La cuisine

These are new things I have invented to eat, and which I can make in less time than it would take to write out: →grilled salmon salad with soy and balsamic vinegar →calf’s liver in tomato pesto I am a genius but I have never learned to cook beans, which is what I want. Mine … More La cuisine

Elena Delgado

If one of the universities we have in common were a sugar plantation rather than a beach resort, she and I would be cousins; now the family resemblance is starting to show. Enough so that I am startled. Historian Carmen Iglesias has shown that as early as the fifteenth century Spain was already considered by … More Elena Delgado

White light

The sun is so bright, the light is almost as white as it is in June at the 50th parallel. I stayed up impractically late, and I slept late. I am going to give this up but I like to sleep mornings in sunny rooms. I am not sick any more and I want to … More White light

On failure

Dear Writing Group: No me he querido extender sobre el tema semanal porque hay tanto que decir, ¡y tanto! Yo esta semana tengo 4,000 palabras remal escritas ¡y es tanto! es decir, ¡son tantas! Algo con qué trabajar dan y esto ¡ya es tanto! Quand on a la vie et la jeunesse, c’est déjà tellement! … More On failure

Cecilia Valdés

This novel is about the problems of white society defining itself; there are all these Afro-Cuban characters with interesting stories but the issues on which the novel centers itself are managing these people and defining whiteness, distinguishing degrees of whiteness (see J. C. Sánchez, apud Monteleone). The OJO CONOCEDOR is the OJO NACIONAL because only … More Cecilia Valdés

More counter-advice

Two of the main pieces of advice given in the attempt to train people to compete down, and my answers to them. Standard: Submit to conferences abstracts for things you are going to write, that should be done by then. If they come out slightly different than planned, that is all right, you explain it … More More counter-advice

The last three paragraphs of that article

In this novel and the society it portrays, the maintenance of racially segregated families (the planter with an official and an unofficial family) leads to incest, which destabilizes the patriarchy because it collapses the control the planter maintains and also supports and extends by having multiple, separate families. This threatens to destroy (and not support) … More The last three paragraphs of that article

Sol y sombra III

Unfortunately I just lost an important and substantial to-do list, and must start to recompose it. Monday I must be sure to call the gutter men and the roofers. There is also my university committee to deal with and I cannot continue to put this off, disgusted though I am with what is going on … More Sol y sombra III