April Fool! I am not really in Haiti, but I am dreaming of it and of the Faroes. In Haiti one speaks Kreyòl, and in the Faroes, Faroese. I can partly understand both of these languages, which makes the islands upon which they are spoken very tantalizing. And I have no serious interest in Sweden, … More Faroese
I am in Haiti, having flown here from New Orleans this morning. I left at 8:30, I arrived at 12:30, and I paid $432. It is less beautiful than this film, which makes me wonder — has it deteriorated to so great a degree, or does the film idealize? Did they clean the streets before … More En Haiti
EL DÍA EN QUE TU NACISTE / NACIERON TODAS LAS FLORES / Y EN LA PILA DEL BAUTISMO CANTARON LOS RUISEÑORES. “…and nightingales sang around the baptismal font.” Today, which as it dawns dresses the fields in new colors, we have the mañanitas, and De colores, and many videos. Our friend César Chávez, one of … More “The Day You Were Born, All the Flowers Bloomed”
Regin Dahl died in Copenhagen on this day in 2007. His life marked several. Tín er degningur handan líkdampsins flókar. Dit er morgengryet hinsides ligdunstens tåger. Yours is the daybreak beyond the corpse-reek’s mists. His father is on a stamp and I would be curious to know more about this man than is known. When … More Regin Dahl
Dear visiting colleague, I place you far above my head and if you ask me for a letter I will pour out my brain. I so wish we could recruit or retain you or any people so sane and active as yourself. –Yours very truly, PZ. Dear former colleague, if we could cover expenses and … More Letters One Might Write
It is the weekend, so we must sing. This is Glen David Andrews. This block of Decatur Street is a little like Fisherman’s Wharf or Disneyland, but he is not at all. Axé.
This baba ganoush is really good and note — you do not need a blender to make baba ghanoush. I had always thought you did, forgetting that blenders are new and baba ghanoush, old. Axé.
ELLE I think one of my students is on drugs. It is the only thing that would explain her erratic behavior and the mysterious reasons given for it. I recognize her behavior because I had mysterious problems too — mysterious because I did not understand them or their cause — as a result of my … More On Abuse and Addiction
Are you used to writing of the twentieth century in the past tense yet? I mean, using was instead of has been? Are you used to the idea that we are now standing outside the twentieth century? Axé.
Heresy In my experience the decorous things to say are that teaching is fun, writing is work, publishing is difficult, service is boring, and administration is oppressive. I was always warned to say I was not interested in teaching, because women who taught would never be taken seriously as researchers. In my actual experience it … More A Second Heretical Post, a Story, and a Question
coldhearted scientist وداد 