Currently Listening Wagner: Parsifal see related

Parsifal

Parsifal a vaincu les Filles, leur gentil

Babil et la luxure amusante—et sa pente

Vers la Chair de garcon vierge que cela tente

D’aimer les seins legers et ce gentil babil;

Il a vaincu la Femme belle, au coeur subtil,

Étalant ses bras frais et sa gorge excitante;

Il a vaincu l’Enfer et rentre sous sa tente

Avec un lourd trophée à son bras puéril,

Avec la lance qui perça le Flanc suprême!

Il a guéri le roi, le voici roi lui-même,

Et prêtre du très saint Trésor essential.

En robe d’or il adore, gloire et symbole,

Le vase pur où resplendit le Sang réel.

—Et ô ces voix d’enfants chatant dans la coupole!

Verlaine

Currently Reading Kant: Political Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) By Immanuel Kant see related

With all of this I know now
Everything inside of my head
It all just goes to show how
Nothing I know changes me at all
Again I wait for this, to change instead
To tear the world in two
Another night with her
But I'm always wanting you

Use me Holly come on and use me
We know where we go
Use me Holly come on and use me
We go where we know

With all of this I feel now
Everything inside of my heart
It all just seems to be how
Nothing I feel pulls at me at all
Again I wait for this to pull apart
To break my time in two
Another night with her
But I'm always wanting you
 
And all again I wait for this
To fill the hole, to shake the sky in two
Another night with her
I'm always wanting you
Another night with her
But I'm always wanting you...

Well now that's done: and I'm glad it's over.

Currently Reading Being and Time By Martin Heidegger see related

back to work

I’ve enjoyed my sabbatical from the academy, but I’m looking forward to getting back to work. In a couple of weeks I’ll T.A. a course on the continental sources of postmodern theology at Fuller, and after that I’ll begin my MA at CSULA.

In preparation for the former I’ve spent the last couple of months immersing myself in the continental tradition. I’ve been interested these arcane and allursive philosophical projects for the past few years. Whenever I’d find myself belaboring some detail of the analytic tradition, I would find myself with a deep sense of regret—knowing that things were much more interesting in the philosophical land over the rainbow where people read Proust and Celan. Working carefully through the oeuvre of Heidegger, Gadamer, Derrida, Foucault, and Marion has gone a long way towards dispelling this ennui. While it is true that these are brilliant thinkers who tend to be more civilized (and better read) than their British and American counterparts, I nevertheless discovered that many of their basic points are just as aptly articulated (and in a more lucid style) here at home. For example, in epistemology and the philosophy of language, I didn’t find anything that wasn’t already to be found in Wittgenstein, Quine, Davidson, Sellars, Rorty, McDowell, Brandom, or Van Fraassen. I’m thankful for the opportunity to rid myself of feeling that I’m missing out on substantial philosophical work by living in Los Angeles.

Regarding the latter, I think that my courses at Cal State LA will keep me very busy. My advisor says that I need to maintain a 4.0 average to make a competitive dossier. Furthermore, I’ve enrolled in an intermediate level symbolic logic course even though I haven’t taken an intro level course as an undergraduate. (Although, I did work through The Logic Book during Easter vacation my freshman year). I hope this won’t prove to be too much of a problem—I tend to catch onto language and logic rather easily.

On top of the program’s internal demands, Nancey wants me to reapply to Ph.D. programs this winter. This means that I need to prepare a new writing sample, and impress two new faculty members before my first quarter actually ends. To pull this off I need to act more aggressively in class and make sure to visit professors during their office hours. This doesn’t come naturally to me. I do better by working on problems on my own, and impressing people with the results that flow from that.

Currently Reading Bouvard And Pecuchet By Gustave Flaubert see related

primary

It’s strange how art affects people in unexpected ways. I attended the opening fete for the new Rauschenberg exhibit at MOCA a few weeks ago with a friend of mine. http://www.moca.org/index.php He’s an educated Ph.D. student so I figured he’d enjoy the combines. This assumption proved to be absolutely wrong. He didn’t like the art (even with all its glorious goats and chickens), and had nothing but contempt for the other museum goers who he took to be pretentious socialites.

Last week I went with my father to see the Societe Anonyme Inc. exhibit at the Hammer. http://www.hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/100/ At his best my dad resembles Joyce’s Poldy (eating with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls), at his worst he’s a downright philistine. I really didn’t think that he’d like the exhibit. This assumption proved to be absolutely wrong. Even though most of his interest came from trying to find nudity in various abstract pieces, he ended up enjoying himself.

Unrelatedly: (a) I finished War and Peace, (b) I had a strange experience at a gay club, (c) I saw the Da Vinci Code, (d) I wonder whether James Dobson and I worship the same God, (e) I finally figured out that Yahoo Music lets you download operas as well as popular music, and (f) I’m lonely and want to be back in school again.