I've been making a conscious effort--for the past couple years--to not rationalize my faults. I feel like one of the easiest traps of complacency one can fall into is to treat one's shortcomings as endearing personal idiosyncrasies. In other words, we shouldn't base our identities on our flaws. That same sort of vigilance is necessary with ( Read more... )

On Monday, I divided my time between the bathroom, my bed and the couch in front of the TV because I gave myself food poisoning by reheating bad Thanksgiving leftovers. Anyhow, during this involuntary day off, I caught an old 90 minute interview special of Woody Allen on the Dick Cavett show. It was airing on TCM. Well dog my cats if Dick Cavett ( Read more... )

I still read just about every post of all of my LJ friends almost every day, but I haven't really felt like writing on Livejournal lately. Earlier today, I was pondering why that might be when it occurred to me that I may have outgrown my blog persona. Then I asked myself if you can outgrow a version of your self that isn't actually your self ( Read more... )

If I could surf well, I could see the attraction in not working and just following the waves up and down the coast. Unfortunately, I feel like at some point in my life, I will need to do something well. And surfing just doesn't look like one of the realistic possibilities.

Two days ago, a gay friend of mine sent me an email in which he said that he and his partner were going to last night's Madonna concert in San Diego hopefully to celebrate. I sent him a reply this morning saying I was happy he could celebrate. It didn't take me long to realize how dunderheaded my response had been, especially because I was so ( Read more... )

The past and present wilt--I have fill'd them, emptied them ( Read more... )

Late notice, but do you have any strong opinions on prop 7 (renewable energy) and prop 11 (redistricting)? I'm a bit torn on both of them.

b

1. One of the few perks of being in academia is that you get a pretty large number of opportunities to meet famous writers, thinkers and scholars. Not just shake their hands and have them sign your copy of their book, but you can often actually converse with them. I met Terry Tempest Williams today and she was definitely worth meeting. She told ( Read more... )

Toilet stalls in German public bathrooms contain little antiseptic dispensers so you can sanitize your toilet seat before sitting on it. I learned this while in the Munich airport this summer. (Unfortunately, I did not get to see any more of Germany.) In America, the problem of guarding exposed anuses from untoward germs is solved differently. ( Read more... )

She wore tapered black jeans, a loose non-descript blue-green blouse with a dark skinny tie knotted down by her stomach and the pièce de resistance, a pair of all white saddle shoes. She hopped off the stage, walked through the pit and climbed onto the barrier in front of the boxes. Prowling back and forth, she pointed her eyes at us but she wasn ( Read more... )