And why I am ready for November!
The writing that I do lately is ephemeral and local, answering a request, operating within an institutional frame, and seeking clarity amid the “Land of Confusion” as one of my favorite Genesis tunes declares. The writing is operative; it attempts to do things in the world. And so the words are a tool of the trade. Indeed so much of my teaching is wordsmithy offered in real time with hopefully some dorky body language to convey my sentiments. I could tell a whole story about today’s lecture on Kenzo Tange’s Peace Memorial Hall and its response to Hiroshima. The building has a parabolic arch that sure looks like the Oscar Niemeyer plastic shapes at Brasilia but has a much deeper engagement with the grief of war. Conveying this with depth and sincerity in a ticktock landscape… Frankly, it’s exhausting. This output with so little return.
Writing scholarly material feels more satisfying. But why? I mean. Does anyone read it? Does it have any impact? At least all these emails help students complete degrees or oil the process of students gaining admission or whatever the work is at the moment. Is it because I don’t see much of those outputs as they are years down the road?
But the creation of a paragraph that gathers evidence and places it together amidst a larger argument is just so much more satisfying. My point is this: I am ready to start this November Angry Cyborg Writing Challenge of 30 minutes of time for expressing my own thoughts daily-ish. I do hope you will join me. By commenting on substack or facebook posts. By emailing me back if you receive the updates by email. Or as my neighbors have done, just saying hey, rock on, mama.
Stay ugly, cyborgs.
