1. It's not beautiful, in the sense of lovely, especially as a sports fan, to read more deeply into ugliness, but I'm learning more and more about how important "protecting the brand" is -- or, in the case of the NFL, "protecting the Shield" is. Penn State. Woman battering football players. How NBA owners and executives regard their "product" in relation to the racial composition of their fans. How black athletes are regarded by NBA executives in relation to the branding of their franchises. I read more today about seeing abuse through a corporate lens. It's a distorting and corrupting way to see things, more concerned with corporate reputation than with individuals being harmed. Just watch The Wire. Or follow the work of the Innocent Project. I already knew that, and I know it affects my life every day, whether it's how the news is filtered through the NYTimes, ESPN, and other news corporations, whether it's the corporate lens through which the school system the Deke works for sees education (same at LCC), whether it's the way the way the Episcopal church functions as a corporation and on and on. There's little escape. But today I looked into it more intensely than usual.
2. I took a few breaks from all this dispiriting reading and did some fun reading about Washington D.C. and Arlington and looked at maps more. I'm always finding new theaters and markets and monuments and other places I'd like to visit and enjoy.
3. All the reading I was doing about corporations protecting their reputations made me think of dirty laundry and I realized I had a hamper full and so I washed, dried, and folded my clothes.
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