.write.read.run.cook.d.d.teach.

J Romano — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 01:28:13 +0000

Mostly, my yearly goals are verb’d above (while dog and darse don’t verb too well, the dog sure can dog, and darse sure can darse). But here, a bit more detailed:

Two Chapbooks, submittable for June and December deadlines.
6 writing hours, weekly, and monthly submissions.
More regularly here at cnsnnt.com
My Winter Reads List, with further planning on the first day of Spring.
14 More Weeks of Marathon Training & a suite of preparation/post-marathon races, with re-planning in June.
A 52 Week Self-Directed Japanese Cooking Course.
More generally, more kitchen-time.
A first, Tessa joined in on a recovery run. Can she come along again? Or instead: more:hikes.discgolf.roadtrips.sniffgames.
We’re setting aside more time for us.stuff.
Classroom experiments, conferences, job searches, ib trainings, etc.
And lastly, more steps to stay close with family & friends.

Thanks, all. Enjoy the start of the year.

Refusing Work

J Romano — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 21:04:43 +0000

“When we, as artists, accept or reject work, when we participate in the making of a work, even (or perhaps especially) when it is not our own, we contribute to the establishment of standards and precedents for our cohort and all who will come after us,” says Sara Wookey in her “Art, Work, and Refusal”.

A mode of thinking important for artists, for sure, and one that parallels reasons why I ceased a nascent freelance writing career. Wookey’s useful to keep in mind, I think, for future decisions I’ll be making as an educator, as well.

“the things inbetween”

J Romano — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:04:07 +0000

with a recent, renewed personal interest in cnsnnt and an exciting immersion in a twice-mooned, twisting Tokyo and a forthcoming trip to Phoenix, let’s take another look at Jen Urso, whom I posted in this site’s earlier days. This time, instead of the more aggrieved investigation of the Phoenix landscape, Urso investigates the space between the two Pennsylvania towns where she was raised.

If Only in My Teaching

J Romano — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:30:40 +0000

Kenneth Goldsmith in a recent interview with Brian Joseph Davis:

“After a semester of my forcibly suppressing a student’s ‘creativity’ by making her plagiarize and transcribe, she will tell me how disappointed she was because, in fact, what we had accomplished was not uncreative at all; by not being ‘creative,’ she had produced the most creative body of work in her life. By taking an opposite approach to creativity — the most trite, overused, and ill-defined concept in a writer’s training — she had emerged renewed and rejuvenated, on fire and in love again with writing.”

Read the rest of the interview, as it’s stellar stuff, and Kenny’s incredible in his ability to a) clearly express progressive poetics and b) motivate all us to join in.

And then, check out his appearance at the White House:

Alex Rosenberg on the Humanities

J Romano — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:03:55 +0000

“Once you adopt science, you’ll also be able to cease treating the humanities as knowledge. Disputes about the meaning of works of art, literature, and music, are ones in which all disputants are wrong, since they are arguing about whose illusion.” Rorotoko Interview.

Or:

“Neuroscience, computer science, and cognitive science show that the stories we think convey understanding are all illusions. They show why consciousness tricks us into thinking that narratives actually produce understanding when they do little more than relieve the itch of curiosity. This goes for stories in every day life, in history, biography, literature and the arts.

When it comes to human affairs, the humanities don’t have much to teach us, no matter how entertaining they turn out to be.” Rorotoko Interview.

Oh, Rosenberg, you crank. Denying a discipline’s relevance is for amateur hour (proudly, for a place like this!). Don’t hate the humanities just because you’re bad at them. You’re right: humanities would sure suck if humanists just sat around debating meaning. Just like science would sure suck if scientists spent all their time searching for mouse bones in owl droppings, just like I did in 7th grade.

Yes, it’s stuff like this that reminds me to be engaged and get back to cnsnnt. How’s it going, hey?

Winter Reads

J Romano — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:45:56 +0000

With night falling towards 5pm, I’m planning my winter’s big reads more than I’m reading, though I’ve found time of late to really, really enjoy Paul La Farge’s Luminous Airplanes. Last winter, Anna Karenina was all encompassing, and I hope to work through more than just one this time around. Murakami’s 1Q84 is the frontrunner, but I’ve laid out all the contenders on my office floor.

Summer Session: Read & Remembered

J Romano — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:52:43 +0000

A summer so busy its completion’s a relief, although I’ll miss being with family and relaxing in the woods. I had planned to read more, but various workstuff interfered. Of all, reading Bolaño and Gorodischer while camping topped the list, and Carson was stunning–a piece I’d like to open against a wall and read again all in one go someday soon. Listening to le Carré was also a blast: D & I didn’t stop driving (past Shasta, into Oregon) until Leamas found safety. Am looking forward moving through to the stack of poetry books this fall. I’m gaining momentum?

The list:

Amulet, Roberto Bolaño

The Celestial Railroad and Other Stories, Nathaniel Hawthorne

What is the What, Dave Eggers

Kalpa Imperial, Angélica Gorodischer

Nox, Anne Carson

Mission Street Food, Karen Leibowitz

Texture Notes, Sawako Nakayasu

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, John le Carré

NS* Summer 2011

J Romano — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:09:50 +0000

Last August, we moved from Winters, CA to Tacoma, WA after six years in Northern California. So this summer, D and I thought, why not make our most thorough exploration of the Golden State to date? Sure, we’ve done the coast: that’s easy and pleasant and wonderful. Now, we’re taking to the Sierras: Reno/Tahoe, Sequoia National Park, King’s Canyon, Mono Lake, and Lassen Volcanic National Park, with a few other stops in between.

The Route:

View Larger Map
I’m fairly terrible at updating cnsnnt, but I’ll try to catalogue for my own memorystuff along the way.

4.17.11: The Week in Links

J Romano — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:01:09 +0000

At the start of the week, I made a note to myself to post an image David Altmjed’s artwork; however, I can’t entirely recall the image I had in mind. Check some out, if you will, as they’re striking in that their disrepair and suggestion of re-forming. My favorite find is “

*Am saving David Sherwin’s “The Creativity Killer: Group Discussions” for future use in meetings and classrooms. While I often use break-out discussions as a run-up to larger group discussions, I’d like to try the sticky note method outlined here.

That’s it for the week. With the Paris Review, McSweeney’s, Wholphin, Sunset, and the New Yorker, my week’s and month’s reading just became so much more swamped. Can I keep up?

4.11.11: The Week in Links

J Romano — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 22:15:50 +0000

More video from Roubaix, this one at 4,000 FPS. Without a doubt, the most beautiful cycling race of them all:

*A former Olive Garden manager answers questions about the Tuscan Culinary School the company sends its management to.

*While I’m not quite equipped for a S240 like the one described here, I’m hoping to buy a longtail for me and the dog and a city bike for the D so we can go on a few road-ferry-trail overnights.

*I’ll admit I echoed the collective sigh from the internet when the announcement came that a Chicago school was banning homemade lunches. However, a move like this could really take off, especially if a school integrates food choice and food prep into its curriculum. This could make for a great semester unit in a health class, and it could lead to improvements at home, as well.