INTRO TO THE POLITICS OF RESEARCH (and the movies of January 2015!)

Let’s get Meta—we’ve all read “University Inc.”? Of course we have.

Did we like it? In the simplest terms, was it fun to read? There’s no wrong answer…

2014: Gone, and Good Riddance! (or: Ding-Dong, the Year Is Dead!)

I’ve been officially accepted into graduate school—working towards my MA in Language & Literacy—and if you have any idea of what that means, you know I ain’t gonna have the time…

“Lady, I don’t have the time…” 

Honestly, 2014 was probably one of the toughest years of my life, burning me out to the core of my soul, messing with my health, emptying my bank account and essentially ruining me financially.

But WOW, I learned a lot about myself and the “System.”

Like I will never teach in a public school. Not because the kids are monsters (and many of them are), but because the pedagogical bureaucrats and creeps run the show—and their one desire is a classroom full of obedient zombies. Teaching students how to be quiet and sit up straight was more important that engaging them intellectually. Sad, really, and I want no part of it.

Wow, this month, I really caught up (sort of) with my movie viewing and “for fun” reading (not that any reading these days doesn’t have an ulterior motive).

L.I.E. #119: Short Reviews, Fat Reviewer (the movies of November 2014)

Putting weight on—after spending such effort to lose it! Damn that sweet tooth!

Been really slacking off lately—and I know why: bad habits. Thought I had ’em licked.

Well, gotta get my nose to the grindstone, yessir!

No more sugar! No more wheat! No dairy! Starve!

The Bonkers Eclecticism of October—in late-November….

Y’know, originally, I was going to be posting this on November 1 or 2—not almost at the end of the month!

Here are some photos from my cell phone as illustrations (electronic desk-clearing as it were…)

I call the above piece, “Flame Monster Scorched Floor Policy; or, Terminate With Extreme Hydrocarbonizing.”

The Rest of September’s Movies

[For no reason other than that I think it is beautiful, I am posting a recent cover of The New Yorker above. I don’t know who the artist is; I think I’ve seen and liked their work before. I really appreciate how this mystery illustrator captures and slightly caricaturizes the female form. Also, the women they draw always have a chic style and sturdy confidence. Call me a weirdo, but I’d like to think that these ladies could carry on a good conversation, too. These are smart chicks, dude, and they’re not afraid to show it!]

LEGALIZE COSPLAY NOW!!! (a spoof)

On the Legalization of Cosplay in the United States and How That Would Positively Impact Crime Rates in North America

INTRODUCTION

The legalization of cosplay would reduce crime by smashing an existing status quo where billions of taxpayer dollars are spent and thousands of lives ruined in the pursuit of an unobtainable objective.

Government resources that could be better utilized elsewhere—including our nation’s local police departments—are misspent trying to control and/or eradicate an activity the majority of Americans want legalized: In October 2013, for the first time since Gallup began asking the question in 1969, more Americans (58% of those polled) favored legalization of cosplay.

L.I.E. #115: LIBRARY ROULETTE! And What’s Been Seen So Far In September!

Let’s talk about LIBRARY ROULETTE!

Many of the movies (that is, DVDs) I watch are via the blessed New York Public Library (NYPL), but not so much from me wandering the stacks hoping to find what I want—to heck with that! I’m a (self)important man; I have things to do, places to be!

Besides the Hamilton Grange branch of the NYPL, on 145^th Street—as awesome as it is—doesn’t always have what I want.

But you can go to the NYPL’s website, and after you register, you can place holds on DVDs—which is what I do!