Debris
«chaque notaire porte en soi les débris d’un poète.»Archive for debris
Fresh Entertainment
A recent issue of Field & Stream offers this charming Reader Tip:
For a really convenient waxworm dispenser when I’m ice fishing, I keep them in a Tic Tac container. The case probably holds about 30 waxworms. Plus, it’s easy to open and shake out one worm at a time without having to take off my gloves.
No word on whether the Ferraro candy company, makers of Tic Tacs, will be introducing a refreshing icy waxworm flavor anytime soon.
Tell me about yourself
The Fall term may be winding down (I teach my last class on Monday), but there is no slackening of activity at the law school. After the Thanksgiving break, while the students run the gauntlet of final exams, we will play host to several very promising faculty candidates. Now, thanks to Jeffrey Harrison, I’ve got some good questions to ask:
1. What was your favorite book at age 15?
2. What were the last 10 books you read that had nothing to do with law?
3. Name your favorite opera, aria, symphony or any non pop, folk, alt music?
4. Who was your favorite teacher before law school and why?
When I was a candidate, I’m sure I’d have found these more interesting to discuss than the standard interview queries, though I’m not at all sure whether I’d have fared better or worse in the process. In any event, here are my own answers:
1. Favorite book at age 15:
- Arthur Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet” (actually the entire Homes canon).
2. Last 10 non-law books read:
- H.G. Wells, The Invisible Man and The Time Machine;
- Joseph Mitchell, My Ears Are Bent;
- Kingsley Amis, Everyday Drinking
- Studs Terkel, Giants of Jazz
- Jonathan Lethem, You Don’t Love Me Yet
- Zane Gray, Riders of the Purple Sage
- Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
- Tom Boellstorff, Coming of Age in Second Life
- James Prosek, Fly-Fishing the 41st
- Sholom Auslander, Foreskin’s Lament
3. Favorite opera, aria, symphony or any non pop, folk, alt music:
- Opera:Verdi, Aida
- Symphony: Mahler, No. 1
- Other “non pop, folk alt music”: Thelonious Monk(I’m presuming that this qualifies)
4. Favorite teacher before law school and why:
- Moishe Postone, University of Chicago. More than any teacher I’ve had before or since, Moishe challenged me to think critically and carefully, especially but not exclusively about sociological theory. He also gave me my favorite University of Chicago image, when he described students not dancing at parties because they feared falling off the edge of the existential abyss. He is the epitome of a scholar and a mensch.
FAIL
For those, like Tom, who don’t enjoy the cutesiness of LOLCATS, I recommend The FAIL Blog. Here’s a sample:
Flowers fade away and rooms get rearranged
I’ve been getting our garden in order, with vital assistance and encouragement from young Alfie. I’m very pleased with how it is turning out, and looking forward to tasting the fruits (and vegetables) of our labors.
This explains why I feel like crap
For the past few weeks, I’ve been astounded by the sheer volume of pollen everywhere, like a yellow blizzard that doesn’t melt away. I thought perhaps that my perspective was skewed after three years in relatively pollen-free San Francisco. But, it turns out that Greensboro really does have it worse than nearly everywhere else.
Happy Bicycle Day!
It was 65 years ago today, that Dr. Hoffman taught the world to play.
Incidentally, Dr. Hoffman is still alive, and turned 102 earlier this year.
The truth shall set you free
Leonard Fein’s column in The Forward today caught my attention, not because of its substantive focus (the Clinton campaign’s ridiculous attempts to excuse Hillary Clinton’s fictional account of her Bosnia excursion as “misspeaking” or “mistaken remembrance”) but because of its opening paragraph:
Harvard’s motto is “Veritas” — truth. The motto of Brandeis is “Truth Unto Its Innermost Parts”; Yale’s is “Lux et Veritas,” light and truth (and the same for the University of Indiana); and Johns Hopkins goes with “Veritas Vos Liberabit,” the truth shall make you free.
When I was an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins, noted alumnus Russell Baker (‘47) gave a speech on the theme of the University’s motto. He began, as I recall, by contrasting the Hopkins motto with those of Harvard, Brandeis & Yale. While Harvard, Brandeis & Yale cite truth for its own sake, Hopkins emphasizes the instrumental value of truth. He then pointed out that the JHU motto was not necessarily true. For example, he noted, in the case of a felon, the truth might get him fifteen to twenty years in prison, while, in the case of an unfaithful husband, the truth might set him a good deal freer than he cared to be.
Of course, even Russell Baker couldn’t have anticipated the Clintons.
Cold, dead hands
Charlton Heston, whose memorable roles included Moses, Ben Hur, Michaelangelo, and NRA shill, has gone to the eternal chariot race in the sky. His gun is now ripe for the plucking.
The Spaghetti Growers of Ticino, Switzerland
Just in the nick of time, I was reminded of this classic April Fools prank.
