Saturday, October 25, 2003

That beeping tone you hear is just my life ringing busy — sorry to be such an infrequent blogger lately. I could continue with this telephone metaphor and talk about work putting my life on hold, but that's probably enough. Anyway, please check back soon! Meanwhile, I'm off to teach a weekend course ... Don't you just love the end of Daylight Saving Time? I can't wait for that extra hour of delicious SLEEP! —L

I've been one poor correspondent and I've been too too hard to find, but that doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind ...

Saturday, October 18, 2003

The hollow-eyed truth of others' vision

Today's karmic assignments

a) The purpose of literature, since none of us will live more than once in this consciousness, is to see the world as others see it. At times, introspective conversation will do the same thing. Have you ever been staggered by what another person has told you about his/her perception of an event in your life? Write an infinite number of words about the inadequacy of a moment to express years of contemplation. Support your claims with evidence from dreams and phantasms.

b) Given that reality is subjectively constructed, answer the time-honoured question, What is truth? No points will be given for positivist claims.

c) Find the character in literature to whom your friends are most likely to compare you. Excavate the problematics of that character, and then excise it from collective consciousness. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.


Sunday, October 12, 2003

Notes about food

1. My raspberry canes are still fruiting today, October 12, despite several nights of freezing temperatures. I have never eaten raspberries so late in the season. I should probably explain that this variety of raspberry will fruit on first-year wood if the season is long enough — which it rarely is in this part of the country. There is nothing like the taste of a fresh raspberry in October.

2. The other night we made garden potatoes with garlic, rosemary, and dill (and sea salt and black pepper). We roasted them with olive oil in a hot oven. They were almost as good as the truffle-oil mashed potatoes Bruce had at the Macdonald Hotel a few years ago (well, maybe not quite THAT good). But yummy!

3. On Friday Christina fed us hand-caught BC salmon that had been smoked in maple with honey. Certain foods remind me of why people actually enjoy eating, and this was one of them.

In all, it's been a good week for food.

Meanwhile...
• I am writing midterm exams for three courses: ENGL 111, PROW 100, and PROW 200. There are two PROW 200 sections writing ten days apart, necessitating two exams. My brains are bubbling with bad grammar and forty-minute essay questions.

• I got my convocation notice! I will (not) be crossing the stage on Thursday, November 20. (I have a class...)

• I got my tax documents from Canada Trust. Now maybe Revenue Canada will stop harassing me.

• Peter liked my proposal for PROW 235, Applied Editing. Now we need only get it approved by the higher-ups so I can start teaching it. I think it will be a great course! Perhaps as early as next September?

Today I like: October. Peanut butter cookies (which I should make for Thanksgiving dinner —peanuts are a New World food, aren't they?). Wolves. Blueberries. Forgetfulness (tell me again).

Today I dislike: Hotmail. Busybodies. Conformity. A failure of the collective imagination. Missing proofreading errors on exams!

OK, that was my break. Back to the grey-matter mine!

the third-person Leslie

Saturday, October 04, 2003

The intellectual life of machines?

This is what the Surrealist Compliment Generator told me when I visited it today. I don't know whether I'm impressed or afraid!

"Legions of Communists worship your robust cannabalism of Capitalists clad in junk mail suits."

Just back from rock climbing, so my forearms aren't into typing much. Got a small job from an old academic acquaintance — yay! Must mark tomorrow. Thank goodness for Thanksgiving.

laV en violette

Friday, October 03, 2003

The woman I really am

• I'll be post-feminist in the post-patriarchy.

• If logic prevailed, men would ride sidesaddle.

• I think; therefore, I am dangerous.

• If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution. —Emma Goldman

• If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.

• There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people. —Howard Zinn

• We must be the change we wish to see in the world. —Gandhi

• The most violent element in society is ignorance. —Emma Goldman

• When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it? —Eleanor Roosevelt

• War is not healthy for children and other living things.

• Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love. —Che Guevara

• Your heart is a muscle the size of your fist: Keep loving, keep fighting.