Open Vistas
In December of 2020 I came up with the strange idea of reading everything in an issue of a magazine and then writing about it for a blog post. Now, with 2020 hindsight and a terrible, disabling case of “writers block”, I set out to do something like that again. After reading the entirety of the May 30 issue of The New Yorker, I sat down to write. I started, but then froze up again. The read-it-all tactic to help thaw out wasn't working. Finally, here’s what I came up with. The cover of the magazine features an illustration called “Open Vistas” and the artist is Cannaday Chapman . My initial impression of it was of a woman in a hat gazing off down the way. On closer scrutiny: Two women sit at an outdoor table with their café-au-laits and powdered beignets, one is wearing a large hat and sunglasses and is looking away as she stirs her coffee. Her companion has her sunglasses hung on her shirt while she studies her cellphone. A sign saying Jazz Club hangs from the