I recently re-read Paul Gilroy's excellent book Postcolonial Melancholia. (nerd book; from the non-nerd recent reading stack I wholeheartedly endorse Philip Roth's Plot Against America) One of the many topics Gilroy covers is the recent rash of imperial apolgists, who use their ostensible credentials to argue that the world is a better place when ( Read more... )

I'm also working while I listen and wonder. Working. This is a new thing. Well, sort of.

I'm listening to NPR (http://www.wbur.org/), a great show called On Point, interviewing Annie Leibovitz about her new book, A Photographer's Life. I love Leibovitz, and I also love (really really love) her long-time love, Susan Sontag. They keep talking around their relationship, being clear about ( Read more... )

Biannual cheque arrived and was approved by the bank and now exists in our chequing account. I should never have half a year's wages at once; all I could think today was I CAN BUY ANYTHING I WANT. F jokingly suggested that we buy a car, which would only be a good idea if the car was edible.

Y'all are right that Canada Post sucks in comparison to U.S. Postal Service & Royal Mail. But when I lived in Brazil, their postal service went on strike at least once a year, usually in November. So I suppose it could be worse ( Read more... )

Apparently SSHRC has mailed my yearly earnings but it may take "up to two weeks" (quoting the nice lady on the phone) to arrive here. If you think that's bad, the (less nice) automated voice told me "three to four weeks." Are they sending it via donkey? Don't they understand that it's going to rain soon and I need wellies, that I'm putting off ( Read more... )

Yesterday I had my hair chopped off by a woman named Danielle who was so obviously Spoo's long lost older sister that I was kinda weirded out. Looked like Spoo, dressed like Spoo, acted like Spoo, occasionally broke into opera like Spoo. And this isn't just a manifestation of missing Spoo, I swear, though such things do happen. Like I'm walking ( Read more... )

Weekend. I like weekends ( Read more... )

Here's the best thing I heard last week: At a recent reconvening of one of Saddam Hussein's trials, he added to his normal beligerence by threatening to crush everyone's heads. Who new Saddam watched Kids in the Hall? I immediately ran from the kitchen, (where I was making coffee and listening to NPR, to the bedroom to affirm that F had heard this ( Read more... )

I got married ( Read more... )