What ‘Mumbai New York Scranton’ Taught Me About Exploration
In an artful new book that’s as much an absorbing memoir as an object worthy of aesthetic praise, celebrated graphic designer Tamara Shopsin takes us on an adventure from Mumbai back home to New York City, with stops in between to her adopted home of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where she lives in a carriage house with…
In an artful new book that’s as much an absorbing memoir as an object worthy of aesthetic praise, celebrated graphic designer Tamara Shopsin takes us on an adventure from Mumbai back home to New York City, with stops in between to her adopted home of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where she lives in a carriage house with her photographer husband and collaborator, Jason Fulford. Mumbai New York Scranton moves through these places and through different periods in Shopsin’s life; she’s still a part-time short-order cook at her father’s beloved and beguiling restaurant Shopsin’s in Lower Manhattan, but the narrative ultimately covers four tumultuous weeks in her life, when—unbeknown to her—a tumor was growing in her brain and had begun to block her vital arteries.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Shopsin recounts her experience, which culminates in successful emergency brain surgery, with deft prose and playful design. Her delight in details, especially in the harsh world of the hospital, is what keeps this tale fresh, like her pre-operation plea to her twin sister for origami paper; musings on whether Capri Sun juice packs were invented by someone inspired by an IV pouch; and photographs of the “heaven”-like wet sponges rubbed on her lips in the recovery room.
With this memoir, Shopsin’s mix of art, storytelling, and quirkiness has clearly become her trademark. To describe her growing obsession with appam, an Indian rice flour, and coconut bread, she draws us a stick illustration comparing it to other local breakfast treats. To describe her growing love for Scranton, she tells us of its ring-pop factory and giant lump of coal in a city square that wears a Santa hat come Christmas time. And to describe her increasing wariness and dizzy spells, which she only later discovers are the result of her growing tumor, she tells us of a harrowing bell-less bike trip across the Brooklyn Bridge where, believing something was faulty with her wheel alignment, she hopelessly calls out “bicycle, bicycle, bicycle” to avoid veering into unsuspecting pedestrians.
Even before her life-threatening health crisis, Shopsin had a lot of material to draw upon. Fans of the restaurant were already curious about her experience growing up in the 1970s and ’80s in a one-bedroom Greenwich Village apartment with her parents and four siblings (she slept on a bookshelf) amid a quirky restaurant where her father famously still turns away non-regulars and creates more than 900 concoctions from scratch for its ever-changing menu (the mac & cheese pancakes have a cult-like following). As an adult, Shopsin has travelled the world and designed pieces for major newspapers and magazines (including GOOD) on topics from Canadian donut chains to book reviews on Theodore Roosevelt. But it’s her deceptively light turns of phrase and images that are the most compelling.
“People study meditation for twenty years to clear their minds of worry and distraction. Jason and I go to Wegman’s,” she writes. Shopsin’s journey within—to the recesses of her brain—is perhaps the most arresting exploration of all.
Reddit user Girlfriendhatesmefor’s three-year-old pitbull, Otis, had recently become overprotective of his wife. So he asked the online community if they knew what might be wrong with the dog.
“A week or two ago, my wife got some sort of stomach bug,” the Reddit user wrote under the subreddit /r/dogs. “She was really nauseous and ill for about a week. Otis is very in tune with her emotions (we once got in a fight and she was upset, I swear he was staring daggers at me lol) and during this time didn’t even want to leave her to go on walks. We thought it was adorable!”
His wife soon felt better, butthe dog’s behavior didn’t change.
Girlfriendhatesmefor began to fear that Otis’ behavior may be an early sign of an aggression issue or an indication that the dog was hurt or sick.
So he threw a question out to fellow Reddit users: “Has anyone else’s dog suddenly developed attachment/aggression issues? Any and all advice appreciated, even if it’s that we’re being paranoid!”
The most popular response to his thread was by ZZBC.
Any chance your wife is pregnant?
ZZBC | Reddit
The potential news hit Girlfriendhatesmefor like a ton of bricks. A few days later, Girlfriendhatesmefor posted an update and ZZBC was right!
“The wifey is pregnant!” the father-to-be wrote. “Otis is still being overprotective but it all makes sense now! Thanks for all the advice and kind words! Sorry for the delayed reply, I didn’t check back until just now!”
Redditors responded with similar experiences.
Anecdotal I know but I swear my dog knew I was pregnant before I was. He was super clingy (more than normal) and was always resting his head on my belly.
realityisworse | Reddit
So why do dogs get overprotective when someone is pregnant?
Jeff Werber, PhD, president and chief veterinarian of the Century Veterinary Group in Los Angeles, told Health.com that “dogs can also smell the hormonal changes going on in a woman’s body at that time.” He added the dog may “not understand that this new scent of your skin and breath is caused by a developing baby, but they will know that something is different with you—which might cause them to be more curious or attentive.”
The big lesson here is to listen to your pets and to ask questions when their behavior abruptly changes. They may be trying to tell you something, and the news may be life-changing.
Throughout history, women have stood up and fought to break down barriers imposed on them from stereotypes and societal expectations. The trailblazers in these photos made history and redefined what a woman could be. In doing so, they paved the way for future generations to stand up and continue to fight for equality.
While conspiracy theories are not limited to any topic, there is one type of event that seems particularly likely to spark them: mass shootings, typically defined as attacks in which a shooter kills at least four other people.
When one person kills many others in a single incident, particularly when it seems random, people naturally seek out answers for why the tragedy happened. After all, if a mass shooting is random, anyone can be a target.
