etc

Briefly: been on oxymoronic theory vacation, my apologies to those who've written me and to whom I haven't replied. Third day at the Theory Reading Group in Cornell, something like an alternate-universe frat boy party where people talk about the "piety of thought." Really interesting conversations through, particularly an ongoing, somewhat accidental focus on counter-factual reasoning. Got me thinking about what happens when "testing" your faithfulness to a project doesn't just end in the self-destruction of that project, but when faithfulness itself is only a ruse to "have to try and test it out." More on this soon, and I'll put up a version of the talk I gave - on ornament, decay, and the horror of wallpaper made of hair - when I turn it into something more than just scattered notes. For now, back to the cave and to the pleasure of face-to-face.

However, we do present an ultimatum: for every utterance of the word "Evental" or the phrase "the global Left," a hostage will be killed. The blood's on your hands, Mr. President.