jesus, or, what aimee mann said about bachelor no. 2

Music: Sigur Ros: Takk I cannot sleep, but perhaps I'll fall soon. Here follows some random eye-speckles from the day, some meaning-nuggets, which will provide the raw material out of which dreams are made:

1. Waiting for the elevator at the office, I noticed a call for submissions to the University of Texas literary magazine, Analecta. That reads very Joycean to me, but I could be less charitable and say whomever chose the name was not very literary at all. So, the creators of said journal are either fun to drink with or irrepressible, stuck-up assholes.

2. I was asked to write a blurb for my graduate seminar in the spring. Jeez: I'm still reading scores of books deciding what the hell I'm going to assign after it was suggested to me I teach some kind of survey thing on psychoanalysis. Although I've written a few articles on psycho-this-or-that, I'm far from an expert, and the literature is immense. Where does one begin? I secretly (or not so secretly now) want to teach myself-and have the students teach me--more Lacan, but I know I cannot just do Lacan. So, I decided to throw in the kitchen sink, and then this would give me the widest margin to play in when I prep over the holidays. Here goes:

RHETORIC AND PSYCHOANALYSIS

This course consists of two parts. Part one is a survey of the various schools of psychoanalysis, beginning with Freud, traveling through the British School, Jung, Kleinian object-relations theory and American ego-psychology, and finally, ending in the challenging work of Lacan and his critics (e.g., Irigaray, Kristeva). The second part of the course explores the ways in which scholars have wed or related psychoanalysis and/to the object of rhetoric, from narratology and mythic criticism, to Lacanian tropology and the cultural criticism of Zizek, to the "ontologization of trope" in the political theory of Ernesto Laclau. The course is intended as starting point for further exploration. Although it will succeed in helping participants to read what is said in the previous sentences, this course should not be taken in the illusory pursuit of mastery.

Hope that last line doesn't get cut; I like chipping away at my own aura of expertise. What do I know? I know whom to read. I don't know how to read them, necessarily. That's not my job, anyway.

3. I'm experiencing something akin to "Louisiana Party Withdrawal." I recognize that it is much better for my health not to be partying and eating all those boudoin balls, but, there's something about drunken catharsis that is still good for the soul. I've conspired with some grads to throw a honest to goodness costume party. Of course, nothing could ever compete with the Spanish Town parties (and I hear my peeps are going to continue the tradition), although I've brought a little of that spirit with me and will try to make it happen. I'm not very clear on the social dynamics here; my hunch is that this will be seen as a "graduate student" party instead of as an "everybody party," since the power-distance between teacher/student is so thick here (and it's not something one can change; I'll eventually assimilate, I know, I know). Nevertheless, I'm giving it the good ol' college try by DJ-ing the event. Want to come? Email me and tell me who the hell you are and why I should care and not be worried about stalking (it is Halloween, after all) and I'll send you the directions.

There's a very very big fourth, but only one other person needs to know. I will say, though, that ya can't be an academic all the time. Sometimes you need to let your inner-17-year old out, you know, the one who made mixed tapes for girls and talked to God.