Michelle Clayton

Now I need to come up with something about Marthe Robert and Doris Sommer and María and more. I was allowing myself to read a little more about Vallejo before going on, and I discovered a very, very important fact. Namely, the kind of surprise I get for not doing things and not keeping up … More Michelle Clayton

Thursday topics

♦Lisa Cohen’s book. Apparently Esther Murphy’s father scorned the children because they would not be able to repeat his trajectory, having been born at a different time. The family climate was a “miasma of depression and fear of withdrawn favor.” (29) ♦ That entire issue of RQ where Hart’s article on Vallejo as optical illusion … More Thursday topics

On why, paradoxically, one MUST study Vallejo’s biography to study his poetry; also, further unraveling of my other book on fractured subjectivities

I think of him as my contertulio but really he is one of my students. My interaction with him is somewhat different from interaction with other students, however, because usually the conversation is focused on what the student is doing, not on what I am. But with this student we end up talking more about … More On why, paradoxically, one MUST study Vallejo’s biography to study his poetry; also, further unraveling of my other book on fractured subjectivities

Mardi maigre

I woke up this morning terrified of the students and faculty at Vichy State University, that is to say of many of them and the atmosphere they create, and how I let the poison get into my bones. I woke up thinking that people say that it is all in how you handle your reactions … More Mardi maigre

I woke up this morning and did odd jobs, sought ways to combat anxiety, and read a brilliant comment on rhetoric and race, hallelu hallelujah.

For some reason we are not allowed to count as part of our workload, which is otherwise defined very broadly, etters of recommendation and general advising for graduate school admissions as part of teaching, or of advising, or of service to the profession. Translations done pro bono for Halliburton would be community service, so I … More I woke up this morning and did odd jobs, sought ways to combat anxiety, and read a brilliant comment on rhetoric and race, hallelu hallelujah.

Governing through crime

Here is Jonathan Simon’s law blog and it is worth reading. He does work related to what I would do in law, although mine would be comparative, having an Americas wide scope. W.H. Auden’s scorn for social science is amusing as a riposte here but pitiably parochial from my perspective. Axé.