From Jodi Kantor's article "The Literary Critic's Shelf of Shame":In his novel Changing Places, David Lodge describes a literary parlor game called "Humiliations" in which participants confess, one by one, titles of books they've never read. The genius of the...
(
read more...)
|
In response to my post about that Modern Library book list, my friend Sean says: "Any list designed by committee is kind of pointless - weird decisions that arise from the normalizing effect of group work, rather than weird decisions...
(
read more...)
|
Out of the ones I haven't read, there are only ten or so that I feel any compunction at all about having missed. Who put together this list? Anyway, at the top of my really-should-have-read-it list is Nabokov's Lolita. The...
(
read more...)
|
I am currently reading "A Just and Seasonable Reprehension of Naked Breasts and Shoulders: Written by a Grave and Learned Papist" (1678). Next up: "Arrowes Against Babylon: Or, Certaine Quaeries Serving to a Cleere Discovery of the Mystery of Iniquity"...
(
read more...)
|
I am making a bona fide effort to dissertate. "Bona fide" means that I am actually sitting down and doing significant chunks of work several days in a row. One of the unfortunate consequences of getting significant chunks of work...
(
read more...)
|
Julia Cameron is pissing me off, and it's not entirely her fault. Really, I'm just not her target audience. The Artist's Way and The Vein of Gold are for artists, and I'm not an artist. I knew this, but I...
(
read more...)
|
I have to go to LA tomorrow and take a full-length version of the SAT verbal section so that this company I'll be working for soon can confirm that I don't actually suck at taking the test. I don't suck...
(
read more...)
|
Someone from the University of Washington called tonight; she was soliciting donations from alums. Fine. They do that sometimes. But before she asked me for money, she said that on behalf of the UW Alumni Association, she'd like to congratulate...
(
read more...)
|
I've never had a clear position on the degree to which I want my online and real-life spheres to overlap. Initially, I didn't want them to overlap at all. I first started following a handful of people's journals when LiveJournal...
(
read more...)
|
Someone from the University of Washington called tonight; she was soliciting donations from alums. Fine. They do that sometimes. But before she asked me for money, she said that on behalf of the UW Alumni Association, she'd like to congratulate...
(
read more...)
|
I'm getting panicky about money. At the end of spring semester, I cut down dramatically on work to leave myself available for full-time dissertation writing. I never made a huge amount of money, and we were doing more or less...
(
read more...)
|
I upgraded my operating system, so I’m now reinstalling a gajillion programs and trying to get things working properly. I think I might make an effort to stop saying “gajillion” and “gazillion,” my second favorite synonym for “lots and lots.”...
(
read more...)
|
I felt decidedly sub-par yesterday, and so spent much of the day snuggled up on the couch, hiding from the rigors of daily existence. I did put myself on a rigorous television-watching schedule. I believe it rather addled me. I...
(
read more...)
|
We had an end-of-semester luncheon for the Writing Center staff at C's house today. Earlier in the semester, I gave notice that this would be my last semester working there. I love the work, but I decided to spend the...
(
read more...)
|
One of the people who came to hear our panel presentation in Chicago had some interesting things to say to a couple of us after the regular question & answer session. "You hear people talking about writing and ritual," she...
(
read more...)
|
You know, I decided quite some time ago to stay out of LiveJournal crapfests, because I really don't need extra crap in my life. However, when people hit hard at one of the few things I truly believe in, maintaining...
(
read more...)
|
Lately, I've found myself increasingly occupied by thoughts of sanctuary: a physical space where I could go to feel right, to feel surrounded by beauty and calm, a place where it would be nearly impossible to feel anything other than...
(
read more...)
|
I'm short on patience today. The semester is winding down, winter break officially begins on Friday, and people are walking around campus in with one of three expressions on their faces: 1) "My Other Job is at the Post Office"...
(
read more...)
|
I went to see the oracle this weekend. I had heard that she lived in a cave up in the mountains, and since I had nothing to do but work or get further in touch with my ennui, I dug...
(
read more...)
|
Inspired by Kevin, I dug out some of my very first report cards. For the most part, they are unremarkable. The analyses of my academic progress are fairly predictable, except I didn't realize that I consistently did better in math...
(
read more...)
|
I don't always feel much like posting. Sometimes it's easier just to read for a while, and maybe to chime in with a comment here and there. It's sort of like when I get on the freeway on a route...
(
read more...)
|
Packing my books is always an emotional experience for me. For one thing, it always brings to light exactly how anal I can be ("Good god! I can't possibly mix the cookbooks with the British literature." "It's going to take...
(
read more...)
|
I've decided that I need to surround myself with more beautiful things. I need a place to read and write that feels more cozy—to arrange my physical environment in a way that reflects what I'm trying to do intellectually....
(
read more...)
|
As an undergraduate, I had a Chaucer professor who told wonderful stories about falling in love. He had a wry sense of humor and a talent for describing his euphoria, his heartache, his amorous adventures. He got particularly animated when...
(
read more...)
|
Then there is the problem of determining what is politically or culturally "significant," which always seems to come down to a perceived conflict between "high art" and popular culture. Is art that which can be apprehended by a small group of people highly trained in the medium?
(
read more...)
|
I read Joan Bolker's Writing Your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day today... I think much of her advice will prove helpful. It's so easy to get lost in such a huge task. I finally cut down on my teaching...
(
read more...)
|
|
