I've never adapted all that well to the quick-and-dirty, it's-only-a-rough-draft mode of blogthought, but I try. Last weekend, I stayed up late reading a great Hudson Review piece by Bruce Bawer on anti-Americanism, which I am possibly the last person in the blogosphere – am I in the blogosphere, by the way? – to have read, with the idea of penning a few thoughts on it, which, when you get down to it, silly, because while I admired and appreciated the article I don't think I can add much to the discussion. There was one thought I had, though, which is that Bawer's idea of the European mindset toward this country is best exemplified by the films of Lars von Trier, which besides featuring women as unbelievable martyrs are also unbelievably dense about America, where at least a couple ofr them are set. It has since occurred to me that maybe I ought to sit through von Trier's recent movies again before I say anything, because my memory is kinda wobbly. In other words, I'm tempted to overdo, overprepare, overwrite and, ultimately, overthink this little essay to the point where nothing ever gets accomplished and all I notice is the passage of precious time. I mean, I've got a stack of books to read; what sort of masochist watches Emily Watson get re-abused or Bjork re-executed or Nicole Kidman re-raped?

Anyway, I'll keep hacking away at this essay and I'll hopefully post something this year.

For now, read Bawer. I'd post the link but Explorer is acting weird.