Colleague: Only you did not lie to me or misrepresent anything at my interview. Z: None of us lied, or intended to misrepresent anything. It is only that I know what it is like where you are from, and also where you studied, and I am not from here either, although I have been here … More Coda on advice and its sources II
I keep insisting, and I am sure I am right, that you in fact learned how to do academic work if you have a degree from anything like a reputable institution, and that you got it from the program itself. Where else do you get advice? This is the submerged question, since much of the … More Coda on advice and its sources I
The right to desire to aspire to feel inspired is a human right I am surely the first to articulate, but that I have not invented since it is eternal. These are the main pieces of academic advice I have received: – Do not think you will get a job – Obey to get tenure – … More Coda on the right to desire to aspire to feel inspired
Pace the dolce far niente and Paul Lafargue (who, as I have just learned, was born in wealth on a coffee plantation in Santiago de Cuba) we will ask the question: do you think anyone has the right to desire or to aspire to inspiring work? Or, should people simply be grateful for “the opportunity to … More And another public opinion poll
Z: Did you enjoy Madison? Person from Houston: Yes, but it was really hard. Z: How so? Is it really as cutthroat as one sometimes hears? Person from Houston: No. It was that I had to learn how not to defer to men. You are not expected to do that there, and doing it does … More Another dialogue, another fact
Person: This is like being in Mexico in the 1820s. Z (laughs): Perhaps it is really about 1830 (if this is Mexico). There has been a post-Independence civil struggle. Only the winning leaders were not killed. Of the peons and civilians, I am the only one left standing, although I am wounded. All the other … More A dialogue, and one fact
This went medium well. I am glad I was as prepared as I was, down to the last drop. What I want to say is that as I train myself to be as obsequious as is considered meet, I train myself out of the authority to finish any writing project, too. I first noticed this … More Event, part 1
My accomplishments for today include seeing that I must move myself from the space of conquered person to the space of equal. The first step up was prisoner of war, as opposed to conquered person. Then I thought, what about free soldier from the other side. Then I thought I might go the whole way, … More Review session
“Qui vous donne envie de vivre, qui donne envie de la suivre, jusqu’au bout, juqu’au bout.” I am looking for a Moustaki song from the same era which ends, but does not begin in Greek. It is a happy song, not a solemn song. If you know it, I want it. Axé.
ALGUIEN, 1888-1973 She paid for us to go to college, not having been able herself. She says of her parents: They were both very good people who brought out what was most futile in the other, which is quite a tragic situation. If you have a good person and a bad person, that is one … More Des femmes
