"Who invented hopscotch? Who invented jump rope?"/"There you go."

 Overheard at Meadhouse.

ADDED: The questions above were prompted by the statement: "Women need to invent their own sports."

My first thought was hopscotch and my second was jump rope. But was either of these sports/"sports" invented by women? No.

"By merging the traditional Buddhist reclining pose and the quintessential American figurative symbol, Reclining Liberty asks the viewer to contemplate the status of the ideals the Statue of Liberty represents."

Says the press release from MoCA Arlington and Arlington Arts, quoted in "'Reclining Liberty' takes a rest — and raises questions — in Arlington/Zaq Landsberg’s provocative sculpture, unveiled Saturday at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, settles in for her year-long stretch" (WaPo).

The piece depicts the statue laying on her side with her head cupped in one hand, one foot flexed, the pose alluding to depictions of the Buddha during his final days before reaching parinirvana. A formal opening celebration was held over the weekend, and she will relax on the museum’s lawn until July 2024.

I guess the copy editor is reclining too, what with "laying on her side."  

"Parinirvana" is the nirvana after death reached by someone who has achieved nirvana during life. That is, the reclining Buddha isn't taking a restorative rest. The reclining Buddha is dying. Since the Buddhist reference was explicitly intended, Liberty must be dying... if we go by the intent of the creator. 

"Making new friends involves many inefficiencies: hanging out for hours on end; buying or preparing food or drinks for people who you may or may not click with; traveling to..."

"... unfamiliar places or homes at appointed times, even when you’re not in the mood; commuting to the gym or the neighborhood park instead of working out at home. Not to mention, maintaining existing friendships also takes work and emotional investment — without any guarantee of a return. If your goal is optimization today, tomorrow or this week, it almost always makes sense to push friendship-building and maintenance down the list of priorities. But I’d suggest that the more important cost-benefit analysis to do is the longer-term one: If your goal is to be grounded and fulfilled over the course of a lifetime, then there is nothing more important than nurturing our essential bonds.... Like so much else about emerging from this pandemic, the key is pushing through the resistance and making a first step.... Is there pleasure — and a certain nobility — in solitude? Of course, especially for introverts like myself. But [Buddha, asked whether] 'good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship' make up half of the spiritual life [said] 'This is the entire spiritual life... good friendship, good companionship and good comradeship.'"

From "One Part of Your Life You Shouldn’t Optimize" (NYT).

Christmas Cher with Buddha and cat.

Hhmmm🎄 pic.twitter.com/vEnb1tAUAa

— Cher (@cher) December 17, 2021