Verbal distinctions should be valued, since they stand for mental – intellectual – distinctions. Yet one feels it is somehow a pity that the word “poet” should have been split asunder. For nowadays when we speak of a poet, we think only of the utterer of such lyric, birdlike notes as “With ships the sea … More The Telling of the Tale
The students have never read any fiction before, of any kind, in any language. What I should be doing is having story hour. In my elementary schools, after lunch, the teacher would read high quality, age appropriate books for a whole hour. I should conceive of this course the way I do of the extracurricular … More How I should be teaching the introduction to the study of literature
Las ilusiones del patriotismo no tienen término. En el primer siglo de nuestra era, Plutarco se burló de quienes declaran que la luna de Atenas es mejor que la luna de Corinto; Milton, en el siglo XVII notó que Dios tenía la costumbre de revelarse primero a Sus ingleses; Fitche, a principios del siglo XIX, … More Nuestro pobre individualismo
[T]he protagonist was guilty of several things, and so was her mother. However, instead of owning up to their guilt in specific matters and attempting restitution they adopted guilt as a character trait, having insufficient self knowledge to deal in a rational way with the consequences of their actions. This is really worth considering. Axé.
I must decide about this by 30 March. I really do not need another conference this year, but this is in Mexico. It is soon after LASA, June 9-12, and my idea is to give a version of the LASA paper there, and be there for purposes of seeing other sessions and just to be … More Congreso IILI
This is for the renditions flights. I am not sure about the location of CIA prisons or torture centers. Axé.
In addition to teach I must print those letters of recommendation and mail them, update syllabi and websites, write other letters, put oil in the car, and answer the telephone. I believe I will start doing 15 minutes of research or writing a day, because the idea of finishing these things first makes life too … More Tuesday and Wednesday
Here is a view of the prison entrance, with its guard tower–a fairly old photograph, I think, but within my time. I am always amazed to actually arrive. Initially it was because this place is so famous (here is a picture of Leadbelly there in 1934), and also because it was so hidden the first … More Angola
I watched a film set near Torgau, in Eastern Germany, in 1980. I remembered that in 1977, in Easter week, in a frozen Copenhagen I went to the Soviet embassy to a ask for a visa. I remember what it looked like, and the guards’ regalia, going in, but I do not remember the rest. … More Torgau
Equipment: I have located a cat door that could be installed in a window. I could also get one of those self-cleaning litter boxes so the cat would not have to go out. The Litter Robot is the most entertaining but there are other self-cleaning litter boxes which are much less expensive and which cannot … More Minou
coldhearted scientist وداد 