotional and stress-reducing elements found in even the simplest kinds of play.
Erickson, who lives in Minneapolis, is the founding director of the Children, Family and Youth Consortium at the University of Minnesota. She specializes in linking research, practice and policy in the areas of parent-child attachment, child abuse prevention and children’s mental health. Erickson retired from the U of M in 2008, but continues to speak and serve as a consultant in the United States and abroad.
For more than a decade, Erickson and her daughter Erin, a women’s health nurse practitioner and specialist in maternal child health, have hosted a weekly podcast called MomEnough®, focusing on a variety of family topics.
Play is a significant and  meaningful part of Erickson’s daily life, too. She and husband Ron, parents to Erin and her brother Ryan, are the proud grandparents of five: Grant, Clara, McKinley (Erin’s children) and Miles and Elise (Ryan’s children). They range in age from 13 to 9.
Play is a State of Mind
Since becoming a grandmother, Erickson has loved spending time engaging her grandchildren in all different kinds of play. “Play is a state of mind,” Erickson says. “It’s not just something you do.”
Here are six tips from Erickson (with a few notes from grandson McKinley) on ways to play with your grandchildren:
1. Engage in creative play in everyday situations. Whether helping drive grandkids to school or extracurricular activities or taking them on errands, Erickson said time spent in the car with kids is an opportunity for fun. “When my grandchildren were little, I’d ask them for a topic and then I’d make up a song,” she said. “And when they got older, they would make up the songs.” To this day, Clara and McKinley fondly remember a song the three of them created in the car, and which Erickson, an accomplished pianist, later set to music.
According to Erickson, they also composed “chain stories” starting with “Once upon a time,” which often veered off onto humorous tangents. “It’s about turning a boring task, like driving around doing errands, into a playful moment," she said.
2. Spend time outdoors. As co-founder and chair emerita of the international Children and Nature Network, Erickson believes strongly in the value of people of all ages being outdoors in nature. “Even if it’s just in your backyard, there are so many opportunities to play outside with your grandchildren,” she said, recalling a time when her grandkids set up a “nature center” in her backyard. Other options include neighborhood walks, bike rides, playing tennis or even ice skating.
“Last Christmas, my grandkids got me new ice skates to replace the ones I'd had since I was a teenager. I wondered if I was the only 70-year-old grandma getting ice skates for Christmas,” said Erickson. “But I loved that the grandkids knew that would be my favorite gift in years. It puts a smile on my face to know that when the kids think of me, they think of playing.”
3. Let your grandkids direct the play. Grandparents shouldn’t feel as if they need to plan playtime. “Take the cues from the kids — they can come up with the ideas,” Erickson said. While grandparents and parents might frequently hear “I’m bored” from kids, Erickson spins that complaint around. “I’ll say, ‘That’s exciting! That’s an opportunity for me to see what your creative brain will come up with,’” she said.
All of Erickson’s grandchildren are fans of creative drama — putting on impromptu plays (some including their grandmother, who was once assigned the role of a kindly nanny with a British accent) and playing charades.
“On Thanksgiving, the kids wanted to end the day with an elaborate game of charades. For the first time, the teams were kids vs. adults — the kids won by a mile,” she said. “By the end, we were all laughing hysterically.”
4. Find ways to play away from the small screens. This can be challenging for both kids and adults, but Erickson said encouraging everyone to put away their phones can be framed in a loving way. “Emphasize that when you’re together, it’s a special time,” she said. “Ask them to put away their devices for a while, and assure them they can set some time aside to play games or text their friends later on.” If they’re struggling to make suggestions on what to do instead, toss out some ideas — maybe cook together or take a ball to the park. Board games are a great alternative to electronic ones, Erickson said.
5. Make memories through play. Erickson recently asked McKinley, 11, for his thoughts about playing, and his answers were insightful. “He said playing makes you more creative and that you become a really good problem solver,” she said. In step with his outgoing personality, Erickson said McKinley admitted that he’s “always looking for loopholes” when it comes to problem solving.
Since Erickson’s grandchildren live nearby, it's easier for her to have one-on-one time with them. In their discussion about play, she and McKinley shared fond memories of ‘McKinley Mondays’ when she would pick him up after morning preschool and they would spend the afternoon together.
“We had a big discussion about all the things we used to do together — we played with Legos, did art projects and took walks to the lake by our house to see the ducks,” she said. “He also remembered how he always wanted us to take a nap together, too,” Erickson added with a laugh.
6. Vacation or staycation. Over the years, Erickson and her husband have also taken opportunities to travel with their grandchildren, including a trip to the Black Hills with Miles and McKinley the year the boys turned 8. But according to Erickson, you can always enjoy new experiences with your grandchildren in your own hometown.
“For Elise’s birthday last month, I gave her a kids’ travel guide to the Twin Cities. We’re going to schedule a day or two during Christmas break when we will be like tourists in our own city,” said Erickson, adding that Elise is the one planning their agenda.
“Being open to meeting grandchildren where they are, in terms of their interests, is so much fun,” said Erickson. “It’s really a chance to recapture your inner child."


6 Ways to Play With Your Grandchildren

Julie Pfitzinger

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