Finishing Thoughts

I finished my dissertation in October; November I revised it; and now I'm waiting for the committee to approve it and other assorted paperwork. It's a huge relief to be finished with it. However, it is in no way the end of my academic career. In fact, after a month or two of post-partum depression, it's already time to chop it up into articles or expand it into a book. I'm awaiting word from a grant for the archival research needed abroad this summer. If they won't pay for it, I'm considering doing it myself. I've got several friends in Switzerland, which is rather close to Munich, where the archives are. In the meantime, I'm applying for tenure-track English professorships around the world and submitting my creative writing. I'm working two part-time jobs but have far more free time than when I wasn't working but only writing the dissertation (June-Dec.). It's hard to readjust, but the point of majoring in English was the ability to write. Now I have time to write, and write I must.

Response to YA request for "some great classical books to read"

Q: 

i've read all the Anne Of Green Gables books, and Little Women. I'm currently reading Around the World In 80 Days.
Any other recommendations :)

nothing as old as shakespeare please :)
I do too much of that kinda stuff at school haha

A:
I suspect you mean Western canonical texts (Classics=Greek tragedy, drama, epic, etc.), so let me try to help. Wish I knew your age (guessing 13-15 by the list)...but, here's a list, starting with the best suggestion:

--Bloody Chamber--fairy tales from modern woman's viewpoint. She saves the day, protects herself, and sees the villains for what they are. They're updated, fun, not too scary, and make one feel proud to be female. (Free here: http://www.angelfire.com/crazy4/lesadoreyl/carter_bloody_chamber.html)

--The Heart is a Lonely Hunter--coming of age of a young girl (tween-teen) in a small town and subtly tackles issues of gender, race, disabilities, family bonds, etc. that are relevant to us now. The main character is 12 y/o and hasn't developed the mean streak and prejudices of older characters (like in life). Her world is fascinating. Author wrote book when she was 23! 

--Jitterbug Perfume--changed my life at 15 y/o while stuck in small town and strict parents. This book made me realize I wanted to be a writer. Its peeks into other worlds (e.g. Paris and pre-Katrina New Orleans when it was known for voodoo, culture, and mystery) sparked lifelong reading addiction.

--Bell Jar: another for alienated, educated young women from privileged b/g, frustrated with societal expectations and guys passing over intelligent women for their ditsy BFFs. Set in NYC.
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--Catcher in the Rye--don't hate just b/c it's HS reading. If you're an alienated type from wealthy family with high expectations and in a high ranking class/school, you'll relate. Set in NYC and New Eng.

--Siddhartha (Hesse) Male search for self. Esoteric and often philosophical. Only for you if you're into Eastern thought, struggling to find out who you really are, and are faced with temptations to leave your goal/path.

TIP: don't avoid the Classics/required reading/canonical texts. I did that, but then college happened and life followed. Everyone then and since knew/ows and discussed/es them. The best online summaries failed to allow my intelligent participation in those conversations or equip me to understand references in pop culture (e.g. TV, film, music). Anyway, that's the rebellious student and tattooed teacher in me talking :P

Brief Review of Fritz Lang's "Die Spinnen/Spiders" (1919)

Die Spinnen/Spiders (1919) displays many aspects of Weimar cinema, from chiaroscuro to exotic settings to Orientalism to intrigue and showcases young Fritz Lang's (his 3rd film) talents. This does is not an UFA visual spectacle, such as the later Niebelungen saga or Metropolis. The downside is the quality of the print, which is scratched and missing several sequences (but only in one case does that effect the "logic" of narrative progression). If you love early German/Expressionist/Weimar film, Fritz Lang, and/or film history, then this is a must-see.

Response to "Why Nothing Will 'Save' Print Media" (2010)

Navneet Alang's editorial "Why Nothing Will 'Save' Print Media" (19 Aug. 2010) is yet another short-sighted doomsday cry for the death of print media. My response was written, despite extreme fatigue and drowsiness, out of an undeniable urge to inform about the centuries-long tradition of commentators crying wolf about the dead book. Here is my response, posted as comment #3 on the article:

Cultural theorists have been proclaiming print media's doomsday since at least the the early 17th century. Sure, there was no Internet. Travel was perilous. Channels of communication were unreliable. And so on, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

Attacks on print peaked in the late 19th century with the advent film, which is closely related to printing presses since both media revolutionized mass communication and were heralded as destroyers of "valuable" culture: printing presses spread literacy (awareness of their exploitation=loss of cheap labor) to the masses; film appealed to both classes, posing a double threat of lowering moral standards and luring art aficionados away from painting, theatre, sculpture, poetry, and literature. The attack on print and film continue today in pop culture and academe, respectively.  

All of your often effectively rhetorical persuasive arguments aside (it's late but had to comment), print has survived far more reliable, aesthetically pleasing, and arguably entertaining media for five centuries and persevered despite formidable opponents, e.g. the Holy Roman Empire. No digital revolution will kill print. Print is cherished by billions from university professors to Twilight fans to 'zine followings to researchers (who know, like many other groups, that print is the most reliable source and that there's no replacement for tactility of texts).

Perhaps perception, reception, distribution, and/or audiences will change, but in innumerable international cultures, print is alive and well and always will be.

Brief Review of Murnau's "Phantom" (1922)

Phantom an earlier Murnau film and displays the usual Weimar cinema mixture of German Expressionist stylization, Jugendstil design, and neo-Romantic subject matter. The overburdened mother, risque children in 1920s Berlin, running a con, hero's guilt, hero's anxiety, hero's unrequited love for someone of a higher social class (as well as ambiguous feelings for his sister) are all themes of this (like other Weimar) film. It's nothing like the earlier Caligari, which is considered by many to be the ultimate and first Expressionist film, or Metropolis, which was at the end of the Expressionist film era. It's more similar to Fritz Lang's Die Mude Tod/Destiny and Ernst Lubitsch's Sumurun/One Arabian Night. It's worth seeing since Murnau is such a pivotal filmmaker in the development of both German and American film. If you're not into subtitles, film history, or early/silent film, this isn't for you.

Brief Review of Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)

Capitalism: A Love Story (2009), Michael Moore's newest documentary is a must-see for Americans. This is typical Michael Moore, so if you don't like facts or truth, then Capitalism: A Love Story is not for you. Americans know that  big business and banks are constantly taking advantage of us, but often we aren't sure how. Michael Moore provides the proof and the specifics. Despite the anger the film arouses at the injustices perpetrated on the 95% of citizens who do not control the wealth, Moore never provides a plan of tangible action. He calls for action but never gives a list of who to vote out of office, never provides a web site to check up on corporate fraud, never really offers a solution. And if you're like me, you barely have time before elections to check on who stands where on the basics, much less their lifetime back-room deals. NOW lists who votes for/against women's rights. NAACP and ACLU list voting records on equality and civil liberties. If it is any consolation, after I earn this degree by writing the diss in 6 months, I will spend far more time on familiarity with politicians' voting records on many issues.

My point is that if Moore is so weary of people watching his films and taking no action, as he states at the end of the film, he needs to propose a plan. The film depicts others who have revolted, such as the community who protested the eviction of a family and won against the police and the bank, as well as the sit-in factory workers who demanded and won their pay from Bank of America. He shows himself taping off Wall Street offices as a crime scene. However, I don't think his proposal for others to tape off Wall Street is realistic or serious. If Moore wants to see concrete support, he needs to prompt organized action. Without a plan, workers and citizens (the 95% who don't control the wealth: everyone reading this and everyone we know) will not revolt until they themselves are personally faced with the worst possible situation directly imposed by the bank or other offending institution/entity (e.g. forced out of home, denied paycheck for work completed). Until then, we put up with the fraud, robbery, and other crimes of the banks and government (bail out) because we're busy working, paying bills, raising families, and generally surviving life.

Being Ill; Becoming Well

I've been ill for the past week. It was a sort of pre-sick, the kind that if one is familiar enough with one's body and its signs then one can feel it coming and perhaps ward it off with orange juice, chicken broth, water, and bed rest. My recent sickness never fully developed, but it did force me again to quit smoking cigarettes. I had stopped from November to March after seeing my favorite aunt and what smoking for over 50 years has done to her. I started again because of the dissertation stress, because I've smoked for 15 years, and because the person I most frequently date smokes like a Ford. All excuses aside, this time I really felt the harm of the habit. When I was in early stages of pre-sickness, each time I smoked (it only took 2 days and 5 cigs max for me to discern the pattern), the worse I felt. It's been 5 days; I feel much better. Previously when I quit I felt no real benefits; I even viewed weight gain as a negative. This time I've decided to view the passive non-smoking as an active benefit to my health. No matter: most smokers fail to quit many times before finally succeeding. I've become accustomed to failure: it's the only way to success.

I'm well. Although I wrote (perhaps poorly) each day when I was pre-sick, I missed a major deadline and am behind on my chapter progress. I re-evaluated my completion schedule last night. I've got 5 days to complete chapter 3. Beyond the loss of time was the loss of my daily writing habit. Due to the illness, I allowed myself more time away from the keyboard and consequently my Elbow-writing exercises have become more difficult. Another, and I think the most challenging, problem is the seeming dead-end into which I've written and thought myself with this chapter. The basic premise is elucidated. The research and supporting details are chosen if not yet most effectively incorporated. The primary texts have been reviewed and analyzed. The organization and development has revealed itself.

I seem to have arrived at a dead end. I've tried the many methods of thinking and writing oneself out of these corners, but each time I seem to end up in the same part of the maze. The next 5 days will be a desperate attempt to make meaning, structure, and eventually a breakthrough concerning the chapter prior to emailing it to my diss director. Worst case scenario, the chapter remains  (what I see as) an empty hull of lovely words, well-made points, supporting evidence, and effective structure and only later will I notice, realize, or discover what is missing. If I've learned anything while writing a dissertation in 6 months, it's (1. failure is the only road to success 2. Write now; write uncontrollably; write to think; write or die 3.) one can't depend on the feedback of others to improve one's own writing. It's all up to oneself.