Body Modification, Self-Fashioning

My ceramics class had its first midterm-like event today. This involved showing our work in progress and discussing it, both technically and thematically. Conversation turned to body modification and its relationship to self-fashioning. My own body modifies itself automatically. Right now it is traveling backwards in time due to all the lifting, jumping, and throwing … More Body Modification, Self-Fashioning

On Writing

1. In This Concrete Moment I have a splitting headache, caused by redoing footnotes. This onerous task is in itself enough to cause a splitting headache. And I now get splitting headaches from academic writing, anyway, so in this circumstance, I have a double splitting headache. Academic writing has not always given me splitting headaches. … More On Writing

Exhuming Banes II

1. Mirror, Mirror… Lakshmi Chaudhry clearly does not read the blogs I do. She believes blogs, and YouTube videos as well, are fame-crazed Americans’ attempts to attain a form of micro-celebrity. Voyeurism, narcissism, and exhibitionism are the order of the day. I would not say that about the blogs I read, any more than I … More Exhuming Banes II

Exhuming Banes I

Here again is what Bearcy, the pantheist, says about the Jantelov and its internalization. The religious terminology he uses, I would not, but the text is worth thinking about. These are the sentences from it which jump out at me today: According to my narrow point of view, the Law of Jante is the main … More Exhuming Banes I

On Trolls and Banes

I I got a trolling e-mail and was disconcerted. Initially, I was just hurt, because it was in fact a hurtful remark. I apologized, thinking, if you have hurt me, then I must deserve it. Then, I realized the remark had been rude. I e-mailed again, saying, look, that was rude. If you really wanted … More On Trolls and Banes

Se vuol ballare

Slaves of Academe has reminded us more than once that in academia, as in life, good deeds rarely go unpunished. Sometimes, however, they are rewarded or at least not opposed. This leads to feelings of empowerment, which brings perspective and focus, and fosters further accomplishment. This is why I have always considered empowerment a positive … More Se vuol ballare

Three Banes

Bane (bān), n. Fatal injury or ruin: “Hath some fond lover tic’d thee to thy bane?” (George Herbert). A cause of harm, ruin, or death: “Obedience,/Bane of all genius, virtue, freedom, truth,/Makes slaves of men” (Percy Bysshe Shelley). A source of persistent annoyance or exasperation: “The spellings of foreign names are often the bane of … More Three Banes