You somewhat jokingly make an offering to an ancient and obscure goddess

An African-American resort town in Michigan, circa 1970; a raucous family road trip from Kansas City, Mo., to New York state; a bittersweet return to Hyderabad, India; and a college student’s self-discovery in Australia: Four New York Times Travel contributors share their memories of trips that still impart a sense of wonder and hope. Lost in Time on the Shores of Lake Idlewild By Ron Stodghill At some point, even as I began racking up frequent-flier miles, I came to accept a simple truth: I’d find no sleep as peaceful as I found on Lake Idlewild. My slumbers in Michigan’s densely wooded, all-black resort started as a kid. Belly full of fried catfish, Jones Homemade Ice Cream and ZotZ penny candy from Lee-John’s Novelty and Soda Bar, I would curl up on a lounge chair by the lake and snooze for hours to the sound of waves gurgling along the shore, the purring of fishing boats motoring by, the crackling of the Detroit Tigers radio broadcast wafting … [Read more...] about Past Into Present: 4 Journeys That Changed Us

THE ELISSAS: Three Girls, One Fate, and the Deadly Secrets of Suburbia , by Samantha Leach Like the Furies and the Fates of Greek mythology, the subjects of Samantha Leach’s “The Elissas” are troubled and troubling young women enacting a drama that feels both ancient and inevitable. If the addiction narrative has ascended to the level of myth in America (and it’s all too easy to argue that it has), then Elissa, Alyssa and Alissa are a familiar archetype: poor little rich girls, young and rebellious, their problems surely solvable by Daddy’s money. In this smart and gripping debut, Leach refreshes a familiar heartbreak by weaving the stories of these three lost young women into a larger, more complicated and ultimately tragic narrative of a nation not so much losing the war on drugs as on a death march every bit as doomed as the last battles in Sparta. Of the three protagonists, Elissa is the only one Leach knew personally. Growing up together in the wealthy suburbs of … [Read more...] about The Trouble With the Troubled Teen Industry

A few months ago, a man on the street catcalled me and then spanked my left butt cheek. Although I was wearing a thick winter coat and the slap did not leave a mark, my skin was pulsating from it. I felt dirty. And while I did not see his hand or even look directly at his face, I could not stop visualizing the grime caked beneath his fingernails. For years, I have trained myself to dissociate from situations like these, to laugh them off or to compartmentalize them into something that’s outside of my life. It was especially important for me to let these men (or any men) know that they couldn’t truly hurt me. A physical assault from a catcaller wasn’t the standard fare, but like many women, I have been routinely harassed simply for looking the way I look, my boundaries violated both physically and sexually. It started early, when I was only 15, and a group of teenage boys at high school tackled me in front of the bus stop, a rush of animal aggression that I didn’t understand. Maybe … [Read more...] about The Slap That Changed Everything

1 Business At the Bunny Cafe, customers can sip beverages while interacting with domestic rabbits, prompting criticism from animal rights activists. City News Service , News Partner Posted Reply WOODLAND HILLS, CA — A Woodland Hills pop-up that offers customers the chance to enjoy beverages in the company of domestic rabbits is drawing criticism from Los Angeles' rabbit rescue community, which accuses the owner of disregarding the animals' welfare. Located at 22030 Ventura Blvd., the Bunny Cafe is operated by Kevin Grushkovski, the 23-year-old founder and owner of JoyGrab, which develops unique and interactive customer experiences nationwide. According to its website, the cafe "offers an unique way to relax and de-stress. Petting and interacting with animals has been shown to have a calming effect on people and can lower cortisol levels (the hormone responsible for stress) in the body. Being surrounded by the peaceful, playful … [Read more...] about Valley’s Bunny Cafe Decried; Owner Insists Animals Are Protected

See the article in its original context from March 22, 1993 Section Page Buy Reprints View on timesmachine TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. It was about a month ago, George C. Wolfe recalled, that he was asked by the executive committee of the New York Shakespeare Festival's board if he'd be interested in taking over the reins of the institution from JoAnne Akalaitis. He was. Then they asked him what he'd do with it. "I told them what I'm passionate about," he said in an interview. "I said you can't create an oasis for … [Read more...] about Shakespeare Festival’s Boss: Idealistic, Romantic and Busy

Newly Reviewed Chelsea Joan Brown Through June 17. Matthew Marks Gallery, 522 West 22nd Street, Manhattan; 212-243-0200, matthewmarks.com . You could call the mature style of the great American painter Joan Brown (1938-1990) extra-late Egyptian, with her figures often rendered fully frontal or fully in profile. This formality — along with expanses of startling solid colors — contributes to the hypnotic stillness of her mainly autobiographical works. (Besides painting, her interests included her family, Hinduism, ballroom dancing, serious amateur swimming and Egyptian art.) It’s not always clear what Brown, who appears in six of the paintings here, is thinking about, but the seriousness is undeniable. So it’s not surprising that this show of a dozen paintings, mostly from the 1970s, includes “The Visitor” (1977). It depicts the artist seated with an Egyptian pharaoh at a restaurant. The pharaoh is deep turquoise — the color of Egyptian faience — as is the wall … [Read more...] about What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in June