December 13, 2002
Raves: Buddhist cabby, blind soothsayer and a Virgin
Joyce Wadler, New York Times, profile of a photographer
Mr. Weideman, as befits a Buddhist cabby photographer, is very neat. Shoes must be removed upon entering the apartment, and in a particular way: step onto a mat, remove shoes, step out of shoes directly onto floor. If not, Mr. Weideman is agitated. "No! no!" he'll shout, causing a reporter to freeze on one foot, wondering how she could have socially transgressed before even beginning the interview. "You're tracking the dirt from the mat onto the floor!"
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Janny Scott, New York Times, scenes from the subway
Even in the best of times, the New York City subway system is a realm of perpetual mystery: inexplicable changes of itinerary, petulant turnstiles, announcements spoken in tongues. In the face of which, New Yorkers long ago perfected an attitude of weary knowingness: if there is one thing New Yorkers think they know, it is that they know the score.
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Patricia Yollin, San Francisco Chronicle, celebration for the Virgin of Guadalupe
Parties that start at 4 a.m. don't usually draw a crowd - even those that offer tamales, rum-laced coffee and mariachi music. The Virgin of Guadalupe, however, knows how to pack them in.
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Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times, profile of a blind astrologer
A warm blanket draped across his bone-thin shoulders, Omarr struggled to catch his breath, then smiled with an explanation: "About those adoring women: It's the astrology they're in love with, not me."
As for the gambling, "I win more than I lose."
Well, of course.
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Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, column
The city of Carson hosted a holiday banquet Wednesday night to honor young winners of an essay contest on good citizenship and, one by one, the children were presented medallions by a mayor under indictment on corruption charges.
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Howard Kurtz, Washington Post, on the editor of the Washington Monthly
"He hates snide, snotty writing. He hates egghead journalism, where you're casting about theories. If you don't have evidence, he will not print what you want to argue. . . . He talks all the time. Sometimes Josh and I have to yank him off the phone when we're on deadline."
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