But in my case I am right

Are there many little boys who think they are a
Monster? But in my case I am right said Geryon to the
Dog they were sitting on the bluffs The dog regarded him
Joyfully

from Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red, a book many of you have received as a gift from me at one time or another. I always think of this quote when I feel like an academic fraud. I know everyone feels that way, so it's probably not as dire as I think, but still. I really don't want to fail my exams. Also, it turns out that I need to come into the orals with a dissertation topic which, though it's not like I don't have ideas, was a bird I was planning to kill with a different stone. Which leads me to this:

Magnanimous as Bird
By Boy descried —
Singing unto the Stone
Of which it died —

Emily Dickinson is such a master of what Jakobson calls congruity leading to equivalence; she conspicuously doesn't say the boy killed the bird, but just by putting him there, she creates the unavoidable impression that he did. Which leads to all kinds of interesting possible readings. The poem is about shame. I would be really ashamed to fail my exams.

"Magnanimous As Bird" would make a pretty good title for something.

Things I have recently discovered that I like: earplugs (while studying in public places), sweet potatoes (baked in the oven), NPR podcasts (especially All Things Considered while making dinner).