A few blocks down from my apartment is a utility pole, and on that utility pole someone has graffitoed the following in black marker:
“Romanse [sic] is the death of enlightenment”
And I walk by this utility pole every day, and have made all sorts of teleological, phenomenological, and epistemological assessments of what this might mean, as well as just thinking about it sometimes. (It doesn’t make much sense! After all, enlightenment trumps death. And if you’ve gotten there, you’ve surpassed the need for romanse [sic] Or at least, I think so, but who understands all that anyhow?). But tonight, I think I get it! It’s not a misspelling of “romance” at all! They’re talking about FRENCH NOVELS (“romans”), which must be particularly girly if the affected feminine -e is suffixed at the end. Or, in other words, “french chick lit is the death of enlightenment.” Which makes sense, teleologically, phenomenologically, AND the rest of it. And so I offer you Bernard Malamud, not french and most decided not chick-littish.
Dear Miette,
I love the podcast. But may I make two suggestions?
(1) Could you encode at less than 128 kbps to reduce the file size of your readings? (Some of us are still on slower connections!)
(2) Is there a way to turn up the volume on the podcasts?
Otherwise, please remain exactly as you are. Thank you!
Hello Steven (and other darling listeners):
When beneath my feet the bridge over podcasting’s bubbled waters broke, I fell in, head-first. I was dogmatically determined to be a vigilante about it, never to learn sound editing or cleanup techniques, just to read and post. But: there are others who share your sentiment, and as you might be able to tell, I have (and I’m reluctant to admit) been learning these very things. I’ll get it one of these days; until then, I learn a little each time. I’ll take your advice on the next recordings (maybe even post high/low bandwidth versions, now that I’m becoming an audio geek… er, pro.)
To the adorable Ms L’derh:
Fantastic idea on the party– though in my case, I’ll bet they’d show up for the chips-and-beer, and forget the books they owe me. In other news, you are very good for my ego.
I’ve often thought about posting a wish list, but it seems, I don’t know, a little greedy. I should instead post a link to send books to charity or something. Then again, one little link can’t hurt anybody? (You’ve found my weakness.) So, should anyone ever feel so inclined, you can start here (by no means comprehensive or arranged by preference, but…): http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/3GC2DDY1SHWBR
Though something more practical might be Sound Editing For Dummies and Absolute Obdurate Snots Who Until Very Recently Have Refused to Learn Sound Editing Techniques.
xo
Mtte.
Oh, dear, Miette!
I accidentally incinerated your last email (and address). Would it be too much to ask for you to send it to me again? I’d like to get started…