Progeny-less Update (Life in Austin)

It's been awhile since we've had a personal update that didn't involve offspring. Here goes.

I am currently (this week) finishing up my last semester of course work. Beginning this summer, I will be working full-time on developing my prospectus and composing that magical document, the dissertation. I may have more to say about this later, but, for now, in short, I will be writing about the troubled relationships between seemingly mimetic works of art and "unrepresentable" historical violence (World War, Holocaust, the Bomb, the WTC attacks).

I spent the last four days at the 2008 International Narrative Conference. I have been working off and on for about a year as conference staff, and I chaired a couple of panels over the weekend (and attended what seems like hundreds). I heard some great panels, met some academic heros (and got a couple of business cards), but what was most impressive was seeing the "invisible acadamy" made at least temporarily visible. It made the direction of my life seem less obscure and evanescent.

I continue to teach, and am looking forward to teaching a course of my own creation in the fall. It will be, perhaps unsurprisingly, a course on violence.

I've been watching a lot of Top Chef on Bravo (my one televised guilty pleasure) and cooking quasi-elaborate meals whenever time and budget allow (and sometimes when they don't). My exercise regimine has slacked off, but I'm hoping to change that with the return of Friday basketball over the summer. Hopefully I can get back to regular running as well (I can feel my legs crying out for a good run even as I type).

The life-long pursuit of good coffee and good beer continues, as does a very rewarding playing at domestic bliss. The heat and humidity of an Austin summer are beginning to creep into the background of the everyday, and I'm trying (not terribly sucessfully) to ignore the democratic primary. I'm still at the same parish, doing the same sorts of parish-y things.

Alright. Back to writing about Civil War photography. Be well, my friends.

Spirits in the Material World

Hello friends.

I'm still very unfortunately here in Michigan, where I have had plenty of time for contemplation.

Much of my contemplation has been centered upon trying to figure out how I fit into the world. The more I've thought about it, the more trouble I'm finding picturing fitting in with the normal, expected life that modern society expects.

What ever happened to the"Former T6 family and friends experiemental living commune" [FTFFELC] idea? Weren't we going to go in on a large property somewhere and start an intellectual co-op where we all live off the land and each contribute our unique abilities, all the while contributing professionally to our fields, but on our own terms?

Tha sort of thing is very appealing to me: intentionally living below the poverty line, having a close community, and having plenty of time for artistic pursuits because income wouldn't be as important.

I wish I had a lot of like minded friends willing to give this a try, because I'm at the end of my rope. I just don't think I can lead a "normal" life.

TTFN

Aeijtzschey