176. oh it’s the morning
September 15th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
flickr: jimshannon
Weiss: Do you still suffer from insomnia?
Cioran: A lot less. But that was a precise period, about six or seven years, when my whole perspective on the world changed. I think it’s a very important problem. It happens like this: normally someone who goes to bed and sleeps all night almost begins a new life the next day. It’s not simply another day, it’s another life. And so, he can undertake things, he can manifest himself, he has a present, a future, and so on. But for someone who doesn’t sleep, from the time of going to bed at night to waking up in the morning it’s all continuous, there’s no interruption. Which means there is no suppression of consciousness. It all revolves around that. So, instead of starting a new life, at eight in the morning you’re like you were at eight the evening before. So, when that’s stretched out for months and years, it causes your sense of things, your conception of life, to be forcibly changed.-interview with E.M. Cioran from Jason Weiss’s book Writing at Risk: Interviews in Paris with Uncommon Writers
Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, I lie awake in bed for hours until I realize that it’s morning, and then I have to make the decision of whether to give up and shuffle into the day or continue to lie, lie, lie. If I decide to get up, it is imperative that I put as much coffee into my body as I can stand so that I can make it through the day. Then I spend the rest of the day in a sort of hyperactive/sluggish haze, watching other people go about their business. At these times I feel a deep sense of separation from myself and those who have slept — even if they’ve only slept a little bit — because their new day is real, and mine is not. Needless to say, I tend not to be very productive on these days.
175. outfit of the day: casual monday
September 14th, 2009 § 5 Comments
Dressing down for workshop after dressing up for teaching.
174. summer camping
September 14th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Photos from camping with friends this summer. The meadow from the first picture was gorgeous, but infinitely buggy; I kept swatting at my arms. When I try to calm myself down, I often think of meadows.
173. first week of school
September 12th, 2009 § 4 Comments
It’s been a big week — teaching (see: my course-pack above), a Modernism class, various get-to-know-you parties (I’m so bad with names!), my first meeting with my second thesis reader. I woke up this morning and felt like staying in bed, but I knew that I didn’t want to miss the farmers’ market, which always makes me feel good. I bought flowers and corn, both of which are having their last fling with summer’s end. Last week I bought this black blouse for $20, which I’m excited to wear in the classroom with some heels and maybe a high-waisted skirt.
Such excitement in the blog world about NY Fashion Week! I’ll just have to live vicariously through all of you who are there. In the meantime, you can find me re-reading Heart of Darkness and Bernard Malamud on my loveseat (so, so good).
172. outfit of the day: picnic & tabio tights
September 7th, 2009 § 8 Comments
brogues (thrifted); tights (tabio); dress (bcbg); cardigan (obey propaganda)
Let me say right now that while I own at least ten pairs of We Love Colors tights, which are varied in hue and priced to kill, Tabio is the higher-end stocking manufacturer that wins my heart every time. Their 80 denier tights are so soft and comfortable that I don’t itch at all even after hours of wearing them; it’s just too bad that I have to pay international prices for them, not to mention shipping. Still, I made sure to stock up with a few pairs of Tabio for this fall, and now I have new tights in green, purple, mustard, and black.
171. frankie magazine & zinio
September 7th, 2009 § 2 Comments
No, I don’t have a Kindle, and in fact, a lot of people — including writers — who are concerned about the future of publishing are concerned about the way people in the industry will be paid if Kindle explodes. But that’s not what this post is about; it’s about Zinio, an online magazine distributor, which I decided to sign up for a few months ago after hearing all kinds of good things about the Aussie rag Frankie.
Zinio is a company, and a piece of software, that allows you to subscribe to magazines and read them on your computer. I wouldn’t recommend this for just any ol’ magazine, though, because I still think there’s still nothing nicer than having a sheaf of glossy paper filled with gorgeous images and type. (Though it’s still possible to print out the magazine, once you’ve downloaded it.) What’s nice about Zinio is that it seems to specialize in non-USA, obscure/edgy magazines, which tend to run high in price Stateside, and can often be hard to find unless you live near a big bookstore.
I just received the Sept/Oct issue of Frankie today, and I’m not going to be able to curl up in my rocking chair and read it like it’s made out of paper. But I’m not sure I’d be inclined to read it at all without Zinio, either — and that’s when I think the Internet can be pretty special.
