The impossibility of February

February. Cold wind, dirty snow and broken hearts–all wrapped up in one grey month.

Time to turn our backs on the weather and curl up with a good book.

Starting with: The Principles of Uncertainty (The Penguin Press, 2007) by Maira Kalman

a cold day out my window…

The Principles of Uncertainty is a diary of sorts, a year in Kalman’s life documented in scribbles, drawings, photographs, quotes. As such it has an intimate feel to it, like you’re peaking into someone’s personal journal:

From The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman

Described by the New York Times as “a children’s book for adults”, The Principles of Uncertainty is an easy and enjoyable read. In fact, Times writer Ariel Levy compares it to a bag of candy:

“…no one is saying you have to eat this whole bag of jellybeans in one sitting. Consume one here, one there, bypass the sicky-sweet ones, and the pages of this book add up to the kind of thing Kalman likes so much to paint: an odd treasure.”

That said — there is not much good about February, and not even Kalman can make it so. Her essay “The Impossibility of February” is a bizarrely funny melodrama–starting with a man skating on salt, his death and an inevitable trail of sadness, madness, illness, family foibles, and ultimately, forgiveness:

From The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman

See how “The Impossibility of February” ends at: http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/the-impossibility-of-february/

Or better yet, treat yourself to a copy of the book and a piece of chocolate cake:

From The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman

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