Disqus - Latest Comments for bmk246

Re: http://ragb.ag/post/680419373

bmkk — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:51:22 -0000

This is a fantastic find! I've spent at least the past 20 minutes scrolling through, so far.

My name is Benjamin. I was born atropal, or, to be more specific, I was born the attempter.

This code language does delightfully seem to make up for a want of alliteration often characteristic of our own.

Re: http://bmkk.tumblr.com/post/489306764

bmkk — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 08:11:59 -0000

I'm glad you liked it, Daddy!

Re: http://zachgolden.tumblr.com/post/456696733

bmkk — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:33:27 -0000

Awesome!

Re: http://bmkk.tumblr.com/post/454965896

bmkk — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:59:57 -0000

Thanks!

I actually think it looks nice when people start going gray in their late twenties, thirties, or forties; I'm even hoping that I might start going gray sooner!

Re: Meta is Murder. Writing and lesser things by Mills Baker. Neither a pathology nor an index of moral default,....

bmkk — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:57:55 -0000

Nicely put, my friend.

Ronell was one of my professors! She is a bit "out there," but in the best way possible, of course.

Re: The daily writings and momentary interests of Zach Golden

bmkk — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:07:47 -0000

T'as pris ça, toi?

Re: saperlipopette - Miserable are those days on which one is resigned...

bmkk — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:15:02 -0000

Very true.

Everything in life is tangential to something!

Re: saperlipopette - I woke up this morning and thought to myself: “I...

bmkk — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:56:55 -0000

French conman memoir is done, but not yet published. Thanks for asking! (It's being published by an Irish house called, Maverick House Publishers.)

Hey, I'm sorry I never got back to your response on the Harper's post I did. I feel bad. But, I'd recommend that you give it another chance. I consistently find Harper's writing, prose-wise, to be much better than that of any other weekly or monthly out there. I'm also usually left with the impression, after finishing an article, that the topic was both very thoughtfully and very thoroughly researched.

Tonight, I am going to craft some anxiety-aid phrases of my own; I think it'll actually help. Thanks for the tip!

Re: mills baker - BMKK, whose posts I love, shared Leoš Janáček’s...

bmkk — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:39:31 -0000

Thanks for all the info!

I've just recently started listening to him and don't know much about him; but it's good to have some background info.

Re: Locomotive Hootenanny

bmkk — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:46:18 -0000

This is one of the more amazing things I've read in my lifetime.

Re: mills baker - …these philosophies have their perverse charms. If...

bmkk — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:56:06 -0000

I must heed that call!

I won't argue that you're in any way wrong to dislike DFW, but after reading these comments I feel compelled to contribute some of my own.

Without a moment's hesitation, I can state that, with the exception of Proust's "In Search of Lost Time," and so far, "The Recognitions," I have never had such an ecstatic and blissful experience reading fiction than I did with "Infinite Jest."

I offer no argument, only my opinion; but I'll add, again without hesitation, that my experience with all other fiction positively PALES in comparison to the absolute fervor with which I tore through these masterpieces of DFW and Marcel.

Re: mills baker - …these philosophies have their perverse charms. If...

bmkk — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:26:31 -0000

I think that much of what you argue could conveniently be applied to certain theoretical texts, but I think so strongly opposing theory to art undercuts the argument's persuasiveness.

I think the strongest theoretical texts, to sort of extend on what langer seemed to be alluding to, demonstrate the multiplicity and unintelligibility of great works of art, oftentimes doing this in a performative manner that allows for the texts to be extremely exciting to read, and at the same time to resist any clear or systematic elucidation.

Derrida's "Of Grammatology," for example, an intense engagement with the writings of Saussure, Lévi-Strauss, and Rousseau, illustrates, among other things, the futility of endeavors to systematize and circumscribe nature and that which constitutes natural, genuine, authentic, real, or true art.

One might also point to the irony of your having to resort to theorizing in order to make the assertion that theory is "false" and "unintelligible."

Re: middling talents

bmkk — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:46:57 -0000

Mills's first name is Dillard!

That name is decidedly among the most fucking awesome names I've ever heard!

Re: mills baker - New Orleans Photographs (No Record of Who We Were)

bmkk — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:11:04 -0000

Likewise—extremely well put! (I actually think many ideas can only be effectively conveyed by means of long-windedness!)

And, thank you; it's always gratifying to receive your compliments!

Re: mills baker - New Orleans Photographs (No Record of Who We Were)

bmkk — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:27:23 -0000

I agree, it's a bit backward that we generally regard the Internet as an enormous archive of 'information.' Though this is mostly because the medium, which does in fact contain scores of invaluable information, seems to be thought of as such a wonderful tool because of the speed with which it carries information; and we seem to have wound up infatuated with the technology itself more than with the potential benefits it offers.

A man can amass an astonishingly copious collection of books and never crack open a single one; and in this manner he in no way differs from the philistine who eschews reading altogether.

As for the question of communication, and art's being the sole means by which one can hope to convey to others some part of himself, I must admit that I disagree—though only w/r/t its ability to realize genuine self-expression.

I agree with you completely when you claim that an inner essence, if there exists such a thing, effaces itself as it moves from interior to exterior.

But, art too is a manner of attempting to achieve self-expression; and I'd emphasize the fact that we often view a given work of art as an "expression" of its creator's essence, individuality, interior.

Yet, the word "expression," which more literally denotes a "pressing out," seems then not to be a realization of individual essence, but rather a sign, to wit a signifier, of an essence, self, or interior that the artist is trying to communicate.

Re: saperlipopette - Mills’s post about jazz that swings so hard it...

bmkk — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:11:28 -0000

Yes!

And that Mingus tune is mighty fine.

Re: mills baker - John Coltrane - Olé. Hero John Brissenden...

bmkk — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:06:49 -0000

He looked very serious and stern (although that may have just been my imagination, given how nervous I was!).

I was devastated after the audition; I was sure I'd played terribly and that I wouldn't get in (which, fortunately, turned out not to be the case).

But, I didn't end up going. I have a friend in the program; I'm pretty sure he's enjoying it.

Re: I found a usage error in David Foster Wallace's writing.

bmkk — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:04:02 -0000

DFW's usage is correct. Here's an excerpt from a usage book:

"The exception in using 'fewer' occurs when count nouns essentially function as mass nouns because the units are so very numerous or they aren't considered discrete items (the idea of individual units becomes meaningless). Hence 'less' is used correctly with time and money: one isn't, ordinarily, talking about the number of years or the number of dollars but rather the amount of time or the amount of money."

—Bryan Garner

Re: mills baker - John Coltrane - Olé. Hero John Brissenden...

bmkk — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:03:34 -0000

When I auditioned for the jazz program at the New School I had to play for Reggie Workman—probably one of the most terrifying/amazing experiences of my life thus far!

Re: Oddest Book Title, 2007 (one of the runners-up).

bmkk — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:54:14 -0000

Yes! Or, perhaps... "How to write a 'How to write a how to write book for Dummies!'"

I can already feel the migraine coming...

Re: The daily writings and momentary interests of Zach Golden

bmkk — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:53:47 -0000

I like this; despite its hellaciously backward grammar.

Re: a jersey girl in paris - Bal populaire du 14 juillet 1912 (Paris) —Fête...

bmkk — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:49:27 -0000

I truly empathize with you on this one!

Re: saperlipopette - Demain… La Prise de la Bastille!

bmkk — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:45:48 -0000

Ah ha! Your sure to never forget it! (Not the you ever would, of course.)

Also, she's incredibly lucky—at least in the mind of this Francophile!

Re: saperlipopette - “Everyone spoke of information overload, but what...

bmkk — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:34:40 -0000

Yes!!! I'm so glad you like it.

It captures fairly well the anxiety, an almost unconscious anxiety, that I feel while "surfing" the web: I start to read an article, there's a link in the first paragraph, I click on it, start reading another article, then see another link, click it, etc.

Everyone one always speaks of the astonishing wealth of information available on the internet; and, while I agree that all this "information" is out there, I still feel, whenever I'm online, as if I were speeding past things in a car, never stopping to take a look at the gorgeous environment that surrounds me.

I would say that the experience is somewhat analogous to that of surrounding oneself with thousands of books, and every once in a while thumbing through their pages, thinking about all the beautiful "information" inside them, but never actually sitting down to read them.

Re: saperlipopette - GPOYW Ô, la jeunesse, ne cesserez-vous jamais de...

bmkk — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:02:07 -0000

Oui!

J'avoue que je ne suis plus jeune. Mais j'ai beaucoup appris à travers les années, et j'aime bien pouvoir me dire que je suis maintenant plus sage que je ne l'étais à cette époque-là!