From the Journal of Don Draper

"She's a sweet girl, and she wants me to know her. But I already do.

People tell you who they are, but we ignore it. Because we want  them to be who we want them to be."

It's like spotting a mythical beast

The feeling that comes from slowly but surely gaining from my prelims a picture of the evolution of my discipline and the threads within it is really a wonderful one. If only that characterized the process (which is not so far-fetched given than it's, you know, the whole point of the thing) rather than panic, mental strain and isolation.

Coda to my Deneuve Post

Just grabbed a used copy of Belle de Jour on Amazon (with Prime shipping no less!) for 2 bucks. It's the first DVD I've bought in almost 8 months. It reminds me of the more or less forgotten (or, perhaps more accurately, sidelined) pleasure I get from buying in "hard copy" the movies and shows I truly love - immediately on checking out I was driven to go back and search for Les Choiristes and Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
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And edit: Umbrellas is apparently so out of print a used copy is cheap at $22? Lock up your copy, Mom and Dad - that piece of knowledge is probably enough to kill my last objection to appropriating it.

Well this explains a lot

"I always like new things, and I like meeting new people, and it will be in AMERICA. So this is good." -- My rationalization for going to graduate school circa May 2007. Taken verbatim from my journal.