Usdan Blog
Inspiring U | Dec 24, 2020
Inspiring U is a growing collection of creative content to help our community stay creatively engaged.
Musings | Dec 18, 2020
When I read this week’s edition of Bill McKibben’s New Yorker newsletter “The Climate Crisis,” my heart hurt. McKibben explained that the weight of human-made stuff on the planet now weighs more than all the living things.
Musings | Dec 11, 2020
“We Are” reminds me of the 2019 NYC Climate March, where I saw many Usdan families and a spoken word performance by a youth climate activist who I admire called Xiuhtezcatl Martinez. Martinez’s message to the youth at the march was: they are the chosen ones. As I listened to “We Are” last night, I understood that something happened to us this year and now we are all the chosen ones.
Musings | Dec 4, 2020
Wednesday was my birthday, a day when I traditionally take off from work and treat myself to a museum. The Museum of Modern Art was this year’s destination, and as I entered the galleries with anticipation, a very nice guard said to me: Let me know if I can help you find anything. To which I replied: Thank you, but for me the best part is getting lost.
Musings | Nov 25, 2020
Spending Thanksgiving weekend with my large, extended family is always one of the best experiences of my year. The Brandts were raised to treasure Thanksgiving with family, and when my children first said that Thanksgiving was their favorite holiday, I felt like a parental success.
Musings | Nov 20, 2020
I want to take this moment to reassure you that providing happiness and creativity to youth is the purpose of Usdan. The point of investing in, and sacrificing for, children’s joy and artistry is not just to help children feel good now, it is to help our whole society feel good in the future. The more pleasure our children experience growing up, and the more creativity they develop, the better a very uncertain future will be for all of us.