September 27, 2005
And, By the Way,
this is why I quit college. (Well, that and a dumb boy problem.)
Because of profs like me?
Ouch.
That hurts.
No, silly. Because I realized that there was something profoundly frivolous about making up new "interpretations" of texts on some (often rather flimsy) evidence.
Granted, I honestly tried to come up with things that I at least imagined could have been in the writer's mind—at least his/her unconscious—but I couldn't keep that up all the way through graduate school. It was just going to get worse. Making up more words to stuff into dead people's mouths. What a dreary form of mental masturbation.
Ah. Well, it can be fun -- or interesting, at least (I remember having a good argument with a prof I really liked over Gatsby; I was very interested in how Nick's narration was unreliable given his infatuation with Daisy and his own self-satisfaction. The prof thought I was crazy. But how reliable we believe the narrator to be can gives us clues to "his" intent, as that intent exists as a fictional construct. It was like meta-interpretation through appeals to meta-intentionalism).
That kind of stuff can lead one to make interesting and potentially important discoveries about how language works.
But that's not really what the academy wants from you. They want bureaucrats who teach course loads. You were right to get out.
Good reason to quit college. I like it.
Oh, believe me: it was fun. I just couldn't see a real point to what I was doing. It was, as Jeff suggests, creative writing. But creative writing virtually no one would want to read. (Rather like much contemporary poetry, come to think of it.)
No one has yet asked whether I had a dumb problem with a boy, or a problem with a dumb boy.
I feel vaguely disappointed.
I was going to ask, but figure it had to be a dumb problem with a boy, since you don't seem like the type to date a *dumb* boy (or at least to get emotionally involved enough with such to be really bothered..)
My first boyfriend wasn't too bright. I was 14. When we broke up he wanted a lot of Sturm und Drang, but I couldn't do it.
The guy during college was terribly bright, and very alcoholic. I was living with him at the time, and financially dependent on him. That's a dumb problem.
Goldstein a college professor? I must have missed that nugget of info somewhere along the way.
That explains a lot, yes.
And I mean that in a good way.
He gave it up to be a daddy, so he isn't much a of a feminist, is he?
LMA,
You'll note kindly that I am refraining from comments, snide remarks, and whimperings.
Though I'm dyin' here!!! Gimme a cookie for self-control...
LMM
I always disregard that first guy. You'll always be my first real boyfriend.
(Was that a good cookie? I'm afraid it's the only kind our spouses will allow me to give you.)
Good reason to quit college. I support you.
"Let the issues be the issue.
About Joy W. McCann: I've been interviewed for Le Monde and mentioned on Fox News. I once did a segment for CNN on "Women and Guns," and this blog is periodically featured on the New York Times' blog list. My writing here has been quoted in California Lawyer. I've appeared on The Glenn and Helen Show. Oh—and Tammy Bruce once bought me breakfast.
My writing has appeared in The Noise, Handguns, Sports Afield, The American Spectator, and (it's a long story) L.A. Parent. This is my main blog, though I'm also an alumnus of Dean's World, and I help out on the weekends at Right Wing News.
My political philosophy is quite simple: I'm a classical liberal. In our Orwellian times, that makes me a conservative, though one of a decidedly libertarian bent.
An American Carol rawks!
Main AAC site (Warning: sound-enabled;
trailer starts automatically.)
Buy Blogads from the
Conservative
Network here.
This is one of the last pix
we took before we left
the house in La Caņada.
I think it's very flattering
to Bathsheba the .357.
"The women of this country learned long ago,
those without swords can still die upon them.
I fear neither death nor pain." —Eowyn, Tolkien's
Lord of the Rings
Free Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani!
See Jane Novak's "Yemeni Watch" blog,
Armies of Liberation.
Free journalists and dissident bloggers, worldwide!
Some of My Homegirls— ERROR: http://rpc.blogrolling.com/display_raw.php?r=59e4b55f70f50de810150859b200a635 is currently inaccessible
ENERGY RESOURCES:
• API (Information on Oil and Natural Gas)
• Natural Gas
• The California
Energy Blog
• The Alternative Energy Blog
(Solar, Wind, Geothermal, etc.)
• The Energy Revolution Blog
• Gas 2.0 Blog
• Popular Mechanics'
"Drive Green"
MOVIES & TELEVISION:
Criticism—
• Libertas
(now on hiatus, but they'll be back!) • Pajiba
Real Indie Productions—
• Indoctrinate U
(Evan Coyne Maloney)
• Mine Your Own Business
(Phelim McAleer)
• Expelled: No
Intelligence Allowed
(Ben Stein, Logan Craft,
Walt Ruloff, and John
Sullivan)
Real Indie Production
and Distibution
Companies—
• Moving Picture Institute
THE SAGA OF LIFE IN
THE R.H. HYMERS, JR., CULT:
• First Installment: The Basic Story
• Hymers' History of Violence
• How Fun Is It To
Be Recruited Into Hymer's
Offbeat Church? Not Very. • How I Lost My Virginity
THE LITTLE MISS
ATTILA SAMPLER:
On Food:
• Dreadful Breakfast Cookies
On Men and Women:
• It's Rape If
You Don't Send
Me Money
• Women Talk Too Much;
I'll Date Dolphins
• Heterosexual
Men Are Kinky
• Hot Cars,
Hot Girls
On Animation:
• Freakazoid!
—the Commentary
• Freakazoid!
DVD
On Religion:
• Athiests and
Christians Talking
To Each Other
TESTIMONIALS:
"Good grammar, and better gin."
—CalTech Girl
"I enjoy Little Miss Attila's essays."
—Venomous Kate
"Joy is good at catching flies with honey."
—Beth C
"Your position is ludicrous, and worthy of ridicule."
—Ace of Spades
"Sexy."
—RightGirl
"Old-school."
—Suburban Blight
HAWT LYNX:
Teh Funny—
• Dave Burge
Interesting News Items
Civics Lessons—
Taranto on How a Bill Becomes Law
Editorial Resources—
• Better Editor
• Web on the Web
• Me me me me me! (miss.attila --AT-- gmail --dot-- com)
Cigars—
• Cigar Jack
Science—
• David Linden/
The Accidental Mind
• Cognitive Daily
Rive Gauche—
• Hip Nerd's Blog
• K's Quest
• Mr. Mahatma
• Talk About America
• Hill Buzz
• Hire Heels
• Logistics Monster
• No Quarter
Food & Booze—
• Just One Plate (L.A.)
• Food Goat
• A Full Belly
• Salt Shaker
• Serious Eats
• Slashfood
Travel—
• Things You Should Do
(In the West)
• Just One Plate (L.A.)
Cars—
• • Jalopnik
The Truth About Cars
SoCal News—
• Foothill Cities
Oh, Canada—
• Five Feet of Fury
• Girl on the Right
• Small Dead Animals
• Jaime Weinman
Audio—
• Mary McCann,
The Bone Mama
(formerly in Phoenix, AZ;
now in Seattle, WA;
eclectic music)
• Mike Church,
King Dude
(right-wing talk)
• Jim Ladd
(Los Angeles;
Bitchin' Music
and Unfortunate
Left-Wing Fiddle-Faddle)
• The Bernsteins
(Amazing composers
for all your
scoring needs.
Heh. I said,
"scoring needs.")
Iran, from an Islamic Point of View
and written in beautiful English—
• Shahrzaad
Money—
• Blogging Away Debt
• Debt Kid
• Debtors Anonymous
World Services
• The Tightwad Gazette
Sex—
• Gentleman Pornographer
More o' Dat
Pop Culture—
• Danny Barer
(Animation News) • Something Old,
Nothing New
(And yet more
Animation News)
• Sam Plenty
(Cool New
Animation Site!)
• The Bernsteins
(Wait. Did I mention
the Bernsteins
already? They're
legendary.)
Guns & Self-Defense— • Paxton Quigley, the Pioneer •TFS Magnum (Zendo Deb) •Massad Ayoob's Blog
THE BLOGOSPHERE ACCORDING TO
ATTILA GIRL:
The American Mind
Aces, Flopping
Ace of Spades
Argghhh!!!
Armies of Liberation
Asymmetrical Information
Atlas Shrugs
Attila of Pillage Idiot
Beautiful Atrocities
The Belmont Club
The Bitch Girls
Bolus
Books, Bikes, and Boomsticks
The Common Virtue
Da Goddess
Danz Family
Dean's World
Desert Cat/a>
Digger's Realm
Cam Edwards
Eleven Day Empire (James DiBenedetto)
Flopping Aces
Froggy Ruminations
Gay Orbit
Gregory!
Jeff Goldstein
Mary Katherine Ham
At the D.C. Examiner Hugh Hewitt
Hi. I'm Black.
Iberian Notes
IMA0
Iowahawk
The Irish Lass
In DC Journal
Infinite Monkeys
Instapundit
Intel Dump
Trey Jackson (videoblogging)
James Joyner
James Lileks
Rachel Lucas
Men's News Daily
Michelle Malkin
Nice Deb
No Watermelons Allowed
North American Patriot
On Tap
On the Fritz
On the Third Hand
Outside the Beltway
Oxblog
Peoria Pundit
Photon Courier
Power Line
The Protocols of
the Yuppies of Zion
Protein Wisdom
The Queen of All Evil
Questions and Observations
RightGirl
Right Wing News
Scrappleface
Donald Sensing
Rusty Shackleford
The Shape of Days
Sharp as a Marble
Sheila A-Stray
Laurence Simon
Six Meat Buffet
Spades, Ace of
Suburban Blight
TFS Magnum
This Blog is Full of Crap
Triticale
The Truth Laid Bear
Venomous Kate
VodkaPundit
The Volokh Conspiracy
Where is Raed?
Wizbang
Write Enough
You Big Mouth, You!
Support our troops; read the Milblogs!
LinkGrotto |
Support a Blogger at the LinkGrotto.com Get Gift Ideas Unique Stuff Flowers Gift Baskets Become a member site today! |