Skip to main content

Forgot to post!


I was looking for an image that had to do with "forgetfulness," and I stumbled accidentally upon this painting, by the German romantic or symbolist painter Eugen Bracht, about whom I know absolutely nothing.  Its title is Gestade der Vergessenheit, or The Shore of Oblivion (info only in German, sorry).  It's impressive enough, so I figured I may as well use it!

Forgetfulness is my theme, because here it is, definitely time to call it a night, and I just realized I forgot to post anything today.  I have been thinking about writing up some ideas on coronavirus and globalization, prompted by an essay I read that struck me as misguided.  But that will have to wait for (maybe?) tomorrow.

The day was filled with housekeeping for my courses and some grading.  The first big wave of grading in the new online regime is about to sweep over me (like the waves in the painting): papers in EMW awaiting my critical eye, exams today in my Luther seminar, more exams on Monday in Humanities, still more on Wednesday in Intro Political Thought.  I will need to give myself a motivational pep talk.

For now, maybe I'll read just a few pages by Gert Jonke (about whom I also promised I would post) and then let the sound of those crashing waves lull me right into oblivion.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chinese Painting

The Wall Street Journal  has been running some interesting articles under the heading of "The Staying Inside Guide," offering suggestions for artistic or cultural resources to view online during the pandemic.  Yesterday I came across an interesting one entitled "Immersive Painted Worlds," on Chinese painting, about which I know virtually nothing.  (The article may be behind a subscription firewall.) The article has an impressive number of links to various things online, and I watched the first couple, a pair of 15-minute videos from a former BBC program called "The Culture Show," which together form an episode on "The Art of Chinese Painting."  I thought they were quite interesting.  The first episode introduced me to the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang , which I had never heard of before.  Located in the Gobi Desert, they contain a wealth of wall paintings and statues that are well over 1000 years old and were unknown to the outside world for cen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Church Again

Maybe I should take a temporary break from posting about things I'm reading to write about something else for a change.  How about church?  Today was the second Sunday we were permitted to return to church in person again.  Last week I was there just with a few of my children, today the whole family was back. It's not quite the same, of course.  Everyone is required to wear masks.  And of course there is social distancing enforced, with many pews blocked off.  For now we are permitted to operate at only 25% of capacity, which in our small parish means no more than 31 people present.  (Though we can sneak in a few more if need be by having my family sit up in the choir loft with me.) To make sure we don't exceed the limit, we have set up a system for people to reserve a spot if they want to attend, which they do by contacting yours truly.  I then keep a list.  So far it hasn't been a problem, though--I don't think word has fully gotten ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Paris Cafes Open Again

Now this is good news: I just read in the Times  that cafés in Paris are once again able to open for outdoor service .  I've never even been to Paris, but that is still a welcome sign. I have written before--it probably deserves another reflection sometime--that this lockdown has not been a big deal for me.  I worry about the college, and naturally I'm not thrilled about a salary cut forced by the college's losses.  But in terms of my day-to-day life, the lockdown is more or less irrelevant.  It makes grocery shopping more of a pain, and it keeps me away from my office, but otherwise interferes with little that I want to do. But the thing that I do miss is the opportunity to get to Europe once in a while.  I had to cancel a planned trip to Germany with students over Easter.  And this very morning, as it happens, I was supposed to arrive in Poland for a conference of the Austrian Studies Association.  Alas, those trips were not to be. And ...
Post a Comment
Read more