I don't generally feel old, except when I get those statements from the Social Security Department indicating how much I've paid into the system and how much I can expect to receive per month upon retirement. The amount wouldn't cover expenses today, let alone in thirty (ha!) or forty years. And since Bush the Younger is set on destroying Social Security altogether, perhaps I shouldn't worry about that. Of course, 'not worrying' or being cynical about the possibility of doing anything is precisely what Bush and those conservative ideologues in the GOP who want to do away with social services altogether are counting on.
But this is dreary talk for a birthday. After receiving an excellent wake-up gift from Ira, Tom Wait's last CD, Real Gone, and then Amazon e-certificates from my parents and Claire (Vollman's 3500-page treatise on violence is suddenly looking affordable), I decided to 'indulge' myself. I allowed myself a respite from grading papers and (for now, anyway) The Phenomenology of Spirit. Instead, I took a bus downtown to go to the Art Institute, where I planned to reread some of Beckett's Molloy, which I'm teaching in my English and American Fiction course. (Beckett, of course, was neither English, nor American, but the course title is obviously outdated, so it doesn't matter). Emilio, a fellow Hegel seminarian, happened to be on the bus, and we ended up talking about, big surprise, Hegel. Our task: to figure out how to make all the time we've devoted to studying Hegel worthwhile, that is, how to apply it to our research interests. We both seemed to conclude that while Hegel's dialectical logic could be useful, deploying it seemed to be something of a 'long cut,' i.e. similar insights could be obtained by pondering less opaque thinkers.
At the Art Institute, I rather quickly looked at some photos by Tokihiro Sato... (typed a lot more, then lost it; dunno if I'll get around to recreating the rest of my lengthy post, detailing lunch with Ira at the MCA, etc.)
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1 comment:
Eric,
happy birthday to you! you look like a naked ape and you smell like one too. my birthday is in less than two weeks and instead of visiting a Fart Museum i plan to gorge myself on snacks until i am too full to play with my new toys. by virtue of being a dog my social security is always threatened--i was abandoned at least once, could happen again. that's why i had separation anxiety and i fear you naked apes might suffer from a massive dose of it yourselves if that bush bastard stays in office. my plan is to remain cute as a button so that the people that i own continue to supply me with snacks and toys. if you can't beat 'em, leech off 'em. that's what i say!
enjoy your birthday, uncle eric!
wally.
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