Jill Stein

I have decided to vote third party if Hillary Clinton is the candidate. Louisiana will vote Trump in any case, and my vote will not make a difference to that; if I thought it would I would vote Clinton for Roe v. Wade and some related things. But her militarism and foreign policy disasters mean … More Jill Stein

Ten people

I was negotiating something for us with another university and the administrator on the other end said, “I can see that you are doing the job of ten people.” They saw it that quickly. I need higher student evaluations and more publications but I am doing the job of ten people. They saw it that … More Ten people

Agua

We had a guest and I was immersed for four days in my real academic life, the one I would have had if I had done as I saw fit. This academic life has roots here and in Latin America and in activism as well as academia. Everything seemed so easy, and I had so … More Agua

On service

This post, and the comments on it, are very important. My problem, however, is how to get all the service done for 9 people when only 2 people have the necessary skills and these 2 people are the ones who most suffer if service is not done (we then have to clean up the resulting … More On service

Le futur

It appears that for 19 years Louisiana has sought exemptions from Federal rules requiring recipients of food assistance to work or receive job training. The reason for this is that the said recipients are unemployed due to lack of work, not lack of training or lack of effort to find jobs. And the state does … More Le futur

Seed cake

Apparently seed cake was very common and is very old. The recipe below is for a sweet one, but look how much butter is in it! “…[O]lder recipes of a ‘bread’ type seed cake i.e. more bread than cake, made with yeast to help it rise, go back hundreds of years, with a variety of … More Seed cake

Robert Duncan

Among books I found a 1969 letter from him that reads in part: Among my exploits this year, there was just recently—presented by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese—a Poetry Festival and Conference at Austin, Texas. Sumptuously sponsored. When Octavio Paz resigned as Ambassador to India, Texas grabbed him up. Or rather, Rodolfo Cardona, the … More Robert Duncan

Raritan

The park today was so full of people and ducks and children between the ages of one and two (I am convinced that these people are the fairies). I discovered that we have electronic access to at least some parts of Raritan, arguably my favorite journal. I should drop the New Yorker, perhaps, and subscribe … More Raritan

Théophile Gautier

Gautier went on, and wrote about a voyage to Spain in 1840. He also took a series of daguerrotypes there. It appears that he went to Spain in the hottest season because he felt this would give him the most authentic Spanish experience, and he slept in the patio of the Alhambra. This portrait resembles … More Théophile Gautier