—That thing of Wittgenstein's about a book of philosophy 'composed entirely of jokes'? I picked up Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics for the first time in forever. I haven't laughed so much all year.

Agnes Martin, disappointments and defeats

As one. That little 'as' is everything.

In philosophy, ‘world’ and ‘life’ exert a strong pull away from merely academic concerns. They indicate regions in which philosophy’s claims are tested, proved, made good, i.e. terms in which they must serve as tests for coping with experience which may admit of adaptation, versatility, serviceability, without requiring immediate repudiation as philosophical, as the product or fruit of reflection, having proved too fragile to make do outside the study, when permanent leisure no longer affords unlimited time to question anew.

‘World’ speaks of a place, of things, of a whole or a totality. ‘Life’ speaks of time, of action and feeling, of something with direction, with a shape, of something which is more than the page, more than the conversation, something which is more than the two people it sometimes can be condensed to and more than the lone person it too often seems confined to.

Everyday life is life in which we think little about the world.

Treat references to ‘world’ and ‘life’ as reminders. What do they remind us of, and when? Why two? (‘World and life as one.’)

To what investigations do these concepts lead us (cf. PI §570)?

Concepts express our interests. What of our disinterest? ‘World’ and ‘life’ can rebuke us, stand as reminders not just of our partiality, of how limited our interests can be, but also of our failure to be interested, of our lack of involvement, of how diminished our—relation, I want to say—to either of them can be. Is.

‘World and life as one’ says: world and life can be seen to belong together. To suit each other. Felicity.

‘World’ and ‘life’ leave room for a change in everything. Together they indicate how sweeping a change we can hope for, wish for, be prepared for, wait for, be familiar with, be cautious of.

‘Concepts lead us to investigations’ says something about the ways in which the world or our concepts can provoke, prompt, stimulate investigations which have a way of leading to adjustments of either.

‘World’ and ‘life’ are special concepts insofar as they indicate points toward which honest, serious investigations eventually tend, or should. Concepts we are led back to, and which are clarified, transformed, opened up by, other investigations to which we are led by other concepts.

(from my journal, May 15/4)

'Everything familiar has disappeared!'

'What is in short supply, and undervalued, is creative appropriation of knowledge…'

Just once I'd like to be able to cancel something of a dean's and leave him jobless.

'Employers are alien hive-mind colony intelligences who will fuck you over for the bottom line on the quarterly balance sheet.'

'some inexhaustible ground'