A million soldiers died at Verdun, including the German painter Franz Marc who was 36 at the time. Before Verdun, says Denis de Rougemont toward the end of L’Amour et l’Occident, it was possible to find parallels between codes of chivalry and codes of war; with total war, this comes to an end. (My research … More Denis de Rougemont on Verdun
There is a character in the story I would like to interview so as to understand. I do not understand her or identify in any way but I would like to understand, to be able to see the world from her view. I want to find other literary characters like this. It is a person … More Short story noir II
Now the sun moves into Leo, and there is still another month before classes start. That means another month to do my summer things: research and writing, swimming and yoga, house and yardwork, all in a rhythm. My goal for this year is to be self contained. The banes of my existence are early undergraduate … More Nouvelle saison
La negrura del insomnio me trajo a un cuadro de Paul Klee desde la misteriosa sede de algún placer recordado de oído, y efervecieron los sentidos al contacto del amarillo chillante que contrastó con el pálido azul y con mi emoción, terrosa. Así pude rescatar un beso frío, la palma de mi mano contra un … More La luz 3
Student: This anthology is strange. Professor Zero: Yes. It is an anthology of modern short stories. They are all very strange, it is true. Student: But it is not just that. This class is strange. Professor Zero: How so? Student: It shocks the students. Professor Zero: Is the material that shocking? Student: No. Well, only … More Sur les étudiants
The issue, we decided last night, was finding a technology whereby to make life in Maringouin consistently bearable enough so as to be able to consistently work. The problem is the amount of energy that goes toward making things bearable, and the fact that efforts in this regard do not produce a reliable enough result. … More Ce que je ferai / White Rabbit
The energy is just bad in Maringouin, there is no escaping it. This is why people who know what is good for them are only here during the week, when they have to be at work. My friend says the quality of the energy has to do with all of the enmeshed relationships, which make … More La vérité
I saw Mistérios de Lisboa knowing nothing of the author or the director and I was captivated. You can Google it to discover its official meaning but I was captivated by the Portuguese, spoken as I heard it as a child, and the gestures, that I know from old fashioned people in northern Brazil. It … More Raúl Ruiz
This blog got almost 2,000 hits yesterday and it has had 1,300 today so far. Normally it only has about 150 and I think the most it ever got was 500 or so, one day last year. I remember when it became normal to get over 100 hits. Have I suddenly jumped? Will it become … More Is it a trend?
Really I have been justifying my anti-pornography, anti-sadomasochism attitude via Gail Dines. These things are part of mainstream fashion now because they have been sold and not because we have been liberated to do what we really want. The view of women constructed by the pornography industry does not only affect wives and girlfriends, but … More Contradictory … but contains face exercises, important
