William Butler Yeats

I am slow, so I am late to St. Patrick’s Day. Consider this, on Leonardo da Vinci and slowness. Faster than me and sometimes premature, the Emeritus Professor sent me the poem that follows after one of my exams, I do not remember now whether it was the M.A. or the Ph.D. Only now has … More William Butler Yeats

Faubourg Tremé 2

For St. Patrick’s Day we will continue to study new Orleans, which is also an Irish city. It was beautiful and sunny, and with daylight savings time starting so early now, the light lasted a long time. I found a cypress end table for the deck, paid off the carpenter who fixed the door, and … More Faubourg Tremé 2

On Self Injury

I am on sabbatical and could easily do as I see fit, namely work in the morning and evening, play in the afternoon, and sleep at night. In reality I work in the afternoon and night, play in the evening, and sleep in the morning. Notice how I choose to work at the hours of … More On Self Injury

The Contours

I think I finally see what it is to be a professor. It means you have a project that is yours. You see where it extends and begins to take shape through mist. It is all outside you but it flows to and from you. I always said this was the project I must undertake … More The Contours

Ides of March

My featured post of the past for today is actually from March 13, 2006. Of interest in the post are the comments on authorship, anonymity, and voice. I feature it as part of my attempt to move all of my original blog to a more solid archive, and also in lieu of writing a new … More Ides of March

Global Whiteness

Some time ago I taught the novel I am studying now. Its characters are classified by color according to a complex system of differentiation, and of concern to many is whiteness: attaining it, increasing it, limiting it, maintaining it. A student came to ask me about the classification system, which she had not entirely grasped. … More Global Whiteness

A Heretical Post

Writing is fun and publishing is easy. I know it is heresy to say that, so I will repeat it throughout this post. I am really tired of hearing how much I should be suffering and how hard it should all be. I have just never had a hard time writing or  publishing, even though … More A Heretical Post