Thank you Ryan! I never have seen the differences of the plazas as I do now. I've stayed away from the digital ones as they don't have an appeal for me. On the other hand, I have been on a lifetime mission to " figure out what else we can do beshides suburbia", Your post hits at the heart of the challenge we face....how do we want to be humans, now that our old reference points are (have) disappeared? Thank you! What I know is it's nearly impossible to come up with an answer until the question is defined. Onward! into the emerging future!
Thank you for the comment, Brian! You've hit on my intent here exactly: to reframe the question. In a lot of my writing, I've been trying to reckon with nostalgia and utopia to figure out what is possible in the reality we live in, and to suggest changes that can help. But I don't see any silver bullets. Nevertheless, by raising the question I hope we can figure one better solutions together!
This is a reminder that rebuilding civic life will require more than better platforms. it depends on places where daily life forces us together again, even if that means embracing a bit more friction and inconvenience in a hyper-convenient world.
"Shopping in Ancient Rome" costs a fortune, but you could request it through interlibrary loan. It's a very broad treatment of retail trade in the Late Republic and Early Principate.
Based on your comments here, I am guessing that you would really appreciate this title and could find an interesting synthesis.
Another related title is The Roman Street by Jeremy Hartnett. Between Holleran and Hartnett, there's a lot of knowledge and insight on the streets and urbanism of Ancient Rome.
It never seizes to amaze me how well some people can write a book.
Thank you again! Per our dialogue elsewhere on this app, I'd likely wait to write about Rome until I visit it (still a hole in my international travels), but that would be complemented nicely by these readings.
We can visit the ruins, see what's still intact, and experience something of how the city evolved. Books about the past provide helpful context to the physical places, but they are not omniscient, and they're often interpretative. I like to experience a place through both text and context!
That's a nice to have, but perhaps not necessary. It helps my writing about Houston that I have lived here for decades and walked the streets that I write about. But it's also possible for outsiders to have important insights.
This is selfish on my part: I am trying to agitate others to write things that I would like to read.
In any case, thanks for writing this piece. This is one that I didn't know that I wanted to read.
Love. It. I’ve been on the web and social media since the start. I’m also a passionate in the world community builder. We need it more than ever that’s why we are bringing back the Town Crier. Unofficial. But totally real. Seriously we are holding auditions in June. My newsletter is awesome — but it won’t cut it. Got to get out there.
Thank you Ryan! I never have seen the differences of the plazas as I do now. I've stayed away from the digital ones as they don't have an appeal for me. On the other hand, I have been on a lifetime mission to " figure out what else we can do beshides suburbia", Your post hits at the heart of the challenge we face....how do we want to be humans, now that our old reference points are (have) disappeared? Thank you! What I know is it's nearly impossible to come up with an answer until the question is defined. Onward! into the emerging future!
Thank you for the comment, Brian! You've hit on my intent here exactly: to reframe the question. In a lot of my writing, I've been trying to reckon with nostalgia and utopia to figure out what is possible in the reality we live in, and to suggest changes that can help. But I don't see any silver bullets. Nevertheless, by raising the question I hope we can figure one better solutions together!
This is a reminder that rebuilding civic life will require more than better platforms. it depends on places where daily life forces us together again, even if that means embracing a bit more friction and inconvenience in a hyper-convenient world.
100%!
"Shopping in Ancient Rome" costs a fortune, but you could request it through interlibrary loan. It's a very broad treatment of retail trade in the Late Republic and Early Principate.
https://www.amazon.com/Shopping-Ancient-Rome-Republic-Principate/dp/019969821X#:~:text=What's%20it%20about%3F,the%20late%20Republic%20and%20Principate.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Based on your comments here, I am guessing that you would really appreciate this title and could find an interesting synthesis.
Another related title is The Roman Street by Jeremy Hartnett. Between Holleran and Hartnett, there's a lot of knowledge and insight on the streets and urbanism of Ancient Rome.
It never seizes to amaze me how well some people can write a book.
Thank you again! Per our dialogue elsewhere on this app, I'd likely wait to write about Rome until I visit it (still a hole in my international travels), but that would be complemented nicely by these readings.
I don’t understand the merits of such a standard. We can’t visit ancient Rome, for one thing.
We can visit the ruins, see what's still intact, and experience something of how the city evolved. Books about the past provide helpful context to the physical places, but they are not omniscient, and they're often interpretative. I like to experience a place through both text and context!
That's a nice to have, but perhaps not necessary. It helps my writing about Houston that I have lived here for decades and walked the streets that I write about. But it's also possible for outsiders to have important insights.
This is selfish on my part: I am trying to agitate others to write things that I would like to read.
In any case, thanks for writing this piece. This is one that I didn't know that I wanted to read.
Love. It. I’ve been on the web and social media since the start. I’m also a passionate in the world community builder. We need it more than ever that’s why we are bringing back the Town Crier. Unofficial. But totally real. Seriously we are holding auditions in June. My newsletter is awesome — but it won’t cut it. Got to get out there.
Reminds me of Apple’s town square strategy for its stores 8-10 years ago Failed spectacularly in Stockholm and Melbourne.