Quote of the Day (Brock Colyar, on the ‘Disney Prince or Superman Aesthetic’ in Male Plastic Surgery)

“What men are aspiring toward, Dr. Lara Devgan, a Park Avenue plastic surgeon, tells me, is what she describes as the ‘Disney Prince or Superman aesthetic.’ And they often have an actor in mind. Among the celebrities most cited as inspiration in recent years, surgeons say, are Henry Cavill [pictured] (famous for playing Superman) and a ‘young Brad Pitt.’ Dr. Douglas Steinbrech, a surgeon in New York, makes a point to count his top-requested faces annually. Last year’s included Chris Hemsworth, Ryan Gosling, David Beckham, and Cristiano Ronaldo, all of whom have especially snatched jawlines. Dr. Garth Fisher, of Extreme Makeover fame, believes men are more hesitant about upper-face procedures lest they wind up looking like Robert Redford, Kenny Rogers, or Matt Gaetz, who has what is referred to in the industry as a ‘Spock brow.’”— American journalist Brock Colyar, “Chins Are In,” New York Magazine, Jan. 27-Feb. 9, 2025

Quote of the Day (Frank Bruni, on the Importance of Writing Often)

“Show me someone who writes correctly and ably — and who knows that — and I'll show you someone who probably also writes more. Such people's awareness of their agility and their confidence pave the way. Show me someone who has never been pressed to write well or given the tutelage and tools to do so and I'll show you someone who more often than not avoids it and, in avoiding it, is deprived of not only its benefits but also its pleasures.”—Op-ed columnist Frank Bruni, “Our Semicolons, Ourselves,” The New York Times, Dec. 25, 2023

TV Quote of the Day (‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show,’ With a ‘Rotten Day’ for Ted)

[Georgette, finding Ted Baxter in the arms of another woman, strongly considers becoming a nun. Mary Richards invites the nun overseeing Georgette’s application to her apartment for a meeting. With Mary running late, Rhoda lets the nun in, followed right after by Ted, who, unaware of her vocation, begins putting the moves on the nun.]

Sister Ann [played by Gail Strickland]: “Mr. Baxter, are you asking me for a date?”

Ted Baxter [played by Ted Knight]: “Is the Pope Catholic?”

Sister Ann: “I hope so. I’m a nun.”

Ted: “...What a rotten day!”— The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Season 4, Episode 14, “Almost a Nun's Story,” original air date Dec. 15, 1973, teleplay by Ed. Weinberger and Stan Daniels, directed by Jay Sandrich

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Book of Esther, Who Helps Avert ‘The Calamity That is Coming to My People’)

“Then Esther spoke again to the king; she fell at his feet and besought him with tears to avert the evil design of Haman the Ag′agite and the plot which he had devised against the Jews. And the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, and Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, ‘If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Ag′agite, the son of Hammeda′tha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. For how can I endure to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?’ Then King Ahasu-e′rus said to Queen Esther and to Mor′decai the Jew, ‘Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he would lay hands on the Jews. And you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring; for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.’”—Esther 8:3-8 (Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition)

Jews worldwide have found meaning and consolation for centuries in the story of how Esther, an orphan in a foreign land, saved her people by telling King Ahasu-e′rus of the genocidal intent of his evil minister, Haman.

But I have come to think that this tale can apply even more broadly—to refugees, displaced persons, immigrants—the persecuted and unwanted around the world (including in this country) who find themselves at the mercy of civil authorities who use them as scapegoats to distract from their own policy failures, whipping up dangerous resentments and injustice in the process.

One verse resonates especially in our time: “How can I endure to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”

The image accompanying this post, Banquet of Queen Esther, was created in 1660 by the Dutch painter, printmaker, and draughtsman Rembrandt (1606-1669).

Quote of the Day (Sam Lipsyte, on ‘No Time for Self-Pity’)

“Certain truths, like the fact that in this twisted world it's the charlatans who emerge victorious, still hurt, but now is no time for self-pity.”—American novelist and short-story writer Sam Lipsyte, No One Left to Come Looking for You (2022)

(The image accompanying this post, of Sam Lipsyte at a Philip Roth birthday reading at the Library of Congress, was taken Mar. 19, 2014, by Slowking.)

Quote of the Day (Patricia Marx, Imagining a New Voice-Mail Message for the U.S. Government)

“You have reached the U.S. government. We are currently unable to answer your call, because everyone has been fired except Bob. If you would like to leave a message, listen carefully, as most of our menu options have been fed into the wood chipper. Please note that this call is being recorded so that we can use it against you.”—American humorist Patricia Marx, “Shouts and Murmurs: You Have Reached the U.S. Government,” The New Yorker, Mar. 3, 2025

Quote of the Day (Baseball’s Casey Stengel, on How Leo Durocher Couldn’t Slug With Fists or Bat)

“That fresh boob is lucky I didn’t knock out his few brains with that bat, but nothing like that was necessary. He can’t hit any harder with his fists than he can with a bat.”—Then-Brooklyn Dodger manager (and future New York Yankee skipper) Casey Stengel (pictured), on a May 12, 1936 beneath-the-stands altercation with light-hitting St. Louis Cardinal infielder (and future manager) “Leo the Lip” Durocher, originally in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, quoted by John Swanberg, “Men of Summer,” The New York Times Book Review, Apr. 2, 2017

Think I could let Opening Day go by for the Yankees without genuflecting reverently towards their past?

Well, maybe not so reverently, judging from today’s quote. But a few choice words from Casey Stengel, over a decade before his glory days with the Bronx Bombers, were irresistible.

You can be sure that Leo Durocher gave his side of the story to waiting reporters, and that Stengel didn’t come off anywhere so well as his own account suggested.

But let it also be said that the Ol’ Professor wasn’t the first Yankee employee who took exception to the antics of “Leo the Lip”—nor would he be the last person associated with major league baseball to regard him balefully.

None other than Babe Ruth accused him of stealing his watch. Durocher’s vehement denial might have to be taken with a grain of salt, considering that the telephone-and-bell system he rigged up in Polo Ground offices enabled his New York Giants to storm back against the Dodgers and win the 1951 pennant.

Ultimately, Stengel had the last laugh on his hated rival, being still alive for his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The controversial Durocher wasn’t around to enjoy his own induction in 1994.

Catcher and broadcaster Joe Garagiola wrote a book, Baseball Is a Funny Game. In the case of Stengel and Durocher, it was also a scrappy one.

Play ball!