à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Identity
Why I’m Obsessed with the Ronell Case
There is no reason other than prurience that I should be obsessed with the case of Avital Ronell. She’s a comparative literature professor at NYU who has been suspended for a year for sexually harassing one of her graduate students, a man, who filed a complaint under Title IX. Granted, the tale has many bizarre … Continue reading
Want to #DeleteFacebook? The Feldenkrais Method Can Help
“Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.” – Susan Sontag The massive breach of Facebook data has prompted people to delete their accounts or consider it. For some, going cold turkey works. For others, a gradual approach to changing online habits might make more sense. My own relationship … Continue reading
Budapest Then and Now: A Photo Essay
In an era when anyone can take a decent picture, even of themselves, with just one hand using a smartphone, it’s hard to recall a time when we needed a camera, film and two hands to capture a scene. Then, we decided in advance the number of exposures, the sensitivity to light we wanted and … Continue reading
What’s Missing from the NYT Feldenkrais Article? The Elusive Obvious
Acclaimed writer Jane Brody recently published Trying the Feldenkrais Method for Chronic Pain in The New York Times. I read the piece partly as her mea culpa for having “refrained from writing about this method of countering pain because I thought it was some sort of New Age gobbledygook with no scientific basis.” I’m glad she had a … Continue reading
#MeToo: Thoughts on Vulnerability, Victimhood, Secrets and Privacy
During my freshman orientation at Bryn Mawr College, the resident advisor invited us into her dorm room to sit on the floor in a circle and get know each other. To break the ice and build connection, she wanted each of us to share something we were either bad at or nervous about (so I … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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