Reeducation Was

… a series of lessons in how to perfect absolute sadism toward oneself, particularly one’s intellectual self. No right to exist / to be who one was. No right to enjoy life. No right to think. No right to trust one’s perceptions. Academic and professional success reencoded as failure. No right to power in one’s … More Reeducation Was

Voice Four

Now I might really be over Reeducation, which was that in part because it involved not only becoming a professor in the United States and coming to live in the East. Today there are Mexicans working next door. Their voices sound like home. I realize once again how unheimlich it still is to me never … More Voice Four

Voice Three

The thesis of my article on “procrastination” that it is not about time management or lack of interest — or at least, it isn’t always. One problem can be what you have transferred onto it, in which case you will not make headway until you recognize that and transfer it off. The other problem is … More Voice Three

Beam Me Up

Despite all of my railings against the Twelve Stoners, despite my not wanting to visit their meetings because of the proselytizing that goes on, the self abuse one must witness in the name of God, and the temptation to consume nicotine with this heavily smoking crowd, I would be at such a meeting if there … More Beam Me Up

Voice Two

At one irrational level  I continue to believe that having access to a powerful self hurts those who wish that self were in them. I should therefore eradicate that self, as opposed to use it. This is how guilt is connected to access to self.  The Christians would say: stop rejecting what God has given … More Voice Two

Voice One

This new series of posts on voice is intended in part to work out some more ideas for my article on writing and “procrastination.” I believe one piece of that text has died on an editor’s desk, and my ideas have moved beyond what I sent out in any case. But if I get a … More Voice One

Coda

I reiterate that if you feel sorry for someone or guilty about them, and especially if the reason you do is that they have told you or otherwise communicated to you that you should, they are probably being abusive to you. I have heard people say their “head freezes” — they go into emotional shock … More Coda

Yet More Anti-Advice to Graduate Students and Assistant Professors

This is iconoclastic, I know, and I have posted on this matter before, and in some of my posts, I link to other classic posts. Therefore I will not repeat anything that has said before (unless I really have it on my mind today), but making a few other points, from a less classic lens. … More Yet More Anti-Advice to Graduate Students and Assistant Professors