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Sep. 9th, 2002 04:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vaznettiI really must get a laptop. This whole only having a computer at work thing is quite distressing.
Spent today reading the book I'd assigned my students. My initial impression was correct--it's not a very good book, which means that it should make excellent discussion material. "What on earth was she talking about here?" It'll take at least an hour just to figure out what the author's argument was. My class is small and fun. Fun for me, anyway--the students had better get ready for some hard thinking, I fear. But that's what an education is for, and if they haven't had to think yet, well, there's no time like the present.
This is rather scattered--I've been thinking about an article in Sunday's Times about moving to New York after September 11th, which of course is what I've done. I'm not sure what I think about it (or indeed, what I mean by "it" in that last sentence). Am I somehow barred from ever being a "real New Yorker" because I wasn't here? No. I mean, I may never be a real New Yorker, but that's going to have a lot more to do with my fear of roaches and my lack of a permanent job in the area than where I was last September. And yet surely there is some kind of difference. There ought to be.
This is still garbled, and I doubt it will be more coherent by Wednesday. At the moment you can't turn around in New York without some kind of 9/11 memorial stuff, which doesn't surprise me much, but also doesn't really help me clarify my thoughts. I feel very disconnected from whatever it is I'm supposed to be feeling. My husband (who writes about the commemoration of WWI and WWII) seems disinterested, and no doubt would point out that all public commemoration in experienced differently by the individuals who participate and observe it. I'm tempted to suggest that he spend Wednesday outside and call it fieldwork.
Spent today reading the book I'd assigned my students. My initial impression was correct--it's not a very good book, which means that it should make excellent discussion material. "What on earth was she talking about here?" It'll take at least an hour just to figure out what the author's argument was. My class is small and fun. Fun for me, anyway--the students had better get ready for some hard thinking, I fear. But that's what an education is for, and if they haven't had to think yet, well, there's no time like the present.
This is rather scattered--I've been thinking about an article in Sunday's Times about moving to New York after September 11th, which of course is what I've done. I'm not sure what I think about it (or indeed, what I mean by "it" in that last sentence). Am I somehow barred from ever being a "real New Yorker" because I wasn't here? No. I mean, I may never be a real New Yorker, but that's going to have a lot more to do with my fear of roaches and my lack of a permanent job in the area than where I was last September. And yet surely there is some kind of difference. There ought to be.
This is still garbled, and I doubt it will be more coherent by Wednesday. At the moment you can't turn around in New York without some kind of 9/11 memorial stuff, which doesn't surprise me much, but also doesn't really help me clarify my thoughts. I feel very disconnected from whatever it is I'm supposed to be feeling. My husband (who writes about the commemoration of WWI and WWII) seems disinterested, and no doubt would point out that all public commemoration in experienced differently by the individuals who participate and observe it. I'm tempted to suggest that he spend Wednesday outside and call it fieldwork.
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Date: 2002-09-09 05:35 pm (UTC)I think you're supposed to feel whatever it is you *do* feel, and not worry so much about what the "right" thing to feel is. (Garbled? Moi?) What I mean is, everyone's reactions to events is so very different depending on their lives and their connections to others and yes, even where they live. 9/11 is no exception to that. Some folks are swearing off all media that day, others are going to do their own private musings and grief remembrances, etc. Me, I'll probably be in front of the TV all day, just like I was last year at that moment. I can still remember the fear and the uncertainty and the shock - and it's something that's gotten far away from me since then. I dunno if that's a good or a bad thing. *shrug* Guess I'll find out on Wednesday when I hit media saturation overload.
My husband (who writes about the commemoration of WWI and WWII) seems disinterested, and no doubt would point out that all public commemoration in experienced differently by the individuals who participate and observe it. I'm tempted to suggest that he spend Wednesday outside and call it fieldwork.
You know, it's not a bad suggestion. Might make for some interesting observations on his part.