High Tops

Yesterday morning was cool and slightly overcast as I drove my nine-year-old granddaughter to school. When we pulled up to the drop-off point and said our good-byes, she climbed out of the backseat, hoisted her backpack, grabbed her water bottle, and walked to the corner.

She waited patiently until making eye contact with the driver of another car stopped at the intersection before crossing. She was wearing white high-top Converse shoes.

Did you know that Converses are cool (again)? I’ll admit that I did not, until my twelve-year-old granddaughter returned from her “back to school” shopping trip with a pair of black high tops. And another pair, white, for her little sister.

Talk about lost in the ‘50s. That would be me, not them. They’re cool.

As I drove back through the winding streets to the house where we all live, I saw other kids getting dropped off or walking to school, with parents, grandparents, older siblings, relatives or friends — all converging on one location from many separate routes.

In what was neither an original nor especially profound insight, I suddenly realized that feeling satisfied in life requires being able to fully experience and appreciate moments like this. Or any of the other precious random little slivers of time granted to us.

Much of the time I am dissatisfied, yearning for more or perhaps for a return to moments long past or maybe for things that will never come to pass. But I know that trying to live in another time — backwards or forward — is wasted time.

So back home, I wrote out the story you just read. In the moment.

HEADLINES:

• The rapid downfall of Jann Wenner was years in the making (WP)

• Jann Wenner’s Rock Hall Reign Lasted Years. It Ended in 20 Minutes. (NYT)

• Republicans intensify government shutdown risk over spending bill (Guardian)

• House Republicans struggle to find consensus in closed-door party meeting amid government shutdown threat (CNN)

• An out-of-control GOP is the party of nonstop national crisis (The Hill)

• House Republicans cancel vote on short-term funding measure amid infighting – as it happened (Guardian)

• McCarthy’s impossible shutdown math (The Hill)

• Anxiety ripples through the Democratic Party over Biden (WP)

• The Hollywood Dual Strike Isn’t Just About the Writers and Actors (Atlantic)

• Fueled by a surge in conservative culture wars and a package of education laws targeting instruction on gender and sexuality, parents and residents in Florida have launched a deluge of book challenges. Last month, the state's Department of Education revealed that more than 300 books were removed from public school shelves during the 2022-2023 school year. [HuffPost]

• The male loneliness epidemic and how it affects fathers (CNN)

• Biden presses allies for Ukraine aid to beat back Russian invasion in U.N. speech (NBC)

• Russia has turned food, energy and even children into weapons against Ukraine, Zelenskyy says at UN (AP)

• Azerbaijan launches military action in Karabakh 'to disarm' Armenians (Reuters)

• Mental health among Afghan women deteriorating across the country, UN report finds (AP)

• At Japan’s dementia cafes, forgotten orders are all part of the service (WP)

• India expels Canadian diplomat, escalating tensions after Trudeau accuses India in Sikh’s killing (AP)

• Disney to Invest $60 Billion in Theme Parks, Cruises Over Next Decade (WSJ)

• Google DeepMind AI tool assesses DNA mutations for harm potential (Guardian)

• The Physical Process That Powers a New Type of Generative AI (Quanta)

• Employee Offering Suggestion At Meeting Slowly Grows Quieter And Quieter Until Eventually Squeaking ‘I Don’t Know’ (The Onion)