those were terrible, stressful days. young men--boys, really--of 17, 18 were made to feel that they might be drafted at any time into a war they did not understand, & might kill them; made to feel like cowards or traitors if they protested. 'On the Rainy River' is Tim O'Brien's…

Joyce Carol Oates I saw a two-panel cartoon once in The New Yorker. The first panel showed two groups protesting, with signs that said, 'For war' and 'Against war.' The second panel showed protesters ten years later with signs that said, 'For against' and 'Against for.'

yes, but what was the point of such harsh competition? 'weeding out' students whose parents had paid tuition?
at Syracuse the Chancellor actually said, at freshman orientation in a beautiful chapel, 'Look to your left, & look to your right--one of you will not be returning next…

yes, it is something of a pattern. it didn't happen with the US revolution, however, & is not inevitable.
in any case, a change of leadership & a shaking-up of the status quo is good in a corrupt authoritarian regime like pre-Castro Cuba; you may have a new corrupt ruling class…

Joyce Carol Oates i saw the movie. there’s no audio of the attack. in fact herzog heard it but decided that he was not going to use it, and that no one should listen to it. youtu.be/voBKR7ffXow

Will have to read this. Packer's biography of Richard Holbrooke was excellent.

'It isn’t a pretty sight when writers bully other writers into shutting down a celebration of world literature..and take away a platform from lesser-known writers hoping to reach an audience outside their own repressive countries.' PEN America #FreeSpeech theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

recalling years ago when Peter Carey, Russell Banks, Francine Prose & others did not agree whole-heartedly with PEN leaders, & were harshly criticized for their independent thinking. but that blew over, or faded away, as such squabbles should among friends. the new divisiveness…

they were clear about hating Biden because he was a centrist, not progressive enough. claiming that Biden is in favor of slavery is--well, pretty silly, yes? even for Twitter?

how is it 'not true'? I was speaking of people whom I know personally.

yes, the poster is ludicrous, wholly inadequate.

you do know, these are just words, yes? call it 'spirit'--'breath'--'soul'--'epiphenomenon'--whatever. these are largely notional terms with no actual referents. & you won't experience any of these without a functioning conscious brain--organic matter.

yes, this was a good decision. there was nothing to be gained by including it; & who can say how such an experience might affect any of us, being witnesses even circuitously through an audio in a film. (talk about 'trigger warnings' being justified!)

at the screening no one wanted to hear this. mercifully, we were spared.

Joyce Carol Oates For example, spouse and I were awoken at 2 AM by bears getting into our tree-hung pack on a Yosemite trail. It held a full-week’s provision for our trek ahead, forcing me to rush down the slope with only a firebrand to protect me. That … was an adventure.

Werner Herzog was warmly engaging & candid speaking with our Princeton students. yet, oddly, he seemed less familiar with 'Grizzly' than the students did, who had just seen it. he'd forgotten some details, & was far more critical of the luckless 'grizzly man' than most of us…

Dreary spring day on Bayberry Hill feeling chilly & windy as March.

Cormac McCarthy will be devastated.