November 2011
14 posts
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“The mirror is, after all, a utopia, since it is a placeless place. In the...”
– Foucault, “Of Other Spaces”
I’ve read this passage so many times in the last few days that I’ve basically committed it to memory. This is as close as I’ll ever get to saying that reading Foucault feels like a giant philosophical hug. But there is hope in this essay.
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Eulogy For a Friend, or A Note About Suicide
A high school friend of mine committed suicide this weekend. He hanged himself in one of UChicago’s research buildings. We hadn’t been close in the last few years and I found out through a mutual friend’s Facebook status update. John was important to me in a way I can’t fully articulate. But I am going to try to anyway because I am upset and feel this is necessary, this...
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I spent the better part of this evening revisiting...
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“So what happened to rave utopia? This isn’t a simple case of decline, of a...”
– From “Lesbian Propaganda & Other Myths: Misogyny In Dance Music”
Hat Tip to the Women in Electronic Music Facebook Page for the link. They post great content on their page and it’s definitely worth liking (or loving)!
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“The ergonomic dimension of public and political life is nowhere as evident as in...”
– From “Benches, stairs, sidewalks and the politics of urban comfort”
Via Material World
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Love in a Time of Digital Spam
This is the best spam email I have received in some time. He had me at “I’m your beautiful stranger.” And “personal data”? Oh, yes, let’s get acquainted.
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“Many writers who are no longer young claim, for various reasons, to read very...”
– Susan Sontag on writing.
P.S. This Recording has been a recent and unexpectedly pleasant source of great, smart writing. Highly recommended.
Anonymous asked: hi, with your sound reputation in the exploration of modern culture in the digital age, i'd was wondering, how one would deal with the 1000's of posted and liked posts on tumblr, all the images, articles, infographics, gifs. what would ever become of them when tumblr clearly still isn't waning. what should i do? thank you very much in advance, for the hopeful enlightenment of...
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A Sorrow Beyond Dreams
I recently finished Peter Handke’s A Sorrow Beyond Dreams, a short but incredibly dense and affective work. Handke’s writes about the suicide of his mother, a woman who lived through Nazi Europe and its aftermath. The book is as much about her life, the cultural context in which she lived and was shaped, as it is about her death and its impact on Handke. In short, the book is truly...
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Occupy Brunch This Sunday [in Chicago]
Dear Chicago based Tumblr friends,
A smart friend of mine from my graduate days at the University of Chicago is hosting an “Occupy Brunch” at The Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport this Sunday at 11am. The brunch-there will be mimosas!-will include strategizing, discussions, speakers, etc. So for the socialist-inclined amongst you, think about joining the group.
And for those of us...
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“In many ways, the augment reality perspective on technology (i.e., that the...”
– From “Why You Can’t Convince a Cyborg She’s a Cyborg”
Via The Cyborglogy Blog 