True confession: one of the subjects I used to write about for national women’s magazines was sex. Yes, I was the reporter who’d call her friends and acquaintances to ask them what they did in bed. It got to the point where friends would groan (not with pleasure) when they heard my voice on the other end of the phone. Still, at dinner parties, everyone wanted me to talk about my work. “People really tell you that?”
It wasn’t just that it was titillating and fun. It was informative, even—dare I say—useful, to know how others thought and acted about this oh-so-private subject.
We have come a long way, haven’t we, in being more frank and open about a subject that not too long ago was taboo. So we’re going to be a little frank and open here in hopes that it will prove informative, maybe even useful, and, yes, also fun. “I can’t wait until The Sex Issue comes out!” one of our web interns declared the other day. We hope that you feel the same way—that you, too, are excited (no pun intended) by the subject matter and find the contents enlightening and enjoyable.
On a completely different subject, for this issue, we asked Associate Editor Marisa LaScala to gather all the best arts and entertainment events of the coming season. She did. And? Wow.
“I feel the 2008-2009 arts season is especially ambitious,” Marisa says. “The cultural centers around the county are really stretching themselves, whether it be by launching new series, such as the Latin Music series at the Emelin Theater, attracting edgier performers—Andrew Bird at the Tarrytown Music Hall!—or by offering programming that manages to keep up with the terrifying pace of national popular culture.” Marisa advises that you note the Jacob Burns Film Center’s recent events with directors David Gordon Green and Oliver Stone.
“But,” she adds, “what’s really special about this season is the way our cultural venues have entered into conversation with each other. Nothing personifies this more than All Fired Up, which, if you haven’t heard about it yet, you’ll be unable to avoid it come October. A shocking number of venues have figured out how to participate in a way that satisfies their own artistic aims as well as contribute to a county-wide dialogue. This has never been achieved on such a scale before, and no one benefits from this more than the residents of the county who get to experience it.”
Sex, art, and lots, lots more inside. Enjoy!
Esther Davidowitz
Editor-in-Chief
