David Mittelman

Frankenstein’s creature with the child Maria and her flowers at the lakeside.

Watched Frankenstein (1931) in preparation for watching Frankenstein (2025).

nachos

This story severely blew my mind when I first heard about it.

“Discharge petition” is a pretty gross phrase.

🥳🥳

OK, what else is going on today?

Curious why elected Democrats think anyone should vote for Democrats.

Caaaause…

I feel it! We went to see a movie at the film festival yesterday and we will hopefully also see del Toro's Frankenstein in a theater this week.

Got to see "The Secret Agent" ("O Agente Secreto") yesterday and I *really* liked it. Highly recommend viewing and thinking about.

And this is saying something because I have not always been Kleber Mendonça Filho's biggest fan and in fact I was very, very critical of Bacurau.

Been gone from here for a while, considering being back for a bit.

So, am I allowed say that freedom of speech, the constitution, and the rule of law are dying before our eyes in the United States of America or would that get me cancelled, fired, and worse?

ooh new game!

oh man

Bad recent choice: reading a book from 2018 about the far-right. 🤦

Good recent choice: teaching, last week and this week, Machado de Assis’s “O alienista” (The Alienist). 🧐

“As he always taught us, let us not be ruled by sadness: listen to the wind, the birds, a glass of water, a waterfall — universal music keeps breathing.”

Tem um conto BR que li no colégio, do qual nunca esqueci, mas tb nunca mais consegui achar. Era sobre uma família que entra em parafuso planejando como reagir à coluna Prestes, que supostamente estava chegando à cidade. Quase rompem relações entre si, baseados numa realidade que não se confirma.

Opinion | Lula: Brazilian Democracy and Sovereignty Are Non-Negotiable

Lula in NYT today:

Lula: Brazilian Democracy and Sovereignty Are Non-Negotiable www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/o...

Two things. First, did a chatbot write this terrible article? Second, in my courses, for instance, it is not possible to use GenAI “without cheating.”

Hermeto era uma orquestra viva, um carrilhão. Tive o privilégio de ver duas vezes ao vivo ele criando com outros músicos, a alegria de fazer e ser música. Que descanse em ritmo, harmonia, ruído.

ahhhh Hermeto…

Eu me considero um gênio. E daí?

As the High Holidays approach, now is as good a time as any to remember that notions of forgiveness and accountability in, for example, Judaism are quite different from what is often encoded in Christian culture.

For a language teacher like me, this is a good example to keep in my, uh, hip pocket.

My heart breaks.

A society cannot go on like this.

I really pity all the serious scholars out there who study the semiotics of far-right internet trolldom.

It’s not the most important thing, but bracing for epic levels of US-centric Brazil discourse.

A big deal, if it sticks…

You did!

Oh great, more news!

Prieta Is Dreaming by Gloria Anzaldã°a This extraordinary posthumous collection from Chicana poet and theorist Anzaldúa (Borderlands) offers a window into a woman’s ma...

“This radiates with joy.” Perhaps you too are desperate for some friggin’ joy. Publishers Weekly has given Prieta Is Dreaming — a posthumous collection of stories by Gloria Anzaldúa forthcoming from SUNY P — a starred review. 💫

www.publishersweekly.com/9798855804553