Mar 4
Last night I had a dream in which a dear friend of mine went on an uncharacteristic rent about the soullessness of Walt Disney World. In this dream, I responded. We were at WDW, a place I long to visit (having never been), and our public debate was making cast members uncomfortable. Here is what I realized in my dream:
I maintain that there are two myths at the… Continue reading
Aug 12
Just to recap: I took this summer off from teaching to make a significant dent to my dissertation. My goal was to complete 3 chapters by the end of summer vacation. I figure that after the 2 chapters of the proposal, 3 out of 7 chapters is a significant dent to the overall project. With one week to spare on my summer vacation, I have successfully completed 5 of 7… Continue reading
Aug 6
A recent bee started buzzing in my bonnet. Something about people who just collect myths and spit them out to prove a point has gotten under my skin, and this has been festering for awhile and it’s part of my current disillusionment with Joseph Campbell. On one hand, it’s a very superficial way to win an argument. But on the other, it does a disservice to the myth. Each myth… Continue reading
Jul 7
Consumption: the act of consuming. Americans lead the world in consumption (in many different ways) and we consume just about everything. Even those who think they aren’t consumers actually are. There are the commodities we consume, the food we consume, entertainments, education, office supplies, clothing, cleaning and beauty products, and we could probably argue that we even consume our pets.
In writing a dissertation about Disney, the Consumption Myth… Continue reading
Jan 8
One of those questions I’ve been meaning to ask for awhile is what our world/society would be like if we weren’t avid consumers. I’m not only curious because I’m writing a dissertation about Disneyland, but because consumption comes up in some of the most interesting places. For example, over Christmas I was doing a lot of baking. Have you ever considered how much consumption is inherent in baking? As I… Continue reading