We had a guest and I was immersed for four days in my real academic life, the one I would have had if I had done as I saw fit. This academic life has roots here and in Latin America and in activism as well as academia. Everything seemed so easy, and I had so … More Agua
This post, and the comments on it, are very important. My problem, however, is how to get all the service done for 9 people when only 2 people have the necessary skills and these 2 people are the ones who most suffer if service is not done (we then have to clean up the resulting … More On service
It appears that for 19 years Louisiana has sought exemptions from Federal rules requiring recipients of food assistance to work or receive job training. The reason for this is that the said recipients are unemployed due to lack of work, not lack of training or lack of effort to find jobs. And the state does … More Le futur
Apparently seed cake was very common and is very old. The recipe below is for a sweet one, but look how much butter is in it! “…[O]lder recipes of a ‘bread’ type seed cake i.e. more bread than cake, made with yeast to help it rise, go back hundreds of years, with a variety of … More Seed cake
In my parents’ books I find things from very long ago. Here my father is smoking with Robert Duncan at Sutro Baths in San Francisco. Axé.
Among books I found a 1969 letter from him that reads in part: Among my exploits this year, there was just recently—presented by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese—a Poetry Festival and Conference at Austin, Texas. Sumptuously sponsored. When Octavio Paz resigned as Ambassador to India, Texas grabbed him up. Or rather, Rodolfo Cardona, the … More Robert Duncan
The park today was so full of people and ducks and children between the ages of one and two (I am convinced that these people are the fairies). I discovered that we have electronic access to at least some parts of Raritan, arguably my favorite journal. I should drop the New Yorker, perhaps, and subscribe … More Raritan
Gautier went on, and wrote about a voyage to Spain in 1840. He also took a series of daguerrotypes there. It appears that he went to Spain in the hottest season because he felt this would give him the most authentic Spanish experience, and he slept in the patio of the Alhambra. This portrait resembles … More Théophile Gautier
I am listening to Phil Ochs who died forty years ago this weekend. I remember that spring so clearly. There was so much foreboding, and there were so many elements and remnants left from a brighter past. These remnants were disappearing and I was a child growing with the sun and rain that filled us … More Phil Ochs
I am not one of those who believes generations have common characteristics and personalities — they just have certain common experiences and memories. But leaving that aside for a moment: where are the people coming from who say that it is the “baby boomers” who are responsible for the current situation of the United States? … More Open thread on the baby boom
coldhearted scientist وداد 