:table series: issue 5: homage to de Man

so, maggie and i are going crazy with our move... you can read this if you want. [i know only two people EVER read the table series... so THANK YOU TWO PEOPLE!] we'll have more to say after we are done putting our beloved books in storage... we have to.... trust me... the two of us in one room is just STUPID. it is more like a library with a bed in it than a bedroom at this point.

xo.

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BROWNSON has his narrator travel from America to Europe causing revolution after revolution, expelling Pope Pius IX from Rome, and performing various other disagreeable modes of disharmony in the name of world reform. There are also various moments in which our narrator participates in mesmerizing subjects without the knowledge of the subjects. In fact, the only evidence we have that anything in his confession actually takes place is inside his confession. The fact that he utters a confession. But, again, I must ask, how can this be confession? And who is this narrator making it? Is Brownson attempting to make his uncommon narrator common, by keeping his name secret? Does this secret invalidate the occasion that causes the book, The Spirit-Rapper, An Autobiography into existence, which is that of a deathbed confession? Is it not part of confession to take responsibility for one’s sins? And is it really to take fault, to accept blame, if one is unwilling to admit responsibility in one’s own name in the first place?

The opening paragraph of Spirit-Rapper is as follows:

“My days are numbered; I am drawing near to the close of my earthly pilgrimage, and I must soon take my final departure, –whither, I dread to think. But before I go I would leave a brief record of some incidents in my worse than unprofitable life. A few who have known me, and will have the charity to breathe a prayer at my grave, may be glad to possess it; and others of my countrymen, who know not what to think of the marvelous phenomena daily and hourly exhibited in their midst, or are vainly striving to explain them on natural principles, may find it neither uninteresting nor uninstructive.” (3)
His purpose in telling his tale is thus to leave a history for, entertain, and instruct his readers. The tale is more than confession, it is didactic. (Are all confessions inherently didactic? Maybe I need to be more specific, are all confessions that are then written as autobiography, didactic?).


There is a trace of the issues regarding the unwillingness to mark found in the narrators choice to define through negation what the reader shall gain by reading this not-biography. And, again, what action does the narrator take, what act does he perform, that is “neither uninteresting nor uninstructive” ? What does the narrator introduce, come into contact with, mark, that needs to be eradicated and excused?

local artist.

so i'm really sick and walking mr. poods around the block bc he's driving me crazy with the "eat the postman's arms" game.... and i see this 6 or 7 year old kid. he's on his stoop and he's taped up some notebook paper that he has written on in magic marker:

MAG
AZINES


$1.00



and he looks at us and throws his head into his lap, assuming the sulk position.

so. i get closer. he just sighs and sighs and sighs. so finally i say, "are you okay?"

"i guess so."

"what's the matta?"

"nobody will buy my magazines!"

so i buy one of the damn things.

here's a page:



totally awesome, eh?

question of the day from dvorak:

i recently got this email and thought i'd posit this question to the blog.
see if anyone has anything to say about it.

let us know what you think:

from KD:
is it possible to "unintentionally obfuscate" something?

For example:

"Perhaps the field has been unintentionally obfuscating the entirety
of its history by only recognizing texts from the last ten years when,
in fact, there are field-specific texts that are sixty years old."

End of email.

well.... is it possible?

***

more from me when my cold is gone. and also, i have a 'real job' now...
so i think that means i'll be less blog obsessed. i don't know.

Jim Behrle Speaks! Exclusive Interview After "Can't Get a Date"

1) Did you get paid anything or do they just give you all that free shit? SOME CLOTHES, SNEAKERS, $1200, MADE OVER ROOM, A FISH (NAMED "THE HOST" (NICKNAMED PEPPER) AFTER THE HOST, WHO DIED A WHILE AGO).

2) How much make-up did you have to wear? THEY POWDERED ME IN THE STUDIO, BUT VERY LITTLE. BALD GUYS CAN BE TROUBLE ON TV, AND SOME TIMES THEY'D HAVE TO COVER PIMPLES OR WHATEVER, BUT NOT THEATRICAL MAKE-UP OR ANYTHING.

3) They cleaned up your room, but they didn't install any bookshelves. Where are your books now? I HAVE VERY FEW BOOKS LEFT OVER FROM ALL MY MOVES. I DON'T DO THAT THING THAT POETS DO: KEEPING EVERY BOOK EVER. NOT ANY MORE. I HAVE A DUFFEL BAG FULL OF BOOKS AND I TEND TO GIVE A LOT AWAY.

4) When did Kat know she was going to be on the show? Did you guys stage the whole thing or was it an honest date? I MET CAT AT THE TORCH READING IN JANUARY, PUT HER ON CRUSH LIST, WAS CAST ON SHOW AND THEY BROUGHT IN A LOT OF PEOPLE FROM THE CRUSH LIST--NOTHING WAS STAGED. I DIDN'T REALLY KNOW HER, SHE WAS UNSURE WHETHER SHE WANTED TO GO ON TV DATE BUT ULTIMATELY DID. WE WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO TALK TO EACH OTHER FOR LIKE TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE DATE.

5) Since Kate Pringle was number four on your crush list for a while, how come she didn't get to be in one of those orange circles and say that she wouldn't date you? Is it because she's a lesbian? TIMING. FILM WAS SHOT LAST YEAR, KATE WAS JUST ON LIST.

6) Kate says you live alone. I say there's no way you live alone; you live in NY. I'm right, aren't I? I HAVE A ROOMMATE.

7) Are you going to keep those pictures above your bed? THE PICTURES OF MYSELF TIMOTHY SHOT? I DON'T KNOW WHERE ELSE TO PUT THEM. I WILL PROBABLY MOVE IN THE NEXT MONTH OR SO, I HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT MOVING THEM SINCE WE SHOT THE SHOT OF HANGING THEM.

8) Do you think you'll get your own show? I think you would be a good late night kinda guy. You seemed really comfortable in front of the camera. Just as sassy as in real life. I WILL HAVE A CAMEO ON ANOTHER PROGRAM VERY SOON. WITH DETAILS TO FOLLOW. I DON'T KNOW WHAT OTHER PROJECTS WILL PRESENT THEMSELVES.

9) Could you really hear that narrator guy or did you have to pretend and answer questions that you never heard? It sure did sound like he was in a studio. I COULD SEE AND HEAR HIM. I CAN'T TALK ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE SHOW ONLINE. BUT I WAS LOOKING AT HIM AND TALKING WITH HIM WHILE BEING INTERVIEWED.

10) Kate says you probably joined a gym now. I say you didn't. I lost a bunch of weight when I stopped eating soda and cookies. It was cool because I didn't have to work out. Can you do a pull-up yet? I CAN PROBABLY DO A PULL-UP. I HURT MY WRIST A WHILE BACK, BUT I COULD PROBABLY DO A PULL-UP. I HAVEN'T JOINED A GYM. I WILL RUN WITH STACEY'S BOOTCAMP A FEW TIMES IN THE COMING WEEKS TO CATCH UP WITH PEOPLE. I'VE FELT A LOT OF PRESSURE TO KEEP THE WEIGHT OFF, BUT HAVEN'T REALLY WORKED OUT SINCE. EATING LESS. SNACKING LESS. DIET SODAS.

Thanks for watching. There should be footage at vh1.com's v-spot of the 6 month after footage in which I watch the episode. Worth watching: you may need a pc!

xxxjimmy

OPEN LETTER TO JIM

Dear Jim,

Now Kate in her post below said I was going to be sarcastic, but I am too fascinated to be sarcastic. I have many questions for you, like:

1) Did you get paid anything or do they just give you all that free shit?

2) How much make-up did you have to wear?

3) They cleaned up your room, but they didn't install any bookshelves. Where are your books now?

4) When did Kat know she was going to be on the show? Did you guys stage the whole thing or was it an honest date?

5) Since Kate Pringle was number four on your crush list for a while, how come she didn't get to be in one of those orange circles and say that she wouldn't date you? Is it because she's a lesbian?

6) Kate says you live alone. I say there's no way you live alone; you live in NY. I'm right, aren't I?

7) Are you going to keep those pictures above your bed?

8) Do you think you'll get your own show? I think you would be a good late night kinda guy. You seemed really comfortable in front of the camera. Just as sassy as in real life.

9) Could you really hear that narrator guy or did you have to pretend and answer questions that you never heard? It sure did sound like he was in a studio.

10) Kate says you probably joined a gym now. I say you didn't. I lost a bunch of weight when I stopped eating soda and cookies. It was cool because I didn't have to work out. Can you do a pull-up yet?

Thanks!

-- Maggie

jim.

o yes... did we watch jim behrle on vh1 last night?

i picked maggie and poods up from her place, brought her over, made a snack...
and nestled into quality time with jim behrle. it was beautiful. and he looks really great.

and maggie will post the more interesting post on this... bc she is more sarcastic than i am.
[only bc she knows him a little better. or "knows" him. hehe.]

but, yeah. glad the toenails got worked out.

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