I am not sure what else Anne Lasoff wrote. She felt guilty about writing and “beat down guilt as one would beat down an igniting spark.” (209) She felt (guiltily) “that writing and school were not an avocation but a private vice.” (210) As she began writing her life was no longer pinpointed on her … More “Writing in the Real World”
Naomi Weisstein was more egregiously mistreated than many of us, but also had a clearer sense of what was happening … perhaps because things were so much less veiled in those days … or perhaps because times were better. Weisstein: Wellesley faculty were brilliant and had to work at Wellesley because as women they were … More Weisstein, Valian
I have heard this many times, but in fact I do believe I am unlike the others. Neither the management of time, nor of money, nor of “impulses” is difficult for me. Most advice on life does not apply to me because it is about these three topics. I am unlike some others, too, in … More “Do Not Think You Are Not Like the Others”
I enjoyed Anne Lamott‘s Bird by Bird, wherein one is allowed to have an otherwise lackluster day if one is writing and still call it good. In this book writing can be messy and it has to do with life. In that way I find Lamott more interesting than Robert Boice who wants one to … More Working It Out
In class we saw Antonioni’s Blow-Up in connection with the Devil’s spit (ask if you must, and I’ll link when I can). It was quite exotic as all the students were born after this film was made. I was a child. The true class to give would be on sugar as a social actor. Sweetness … More Pouring Sugar
A pesky novella by Miguel de Unamuno seems to boil down to this: 1- a priest does not believe, but believes people need to; 2- people in fact do not think about this as much as he does, and just want good works; 3- even his main disciple is more interested in truth / authenticity … More San Manuel Bueno, Mártir
What do you think of Miguel de Unamuno? I think Miguel de Unamuno is really weird. But I have just come across Frances Wyers’ book on him and her tone is pleasantly arch. Axé.
I have heard that during the two years Thoreau spent at Walden, he sent his laundry back to town for doing. This is funny but I actually think it is all right given the nature of his project. “To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts,” said Thoreau in Walden, … More Walden
The curious do not understand my interest in Mexico, so uncultured and so dangerous. To those fearful I suggest the cultural excursions of the National Institute of Anthropology and History. I am sure they will put you at ease. There is one within the city almost every day, and out of town most weekends. The … More Mexico
The H.D. Book is at its core a polemic–elevating the female and the nonconformist and the heterodox against the institutions of men. One of these institutions was literature. Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 