Dr. Rosina Neginsky in her Paris apartment. PHOTO BY BORIS GESSEL Some philosophers and psychologists think we are “hardwired for beauty”: it “inspires and motivates us.” Rosina Neginsky has spent her lifetime learning about, experiencing and understanding beauty, and the role of beauty in reflecting the values of cultures across time and across political and […]
Amy Spies
Posted inSpecial Issues
Support for parents facing autism has come a long way
Consider going to the doctor and hearing this: “Your son is autistic. He will never speak, he will never be able to swing on a swing, and he will never get married because he is incapable of compassion for another person.” Then, “Here is a brochure. Good luck!” Fifteen years ago, these things and […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Not your mother’s Jazzercise
From left, Springfield Jazzercise instructors Sue Davstok, owner Lisa Schaefer, Tiffani Saunders and Ashlyn Hood PHOTO AMY SPIES Like almost everyone else I know, I have long struggled against my sofa’s seductiveness as well as my upbringing of bedtime snacks. But the thought of facing down an army of cold, grey ellipticals sucks the life […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Teen risk-taking is nothing new
A while back, a friend’s 14-year-old daughter sent inappropriate images and texts of herself to her boyfriend. The images were not the worst one might imagine – she was clothed – but her mother was horrified nonetheless. As a parent myself, I was shocked with what she had done, not just because I felt she […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Neanderthal night at Oak Ridge Cemetery
A stranger visiting Oak Ridge Cemetery on a recent Sunday might have wondered what a tribe of 50 were doing at the Tanner Mausoleum – surely no burial, too much noise, drumming, laughter! Edging close he’d see, and surely stay – but here’s what he’d witness: A group of Neanderthals garbed in skins of sabre-toothed […]
