EXCERPT FROM 'This is the Beat Generation' BY JOHN CLENNON HOLMES

Any attempt to label an entire generation is unrewarding, and yet the generation which went through the last war [WWII], or at least could get a drink easily once it was over, seems to possess a uniform, general quality which demands an adjective ... The origins of the word 'beat' are obscure, but the meaning is only too clear to most Americans. More than mere weariness, it implies the feeling of having been used, of being raw. It involves a sort of nakedness of mind, and, ultimately, of soul; a feeling of being reduced to the bedrock of consciousness. In short, it means being undramatically pushed up against the wall of oneself. A man is beat whenever he goes for broke and wagers the sum of his resources on a single number; and the young generation has done that continually from early youth.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

acceptance to an MA program

I got an email today that I took in which I took a great deal of pleasure. It informed me that I will be offered a admission to the MA program in the Philosophy Department at the University of Waterloo.
All that stress, at times on the edge of a complete breakdown, paid dividends (although the price was exceedingly painful at times).
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