Charles M. Blow
Charles M. Blow
Charles McRay Blowis an American journalist, and the current visual op-ed columnist for The New York Times...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth11 August 1970
CountryUnited States of America
love-you world may
Different is not deviant, no matter what the world may say. You have the moral obligation to love yourself.
arts loved painting science
I have always loved science, but I have always loved the arts - drawing, painting and, yes, writing - more.
afternoon born boys break couple eight fancy five guests last lost love married preacher shade stretched struggling summer taking
I was born in the summer of 1970, the last of five boys stretched over eight years. My parents were a struggling young couple who had been married one afternoon under a shade tree by a preacher without a church. No guests or fancy dress, just the two of them, lost in love, and the preacher taking a break from working on a house.
america avoidance critique honest love object patriotism pillar requires wanting
America is not static. America is striving. And sometimes, America requires critique. Jingoism is an avoidance of realism. You can simultaneously love and be disappointed in the object of your love, wanting it to be better than it is. In fact, that is a measure of love. Honest critique is a pillar of patriotism.
advances change country languages love maintained rooted striving struggling turn
Conservatism is rooted in preservation; progressivism advances alteration. These are different love languages. These languages turn on your view of change itself: When you think of America, do you see a country struggling to be maintained or one striving to be made better?
abdication voters apathy
Voter apathy is a civic abdication.
leader humanity together
Great leadership isn’t shaped in the absence of opposition but in the presence of it. Great leaders draw us together by our universal humanity; they galvanize the wills of the willing; they draw clarity from the spigot of chaos.
conviction betray
Co-opted convictions will always betray you.
just-being done fine
I know that life, I've done all those things, and I can still tell you that just being you is perfectly fine.
soul trying rewards
Trying hard and working hard is its own reward. It feeds the soul. It affirms your will and your power. And it radiates from you, lighting the way for all those who see you.
trying culture males
I'm trying to illuminate how perilously narrow we draw the concepts of masculinity and sexuality in our male culture.
gay rights movement
One thing the gay rights movement taught the world is the importance of being visible.
bisexual use connotation
While the word bisexual was technically correct, I would only slowly come to use it to refer to myself in part because of the derisive connotations. But, in addition, it would seem to me woefully inadequate and impressionistically inaccurate.
color illustration weight
An illustration is a visual editorial - its just as nuanced. Everything that goes into it is a call you make: every color, every line weight, every angle.