I’ve been plugging away on my proposal – so most of my writing juice – in fact most of my time is going towards that endeavor.
This means there’s less time for fun things like reading, biking, and city seeing…Which also means less to write about.
Luckily I’m nearly done with this draft!
Until then, my brain feels like this:
What I do have time for is reading poems, especially those from the New Yorker which are typically short, thoughtful and great for commutes, trips to the fridge or moments when you just want to ponder.
Here are three of my recent faves:
Another Lethal Party Favor
by Dean Young
(Click to enlarge)
Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda
by A.E. Stallings
And finally, Death of Argos got taken down, and possibly thrown away, because it was making Sand sad.
I read the Odyssey years ago in high school but this translation tells a piece of the story in a really amazing way:
In Color Me Blue Ephron makes humorous, poignant and cutting observations about how Citi Bank did quite well for themselves in the Citi Bike deal at the expense of New Yorkers aesthetics and tax dollars.
“For $41 million — what Citibank paid to sponsor the program for five years — our city bikes became Citi Bikes. To make certain you don’t forget this fact, a Citi Bike sign hangs in front of the handlebars, Citi Bike is printed twice on the frame, and a Citi Bike billboard drapes the rear wheel on both sides. The font is the familiar Citibank font and the Citibank signature decoration floats over the “t.” There is no way to see a Citi Bike without thinking Citibank. The 6,000 bikes so far rolled out, of a possible 10,000, and their signs are a Day-Glo cobalt blue that you see on banks. Nobody wears this color. Nobody paints his or her apartment this color. This blue is bank blue”.
Don’t worry New Yorkers we aren’t the only ones subsidizing big business, as Greg Easterbrook points out in a recent Atlantic article on the NFL, the subsidization of major businesses like sports franchises is a national pastime.
Ever wonder where your tax dollars went America? (hint, it’s not just health care)
“Last year was a busy one for public giveaways to the National Football League. In Virginia, Republican Governor Bob McDonnell, who styles himself as a budget-slashing conservative crusader, took $4 million from taxpayers’ pockets and handed the money to the Washington Redskins, for the team to upgrade a workout facility. Hoping to avoid scrutiny, McDonnell approved the gift while the state legislature was out of session. The Redskins’ owner, Dan Snyder, has a net worth estimated by Forbes at $1 billion. But even billionaires like to receive expensive gifts.
Taxpayers in Hamilton County, Ohio, which includes Cincinnati, were hit with a bill for $26 million in debt service for the stadiums where the NFL’s Bengals and Major League Baseball’s Reds play, plus another $7 million to cover the direct operating costs for the Bengals’ field. Pro-sports subsidies exceeded the $23.6 million that the county cut from health-and-human-services spending in the current two-year budget (and represent a sizable chunk of the $119 million cut from Hamilton County schools). Press materials distributed by the Bengals declare that the team gives back about $1 million annually to Ohio community groups. Sound generous? That’s about 4 percent of the public subsidy the Bengals receive annually from Ohio taxpayers”.
I seriously considered boycotting pro-football, luckily the Giants and Jets are two of three teams that have paid 3/4’s or more of their stadium capital costs.
But seriously, subsidizing millionaires is madness, inequality is bad for everyone – and if you don’t trust me – listen to former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.
But wait – you might say- I see that last bike at the end of the rack! Sadly, it’s always out of order.
What a repertoire of lively words Manning presents in her NY times draft, opening with:
“A ‘slumgullion‘ is a stew of leftovers, and while the dish has been described as ‘watery,’ the word itself is delectably unusual and juicily descriptive”.
Looking for a new way to describe a chatty cathy try flibbertigibbet.
Manning also points readers to the Secret Language of Crime where I learned that dromedary was not just a word my old friend created but a widely used term from the ’50’s – the 1850’s.
I’m writing a piece of my dissertation proposal where I theoretically explain how writing leads to cognitive and emotional development, and what better place to reference than Walter J. Ong’s essay Writing Restructures Consciousness, in Orality and Literacy (1982/2002).
About every other page there is a word that I don’t know, or at least can’t define off hand.
Below are some of the fun words I’m finding. Also, it seems Google has picked up on this digital humanities trend popularized by Moretti and started sharing graphs of word use over time, some of which I’ve included below.
Here’s a good one, Ong writes: “Texts are inherently contumacious”.
What’s interesting about this point is the contrast to oral language, once a text is printed it can’t be refuted, at least not in the immediate moment. Interestingly, in a text like a blog there is often a space for comments where people can immediately refute or support a text.
I remember an interview with Walt Clyde Frasier where he said that he picks out words from the Times each day to try out on his Knicks broadcast. Try using some of these words from Writing Restructures Consciousness in your daily life and you are sure to sound magniloquent (p.102).
As you will know if you check out my previous post I think Paul J. Silvia’s book ‘How to Write a Lot’ is an excellent resource. However, there are at least three points (perhaps minor) on which Silvia and I disagree.
1. Making and sticking to writing times is very important. That said, I think that graduate students need to be flexible. I schedule meetings with professors around my writing time when I can, but if a professor only has a certain slot available I think it is important to be able to move my writing time to an hour later.
On a related point, in the name of terseness I said in my last post that my writing times were M, W, F from 1-3pm. In truth, I had to accommodate my teaching schedule. On Mondays I taught at Hunter College from 10:10 – 1pm. After class I needed to get food, and then there was not really a good place for me to work at Hunter – so I commuted home, and then I usually had to walk Boomer. My writing time on Mondays had to be moved to 3-5pm. What is most important, and Silvia stresses this, is that the writing time is a consistent time that you can work well and focus on your research.
Two of these next points concern the physical surroundings that Silvia maintains are necessary for writing.
2. Silvia makes light of working in his living room, bedroom, guest bedroom and “briefly in a bathroom” (p. 21). He then concedes that he wrote ‘How to Write a Lot” in the guest bedroom in his house. I agree with Silvia’s larger point – you don’t need a home office to write a lot; but I think that a guest bedroom is a nice luxury not afforded to many grad students, especially those of us in NYC. I would amend Sivlia’s point. You don’t need a home office, but it is useful to have a place where you consistently write. For example, I write at my kitchen table. I stack up a bunch of Developmental Psychology issues so the laptop is eye level, and I don’t strain my neck (yes it’s happened), and then I plug in a USB mouse and keyboard. I call this space my ‘office’, and when my writing time is up – I put my office away (Or my wife gently reminds me to do so when she gets home). I think having this regular space is important, it adds to my routine and cuts out the ten or more minutes I might waste trying to settle down elsewhere. Of course some days I am at school – so I just use the desktops there and that works fine too.
3. Finally, Silvia claims you do not need a comfortable chair. I disagree. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a chair, but your chair should be comfortable and supportive. Silvia says he worked on a metal folding chair and an Eames fiberglass chair. Perhaps that worked for him but I could not sit on one of those chairs for 6- 10 hours a week. As Chuck Close says, “How’s the back?”.
A Lonely Eames Chair at the Graduate Center (CUNY)
A couple weeks ago I passed my second qualifying exam, also known as the second doctoral exam. In my Ph.D. program, these consist of a 20 page literature review presenting an in depth critique of at least 10 research articles. Aside from the support of my advisor, Colette Daiute, and my second reader, Joe Glick, the most important person in this process was someone I have never met, Paul J. Silvia author of How to Write a Lot.
Three critical recommendations from Silvia were as follows:
Make a writing schedule and stick to it.
For me the schedule was M, W, Fri from 1-3pm. Silvia says his schedule is M – Fri 8-10am. I called this time my ‘meeting time’ and reserved it for writing and reading related literature. Silvia suggests turning off your phone and even the Internet (gasp!) during this time. Furthermore, plan appointments and extracurricular activities around this time, as you would if you were actually meeting someone.
Write out specific goals.
For example, early on my goal for one writing time would be to read an article and write a rough draft of a critique. Later in the process the goal for a writing time might have been to revise the method section.
How to Write a Lot is about 150 pages, but I think I gleaned the most valuable information after about the first 50. I still refer back to this book even though I’m done with the exam and there’s likely more great insights to gain.
I think many academics and certainly anyone working on the qualifying exams would be wise to read Silvia’s book. Even if you don’t read it – at least take these three pieces of advice: Make a writing schedule, write specific goals each week, and reward yourself!
Finally, thanks to my fellow ITP’ers Ashley and Michelle who recommended this resource!
