Jackson Pollock

There’s nothing funny about people losing their livelihoods, their homes or their dignity.  There’s no humor in the collapse of the stock market, the housing market or the job market. But with every single news medium bombarding us each and every day with doom and gloom that seems to be even doomier and gloomier than the day before, and everyone we meet professionally, at the supermarket or in our neighborhoods repeating the same news as soon as we enter into a conversation, I’ve been finding myself close to collapsing under all this negative weight.  If you’re like me, then you probably need a break right about now, too. 

NEAL BENEZRA is not a showman. But as museum directors nationwide face plummeting endowments and potentially crippling budget cuts, Mr. Benezra’s even-keeled approach and penchant for collaboration in his stewardship of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art may be a blueprint for how to endure the financial uncertainty.

Not long ago, I was shopping at Whole Foods when I realized with a jolt that I was just an appliquéed theme sweater away from turning into my mother.

There I was, squinting helplessly at a product label I couldn’t read. Hoping to auto focus my eyes like a telephoto lens, I stretched the item out as far as my hand would reach and brought it back again to within an inch of my face. No luck.