Unburdening

The research is clear: people are happier when they unburden themselves to others, whether it's face-to-face or written communication.

In this spirit of sharing, allow me to unburden myself of this creepy-yet-compelling photo of Vladimir Putin.



He appears to have a deep interest in this baby's nutrition. (Oh, I know he can't really see the baby. Or CAN he?) Will the spoonful reach the mouth, will some of the brown mush dribble out? Stay tuned, World Watchers, just like Putin. It seems like yesterday when he was kissing a little boy's stomach, wanting to touch him "like a kitten," but really that was 2006. And this week it will be 2010. Oy.

Unrelated, but also intriguing:



I doubt I need to say anything more about this newsmaker; I'm interested in the image/text combo. Here's how I read it: "I Have Let My Family Down. HEEEYAAAAAA!" Sort of a primal Howard Dean-esque scream (a scream for which Dean took much flak, a scream sent forth while he was seeking the 2004 Democratic party nomination. While hilarious, the criticism of him was overdone: the burst of excitement was touching. Humans being human, you know?) The above photo is not touching, and it's only quasi-human -- a photo of a celebrity on a Nike poster that appeared in a newspaper and has been scanned in and which is now viewable on a multitude of different computer screens. It's pretty far removed from the situation. HEEEYAAAAAA!

Recently I read Lia Purpura's wonderful book of essays, "On Looking." Poetic and lovely, it's a meditation on seeing, watching. She uses a glacial metaphor -- dropped rocks and detritus and so on -- to explain how we sort out details and eventually, after much time, make sense of what we see. "Poor sorting" is one term the glaciologists use.

In nature and among people, looking is among my favorite occupations. It's different at a remove. TV, news, interweb, seemingly unreal celebrities and politicians -- we're burdened by it, all the sorting and sifting required as part of existence in the electronic age. Sometimes I think it's a good burden, a mental exercise. Sometimes I'd rather just go for a walk. Maybe I will. And later today I will drive a car for the first time since I was T-boned last week. A rental; my own car is unavailable for comment. This is the longest I've gone without driving since I was a teenager. I'm scared. Unburdening. Maybe I should bring along a small television for the car so Big Brother Putin can keep an eye on me. Heeeyaaaaaa.