casting the lums: part one "the transcription"

me: turnting in all up

what should I do once I've infiltrated said "Hills"

Sent at 11:46 PM on Monday

Pan: break up Spencer and Heidi...again

or get them back together

I don't know

they're too on and off

Sent at 11:52 PM on Monday

me: i wish that I could make this my facebook status

Pan: that you've infiltrated the Hills?

Sent at 11:55 PM on Monday

me: yeah

I got it, sort of

Sent at 11:56 PM on Monday

Pan: ahh

hahaha

I see it

Sent at 11:58 PM on Monday

me: I'm happy

it's the most driven i've been in a while

Pan: yeah?

being in LA?

Sent at 12:01 AM on Tuesday

me: no

infiltrating the hills

Pan: oh

me: that's the upside to reality tv

Pan: yes

me: you can really go there

Pan: soon you'll have your own spinoff

me: the arbor

Pan: hahaha

me and my virtual dance crew can make guest appearances right?

me: oh for shiz

i mean

we'll just hang out

and that becomes a guest appearance

you sign the waiver, etc

you herein agree to appear friendlike

to the character mr meade

Sent at 12:05 AM on Tuesday

Pan: maybe we can get the Nicole Miller wedding on there too

you could create some last minute drama

me: show up as the hoed-out bridesmaid

Pan: ooh

that would be good

me: (I was already planning on that even before I got the show)

Pan: hahaha

Sent at 12:07 AM on Tuesday

Pan: man this show got good

The Chi/NYC folks are going to be jealous

Sent at 12:10 AM on Tuesday

me: yeah

but the show will reach out to them

I'll go to cities and be all whacked out

and like, I'm not used to cities wooooo

prolly every fifth episode, or four times a season

Sent at 12:13 AM on Tuesday

Pan: you know what would be awesome?

if you reenacted the tree falling on Jesse's car

that makes for good drama

me: ooooooooooooh

!!!!!11111111!

you. are. so. right

Pan: you can play the part of Bielak

me: and we'll add a steamy lovescene

Pan: ooh

best after it's revealed the tree has lasers

me: but I'll be jesse

and jesse will save me from the tree

Pan: hahahahha

me: and I'll be grateful

Pan: yeah you will

the love scene will reveal that

me: and then we ll have a kiss on the car

steamy

I will wear a wig

to make me look taller

Pan: but it's better if you're shorter

Jesse will look more dashing

Sent at 12:19 AM on Tuesday

me: ok, jesse wears the wig to play bielak

Pan: yeah much better

me: people don't know what gender someone called bielak is anyway

with your permission I'm going to post this conversation to the tort'lums blog now

Pan: go for it

that way Nicole will get the hint that I'm a groomsmen

harnessing the power of the 'lums

Hey you shineyshiney peoples,

I'm arranging the syllabus for a freshman writing course that I'm going to teach in the fall, English 125.006 (the evil double-0 that tries to kill 007 at the begining of Goldeneye) Writing Space and Place. I want to assign an argumentative essay, 4-6 pp, on arguing for or against the validity of torture as a device of the state. I am thinking of articles to include in the weeks before the assignment in order to build up to it, and I come up with "The Objectification of the Prisoner's World Dissolution" by Scarry from Body in Pain and "On the Torture of Others" by Sontag. But I'm stuck on anything in favor--does anyone know of anything? I imagine that Justice Scalia's book probably features a chapter or section on this, and I'll check it out, but if anyone can think of anything else off hand, I'd really appreciate it.

also

dear whoever still reads this blog,

i would like to point out that i made it into TWO blog posts in a row. see below for proof/reference.

in other news, spring is inching its way toward new york city, and i can't wait for it. yesterday i walked across the brooklyn bridge, which was a great idea. also last weekend i saw mara and kevin, two non-tort'lums who are favorites of the tort'lums. now this blog is turning into a tort'lums version of celebrity sightings/where are they now. will stop.

confession that save for a minor setback or two i am really happy here these days. things are on the up and up. i'm happy enough to look like chris looked when i saw him in ann arbor that time.

doh. back to celebrity sightings.

also, thanks friends again for letting me have anton alone time. it made me cry a little, but it was good. i miss him. and you. and classes. but at least now i have job that involves thinking and writing. yayyyyy (and there was much rejoicing). if you ever want to read my thoughts on things that don't matter, aka art, i have two articles up so far at the website i work for, www.artinfo.com, and also, i am interviewing the art critic for the New Yorker on wednesday, which makes me nervous.

love,
jil

talkin not typing papers blues

I saw Jillian, Cristina and Pan Pan last weekend. I was foul-smelling and showing the signs of consciousness of a vase of daisies, but it was really nice. I don't know if I got that across, what with my pistels, stamens and my unkempt corolla and everything. We had coffee with Anton and discussed zingerman's, alt.zingerman's, shammas world tour 2008, pre-urban commune complit packard house, etc.
I was writing a paper on Melville then, a week ago, which I finished Tuesday. Since then I've been "thinking about"/"reading for" a Faulkner paper and I've made zero pages of progress on a word processor. And I still smell and my stimulus-response level is still pretty low. Anyway after I saw you guys Sunday I did pretty well, so I'd like to petition any tort'lums who can make it to come for cocktails tomorrow at Ashley's so that I can sponge-brain some more and write my paper. Please? Cream biscuits are included.
Here is the central question to my graduate studies so far: The law, is it everywhere that it proclaims itself to be, or is it just where people act to enforce it? It's a tough call. What do you think? the fun thing about the question is that once you've asked it, you're no longer qualified to answer! if you recognize that the law exists, you can't see its outside anymore. unless you say you can?
anyway the supreme court decided the state still has the power over your life via needles.

Not an aaaaa post

The other day I had lunch with Jillian. It was really nice. We were almost wearing the same thing, but we didn't really look like twins.

One frustrating thing

is really loving a book, only to have a male professor (our friend, Dorfman) lecture you on why you shouldn't love the book because it is sexist. (If revolution is masculine and nature is feminine.)

However, if I am not supposed to love any book that expresses some kind of hatred of women, I am left with very few books to love! Almost none. Male professors are going to come and take them away from me ("Oh, you shouldn't love that!") because I am a woman.

School makes me so angry.

Also: it has been suggested to me that grad students never say anything coherent or meaningful, and it works because everyone in class is too insecure about their own intellectual capital to admit that they don't have a clue what everyone else is saying. Kind of like the emperor's new clothes. "The grad student's new ideas." No one wants to be the first to admit that gibberish is not language.<--I'm pretty sure that's what happens.

Anyway, check out this really awesome sexist, classist book: La montana es algo mas que una inmensa estepa verde, by Omar Cabezas (Fire from the Mountain: The Making of a Sandinista). Unless you really hate Fanon (because he's classist) or want to say that the university-intellectual really CAN'T create an alternate political sphere (because you are a totally apathetic grad student) or really can't stand woman-mountain metaphors (because you're a male professor).

I'm going to ask him if I can write my midterm on this book so that I can share something with you all that sounds a little less choleric, but I think he is going to say no. (We are supposed to write on Poniatowska.)

Anyway, miss you a lot.

sontag and death

i remember talking about the fact that susan sontag had died but i am not sure i knew about her long sickness and pain. she seems to have taken a strong approach.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/health/29book.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin


sorry, that's all for now.