Moving is oh, so hard. I have just spent a year editing furniture, art and accessories. In the first 30 minutes of our well planned and, to my way of thinking, organized move, our familiar mover Dax (familiar because he has helped us over the year of editing) told J.…
A table talk: on life downtown and a defense for science
On the Sunday my table talk with Gail Derreberry posted she texted me to say, thank you for helping me understand my journey. I’ve thought about that a lot. Do we live in the middle of our lives and miss really seeing our lives? Thank you, Gail, for inspiring this Juliet…
What’s your weather?
I love nature. Dew on roses in early morning. Vast fields of sunflowers raising their heads. The chorus of cicadas in summer. Rhythmic winds that sound like ocean waves. They’re harmony. But wind also destroys and water rushes in and rises. Fire and ice. J. will sometimes ask me, based…
Not so keen on getting out of my pajamas to do the highest thing
In the middle of another organizing project, I found notes from a few years ago when I was captivated by the idea of summum bonum, a Latin expression introduced by the Roman philosopher Cicero that means the highest good. I thought it would be amazing to write a memoir of…
A table talk: Gail, Graeter’s ice cream and a gait change
Everyone has a signature. Gail’s has lots of adjectives. Accomplished hostess. Consummate networker. Passionate foodie (she’s never met a vegetable she can’t turn into a work of art). She is enjoyed for her warmth, laughter and easy Southern access into her beautiful, well-appointed home and life. It’s silly really, the…
Form and function, sure, and what about me?
We’ve all heard the famous axiom of Chicago Architect Louis Sullivan (1856–1924): form follows function. Frank Lloyd Wright elevated the teaching of his mentor to argue over his lifetime of work that form and function are one. So many others have argued that what we create must be aesthetically pleasing—beautiful—and…