The Year Ahead – The New York Times
Four more days until the end of the year and every possibility can happen right now. You have an idea of how things are going to go — what you’re expecting, what’s going to be difficult — but you’re dealing with archives. Memory and experience, educated guesses. “2025 is going to be very difficult for me,” a friend said matter-of-factly the other night, before ticking off all the things she had to do this year: get her business off the ground. new heights, consider changing jobs. To me, these things sound interesting, interesting – fascinating content about other people’s lives.
Now we’re all sitting here with the same days of the year in front of us, the same calendar. What activities and events will we fill? How will we welcome material things into our day? What meaning shall we attach to it?
I recently saw Christian Marclay’s installation “The Clock” at MoMA. It’s a 24-hour montage of thousands of clips from movies and shows, each clip featuring a clock, a clock, a line of dialogue, or some other type of clock. The movie is synchronized to real time, so each scene depicts the moment you are watching the movie, making “The Clock” itself a working clock. You’re watching a movie, but you’re also watching for hours.
The museum will remain open 24 hours on December 21 to host a special summer solstice screening of “The Clock,” from 7 p.m. Saturday to 7 p.m. Sunday. On my way there on Saturday night, I realized I was in a hurry: It’s 8pm, I’m late! But then I stopped. It doesn’t really matter when I arrive. People would come and go throughout the show throughout the night and into the next day. This is an invitation to reconsider the way I think about time. “The Clock,” like real time, is not a performance with a beginning and an end. It’s happening whether you’re there or not. You show up or you don’t. You pay attention or you don’t. You can’t do it wrong.
Sitting in front of an audience for three, four, five hours and somehow my attention never wavered, I reconsidered this proposal. Maybe you can do it wrong. Should I pay attention to the plot of each clip, the characters, and the dialogue, or should I pay attention to the clock? 11:22, 11:23, did I miss the clock on the screen showing 11:24 because I was trying to figure out which movie that last scene was from? (Then I discovered there was even one wiki dedicated to “Watches” with the origin of each clip identified – 11:24 includes scenes from “Shanghai Knights,” “Malice in Wonderland” and “Se7en.”) Can you miscalculate the time, by paying too much attention to Its passing or not enough?
“The Clock” forces you to contemplate time, the way we are compelled to turn the successive scenes of our lives into a story, projecting cause and effect onto everything that happens, assuming everything has a meaning and decide whether that meaning is positive or negative. We are the artists and architects of our lives, surveying the day or year ahead and trying to figure out what story we will tell. Is this a good year? It will be difficult, right? Who decides?
I stayed at “The Clock” until I started to fall asleep and dream sometime on Sunday morning. Marclay aids in falling asleep in the film: “That’s what you have to do — let go and absorb it and feel like you’re part of this thing,” he told my colleague Marc Tracy. If I had remembered that, maybe I would have stayed longer. Instead, I happened to go out in the middle of the night on the first day of winter to Midtown Manhattan.
That was two weeks ago. During that time, the sun rose and set 13 times, one year ended and a new year began. I tried to pay attention to the time, but not too closely, to notice that it was passing without getting too attached. This year spreads out before our eyes, a lot is written in but nothing is set in stone. It might be difficult, as my friend predicted for himself. And, according to one morning reader who wrote in to make their offer best advice – for me, the question mark is what constitutes this useful advice, as if the idea of things not being so terrible is a revelation – “Could it be wonderful?”
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CULTURE WEEK
Film and television
CULTURAL CALENDAR
🏆 Golden Globes (Sunday): The Globes, once the glamourous, boozy cousin of the more austere Oscars, are on life support after a series of ethics, financial and diversity scandals. The show has a new owner (the defunct Hollywood Foreign Press Association), a more diverse constituency and a new network. But will those changes – and a series Recommended grade A – is it enough to attract viewers? The ceremony takes place tomorrow night on CBS and Paramount+.
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Split pea soup
Suddenly the holidays are over, and the vibrant brilliance of December has been replaced by the cozy, quiet days of January. That means it’s time to get out your biggest pot and boil a batch of Ali Slagle’s split pea soup. Her delicious, hearty recipe is made with three different types of onions (leeks, onions and garlic) as well as carrots and thyme, all of which create a thick broth that adds sweetness and depth. momentum. Many split pea soups call for ham or bacon, and you can use either in Ali’s versatile version or leave out the meat all together and sprinkle with a little smoked paprika. Either way, remember to add a squeeze of lemon at the end to brighten things up.
REAL ESTATE
The hunt: In Harlem, two friends teamed up to buy a townhouse. Which did they choose? Play our game.
What you get for $1.3 million: Queen Anne House in Denver; a top-floor apartment in a 1916 apartment building in Chicago; or a 2020 ranch-style home in Austin, Texas.
A precious imported product: Saffron is very difficult to harvest. But in America, there are more small farmers and home gardeners growing spices for profit, or simply for fun.
Platonic romances and AI clones: Experts share Predictions about the future of dating.
More than just leggings: Some women’s activewear is becoming looser and more comfortable.
Want some Scotch?: High-end brands are use alcohol and sweets to retain customers.
ADVICE FROM WIRE CUTTER
The (easy) way to clean your refrigerator
Chances are your refrigerator has been packed Tetris-style, with leftovers leaking since November. To clean up the mess, Follow this advice: Mentally divide your refrigerator into small sections that you can tackle within 5 minutes — leaving the door open any longer is not ideal. Then, set a timer and clean each section, one section at a time, giving your refrigerator at least 20 minutes to return to temperature in between sections. You could do it all in one day if you wanted, but for me, the real appeal of this method is that it turns a daunting task into something easy to do in a few days. — Rachel Wharton
New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals, NHL: As we reach the halfway point of the NHL season, the Capitals are the team to watch. They are atop the Eastern Conference standings and have the No. 1 spot on The Athletic’s latest power rankings. And Alex Ovechkin, in his 20th season in Washington, has a chance to win surpassed Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record. Today at 12pm Eastern on ABC.
