yeshe chölwa

At theology camp, it was important to seem busy, so we were — the days were just packed. We would have breakfast at seven, woken up by reggae versions of non-reggae songs. Breakfast… Read More →

in case of emergency

(SCENE. Kugelmass and Nicholas Bourbaki are chatting via Skype. To Kugelmass’s right is a small, unkempt mattress, strewn with gummi bears and Walter Benjamin essay collections. To his left is a painting that… Read More →

No, sir, it’s a completely baked Alaska

What follows is the Google chat transcript of a knock-down, drag-out battle between myself and the ferocious Tristan Matthews on the subject of John Green, and more specifically his very Donna Tartt-like novel Looking… Read More →

The Terrible Ten: Modern Self-Help And A Lehrer Follow-Up

It’s extremely helpful when readers offer corrections; I can and do get the facts wrong sometimes, and I’m always happy to follow-up when there’s a reason to do so. My friend FM had… Read More →

The complicated way to simple: the complete series

Well, things have been hopping around here of late, thanks to the overnight success of Describing Your Way To Happiness. Seriously, it has just been hugely thrilling for me. You guys are the… Read More →

My Day (With Apologies to Harper’s Index)

Total time spent on bed-related issues: 2 hours Amount of these two hours that were spent on fitted sheet: 15 minutes Amount of time doing exchange at Bed Bath & Beyond: 30 minutes… Read More →

Forgotten Satiric Genius: Christian Schütze

(x-posted to The Valve) About two-thirds of the way through Theodor Adorno’s admirable book The Jargon of Authenticity, illuminating the entire volume, is a little piece of German satire that nobody has ever… Read More →

Parodying Academic Blogging

(x-posted to The Valve) Dear readers, In the spirit of the MLAde 2007, produced by two very funny UC Irvine grad students and distributed, guerrilla-style, around the conference, I’m pleased to present this… Read More →

Absolutely Fun and True Facts, Chapter One: I Am Defamed

Dear readers, I’m working my way through a draft of my dissertation prospectus, with a little help from Soren Kierkegaard’s Stages on Life’s Way. I’m also really enjoying teaching Persuasion and The Bluest… Read More →

(Radio Interview) These Cats Aren’t Laughing Out Loud

(x-posted to The Valve) (The following are excerpts from a recorded interview between Terri Gross and Lion-O, the young lord of the Thundercats. It was originally aired on National Public Radio and its… Read More →