wrap-up

And it really was a good night of Cairo revelry. Just as philosophy books can be judged by asking “will it still be read in 20 years? 50 years? 300 years?”, you can ask of social occasions, “will I still remember this in 5 years? 10 years? 50 years?” By that scale this one would run anywhere from 5 years to about 30, most likely.

Mark Fisher wrote a favorable review of Bristol in Frieze, I’m delighted to see, and one that captures some of the key points of dispute that emerged there.

Utterly brutal weekend coming up, with so many paper drafts coming in. At least I hope I don’t wake up to more of the sort of e-mail that reminds me of THIS ONION ARTICLE. (Vulgar language warning: parental advisory.)

Frieze review of speculative realism in Bristol

I’m running out the door to dinner/fun for the rest of night, so can’t even read this now, but it is MARK FISHER’S FRIEZE REVIEW OF THE SPECULATIVE REALISM EVENT IN BRISTOL, undoubtedly well-written and informative. I look forward to reading it deep in the night after much revelry (a belated birthday gathering for me).

Sergeant Rudlaff speaks

They’re starting to get a bit more colorful (nuclear weapons were discovered this time).

They also no longer bother explaining who told them that you are so special that you’ve been chosen to receive millions of dollars. No more of that “you have been recommended to me by a trustworthy source” stuff.

I also wonder if the Nigerians realize that Eckhard Rudlaff isn’t the best choice of inconspicuous name for an army recruit from Mississippi.

*******

Attn;

I am SGT.Eckhard Rudlaff from the hospitality state (Mississippi), and of the US Marine Force on Monitoring and Peace –keeping mission in Baghdad-Iraq.

On the 21st day of December 2008, we were alerted on the sudden presence of some Terrorists camping in a suburb not too far from Karbala here in Iraq . After Immediate intervention, we captured three (3) of the Terrorists, twenty-six (26) were killed leaving seven (7) injured.

In the process of torture they confessed being rebels for late Ayman al-Zawahiri and took us to a cave in Karbala which served as their camp. Here we recovered several guns, bombs and other Ammunition including some boxes among which two contains nuclear weapons, one filled with hard drugs(cocaine) and the other four to my amazement contain some US Dollars amounting to $23.2M after two of my junior intelligent officers and I counted them. I however instructed them to keep this in high secrecy.

I am in keen need of a “Reliable and Trustworthy” person like you who would receive, secure and protect these boxes containing the US Dollars for me up on till my assignment elapses here in Iraq .

I assure and promise to give you 15% of this fund, however feel free to negotiate what you wish to have as your percentage in this business.

Please assure me of your keeping this topmost secret to protect my job with the US Monitoring and Peace-Keeping mission.

Kind Regards,
SGT.Eckhard Rudlaff.

on nervous breakdowns

I have the greatest respect for nervous breakdowns, and those who have had such experiences are often among the subtlest and most fascinating souls I know. Emotionally high-strung people are not fashionable in the current decadent phase of the “critical” era, which sees much greater value in jaded and cynical reserve than in sincerity, whether in intellectual or emotional life. But personally I much prefer those who are easily upset.

Why? Because they care about things. They may overreact sometimes and cause you a headache, but how long does it really take to offer them comfort and get them to see the world rightside-up again? Maybe 45 minutes on the phone with them is all it takes, and they’re purring like kittens, contributing their energies to the world and repaying threefold whatever minor nursing work you had to do to help them out of a jam. (Moreover, they’re likely to be more than happy to do the same for you some time, because most people are surprisingly good at repaying favors.)

I make an exception for nervous breakdowns based on envy and bitterness. For such poisonous incidents I have no respect whatsoever. These are nothing but spiteful tantrums based on bottled-up aggression. Such people cannot be comforted because they have no wish to be comforted. Indeed, the one who is strong enough to reassure them is probably the one they hate most of all.

excuses that get you nowhere

Let me open with the disclaimer that I hate the genre of “you won’t believe the stupid things that students do these days!” It’s important to avoid becoming a cranky, embittered old professor who is outraged by lax student behavior. Don’t forget– we hated those people when we were young. Let’s never turn into them.

So, I tell this story only because it’s mildly funny. A recently received e-mail from a student who has missed at least five weeks in a class with a strict attendance policy went roughly like this:

“I’m writing to check on my attendance. I’m sure it’s OK, since I never received a warning.”

on hate mail

I’m still not going to name names quite yet, but a figure in the blog community sent me an edgy, cussing e-mail this morning, cursing me out without context or explanation.

Since he also sent rude, angry e-mails after my nice Paris trip in late January (a trip discussed here on this blog), it seems likely that his strange new level of venom was triggered by my lucky day yesterday.

I don’t quite get it. We’ve all had our share of dark and rotten days on this planet, so why begrudge someone sharing their good days with you? Human life, health, achievement, happiness– all very fragile things that can be whisked away by fate in an instant, and none of them ever complete. Why would it not make you delighted when others enjoy a day? Why would it not make you more optimistic about your own situation? The psychology is strange.

In any case, I won’t be tolerating this sort of thing. I can’t stop angry blog discussions about me, but buddy– you’re not going to be sending me harassing e-mail.

(ADDENDUM: It looks like I was only one of at least two targets of this guy. He seems to be spiraling out of control, and has now been blacklisted by another blog.)