Thursday, July 26, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Other Blog
Noticed that Bemsha Swing was dropping in readership as I neglected it, so for a few days I'm going to post only over there, mostly some original poetry, until the numbers even out. Then I will go back to posting on SMT and neglecting BS again.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
30 days
I've heard the idea of trying to do something for 30 days. It could be exercising, or eating fruit, or meditating. What I've decided to do is, for the next 30 days, work every day on getting my stuff better organized. By stuff here I mean pieces of paper, books, pens, clothing, computer cables. Everything that I have in my physical possession. This is obviously a major weakness of mine. I have books in the car that shouldn't be there. I have piles of papers that I don't know what to do with. So for the next thirty days, starting today, I will work a bit every day on going through those papers, throwing things away I don't need. Eventually, this effort will have positive benefits for my scholarly work as well.
You might want to try this with whatever your main weakness is. Maybe every piece of paper is in place for you, but you have some other problem to work on. Maybe it's time management, or money-spending. After 30 days, see if you've effected a permanent change for the better.
You might want to try this with whatever your main weakness is. Maybe every piece of paper is in place for you, but you have some other problem to work on. Maybe it's time management, or money-spending. After 30 days, see if you've effected a permanent change for the better.
Independence Day
I want to be independent, not only of negative people in my life, but also of the fear that others will regard my work as less relevant to my field. It is somewhat ironical that I feel marginal within my own field, given that I am so successful within it. I shouldn't even worry that I am bucking the trend: that is what gives my work its distinctive identity. Nobody else does what I do within US Hispanism.
Briefly, the main tendency is toward an ideological positioning of Spanish identity. The hot topics are things like nationalism, identity, historical memory, and immigration. The main evidence is drawn from novels, films, and popular songs. My approach, obviously, is oriented toward poetry and poetics. I also deal with forms of Spanish cultural identity, but I take the position that modernist literary principles remain valuable. Hence I don't tend to deal with culture as a kind of symptom or source of data about political issues, but as the most valuable thing that human-kind has ever created.
Briefly, the main tendency is toward an ideological positioning of Spanish identity. The hot topics are things like nationalism, identity, historical memory, and immigration. The main evidence is drawn from novels, films, and popular songs. My approach, obviously, is oriented toward poetry and poetics. I also deal with forms of Spanish cultural identity, but I take the position that modernist literary principles remain valuable. Hence I don't tend to deal with culture as a kind of symptom or source of data about political issues, but as the most valuable thing that human-kind has ever created.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
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