Hmmm, well... I really don't have much to report, but let's give it a shot anyway.

I met with Dr. Moyaert on Tuesday, finally. He was still 25 minutes late, but I count myself lucky. It was an interesting meeting, though now that I look at my notes, I don't think he told me anything I hadn't already learned in class. But on the other hand, it's always good to hear it one more time, and in response to a specific question. It did help to tie it all together and see where I'm just chasing Lacan's terminology in a circle. The more interesting part came when I asked about the Aristotle Lacan sites in the 11th seminar with regard to tuche and automaton, which is a subtle (and not always consistent) distinction between luck and chance. Moyaert asks me (for the third time): "Are you doing a research paper or a thesis?" A thesis Dr. Moyaert. "Okay, good, good. Write me a ten page summary on this section of Aristotle, due in two weeks."

I'm actually excited about it, although I know he won't remember asking me for it. It's a good chance to get to know Aristotle a little (yet another gaping hole in my education) and to do some concrete writing, which hopefully will transcribe itself into a chunk of my thesis, though honestly I'm not sure how it relates yet. Since Moyaert won't remember, I might do 5 pages on Aristotle and 5 pages on Lacan's appropriation, which I'm sure requires some serious documentation of its own. Then I'll include some little note like: "My name is Ashley Cake, I'm doing a thesis on Kierkegaard and Lacan, we met on Tuesday two weeks ago, you asked me for this paper, here it is." I think it'll be good.

In the meantime, I'm planning a trip to Maastricht again on Sunday, which should be fun. I've been saving up to go. I need to start planning some other, bigger trips, but for now it's all I can manage to do to get to Holland and back. I need to go to Copenhagen specifically, get back in touch with my Danish (if there's any left). I've been working hard and enjoying myself, anticipating a visit from Dr. Rodemeyer from Duquesne, who's coming next week for a Husserl conference. She's really been such a huge help to me in the last year and a half, and her Husserl seminar last fall was really one of the highlights of my time at Duquesne, so it'll be really good to see her in this new context.

I've been trying hard to save up some money, but studying in my room is getting pretty old. It doesn't help that my computer is right here, which means everyone I miss is just a few keypushes away. But also there's the bed, and I always think I can read in bed, but I can't, I just fall asleep. I am reading Alexandre Kojeve's (pictured) introduction to Hegel as nighttime sleepy reading, and it actually keeps me up because I'm beginning to understand how completely pervasive it was for Lacan and a bunch of other people in the same line. It's an interesting book for sure, though it's completely obvious that the guy thought a great deal of himself, as did the students who helped to put the published volume together. When you make a claim like: "This is THE book..." You can mean it, but meaning doesn't make it so, you know?

Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone. I hope to have more interesting things to report soon. Otherwise ya'll are going to be submitted to chunks of my thesis.

All my love,

Cake