I stayed with some relatives near Seattle this past week; my father’s first cousin and her mother. Great-aunt Grace Botkin. Married to Lloyd, my grandfather John’s older brother. My father’s cousin told me that when Lloyd was of a certain age he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. So his children and grandchildren sat around theContinue reading “In honor of my relatives”
Author Archives: Katie Botkin
Homework
I had one-on-one meetings with my freshmen students today, in preparation of an essay due on Monday. Most of them seemed to be suffering from lack of motivation and a desire to be allowed to do whatever they want; one argued that his essays did not have to be based in reality because the pointContinue reading “Homework”
Vita Brevis
Five and twenty, say the years portioned to me. Youth, they say; we have seen much more than you, so why fear dimming sight? You have known it since age 9. Spectacles shrink those lines beginning to crowd your lashes. You are still attractive. Young. Yet I feel the years lap against me, touch me,Continue reading “Vita Brevis”
More accurate Russell argumentation (I hope)
In “On Denoting” Bertrand Russell responds to Gottlob Frege’s system of categorizing names and descriptive phrases as being meaningful within the boundaries of Sinn and Bedeutung, often translated “sense” and “reference.” Russell translates and alters Frege’s Bedeutung as “denotation.” Though Russell does not define precisely what he means by this term, from the examples heContinue reading “More accurate Russell argumentation (I hope)”
Discussing required Bertrand Russell
If the purpose of a statement, in language, is to denote something that can be accessed in the mind of the hearer/reader—not a “real thing,” as images or conception of the thing denoted will vary depending on the person (cf. Frege, Russell)—then this statement made by Bertrand Russell seems false: The whole realm of non-entities,Continue reading “Discussing required Bertrand Russell”
Making aesthetic judgements about grape taffy
I have a specific taste and consistency lingering on my tongue: Sticky, vaguely brackish, fructose-esque. It is better than the memory of the grape cough drops I was forced at a young and impressionable age to hold in my mouth to alleviate illness: a cure, in my mind, more distasteful than the malady. This lingeringContinue reading “Making aesthetic judgements about grape taffy”
Deadpan in the snow
My first class this morning was at 8 a.m. Mind you, I’ve been sleeping in over break. And it was about 17 degrees outside, with a fresh layer of snow covering the muddy ice of the sidewalk. I walked over the hill to campus at around 7:30, and was crossing a parking lot, when IContinue reading “Deadpan in the snow”
Radiation pain
For awhile now (since getting wireless internet) it seems that every time I plop my laptop in my lap and start surfing, my body rebels. Specifically, and this sounds paranoid, I know, my ovaries hurt. A little. However, I realize the power of suggestion and that this is possibly all in my head — inContinue reading “Radiation pain”
Wolfe’s den
It’s been awhile since I’ve done any sort of expose on the state of the union. However, reading this makes me want to. What I love about Tom Wolfe: his prose flows with factual power and the skepticism of a child, not of the nihilist or contemptuous cynic, and he doesn’t stick to exposes. No.Continue reading “Wolfe’s den”
In Seattle
On Thursday I took the bus to Monroe by way of Spokane, Wenatchee, and Steven’s pass. I had chosen an unfortunate day to be picked up from that town—rain begins pounding in, sideways, and my ride calls to say the traffic from Redmond is unbelievable. I crochet in a coffee shop for two hours (mannedContinue reading “In Seattle”
Botkin Creative 