Every semester… and I mean every semester… I find that on the second or third day, I already feel behind. How does this happen? I work hard. I prepare. I don’t lounge around on my “breaks.” Where does the time go? Let me hazard an answer to my own question. I think the academic life,…
Read MoreAugust 19- a good day for babies. 1973- a very fine vintage. As it just so happens, that was my birthday. August 19th is also the birthday of Bill Clinton, Orville Wright, Ogden Nash, Fred Thompson, Christian Slater, Tipper Gore and John Stamos. And the same day that Groucho Marx died. Heady times, indeed. I’ve…
Read MoreIt is hotter than hell here right now. Hotter than Georgia asphalt. Hotter than a harlot in church. Hotter than a June bride in a feather bed. Hotter than the devil’s underwear. Hotter than a $2 pistol on the Fourth of July. It’s August in Memphis. It’s hot. And it’s humid, so the heat is…
Read MoreMeet Sugarlump, my new housemate. For weeks I had been debating whether or not to adopt a cat from the local shelter, but was hesitating because this cat (pictured) started hanging around on my front porch all day and seemed to be a stray looking for a home. Eventually, I began putting out food and…
Read MoreWant to know what that colorful little bundle in the sky is in the picture above? It’s an Oregon man, Ken Couch, in a lawn chair, with 105 large heIium balloons strapped to it. Want to know the best part of the story? His destination: Idaho. Sad to say, poor Ken didn’t make it all…
Read MoreYou may wonder to yourself: who could possibly have had a sadder life than Frida Kahlo? Well, I just saw the biopic La Vie en Rose and I’m pretty sure Edith Piaf can give Frida a run for her poverty. I was only introduced to the work of Frida Kahlo about ten years ago. Kahlo’s…
Read MoreA proposition for my friends, far and near: This year is the 30th anniversay of Elvis Presley’s death. As you may know, Memphis memorializes Elvis’ death every year with “Elvis Week” in August, including a candlelight vigil and an “Almost Elvis” impersonation contest. As it just so happens, Elvis’ death (August 16) is the same…
Read MoreAs readers of this blog know, I often comment on reviews that appear in the Notre Dame Philosophical Review. Mostly, I note when the critics have landed a real shiner (like the recent tags by Mendieta and Maudlin). But, this time, I’m a bit perplexed. In his recent review of the text Entfremdung: Zur Aktualität…
Read MoreI stopped at the gas station yesterday to pick up some milk and noticed that the cashier had a (pretty mean-looking) shiner on her right eye. I asked her what happened, and she told me this terrible story about her bruise: Apparently, she’s been living in Memphis for the last 3 years with no air…
Read MoreAs I head down the home stretch of finishing the PhD, I’ve noticed that I am suffering from an acute case of completion anxiety. To be honest, I don’t know what’s scarier–trying to finish the dissertation, or having to think about it actually being finished (and, consequently, my new “post-graduate school life” beginning). It’s really…
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