I defended my dissertation on Friday (on a Zoom, which was a bit anticlimactic, but I did have an IRL audience of three people who had helped me with my slightly over the top A/V setup). Many thanks to subscriber friends who joined the public portion. I passed!
Well, pending some manuscript revisions I'm making this weekend I will pass. The revisions are mostly concerns about my tone; my committee is worried that if I am too snarky/doing swears in my prose it will be a problem for me on the academic the job market. I personally am skeptical about the future of US academia as a whole, let alone jobs in it (also: any committee that doesn't like my tone would probably reject me on the basis of a first-round interview), but they're trying to be helpful and I am complying to the best of my ability.
In any case, it is a relief to have the end in sight and a bigger relief that I already have two jobs that I started late last year. Thanks to longtime subscribers who have followed this process for the last few years!
it’s the ruler by which i reduce all things now; hard-edged & splintering from knowledge that used to sit, a cloth against fevered forehead.
"On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs", Renee Nicole Good
The attractions of Rome were threefold to me.
The Original, Nell Stevens
Submitted by john.
a "nightstick," so called for its use / in extinguishing the light from one's eyes.
"Field Trip to the Museum of Human History", Franny Choi
Submitted by Wesley.
The president also complained that the person’s horrified screams had made it difficult for him to watch the video of the killing on television.
"Trump repeats baseless claim that Renee Good was part of ‘leftwing network’ of paid agitators", Robert Mackey for The Guardian
"Perfect" in the sense of crystallizing many terrible truths into a single statement, not in sentiment.
His aesthetic is, it seems to me, very bad, but sincerely held.
"Everybody Wants Some AI Debt", Matt Levine for Bloomberg
“To be able to combine the ridiculous with the soul-sucking is, I suppose in its way, it’s quite an accomplishment,” Sirman said.
"Love it or hate it, St. Paul’s green Spruce Tree Centre is having a moment", Greta Kaul for The Minnesota Star Tribune
Submitted by m.
I had been distracted, thinking of death, how soon, how sudden it can come, just at the second when my life was stopped before an opening car door, before I learned that upheaval can be more wonderful than we can ever dare imagine.
"Goodbye to the Chicago Intersection Where I Was Reborn", Ingrid Rojas Contreras for Off Assignment
Submitted by nathan.
As ominous warnings about the dangers of massive police budgets and reckless technological advances go, consider this the proverbial “frog in the pot of water” moment…and the water was just run through a data center to generate 400 words about how to sit in a library.
"Police Wonder If AI Bodycam Reports Are Accurate After Model Transforms Officer Into A Frog", Joe Patrice for Above The Law
The reality of Mamdani’s first few days in office have been rather different, as the 34-year-old has eschewed turning the city into the forewarned dystopian nightmare in favor of making progress on campaign promises like housing and rent, while also conducting minor municipal repairs.
“Mamdani’s first 10 days: getting things done despite right’s dystopian fantasies”, Adam Gabbatt for The Guardian
Submitted by Angela.
The problem with turning theory into ornament is that when you really need it, it isn’t there.
"A Show About French Theory Boils Big Ideas Down to Wall Decor", Eugenie Brinkema for the Art in America newsletter Reframed
U is for USPS: A quasi-government organization with a very long, dull, over written history that cannot be condensed.
the zine "The Archivist's Alphabet", read at Interference Archive
Submitted by Wesley.
We are not here to ask for a gentler boot on our neighbors’ necks.
"The Cost of Staying Human", Kelly Hayes for her newsletter Organizing My Thoughts
Anyone can do Accidental Wes Anderson, but Accidental Buster Keaton is virtually impossible without a little help from powers unknown.
"You Are All Stars Now", Leah Reich in her newsletter Meets Most
Submitted by James.
There’s a peculiar genre of military analysis that mistakes kicking down an unlocked door for proof of one’s exceptional lock-picking skills.
"The Venezuela Raid Proved The Wrong Point About American Military Power", Centrist Libertarian Patriot for the newsletter The GEN X Reader Substack
Submitted by John.
You just read issue #159 of Perfect Sentences. You can also browse the full archives of this newsletter.
