Something in this house

 "Something in this house makes it so that I see myself thinking."  Schattenfroh 553

Lots of chunks on writing and reading, this book and books, that I love.  Could go to the text on Kobo and cut and paste some.

Brief coffee with Dennis yesterday morning at Chase.  Glimpses into the wondrous world of his generation, two below me.  He's 32? ish.  Ten years or so younger than David, who turns 37 later this week!  

Dennis keep doing the Ayahuasca retreats at the place on the Hudson valley, Kingston area?  Has been a number of times.  Credits it with great insight about himself and his journey and healing process.  With ChapGPT he has created a few personas with which to talk things over.  Told him about Pessoa's heteronyms.  Could also have brought in Barbara's mother's cast of characters in her late life.  And now Dennis de Brock is writing a faux Rechy novel of his own in weekly or daily installments, sending them.  

Willow is back on her Entwell Tales.  Maybe Fall is the time to take up one's authorial pen persona.

Chase was hopping.  Years since I was there with someone on a Monday morning.  Dennis does also write a journal.  And in his advertising writing days they create persons who are the intended target buyers, give them names, personalities.  

Nodded hello to Wendy Palmquist as she walked by our table.  I had a wee espresso, they used a cute little ceramic cup.  Dennis said hi to a very tall, fit guy in a t-shirt who he later said was a hero who saved a few guys in Iraq warfare, former green beret, now at the Campton fire and rescue crew and in the yoga classes Dennis attends.  

Talked about his courses for Columbia. He described also how AI or Chat is used for papers for the course.  He had one due, wrote it, then asked Chat to grade it for him after he fed in the CV for the professor of the course.  At Columbia he got help from the writing center director, online.  There they can help you with everything from brainstorming your topic to grammar.  He's also got an appt with the Director of University Libraries to talk about how to do research for his courses using the plethora of databases Columbia accesses.  So a grad student now has support networks around him we never even imagined invoking fifty years ago when grad students at Chicago.  It was all cold-turkey, cold immersion, sink or swim.  Although grade inflation was in place and it was pretty hard to actually flunk out.  One guy in our cohort had been also an undergrad English major and carried with him after admission to grad work six or more Incompletes from his course work in the college.   Years later he got a tenured job at UMiss in English.