I'm Not Following You!
Call me paranoid. But whenever I'm walking behind someone -- say, for instance, an attractive college girl -- in a parking lot, on the way to my car, I'm very self-conscious about the distance I maintain towards that person. It seems no distance is far enough so as to avoid any suspicion on her part that I am following her, even stalking her (maybe attractive college girls are trained this way...), though I am certainly not! In addition, no distance is far enough for me not to suspect that maybe I am in fact stalking her, though I know I am not! I just wonder if anyone else is affected by this sort of paranoia... and uses it as a reason not to leave one's apartment....
Crossing Paths
The last time I returned home on a visit it upset me to discover that my cat was missing, and that my parents, under whose care I had left my cat, cold-heartedly denied any responsibility, citing their old age. I quickly sought a replacement pet companion. All this is context for what I now realize is a really stupid observation about latent homosexuality in the tender, loving relationship I have since developed with my new male cat (photos coming soon!), an observation I have decided not to make.
A Selection
The long-awaited "First Complete Translation in English" of Lacan's Écrits has been available (on amazon.com) since December 2005 but I just found out today. Really, one of the main reasons I intend to develop No Subject as a community-driven site is so that I will have others to count on to keep me updated on information like this.
Zizek's Politics
Jodi Dean's new book, Zizek's Politics, is really very exciting to read, especially after so many other attempts to clarify the significance of Zizek's contribution to political theory have failed... Dean has done an excellent job.
Rye and Pumpernickel Bread
While making myself a sandwich today I discovered that I was short on the #1 ingredient, so I had to make do with one slice of rye bread and one slice of pumpernickel. As I was eating it, I thought about the proper relationship between these two unique kinds of peasant food, but couldn't figure it out.
- Rye bread is bread made with rye flour.[1]
- Pumpernickel bread is bread made with a combination of rye flour and rye meal.[2]
It should seem obvious that pumpernickel is a type of rye bread... but what do we make of such additional information as the fact that pumpernickel is very dark (and is also a type of sourdough)?
"The finished product [Pumpernickel] tastes very similar to rye bread, but differs in that pumpernickel recipes often call for molasses, helping to give pumpernickel its dark color."[3]
If you are also interested in the exciting topic of bread, and would like to learn more about the different types of bread, throughout history and across different cultures, then this wikipedia page is right for you![4] 6 September 2006
Blooper Real
Has anyone noticed how self-conscious today's bloopers have become? I can't say that they were ever funny, but when an actor forgets his lines and so blurts out anything that comes to mind, there's nothing Freudian about it.5 September 2006
Soap Bar
Is anyone else suspicious of the bar of soap, as I am? Walk into the bathroom and look: it's filthy. After you wash your hands the first time -- and employees must wash their hands -- it is always necessary to wash them again just to get rid of germs -- left by other employees -- from the soap! That's why I carry my own bar. Also, a good name for a drinking establishment. 1 September 2006
|