I want to talk more about the writing thing. I like what Ira has to say about creating something. I’d like to think my taste is good, so good that I can see that my own writing is not always so good. Not. At. All. Also, with that good taste comes the fact that I will have to read mountains of things that I can recognize as no good. I like to read stuff that is what it is. For instance, I can watch a romantic comedy or read celebrity gossip and love it for what it is. It’s when the artist tries too hard, self-indulges too much, or is too imposing. I guess I don’t want to participate in that process at the moment. I want to write something that is what it is rather than try to make something I can’t or turn it into something it is not. In academia, unfortunately, I have to read a lot of stuff that is trying to be much more than what it is. And, since I am in the early years of my craft, it is really hard to avoid this annoying pitfall, even as I can see it in my writing.