To ease your re-entry . . .

After the pleasant languors of the one holiday weekend in which we are directly instructed not to labor, what better way to ease our return to the working world than reading a brief, perceptive, sad, and moving account of what office life was like a scant decade ago, before the Internet changed our deskbound days? If that sounds good to you, go read Ed Park's piece in L Magazine on the subject, and remind yourself of what the Internet hasn't changed, namely the assumptions and omissions and conventions that keep us from ever truly getting to know most of our colleagues. Longtime readers will not be surprised--though I hope they'll be pleased--to discover that A Dance to the Music of Time plays a part as well . . .

{I really should have linked to Ed's piece in Thursday's post that touched on the pleasures of sharing stories and discoveries with friends, for Ed is both a master sharer and a wonderful recipient; the list of good novels he's put me on to is long and, despite my efforts to keep up, pleasantly ever-growing.}