gen. y.

Have you read the New York Times article “What Is It About 20-Somethings?” I didn’t read it in its entirety, perhaps because I am a 20-something… and articles of that nature often strike me as pedantic and condescending. I’ve also been absolutely delighted to read fiction again, so that article is going in the “read in the future” pile that’s taken over my living room. Have you read it? What did you think?

What did strike me as interesting, however, were the photos that accompanied the article. 13 young photographers were asked to capture the spirit of our generation using iPhones. While I think the conceit is a little contrived, I love the photos.

Though the collection doesn’t capture the complexity of a generation, I do think several of the photos are quite beautiful. And upon looking at one or two, I thought, That’s us; those are my friends and me. To see the full collection of photos, click here.

Do you think the photos capture the identity of this generation? What might you include? lv, molly

drawings.

I really love these illustrations by Julia Rothman. She attended RISD and regularly draws for The New York Times. I just think these are so charming and well-done. Hope you’re having a good week… xo, m

education.

An interesting discussion on The New York Times “Room for Debate” blog about teachers and qualifications. Read here. Here’s an excerpt. Hope you’ve all had a nice weekend! xo, m

PS- My favorite song of the day was “Ceremony” by New Order. This surprises/ amuses me.

“Teaching is an incredibly complex and difficult enterprise. Little about the job comes to people naturally. Prospective teachers need to learn such mundane but crucial skills as how to keep their classrooms orderly and centered on the topics at hand. Most important, at the same time, they have to learn how to make the subject matter of their content area accessible and worth knowing for their students, no easy task given the increasingly diverse backgrounds of these students. When ed schools are doing their job these are the kinds of things prospective teachers learn so can they start their careers better able to handle the intense and unrelenting demands of teaching.”
Jeffrey Mirel is the David L. Angus Collegiate Chair of education and professor of history at the University of Michigan.