I was born and raised in the hippie commune that is Ithaca, NY (hackey sack and hemp capital of the Western Hemisphere). I moved away at age 17 and have spent the intervening years trying to hide my affinity for patchouli and utopian ideology, with moderate success. When I now go back Targets and WalMarts and other assorted "superstores" have replaced all the relics of my youth. People who used to wear tweed are now wearing parkas with their favorite NFL team logo embroidered across the back. Teenagers adorn themselves with Marlboro paraphernalia without irony. I guess it's true what they say about never going home again.

Politics (though it only causes me pain . . .) and the Poetics

Microwave cookery