(A poem I wrote a couple of years ago, recently found in a pile of papers. I appear to be channeling Benny Hill. I could do a lot worse.) I heard the hesitation and the grunt of forced cessation and I realized that I'd caught you in the act. And I smelled the strain and …
Bettany Hughes writes a great review for Catherine Nixey's The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World. I knew I'd be interested in the book before I read Hughes' review, but I'm so glad I was able to find a few interesting quotes: ...Nixey makes the fundamental point that while we lionize Christian culture for preserving …
Continue reading NYT Book Review – The Darkening Age by Catherine Nixey
Frens. I have been through the Stargate and back and will now divulge the secret to having a pleasant experience inside the MRI machine. Feel free to use this, unless you already have a process. This requires good brain muscles. Your mileage may vary. FIRST! Do not, I repeat, do not open your eyes. When …
I find Facebook frustrating. As storyteller, the Facebook algorithm creates a logistical dilemma. In some cases, I like to use the first comment as a, for lack of a better term, the punchline, or, in most cases, a secondary punchline. Sometimes it is to give further comment to what I'm posting, other times it is …
Continue reading Facebook and the Discontinuity of Narrative
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAMbpQ8J7g Warning: contains Zizek. I would like to offer this screenshot as a visual representation of how GenX was raised in the most disillusioned cultural environment, while continually doused with the marketing of Baby-Boomer nostalgia. (That nostalgia leaned markedly white and middle class.) My argument is GenX was disallowed its own cultural validation while standing …
I've been wanting to do close readings of things other than books and film for a while and when I spied Justin Timberlake's video for his new single, "Filthy," I thought, "yes, let's do this." The song itself is catchy and, while there are only about six or seven different lines in the whole song, …
Continue reading “If you know what’s good…”: Justin Timberlake’s warning in “Filthy”
Last night a friend and I texted back and forth about the "waiting game." All of our PhD applications are in and now it's just a matter of sitting by while committees of people decide our fate. While texting, I was also checking out thegradcafe.com for information about wait times, acceptance/rejection ratios and general conversations …
Continue reading Post-Ac-Life: Sleeplessness and Productivity
A friend shared this Huff Post article about a photographer using Disney princesses to highlight some of humanity's ills. What the article fails to do is think about the automatic "related story" link that comes after: Disney Princesses: the epitome of femininity and so easily molded into anything. Purchase yours today!
I occasionally wonder if I take my work seriously. Sometimes, when I’m researching or writing, I find the thread of a theme and I grab on for dear life, pulling, stretching, and, ultimately, tying myself up in knots. Then (and it always happens) I get a big “shit-eating” grin on my face and slice through …
Continue reading The State of English Studies: Scatalogical Addendum
