on the fly. i remember when i was much younger that the idea of ¨winging-it¨ was not only the means but the ends. ¨just start and figure it out as you go¨ was the motto used by me and my buddy ryan when dealing with everything from asking the rents for something to talking on the phone with a some girl to getting out of some problem. i am sure i can glorify this method and claim that it makes your mind sharp as you must remember whatever lies are spewing from your mouth for future reference but that would be, well, a lie. the point is that later whenever confronted with some bullshit we had said, we just made up some other as an explanation. there was no basis for anything other than believing what you wanted the situation to be. i used to expound the idea that if you believe it, it is true. i still feel that way in most cases, undoubtedly confirming my own opinion by not seeking that of others, and confer upon those around me such wisdom as comes to the top of my head. how grand.

in some ways i am experimenting this semester with the idea of saying fuck it and making up each day as it begins. but, that would also be a half-truth as i have a plan, even wrote it down, of where each week and semester goes. the details of the day, however, stem from whatever it is i am thinking of at the moment. i have taken to reading technology sections of the bbc, new york times, wall street journal and economist to get fresh ideas to present to my students. the class is called literature and technology, where the literature, future or science fiction, serves as the foundation, or even catalyst, of the class, and technology acts as the medium through which the students interact with the texts. frankenstein? ok, we will talk about issues of identity and what makes a person a person (cloning, human genome project), or playing god (lack of genetically unmodified fruit and vegetables, tampering with viruses and diseases). the latest, which i read this morning in the bbc, was that a governing body (possibly international but at least british) has approved the splicing of human and animal egg and sperm to create a fetus. no joke. the claim is that the combination (i am sputtering for a word to describe this offspring) will never live more than 14 days and that it will only be used to harvest stem cells and study effects of viruses and diseases in general on the fetus. strange days.

the point of this might have been simply to help me explain to myself what the hell it is i am doing here. maybe i am justifying my rationale. both.

completely unrelated idea- i highly recommend the book ¨under the volcano¨ by malcolm lowry and published in the late 1940s. set in mexico, just outside of the city where i live, the story takes place in one day and loosely follows the odyssey format. incredible story, too much feeling at times, and rather unnerving. gives a startling view into the life of a foreigner surviving (and not) in mexico.