New Blog

I'm abandoning this blog and using the following one instead:
brodieaustin.blogspot.com

Election story in current Newsweek

The 7-part story on the Election in the current Newsweek, "How He Did It, is a surprisingly good read. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the story has a gripping, novelistic quality to it. The story takes all of the little threads and fragments from the last 22 months and weaves them together into a narrative. Reading it this morning, I thought about how familiar, and yet gripping this narrative of recent events seemed to me. Then I realized that this is the same effect that realist fiction had in its heyday. It took what was a more or less recognizable reflection of the world and made meaning out of it, turned it into a story. But the crucial component, for me, was the sense of investment that I had as a reader in the recounting of events. I was reading both about external events, but also about internal states--my internal state. And yet as I did this, I suddenly felt the experience of this external device (the narrative) working itself over and through me, so I suddenly experienced the unfolding of my internal states as an external phenomenon, as something quasi-objective and removed from myself. It was a strange and interesting experience.

Has this really happened?

I want to thank, even though they will never see this, the countless, faceless people who made this amazing victory possible. Thank you. You have redeemed us all.

HIstoric moment?

I went down to Grant Park this afternoon, to see the crowds assembling and take a few pictures. I was struck by the fact that nearly everyone there, gathering together to see Obama later in the night, came with camera in hand. The event was being obsessively recorded, documented, ready to be remembered. And there I was recording, documenting, readying to remember.

It started to get dark--the light wasn't lasting for pictures--so I left early and headed home. Now watching the returns on TV, it appears that Obama may be our next president. I feel so excited, so ready to step into the future that is emerging now. I feel as if I am finally awaking from a dream--an eight year dream.

McCain and Palin

Am I crazy for thinking that McCain's judgement is perfectly sound, that Palin was vetted. That, in fact, the controversy about her daughter was known and planned for? I thought this scanning the intro page of Slate where nearly every columnist there has taken some position on the Palin issue. This is good stuff! Sure to dominate a news-cycle or two. And at least Palin never said she didn't think McCain was ready to be a president!

Newberry Booksale

Found some pretty nice finds at the Newberry Book Fair over the weekend. Found a neat early 20th century home health manual, a biography of George Eliot, a pamphlet detailing Dickens related sites in Canterbury, and a little novel called, Dream Life.