I did not realize that Jake at Gothamist posted a better-written piece about Cushman on the last day of the year 2003.
I still hold that Spondizo “found” this site “first” as he emailed me about it in early December. The real question is how do memes truly work such that cultural knowledge is transferred over semi-hidden pathways?
I’m a strong believer in ethnic memory, for instance, which, according to me, states that the as a descendent of Eastern European Jewry, my ability to speak Yiddish fluently is more innate than, say, a native Cambodian’s. It’s not Lamarckian theory here — rather, I believe that the context and syntax of language passed down from my grandparents to my parents to me was consistent with the way my great-grandparents spoke in the old country. I thus have a kind of proclivity to speak Yiddish, which I daresay I don’t really. Is this akin to memes? Probably.
Oh, this is cool: Deckchairs made blog of the day today.