Double, Double Toil and Trouble OR How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Act Like An Adult at Halloween.

Ah, Halloween... I have always had an odd relationship with this holiday (and yes, it is a holiday). I have always enjoyed mischief, pumpkins, and the color combination of orange and black but I have never really had the inclination to get dressed up. I also have marveled at the relationship between Halloween in our Christian America and its Pagan past. It was not co-opted into some other Christian holiday like Christmas or Easter. The pagan and the Christian totally get along. They seem to be thumbing their nose at each other in a way. Like I said, I love mischief (and any other excuse to drink too much and make a fool of myself).
But that being said what is my Halloween going to look like? Totally mundane and I can dig that aspect. Now that I have moved out a much more cracker part of my hometown I have decided to go with the flow this just once. So I purchased a punkkin', carved it, bought some candy, and I am about to go and light the candle in my front-porch gourd and wait cold drink in hand to bestow bad teeth and premature diabetes and weight gain on the wee ones. I think it will be nice. I do miss the idea of seeing a large sack of Trader Joe's groceries running around drunk though.
Here is a treat for my loyal readers! Have one I insist!










Which brings us to the week in review.



Well, so this week has been a stunner. Bright flashes of elucidation. The second guessing. The kinds of broad and sweeping statements that make a good politician but not the clearest thinker. In particular there was a comment made on this blog a few post's ago which stated x things. First, I need people to bounce my ideas of off. The The City had interlocutors to the point of ad nauseum but they were at least working in the same mileau as myself. This is not imply to any local readers that I do not think you are clever or smart or worthy talking too. Hell not, not the case at all! But when I my brain is on fire about something it is simply easier when I say "Let's talk about Dewey's pragmatic conception of the subject as outlined in his "The Need for a Recovery in Philosophy" as opposed to Heidegger's in Division I of Being and Time" and have you know what I am talking about. I am also not very good at explaining myself sometimes. So not having to have the prerequisit of explaining what god forsaken mumbo-jumbo I am babbling on about allows me to let my thought go full circle and burn itself, usually without anything even closely resembling a heroic last flare of brilliance before it dies. Hardly. The poster of that comment also pointed out that possibly the lack of having someone to "bounce my ideas of off" leads to a turning inward and thus perversion of those wholesome thoughts. To this I reply: yes and no. I have been doing that but I do not necessarily need to talk to my learned colleagues from the NSSR. Though, it is awfully nice, seriously. I have failed to take into account that explaining myself to those who are not graduate students will lead me to clarify my notions and cut out the crap (and what is more pragmatic than that!). I spend my time with philosophy majors, lawyers, ambulance drivers, the occasional Harvard graduated film-studies major, and a great many other worldly people who can understand what I am talking about if I just have the paitence to take five minutes and work it out. When I am not doing this I concede I was rotting my brain and twisting and bending looking to where ideas "break." So it is time to start talking it other people and not a drunken me. I think this is best for all.
So how is the "research" going? How is my "work"? I do not know. I have an outline. I have my sources (so far): Hook, Dewey, Rorty, West, (some) James, Pierce (maybe), Menand, (Richard) Hotstadter, and god knows what else. I concise and well thought outh bunch as you can see. But then something happended: I have been goaded by both reading Cornell West and recent online discussion with an old colleague that maybe Foucault can fit in here as well. I like that odd Kantian bet that Whiz Kid from Poitiers. And of all the writers that I got over in the past 18 months Foucault is the only I still find compelling in any fashion (Heidegger can still eat a dick). But oh well...
To another topic. I have decided that on somethings I want to write "memos." Quick and concise pieces about topics that are as much for myself in clarifying and thinking as they are for conveying my thinking. My first Memo is in the works. The first one is a defense of something I am sure I am going to do: vote third party in this upcoming Presidential election. The reasons for this are as much empirically based on statistics and geography as they are "ethical." The spurring to this position was started by a note from a friend (I am going to ask for permission to reprint in its entirety here soon I hope) and, of course, reading John Dewey. Here is a taste of the ethical position I am aiming at.

"It has been shown in the last few years that democratic institutions are no guarantee for the existence of democratic individuals. The alternative is that individuals who prize their own liberties and who prize the liberties of other individuals who are democratic in thought and action, are the sole final final warrant for the the existence and endurance of democratic institutions..."

Happy Halloween!!!

A Note to my Faithful Readers...

I suppose the last two posts (well more like 3) were a bit much. I was, um, how you say? Ah, yes! Intoxicated. I thought about taking them down just now but yfnl comment's about weirdness (though I doubt he means the good kind) did allow me to steal a smile. Though most of all he is right about what circumstances lead one's brain into the frenzy of incoherence (especially if alcohol is mixed). I think I was on to something though somewhere in there. We shall see.
Moi, all I have to say to you is, "Bring it." I will be waiting.
England Prevails.

Questions:

1) what is the author-function? Is it different than the bank-teller function? Is it different than the trashman-function? As my Scottish family are known to declare when drunk: Bollocks.
2) Can you show me the transcendent or the immanent on the map? We all wish we could be Spinozist but I also wish I could fly?
3) Can truth actually be written in ink? Is it not more a task for the "pencil-function"?
4) Other? Or is that a function as well?



x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; xxx-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function; x-function;
"Here class! I hold the kitten-function! The highest achievement of discursive practices!"

A Chilly Night.

Well here I sit. A stiff drink to one side and a stiff dose of Hillary Putnam in the other. My mind is a fire. I have not been so able to concentrate on the work of philosophy since who knows when. I find signs of progress. A quip of West's that indicates that he could see a sliver of light but not the big picture. I have the audacity to accuse Rorty of a misstep. I can respectfully spit in the face of my heroes. Even John Dewey fails me at points. But I can pick up and move on. There is work to be done just less than we all assumed.
Today I worked through various accounts that attempt to explain Dewey's account of experience. The notion of epistimic factors that allow us full access to the real world. Epistimic factors that limit our access. All tosh. We merely construct these problems as we villify them. But when have philosophers not been prone to scream at the voice of god when it is merely the wind. Look to experience Dewey says:

"Experience is primarly a process of undergoing: a process of standing something; of suffering and passion, of affection, in the literal sense of these words. The organism has to endure, to undergo, the consequences of its own actions.... Nothing can eliminate all risk, all adventure."

Empiricism is not necessarily out but it must accept that true and available pulchritude of the human condition.
This is not the silliness of Dasein, the sufferings of being amongst some amorphous "other." This is pains of existence. Our essence might not be predetermined by the hand of god but it is more truly forged by the pains of inflicted by others than the by choices that we ourselves inflict upon our very own person. I admit that my stiff drink might have eroded my since of composure but I find myself more charged now than ever to make my statement and be down with the whole silly affair. I do believe there to be few problems facing the philosopher but that what pitence of inconveince remains is the only task worthy of our attention.
And don't we all love some adventure in our lives?
McCain will lose. This is almost a foregone conclusion.
My vehicle was stolen a few nights ago. I am only now allowing myself to be insulted by such a violation of my person. It is not so much that it was a thing but that it was mine. And a hard won "mine" at that. But then again this is part of the adventure of it all.
Some of you should be expecting mail.

mildly drunken update...

The cult of responsibility. As dangerous as it is promising.
So my mind is a ablaze with thoughts about my thesis: one of you, oh semi-regular readers, is getting a long shit-filled letter concerning possible contents about my thesis. Enjoy the smell it is rich with detritus and what would be termed as insanity and incoherence by most people. But I sent it to you amongst all will understand. Beer suits me as a beverage...
I was struck by a thought today. What separates us, any of us, from greatness? What is it that Batman, James Bond, or Helen Keller lacks that we ourselves are not blessed with? Discipline. That is all.
We should all build kites...
England Prevails,
End of transmission.

Considerations...

Death: Did you hear about the McCain campaign spending more on Palin's wardrobe than her policy advisors?
Dream: Yes.
Death: Stupid right?
Dream: ..................................

"He's a stupid bum."

I just befuddles me where this kind of anger and misunderstanding stems from. It reminds me of some the hateful energy that the Clinton's generated and having grown up in that families home state I can tell you how awful and irrational it can get. I am not sure how the communism and Muslim gets into the mix. The notion that somehow a)socialism and America are incommensurate and b)that Obama is a Muslim even though he clearly isn't one just leaves me speechless. Spreading around the wealth? Centralized government intervention? Sounds like the Bush backed 700 billion dollar bailout that just went though to me. And advocating torture and war don't sound very Christiany "turn the other cheek to me." But oh well, let our children weep.

A Quote for E.

To me faith means not worrying.

-John Dewey

I want to thank all of you...

There's just so many of you to thank. Moi, YFNL, Shaun, Haddix etc. I could not have become the blogger I am today if it wasnt for all 4 of you who read this pithy little blog about how wretched, shallow, bubba, and convoluted my life is! Thank you for your comments which tell me you are bored and need distraction. Thank you all so much. Next stop: The White House.
God Bless You! God Bless America!

(This message is not endorsed by Sarah Pallin or her boobage.)

Thesis Update! I have a thesis!

Ok, so I will not go into the specifics yet because there are none. I am even terrified that I have come this far. The idea is the hardest part of research in my mind. That all being said: I have a thesis topic!
Now, I have of late gone back to hand writing things. In pencil. Everything hand written in pencil. Those of you who are getting letters from me (now or in the near future) will have noticed this aspect for yourselves. So when I was struck today I did what has come natural to me. I reached for a pencil and a sheaf of lined paper. The next thing I did was get a Manilla folder and label it "Thesis (Started 10/23/08)." This label I wrote in pen because it might rub off and I can't have that. My next step is a filing cabinet. I can't wait.
Things are looking good. Progress notes will come soon.

Updates on my day!

This is a list of things done so far. I will continue to edit it as the do goes on!
1) Drank whole pot of coffee
2) Ran dishwasher
3) Ran one load of laundry
4) Called old friend I caught contributing to NPR who voted for Bush last time
5) Sent of application to John Dewey Society
6) Eating Amy's Organic Burrito for a late brunch
-Still no booze consumed. Yet.

Updates!
Well, much has happened sorta since my last post so much so that an all together new post will be started very soon....
7)Went and picked up ordered copies of Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life and a Richard M. Nixon biography by Elizabeth Drew.
8)Went by comic book store and picked up some choice stuff. But I will not go into that here.
9)Went and had lunch with roommate. Hole in the wall Mexican place. Excellent if not a bit scary.
10) Watched an episode of Little Britain. Brilliant.
11) Ran another load of laundry.
12)Had coffee with very good friend. Was approached by roving news team to comment on brutal and apparently senseless beating of cute local news anchor (you might have heard of it even in NYC). Since I was playing hooky this was not a good idea. Can't be caught by boss on evening news when I am supposed to laid up. Had green tea. it was just ok.
13) Returned home and read comic books. Awesome. Batman should fight vampires more often.
14) Started reading some Rorty. Listened to The Meeting Places & Bjork ("Post" was a great record). And then it struck me... My thesis topic! Tentative titles include, "Overcoming Rorty's Overcoming of Dewey," "Two Dewey's: The Inadequacy of Rorty's Response," or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Accept Experimental and Naturalistic Metaphysics." Well, the last one is obviously not an actual candidate but the rest of them are not that great. Oh well...

So I did something (anything) naughty today...

I woke up this morning and didn't have it in me. I did not have the will to work. So, I called in sick. Aside from not being able to touch my toes there is nothing wrong with me. I thought about rolling over and going back to bed. I really did. But as I lay there in the cool gray of the overcast morning my lack of desire was slowly being replaced by something else all together. A desire for mischief. The day was too young and fresh to miss out on. So I am sitting here with my cup of coffee and my mason jar of ice water doing this blog post for my first act of mischief. Since I am not at work where I should be anything I do today other than go into work will be mischief. The most mundane and banal things turned into acts of defiance and am smirk. What heinous crime should I perpetrate? Lunch with my grand mother? Write a letter? Read some Richard Rorty? Go to the comic book store? Go to church? All things will now have the zest of added mischief! I think first I will read the N.Y.T. According to some people this is a crime no matter when you do it. Perhaps I will drink some wine while I do it.
I will be updating you through out the day.

God Bless America...

Let our children weep.

Aftermath...

So last night my roommate and I had a housewarming party. It was truly a delight. I talked to two young faculty members at my undergraduate school. They were charming. We talked about deafness and philosophy of language. Marxism almost came up. I avoided that noise.
My house is now a wreck. I am hungover and the kitchen floor is sticky. But it is a beautiful day and all will be well..
This was the only housewarming present I specifically received. A robot. It is the coolest thing I will ever be gifted.

What I am up too...

So I am in love with Neko Case. If you are not you are deficient in some aspect that most typical/normal/well adjusted folks are not.

It is kinda like if Tammy Wynette fronted Calexico. Which means it must be good... Right C, my bro.

Ok, so famous people are great. Well, most of them. I realized that I would like to hangout with more celebrities. And I do not mean Paris Hilton, Arriane Huffington or Dov Charney (just to name a few). I mean, I would like to be at a party and go "Hey Phillip [Roth]!" or "Hey Ryan [Adams]" or "Hey Morrissey [Morrissey]." So here is the problem. I do not on any normal day interact with these people. So I got to wondering to myself, "How do I hangout with famous people?" These leads to the question, "What kind of people do famous people hangout with?" Which all boils down to the simple answer: other famous people. So the answer to my original question is as equally simple: I must become famous. Now, there are lots of ways to get famous and not all of them are equal (or will make your parents still want to have you by for Christmas dinner). So I am going to try a few of them. I am going to go back to trying to write some music (stop laughing) and have beefed up my equipment with this goal in mind (pictures to follow).
I just want to be friends with famous people. What's wrong with that? Nothing, except free drugs and even that is a matter of opinion I will debate you on.

The mental health field. Do not work here. Lets leave it at that.

I found this clip of last night's presidential debate while coasting the web today...

And I must admit that it truly highlights the most ever present qualities of both of the candidates... Though what Joe Biden is doing in that get up escapes me.

Corrections...

Number of fights: 1
Pairs of boots purchased: 3

More Bubba Shit (Hopefully K is reading so he can scoff)

"As he was speaking, the drone of a low-flying airplane was heard and then seen passing overhead. As festivalgoers watched a live turkey being thrown out of the plane, children started running to catch it."

You know I just had to say something about this. I love my home state but then they go and do something like this and it just hard to explain to people what is so great about it. It must be like dating a drunk. When they are sober they are great but anytime your friends are around he gets really wasted and does something terrible. All you can do is go, "He is really sweet when nobody is looking." Christ I need to get some more sleep. Read more about throwing live poultry outta planes here.

The end of days (maybe literally)

Statistics and Reflections

Since 0730 friday:
Number of Hangovers: technically 3
Sandwiches Eaten: 3
Number of Christmas Presents purchased: 1
Drinks consumed: untold
Pitchers of Bloody Marys: 3
Fights: 0
Close Fights: 4
Times thrown up: 2 (both in the same 12hr period)
Guys who asked me "How's the weather up there?": 1
Cab rides: 1
Trips to Springdale: 1
Road Sodas consumed on trip to Springdale: 5
Cowboy hats worn: 2 (one white, one black)
Places stayed: 2
Nights stayed where I had planned on staying: 0
Ryan Adams records listened to: untold
Times I fell in love with Neko Case: 1 (so far)
BBQ's slept through: 1
4 hour naps which made me sleep through BBQ's: 1
Hours spent insane and drunk: As many is it took I suppose.

I am hungover as I write this. I am not at home I am far away from home. I am in the northwest corner of my state in the hills. I am less than well. I came on this trip to think and luckily my shenanigans and drinking have afforded me just the right amount of time for that. I also came to see old friends(old in all senses that it can used here). I had forgot how much younger I am than some of them. They talked about things they were doing in 1997. They were almost 20 and I was just getting first dusting of what would eventually turn out to be a pretty unruly beard. That being said, I hope I am have as vibrant and lusting for life when I get to their age as they are. My hands are shaking... My brain hurts...
This town is beautiful. I can only liken it to what it would be like if they built a college town in central park. If central park was very hilly (which it sorta isnt, especially when compared to this town). I like it here. I sat in on two classes on friday: Classical Ethical Theory and 19th Century Continental Philosophy. Aristotle is an alright guy. I forgot how much I hate Hegel. Muddled, overwrought, ontologically deranged Spinozism. I find more and more beauty in Spinoza the older I get and the more I learn to think. It is the simplicity of it that I like. I mean this drive for desolation also brings about problems but I see the need, the desire for an ontology like a desert. I can dig it. Simplicity is being able to look at what other decry as a problem and you being able to say, "No, take two steps to your left. See? It is not a problem you were just standing in the wrong place." I am hungover as hell...
My friend C's blog has become all about graffitti in the NYC you should read it, here you go.
My friend E's blog has a much more sensible discussion on it this morning you should it, here you go.
IN fact you should probably stop reading thsi blog all together and just read their's. Though I wish ol' C would update his more often. I need more water. I need to go back to bed.

I promised I would work harder on this blog but no such luck. Things have been stupid busy between work and being outta town and all of that jazz.
I went to St. Louis this past weekend to go see Ryan Adams play. I love this guy. I was really close to selling my guitar until I saw him perform. I admire him a lot. He is gifted and reads comic books. What is not to like. He also has an odd streak about his art that I find peculiar to him. He makes his set list out before hand. He does not do requests. You can yell and yell and yell all you want at him and you will be coyly told off. He does what he wants to. You can tell from his ridiculous blog that he likes his fans but at the end of the day he does not seek their approval only their help to allow him to keep doing what he loves to do. This is not seen very much these days.
Here is the set list from the show:
Set 1:
1. Cobwebs (everyone is standing)
2. Everybody Knows
3. Come Pick Me Up
4. Wonderwall
5. Fix It
6. La Cienega Just Smiled
7. Goodnight Rose
8. The Sun Also Sets
9. Oh My God Whatever Etc
10. Rescue Blues
11. Magick
12. Desire
13. Let it Ride
14. Peaceful Valley
Set 2:
15. Crossed Out Name
16. Afraid Not Scared
17. Bartering Lines
18. Love Is Hell
19. Shakedown
20. Natural Ghost
21. Two
22. Sinking Ship
23. How Do You Keep Love Alive
24. The End
25. Off Broadway
26. Cold Roses
27. I See Monsters

This brings me to another thing. So, while I was in St. Louis my good friend E had a piece published in the New York Times. This piece was then much derided on the site gawker (such a source of self-satisfied buffoonery can only be rivaled by the site Pitchforkmedia.com). I agree with E’s point. The vast quantities of information that our fingertips is no longer that amazing to people but the consequences of being able to access that information while standing on a street corner in Manhattan from a machine more advanced than the commincators from the original Star Trek series has yet to be fully understood. The irony of all of this is that I was reading all of this on my iPod touch over a Bloody Mary in the Del Mar Loop are of St. Louis right after looking up directions to get on the interstate. Oh well….

I suppose I should try and take on the interview I mentioned earlier. Zizek is clearly insane and not in the good way I suppose. The part I find most fascinating about this interview is the part where he admits to something I think that a great many philosophers concede in their darkest of moments. It is similar to the atheist who makes up in the night and secretly dispels his nightmares because he knows that he is disingenuous in his beliefs.

Interviewer: What or who is the love of your life?
Zizek: Philosophy. I secretly think reality exists so we can speculate about it.

Is this not something we all deep down know? But the fact is that it must be secret we hide from our learned friends for fear of ridicule or being subjected to diatribes and syllogisms. I will point towards one more comment that Zizek makes.

Interviewer: What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Zizek: That life is a stupid, meaningless thing that has nothing to teach you.

I am not one to usually dismiss things out of hand. I like to consider the weight of a proposition. To hypothesize the statement and test it. But this is a statement that can be thrown out. It is ridiculous and I suppose in some measure the dear Mr. Zizek could be attempting to be, as we say, ironic. But deep down I think that this impulse and the impulse commented upon above coexist in the brains (I hate the word “mind” but it does sound so much less crass than simply saying “brain.”) of many intellectuals. I am just not always sure how one’s “will to believe” can become so eschewed. I guess I continually return to my burned out, used up mantra: there is something about the intellectual climate that I simply do not understand. I also get the feeling that there are others who when confronted by the absurdity of so much that is said can only go along and go home to wonder what the hell is going on. Sometimes the jester stops them and says, “What does that mean?” But that question can make you few friends…

Politics in America:
More of the same from McCain. I am comforted by the numbers (for the first time in almost 10 years but not by McCain’s response to them. To listen to the crowds respond to his speech’s can only remind me of the hate mongering used during the 30’s. Listen to the speeches and the cries of “Coward” and “Traitor” and “Terrorist” that come from the crowds. Watch as McCain quiets the crowds with the call “My friends” and gives them a sly wink. I am done with smugness and winks. I hate to name call but he lies and the worst part is that lies sell. This nothing nobody who reads this blog does not already know. But I think it leaves us still bewildered. I think I am honing in on an answer to all of this but it is not comforting or a pretty picture of the American public…

Questions of the week:
1) If a democracy works correctly is there any real need for civil disobedience?
2) What is your favorite city in the world?

Think about those. I am out of town starting tomorrow early in the AM. I am relying on drive time to think. Nothing is better for the mind than a long autumn drive. Clears the mind and brings contrasts in sharper focus. Maybe I will know what I want to be when I grow up when I get back.

HA!

I have the pretrip jitters I always have before I go somewhere. Luckily I have something to steady my hand and steel my mind.

Geez I gotta do better with this blogging business...

Well, I am on my way to St. Louis in just a few minutes. I am heading out to see Ryan Adams. I purchased a cardigan for just an occasion.
That all being said. I great many things are going on in the world. I was distressed that Palin wasn't awful. This was I (and a sizable portion of the world) had not expected to see. I suppose if you lower everyone's expectations to where they scrape bottom simply showing up with a pulse is considered a KO.
It is time to decide what I want to be when I grow up.
My friend E of dominguez posted something a few weeks ago. It is an interview with Zizek. I have been bulling this over. I think I have something to say about it, I just don't know what it is other than to say, "I don't like it."
The American Experiment. I always liked that turn of phrase.
Here is something to think about over the weekend during my absence (which seems no different from my presence).