09.26.01 Woke up this morning with a headache. Not the kind of slowly droning headache that fills your ears with a soft white noise, but the kind that makes it difficult to see. Drinking beer last night. Got drunk. I almost lit one of my ex-girlfriends on fire. She was wearing some type of silky dress which could, I think (although I've never worked on the thermodynamics of fabric in my physics or chemistry classes) easily combust without the aid of lighter fluid or gasoline. She deserves it. Actually, she deserves worse, but I've had a thing for fire as of late. Perhaps listening to too much Dead Milkmen, if such a thing is possible.

Sung some Helmet last night. "Unsung." And some Pixies, track 4 on Trompe Le Monde, "The Sad Punk." And, I sung "Start Chomping" by Dinosaur Jr. (track #2 on Where Ya Been, which is perhaps their finest work) and "Pride" by Madball. I was really tired last night, so I left a bit early. Kat (the new fixation, even though she and I have moved into outright acquisition of each other in the past few weeks) had pizza waiting at home for me. She's so good to me.

Speaking of the aforementioned acquisition, she retains her name, but my assets she has taken control over. Each of our stock prices remain high, but there is some concern among analysts that we may be overvalued.

Tampa Jay may be in jail right now. I hope not. I haven't seen Dave since I left the Brass Mug last night. Fucker never came home. He was really drunk last night, too. I'm going home soon, so I'm signing off for now.

Seeeee ya.

09.24.01 Forebare, fair reader. I am not dead. I have been excruciatingly busy, however, with affairs of scholastic and personal importance. All through the summer I have been too busy enraptured with silly sluts and booze to update. My vice has now become a potent combination of Hegel, Heidegger, confused Freshman (relying on me to proclaim the absolute truth at any moment) and my new girlfriend. Details on the most interesting of these aforementioned escapes from reality (the latter) will be forthcoming; instead, I will bore you with the first three, thus condemning my page to the abysses of the unread.

Reading:

• G. W. V. Hegel, "Phenomenology of Spirit"
• Charles Guignon, "Heidegger and the Problem of Knowledge"
• Tom Robbins, "Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates"
• Quentin Lauer, "A Reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit"
• Martin Heidegger, "Being and Time"
• Ibid., "Basic Writings"
• Wilhelm Diltey, "Pattern and Meaning in Culture"
• Ibid., "Selected Writings"

I am reading Hegel in an attempt to get *some* work done on my MA thesis as I have done all of no work on it as of late. My thesis director is putting gentle yet firm pressure on me not to explicate the philosophy of banality from Existentialist texts, but rather to focus on Critical Theory (specifically the Frankfurt School). This is not to my liking. Alas, I will comply. He's a rockstar (in the philosophy world that is, and not like Baudrillard). I am reading Heidegger because it was assigned for class. So is Diltey, but I don't enjoy mentioning him any more than I like reading him.

Hi, Tanya!

My classes are small and inactive. I believe there is a gas leak in the room I am teaching in. Or maybe Freshman can't stay awake for 9:00 AM classes. Occam's razor suggests the latter explanation, but it befuddles me why they would sign up for a class they cannot stay awake in. At my humble alma matter, there were few classes offered so the variety of classes offered at diverse times was not available. In a major University of some 35,000 misguided fools which has near infinite classes and a finite but large variety of the same class offered at scores of times, there is just no excuse.

Went to Naples, FL this weekend. If you plan on ever visiting, I would advise against it. If you must, reading from Capital vol. 1 may aid you to retain your sanity.

Plan for the week (events in chronological order)

• Monday: office hours, class, sleep
• Tuesday: teach (early), office hours, sleep, Brass Mug
• Wednesday: recover from hangover (see Tuesday), read, sleep
• Thursday: teach (early), meeting, read, sleep, Brass Mug
• Friday: recover from hangover (see Thursday), go to party
• Saturday: recover from hangover (see Friday), begin writing presentation
• Sunday: continue writing presentation
• Monday: office hours, class, presentation, sleep

Yep, my life is pretty boring. Thank God for The Onion.

Jay's explication of the state of our current "War on Terrorism" is as insightful as it is poignant. If I may be allowed to quote a lengthy passage, it is worth it:

Yawn. Disgusted with all of this "ain't America neat?" bullshit. As a nation we're untrustworthy crooks, thugs, and blind, babbling fools. "I love the country but I can't stand the scene." (Leonard Cohen, a Canadian, would know.) The sooner I build my homestead the better. Then you're all welcome to kill each other. Just don't expect me to care. And, to the American People who are out there hanging the Stars and Stripes off of any stationary object (and continuing to fly them in rain or at night which, by the way, is in violation of Federal Law), your War Against Terrorism(TM) is going to be about as exciting as a wet firecracker. The country doesn't have the will for a long, drawn out war that will primarily be fought with the mind, at great distances, and by stealth. I have no doubt that President Bush is going to attempt some sort of retaliatory strike, just to keep the hold on his ratings, but your new war, citizens, is going to be a cold war.

from http://kurtz.freeshell.org

My turn: the disgraceful habit of our country to get involved in world affairs (mainly to spread "democracy", even though our country is not, or to infect the world with the capitalist bug, which frankly, is slightly more offensive than Amerikkka spreading Ebola) has finally backfired. Sure, there is a good deal of talk about the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and a world cry of outrage. Where was this outrage for the last fifteen years? Now that Amerikkka has been attacked my a malicious group protesting our way of death, it becomes an issue? Where is our fucking compassion when the world just hates us and doesn't lash out. Remember your history: Amerikkka backed Afghanistan in their war against the USSR (at that time the greater evil) and WE, fellow citizens, put the Taliban in power.

Although I do not condone the actions of the terrorist pilots, I do understand their motives. Further, if the WTC had been blown to bits in the middle of the night when there were no people present, I would be proud of whomever did that. There is a HUGE difference between defiling a symbol of oppression and murdering thousands of innocent victims of said system. I am a radical, not an extremist.

For a true an accurate account of the United States policy in the world, I would recommend several authors: Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Henry David Thoreau, Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Cleaver and countless others (if you wish, I can compile a lengthy list). Another good resource is the Amnesty International's annual list of atrocities (Compare the US and the China sections, and remember that china has at least 4 times as many people). Wake up, citizens! Wake up, slaves! Don't be blinded by empty patriotism! Read! Learn!

As for the flags, if anyone can find me a Cuban or Soviet flag I can hang from my car antenna, I would fly that proudly. Even China makes no pretense about its human rights violations. The US is just better at hiding it.

Cue: the FBI will be arresting me in minutes for being subversive.

More to come when I feel like it: same bat URL, same bat lethargy.