tko
"But of course The Great American Public has a handicap which my friends at La Ferte did not as a rule have--education. Let no one sound his indignant yawp at this. I refer to the fact that, for an educated gent or lady, to create is first of all to destroy--that there is and can be no such thing as authentic art until the bons trucs (whereby we are taught to see and imitate on canvas and in stone and by words this so-called world) are entirely and thoroughly and perfectly annihilated by that vast and painful process of Unthinking which may result in a minute bit of purely personal Feeling. Which minute bit is Art."
-E.E. Cummings, The Enormous Room
&, I'm heading out to Kyoto for the weekend tomorrow to spend some time with a few friends. Kanazawa is great and all, but I can guarantee that spending three days in Kyoto will tempt me to stay for much, much longer. My natural tendency is to want to see EVERYTHING but I realize that this is a horrible idea and will leave me burned out. I had wanted to to go up to Mt. Hiei and roam around Enryakuji, but with only three days it's probably better to stay between, or at least close to, the rivers. Man, Kyoto. Best concentration of used book shops in Japan and, if what an old Japanese teacher told me is correct, a certain section of the city also has the highest concentration of bookstores in the world.
Also, I found a wonderful inn that charges a measly 1,000 yen/night for a room to sleep in. If you actually want a futon or a bed to sleep on, the price jumps up to 2,300 or so, which is still quite cheap.
I can't believe I'm actually forcing myself to bring my independent study shit with me. I know there's no possible way I'll make any progress, but there's this little sliver of my mind that is trying to convince me that it counts for something. Osmosis?
My mind is scattered right now. Preparing for Kyoto. Speech in Japanese tomorrow. Lack of progress on independent study. I did place another order on amazon.co.jp today, though. I purchased: A Very Short Introduction to Literary Theory by Jonathan Culler because Jonathan Culler is the fucking man; Immortality by Milan Kundera since I've never (!) read a Kundera novel before; and Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?, which is an album by The Unicorns. Oh ho ho. I will be a happy boy next week.
-E.E. Cummings, The Enormous Room
&, I'm heading out to Kyoto for the weekend tomorrow to spend some time with a few friends. Kanazawa is great and all, but I can guarantee that spending three days in Kyoto will tempt me to stay for much, much longer. My natural tendency is to want to see EVERYTHING but I realize that this is a horrible idea and will leave me burned out. I had wanted to to go up to Mt. Hiei and roam around Enryakuji, but with only three days it's probably better to stay between, or at least close to, the rivers. Man, Kyoto. Best concentration of used book shops in Japan and, if what an old Japanese teacher told me is correct, a certain section of the city also has the highest concentration of bookstores in the world.
Also, I found a wonderful inn that charges a measly 1,000 yen/night for a room to sleep in. If you actually want a futon or a bed to sleep on, the price jumps up to 2,300 or so, which is still quite cheap.
I can't believe I'm actually forcing myself to bring my independent study shit with me. I know there's no possible way I'll make any progress, but there's this little sliver of my mind that is trying to convince me that it counts for something. Osmosis?
My mind is scattered right now. Preparing for Kyoto. Speech in Japanese tomorrow. Lack of progress on independent study. I did place another order on amazon.co.jp today, though. I purchased: A Very Short Introduction to Literary Theory by Jonathan Culler because Jonathan Culler is the fucking man; Immortality by Milan Kundera since I've never (!) read a Kundera novel before; and Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?, which is an album by The Unicorns. Oh ho ho. I will be a happy boy next week.