Blog: Chasing.Red.Chasing.Red.Chasing.Red

A friend of mine's father passed away recently. He and his sister organized a gathering to both remember their father and celebrate his life. A few poems and eulogies were read, among which this was my favorite. I thought I'd post it here. The Trees by Philip Larkin The trees are coming into leaf Like something almost being said; The recent buds relax and spread, Their greenness is a kind of grief. Is it that they are born again And we grow old? No, they die [...]

I have these moments regularly when Anna is around.

I know I said I would write a post about my changing perspective of relationships. But what do I know about love? Nathan. My man Ghostface Killah, however, dropped the mathematics for your crab ass herbs today. Here's Ghost on Twitter talking bout how to treat your girl(s) right. Nothing like Wu Tang wisdom on Valentine's Day. Oh, and if you ain't peep B moneygrip yet on how to dress fresh, you can read even more science here . Spit it, Tony. GhostfaceKillah [...]

I've been wanting to write a post for a while on my changing view of relationships. I swear it'll come soon. Maybe this weekend? In the meantime, this project by Lauren Fleishman touches on some of the things I've been thinking about.

Levis' new super skinny fit jeans, named completely seriously, " Ex-Girlfriend Jeans. " These will, of course, have to be worn without socks, but only because socks won't fit under there. This is a new level of commitment to being hip.

No text

I just participated in a social science study. There were two parts. The first part was a play on the Ultimatum Game , except there was no ultimatum. Player A got to choose how to split a 100 point pie, and Player B had to take it. The number of points corresponded with some real-world financial payoff. I was Player C, so I just observed the interaction between Player A and Player B. Then we moved on to the second part of the game. This began with us saying how we felt (happy, angry, disappointed, other, [...]

Over the last four years as a graduate student, I've been teaching and tutoring here and there. I've mostly taught politics and political economy, but this semester I did some basic tutoring in Russian history as well. It's been fairly dispiriting, to be honest. Students just don't care. I never thought I'd be the type to be bothered by students' reactions. It's fine that not everyone is interested in politics or political economy; I don't insist that everyone find it to be fascinating. However, there is something distinctly dispiriting when you see people yawn while you speak, [...]

OK, I swear a more substantial update coming in the next couple of days, but I can't possibly not post this. This kid mixed the dance scenes from Godard's Band of Outsiders with GZA's "4th Chamber" and then Vivre Sa Vie with Masta Killa's "Pass the Bone" (which, incidentally, used to be a GZA song ). For anyone who might unfamiliar with the original scenes, they're here and here . See? They're much better with Wu Tang.

I haven't been updating very often, except to occasionally say I haven't been updating very often. Anna and I lived together for the summer and part of fall, so some thoughts on that. Some thoughts on the chapter I'm writing for a book. Some thoughts on my dissertation. Some thoughts about the department. Some thoughts on casual inference in the social sciences. Some thoughts on careers in academia. Some thoughts on pedagogy. Some thoughts about my parents. Some thoughts about my father. I'll post on all that shortly. But for now, a little Chet Baker, and then bed. [...]

No text

So yesterday some friends of mine and I went into the city to check out Barney's pre-sale. On the way, we heard this beautiful opera music and a man's heavy tenor voice coming out of Maiden Lane. I thought it must have been some professional set up paid for by one of the high-end stores in order to draw customers. Once we came to the small street, we saw this fat bald man with suspenders, buckling trousers, and a white shirt, singing next to a 1980s boombox and some CDs scattered near it. He was just standing out there singing, [...]

Calligraphic piece from 1891. It's going into the dining room, which is now mostly a studying and writing room. I actually wanted something with more color, but the piece says "progress with a pen," so I thought it would help us through our dissertation writing malaise. I want to get rid of the frame though and replace it with something else. Thoughts on these options? One Two Three Four

No text

New 'Ye album , in 320 encoding, for your downloading pleasure. If you haven't seen his 35 minute music video for this album , you need to stop what you're doing, cause he's about to ruin, the image and style that you're used to. Just for a reality check, this is what hip hop videos used to be like when I was growing up. Now hip hop videos feature Phillip Lim dinner jackets, ballet dancers, and a sirin? Unbelievable. His feature on SNL was also one of the most [...]

Meet my latest suit obsession. Tom Ford. Also, not to sound like Patrick Bateman , but the subtle roll off that unfused shirt collar is ridiculously nice.

The old adage about things being too good to be true is apparently pretty robust. Yesterday's mysterious money was indeed part of a scam. A few hours after I made that post, I received a phone call from a private number. I didn't pick it up in time, and the person didn't leave a message. Was it from the person who sent me those checks? I had no way of knowing. My curiosity was really piqued after that, so I decided I should Google around to see if anyone else has ever had this [...]

I received a FedEx package this morning. Inside was a single check for $3,200, made out to me. The check is drawn from Ying P. Lie and the sender of the FedEx package is John Eamon. I don't know either of these people. Bewildered, I went to speak with my roommate about it, and an hour later, the doorbell rings. It's another FedEx package. This one is from Mary Alice Brinn in North Carolina. I open the package and inside is another cashiers check for $3,150. This one doesn't say who it's drawn from, [...]

No text

I've been wanting to get a shawl collared cardigan, like these ones , for a few months now, to prepare for the coming Fall and Winter weather. Anna saw me put one on at a store and threatened to leave me if I ever wore such a thing. "You can wear that thing when you become a professor in Michigan," she said strongly. On the upside, I confessed to her that I've been thinking about getting a pair of double monk shoes, like these . Surprisingly, she approved. How [...]