blog neglect

Yes I know, no posts in a while. It's not like I'm getting millions of comments anyway.

Thinking just now of something I remember, from Transformer (the excellent biography of Lou Reed). This is something that Moe Tucker also mentioned in a VU documentary I saw a while back. Lou is one of these big record collectors, and apparently well into the 60s he'd saved up all his old 45s of doo-wop, Johnny Ace and other R+B, Ornette, god-knows what else. Some awesome awesome stuff I'm sure. Mostly doo-wop I guess though, and other early rock and roll. Anyway, of course at this time Reed was living dangerously down on the Lower East side, and someone broke into his place and stole *all* of his records. It boggles the mind. Can you imagine what kind of value this would have today? Right now? Lou Reed's record collection?

equipoise

In the ancient world, the Epicureans valued a state of self-containment and autonomy, freedom from strong passions (whether positive or negative). To them, this was "happiness," properly understood. Equipoise, or something like it. For them, this was something always attainable by the human person even under extreme pressure, and yet it seems to me (an ordinary person) pretty hard to achieve and fleeting. It's also linked pretty closely with events and how they turn out. Perhaps I'm just a bad philosopher; I know I'd make a pretty bad Buddhist for this reason (because as hard as I try, I can't think of appetites and desires and fears as something that can reasonably gotten rid of).

more posts soon...

It's the beginning of a new term, much work to do, little time for reflection. Or rather, much reflection in the classroom but not much beyond that. More posts soon though.

word of the day, from wordsmith.org (Thanks Anu!)

"malkin (MO-kin, MAL-kin) noun 1. An untidy woman; a slattern. 2. A scarecrow or a grotesque effigy. 3. A mop made of a bundle or rags fastened to a stick. 4. A cat. 5. A hare.[From Middle English Malkyn (little Molly), diminutive ofthe name Maud or Molly/Mary.] A related word is grimalkin, referring to an old female cat or an ill-tempered old woman" (my italics).

-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)

Hmm. Old female cat and ill-tempered old woman. Those both describe Pico.

brass tacks, etc.

Back to Indy. Survived the flight and all, although very choppy over Chicago. The lady next to me was reading a prayer card and I have to say I was saying my Hail Marys too. My Catholicism comes back strong when I'm flying. I'm not proud of it, but it's true. But at least I don't reduce all religion to what John Locke called a "salvation society." That's another story.
1. I had a three-hour layover so I spent a lot of time in bookstores reading over management strategy books. I find this stuff fascinating: it's good to see what the enemy is doing, and also to remember that these ideas come from somewhere. Marx would be very proud of this interest: he was always immersed in this kind of detail.
2. Working through Althusser as well. Surprisingly readable stuff.
3. Already looking forward to next summer. Think I want to go to Japan.

More pictures soon.

(Almost) back

Well in a few hours, it's time to make the trip back. Time to check the mail that's piled up for almost three weeks, clean out the house as best I can, unpack, find the cat and reassure her that I won't leave again for a long time. As usual, it's been an amazing vacation.
1. Took the train across the state of Washington last night, and became completely convinced that there is absolutely no better way to travel. Reminds me of the many times I took the train down from Vancouver to Seattle, and the one long trip I made from St. Paul to Spokane back in 92. Way back then the trip was a kind of escape from an unhappy relationship. Train-decompression is slow and natural and healthy.

2. I watched more television than I have for a year or so, and I'm not proud of it. But I figure an immersion in crappy pop culture for a week or two is necessary to see what I'm missing for the other 51 weeks.
3. I also read the first part of Marx's Grundrisse, and much of Louis Althusser's On Marx. On the train last night sat next to a girl who after getting seated and situated began reading a bible. We had an interesting conversation. She looked at the book I was reading (Althusser), and asked what it was and I said "it's for school." What else was I to say?: that I was reading a French Marxist-Structuralist who went mad and ended up spending the last ten years of life in a mental hospital/prison? No. We ended up talking about Paul, which was just fine.