Troubling Trouble Troubles Me

I came across this troubling quote in an essay on Jean Rhys's Quartet this week: "Central to modernist art is the concept best exemplified in English by Joyce and Eliot of the impersonality of the arts; the notion that the artist was to be refined out of the work of art: an art so impersonal that subject might well follow the contours of the autobiographical self such as Joyce's Stephen Dedalus, but the artist himself remains beyond his handiwork, refined out of existence." According to this critic, however, Rhys's work is not a product of this particular distancing characteristic of the modernist movement because her work is too personal. I am troubled with the distinctions this writer makes. How can the artist be "refined out of the work of art" yet still offer a work that is autobiographical? And why is Joyce such a success at this while Rhys's "developed out of an intensely private world?" Is it the character of her work or merely her character as a woman? Theses questions might be difficult to answer - and might very well be what my dissertation is in part based on. Although I am committed to unwrapping this particular package, I am perturbed by this writer's confident assertions. His tone seems to imply that the reader should know exactly what he is talking about, when in fact he has a lot more to do if he is going to convince this particular reader.

The brilliance of creative chaos

In the spirit of the post where I submitted a photograph of my office, I found this lovely article on desk-related chaos.
Here's a quote that details an experience that I have often gone through:
"There are books that I know I own but I have to buy them again because I can't find them."
I found this article a relief because I always thought my chaos was evidence that I wasn't the intellectual I thought I was. My dissertation advisor, for example, is the picture of perfect organization. It turns out, if the article is to be proof, that I am on the right track. One needs chaos in order to pontificate. However, unlike the author, the only thing growing hair in my office is my cat. As far as I can tell that is.
Read the article here: The brilliance of creative chaos
And information about the exhibit that inspired the article: Eamonn McCabe's Writers' Rooms exhibition at the Madison Contemporary Art

First post written on a mac. Phew!

Burnt Toast

Some time ago, Amy Shaw recommended Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day. Thanks for the book recommendation, Amy! The writer argues that you can't necessarily write a dissertation only working on it for fifteen minutes a day but she does say that the best way to get it done is to write every day, at least a little bit. I find this advice is very helpful; I believe I have often posted about momentum and how working even a small amount every day helps tremendously. I also notice that when I write for significantly more than fifteen minutes a day, as in say spending fourteen consecutive days trying to get fellowship applications out the door, I can't write at all. Not one bit. Not a word. Then, I lose momentum, hope in my productivity and a general positive state of mind. In other words, writing too little AND too much can cause harm, perhaps best exhibited by my need to watch National Treasure 2 from 12 - 2 a.m. last night.
So, I am totally burnt out, intellectually exhausted, and I haven't taken a look at my chapter in about a week. After I finally finish this last application, which has been tortuous, I am going to see Quantum of Solace, celebrate Dave's birthday and look forward to the time when my brain doesn't hurt.
And a special PUBLIC apology to Lauren Neefe, who I audibly scoffed at when she suggested I take "a week off." Yeah, I needed to and I needed you to tell me and thanks for not believing me when I said I didn't need such a thing. And one last thanks for NOT telling me I told you so when I confessed to you earlier today how right you were.

Unrelated post: Irony

There is a disease infecting masses of Americans today: the misuse of the word irony. There is nothing to make a anglophile shiver like hearing people use this word wrong, especially when so many consider it integral to our culture.
Here is the dictionary definition:
1: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning —called also Socratic irony
2 a: the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning b: a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony c: an ironic expression or utterance
3 a (1): incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result (2): an event or result marked by such incongruity b: incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play —called also dramatic irony tragic irony

Here is an example of usage I just made up:
Correct usage: (On a very cold day) "What lovely weather we are having! I'm going to strip down to my bikini briefs!" (Irony expresses the OPPOSITE of literal meaning)
Incorrect usage: (On a very hot day) "How hot it is! Ironically, I took my bikini briefs out of the clean laundry this morning!" (This is a coincidence.)

Quote of the Week

"Do you have to be an overachiever in everything you do?"
Said by my knitting teacher AND my acupuncturist within 24 hours of each other.

The Point of the Blog...

In Don DeLillo's White Noise, the main character, Jack Gladney, gets angry at his wife, Babette, for lying to him. He says to her over and over again, "The whole point of Babette is that she speaks to me, she reveals and confides." The most important part of the phrase is his reiteration of the language "the whole point" and "this is the point."
So at the risk of repeating myself, I would like to review the whole point of the blog.
1. The whole point of the blog is to make you feel informed.
2. The whole point of the blog is to make you feel confident.
3. The whole point of the blog is to make you feel like you have enough background information so that you can engage in conversations with me.
4. The whole point of the blog is NOT to make you feel guilty if you don't read the blog. There is no need to confess, "I have not read your blog" and walk away sheepishly. I swear, the point of the blog is NOT to give you something else to do.
5. The whole point of the blog is NOT for you to feel like you can't ask questions because it demonstrates that you have not read the blog.

In sum, the blog is a tool to use (or ignore) in a way that is best for you. The point of the blog is to give you background information so that you feel more comfortable speaking with me about my project. Whether you read the blog or not, however, I will happily engage in vast, bottomless monologues on my dissertation until your cry mercy. The point of the blog is, if you fee like it, some of my monologue will be familiar to you.

The point of the blog is that it is a service to you. Use it as you see fit. But by no means let it make you feel bad.

This is the point of the blog.

Delinqent post #2

Well, so, daily posting is just not going to happen. There are too many times when life gets in the way. But, I will keep up at the very least once a week, although my actual goal is Mon/Wed/Fri, I don't think it's a good idea to overpromise/underdeliver anymore. I've got a few postings up my sleeve today. Though I am still suffering from the remnants of a 24 hour bug, so I apologize if anything sounds dopey.