Lila Prime

 I forgot to write attributions so here are some more-scrambled-than-usual quotes: "Thank you! You've been sucked into the trap alo...

Emily Willingham 's Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis is not what I expected. Based on the cover art and the subtitle, it se...

It's the end of the calendar year so I'm upping my recurring donations to charities and artists. And suddenly... my hard drive is fu...

Basically the only way I can engage with the horribleness of modernity, politics, society, economics, and human-built institutions which deg...

I jotted down many quotes in this time interval, because every. single. social. interaction. now feels deeply meaningful and like a carefull...

WHEREAS the ongoing pandemic and various other elements of environmental, social, political, economic, and biological disaster loom large, a...

We've passed 100 days of self-isolation but, in the tradition of this blog, I missed it exactly and will just post some half-finished th...

Today is the 106th anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing . (Of course, at birth he was probably very bad at abstract reasoning and proofs,...

Opera Philadelphia's production of Don Giovanni offers a very minimal staging and scenery; the stage is draped, from the high ceiling ...

Firstly, have you considered not making sweeping policy changes? While I am sure that you think  you have considered every aspect of the c...

I know what you're thinking. You're wondering, "what can I watch and listen to to better imitate Lila in thought, action, and d...

The Barnes Foundation is a lovely modern building --- designed to conserve a certain claustrophobia from an older building --- housing an e...

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is large, interesting, and fronted by an extremely  imposing set of steps and vista. I quite enjoyed one o...

The students organized a walkout today, coincidentally right in the middle of my lecture. It was fine, as I was well-warned and the walkin...

There is a homework due this morning. The single most popular post on the course message board occurred last night. 1:10am: "do we h...

We all know that I am magnificently interesting and lead a charmed and wonderful life. That's why we're here, reading this self-in...

Things I miss about Europe (month 1, withdrawal edition). Accents, and the mental work of untangling them. Beautiful and old architecture...

It was always temporary, of course. For those keeping tabs, I am more bland at faculty meetings and less bland while teaching. Evidently I...

Unsure of myself with new colleagues and a new position, and wanting to maintain a certain dignity and thus obtain a level of respect (and r...

Certain sentences can grind my brain to a halt, demanding attention and completely derailing the reading process, whether by tone, word cho...