What is the pilgrim's progress?

There are times when one feels that nothing is being accomplished. One looks back at the day, the weekend, the summer, the years and thinks, "What have I done?" At times like these it is easy to despair. But then, when a person actually sits down to ponder her deeds, a great many come to mind. So it is with my writing.

First, one must debunk the idea of "writing." Writing is not solely the act of putting words to paper. No: writing must include thinking, reading, and talking. Writing can be a very indirect process. "Why on Earth are you reading Multitudes," my wife asked. The answer is that when one follows interests, one never knows where they will lead. Inspiration and provocation often come from unlikely places.

These notions bring to mind Bertrand Russell's lovely essay: "In Praise of Idleness." Note that Russell is not defending aimlessness. Russell is urging us to allow for the free play of ideas, and for the time to ponder and explore. It is a myth, after all, that one knows exactly where one is going. And it is a myth too, that relentless work begets productivity. These are paired thoughts in modern consciousness. In debunking these ideas--in permitting ourselves loose reins--we open ourselves up to discovery. And while at it, our free play can itself act as a critique of modernity, and a way toward another world.

Still, we moderns have a "work ethic" drilled into us. It is difficult to feel adequate without being able to point to progress and achievements. The key is not to transform the forest walk into "exercise," but to acknowledge the range of activities, thoughts, and deeds one has in fact enacted.

As I look past on these past four months abroad, I will note (without granting modernity a hold over me) my accomplishments: I have written a book. I have learned to speak something of another language. I have learned a great deal about another people and their country. I have revised and resubmitted an article for publication. I have fathered. I have husbanded. I have employed. I have faced challenges from states, banks, and other institutions. I have read. I have learned. I have lived.

A book is written.

In the great spirit of punk--in the name of DIY and counter-virtuosity--I have penciled a book. The text, still in pencil and still on loose pages of paper, awaits editing and conversion. I wonder if it will be received as ramblings from the fringe of the fringe, or if it will find an audience. Will there be readers who will read it?

My sense is that it all depends on finding the right risk-minded publisher. Second, I would expect dour and sour reviews. Third, and much later down the line, I would expect a growing audience of contrarians, anarchists, philosophers, and oddballs to take up the ideas. A cult following, if you will. What will become?

Re-finding pencil and courage

Aux armes encore! My oh my it's been a while. To tell the truth I'd darn-near forgotten about this little blog altogether. It's a nice exercise, though a time-consumer. And time is something I have little enough of. Still, if this blog can sharpen the mind it will be worth its weight in time.

On the topic of reading in the academy

Every academic laments how little they have time to read. It's a bitter irony of the corporate-white-tower: academics are supposed to produce endless quantities of "knowledge" but seldom have time to learn. This begs the question: 'produce knowledge for whom?' Certainly not the public--that's out. That would be beneath us, ahem, ahem.

Personally, I find that reading good theory best stimulates my own knowledge production.

And while I've vastly exceeded my meager goal of reading an article or chapter a week, I'm not sure that this is enough. The goal is falsely attained by dint of reading schlock for a particular article. Such scavenging and referencing hardly constitutes genuine reflection. Thus, I think my own goal has to recenter on more difficult, more powerful pieces of theory.

Assessing progress

Part of the task of a goal-directed writer is surely in knowing what, exactly, is progress. I can see that the third feminist-punk piece has given way to a fourth. Like a rhizome, this material keeps generating new lifeforms. There is merit, for sure, in multiplying my publications. This will load up the CV, and it will point me towards a manuscript.

There is the advice of several reasoned voices, however, which say that I ought to get one or two essays published in a premier journal: they argue that premium quality pieces lead to premium quality jobs. So I worry that these punk pieces are not getting me where I need to go. Still, I am determined to wrap them up and move on. The third grows close to completion, even as the fourth develops nicely. \

Filing continues apace, and it lends to some peace of mind as well. Everything else in life seems to be well organized and functioning smoothly.

Another foe vanquished

Progress:

• Off goes the mosh piece, to a respectable journal. It's a good essay, and I hope it will be well-received.
• Article reading. Far, far, more than one per week. 'Have read heaps of articles and chapters for the above submission.
• Making forays into office organization, which comes recommended from a variety of places. Again, organization-for-productivity is generally part of the business success industry, but why not for academics?
• On that note: Just placed the first file in the file cabinet.
• Having just completed two pieces on feminist subculture, I have also produced--in fission--a third. This is my current mission: to finish and submit this latter piece. It is has the length but not yet the theoretical disposition needed for publication.
• 'Have talked with two dissertation committee members about tactics for publishing. Both have interesting ideas.
• I am seriously considering the submission of a book proposal. The drawback, of course, is that books require enormous investments of time. Arguably the same energy, applied to articles, yields more academic credit. At the very least, I'd like to get my key article off, before thinking about a book.
  

Update and upcoming games against Wichita State

It is well worth saying--and not avoiding--the fact that this last week has not been terribly kind to my goals. I have managed to squeeze out a lot of time to write a final exam and entertain house guests for 10 days, but these are digressions. I have made some steady progress on a piece about the politics of moshpits. That piece is really coming together.
In the process of finding a suitable journal for the article (and I found the perfect journal), I also found a plethora of low tier journals, just waiting to be inundated with things. I am aiming to get articles of a lesser quality out to these journals. The hope is no so much for academic credit (though a little CV padding won't hurt). The hope is to "get things of of my chest" and create the sense of forward progress. It's the strategy of a college sports team, building it's season by taking on some lesser rivals. I could use a similar boost. For Nebraska football, this means pounding the likes of Wichita State. For me that means finding some friendly online journals.