Michael Gates's Blog, page 46
July 21, 2014
July 18, 2014
Quote of the Day: Wood
"There is an abundance of fish in the sea. But tonight, I would like to speak about wood. There are many times in the world when the phone rings and someone is inquiring about wood. This happens primarily at lumber yards and in this case, it’s necessary to have a phone. It is only natural that trees are growing and that they are made of wood. Much happiness can come from observing a tree and the same can be said about observing the many shapes fashioned out of wood. Quite often when when we are talking about beauty, we are talking about wood. Thank you very much!"
--David Lynch
July 17, 2014
Random Sequence
"But how to get out of the present dilemma was a serious question. The idea of ending a forenoon that had been elysian in its delights by a row home with this bedlamite -- thus he termed her in his irritated musings -- facing him, and chattering like a score of magpies, in place of the dear and beauteous vision that had blessed his eyes, and the soft, musical accents that had wooed his hearing for hours past, was intolerable; yet there sat Miss Jemima, a stubborn fact, and one hard to rid himself of."
--from "Taking Boarders for Company" by Marion Harland, in Godey's Lady Book and Magazine, October 1864
(I found a bound copy of several issues of Godey's in my basement and have been flipping through the dusty pages.)
Some cool, more-or-less archaic words in this passage:
"forenoon" = late morning
"elysian" = blissful; delightful
"bedlamite" = a lunatic
And then there's "beauteous", meaning beautiful. We don't say "beauteous" anymore, at least not with a straight face.
--from "Taking Boarders for Company" by Marion Harland, in Godey's Lady Book and Magazine, October 1864
(I found a bound copy of several issues of Godey's in my basement and have been flipping through the dusty pages.)
Some cool, more-or-less archaic words in this passage:
"forenoon" = late morning
"elysian" = blissful; delightful
"bedlamite" = a lunatic
And then there's "beauteous", meaning beautiful. We don't say "beauteous" anymore, at least not with a straight face.
July 16, 2014
Word of the Day: usufruct
"Usufruct" (noun) is a word from my book, The Word I'm Thinking Of: A Devilish Dictionary of Difficult Words. TWITO is not a comic book; I'm just having some fun with stripcreator.com. The dialog, however, is from the book (slightly adapted).
July 15, 2014
Brain Dump
Consider the reason for resistance to this: The text is not a book and the book is not a text. The size of the text is only limited by the size of one's physical (or, indeed, mental) library. Reference is infinite – and cannot even be limited by the capacity of the world, or of the limits of reality or being, and is not (especially) subject to the concepts of "same" and "other". That is to say, history and the "real" world cannot place limits on the text, which is always, in any case, a symbolic rendering of a symbolic ("unreal") concept. Thus the movement toward interpretation and contextualization always incorporates a network of differences, and therefore referral to an "other" – the implication being that alterity (difference) can never be reduced to mere apples and oranges. Discuss.
July 14, 2014
Photo of the Week: Going to Seed (by me)
Flower porn. Not a prude? Click the pic for a closer view.
July 10, 2014
July 9, 2014
Random Sequence
"Poor man! It's awful to see him so unconscious of his own situation. I must put some more ice to your head, dear Mr. Griggs. There! How does that feel? Alas, when we were at that lovely picnic, enjoying the glowing beauties of nature, and you placed those wild-flowers in my hair, I never dreamed, Mr. Griggs, of seeing you thus! And that I, perhaps, should be the one, by unwearied assiduity, to save that valuable life to those who cling to it as the child clings to its mother's hand."
--from "Adventures of a Bachelor" (anonymous) in Godey's Lady's Book and Magazine, February 1864
(I found a bound copy of several issues of Godey's in my basement and have been flipping through the dusty pages.)
"Assiduity" means "close or constant attention to what one is doing".
--from "Adventures of a Bachelor" (anonymous) in Godey's Lady's Book and Magazine, February 1864
(I found a bound copy of several issues of Godey's in my basement and have been flipping through the dusty pages.)
"Assiduity" means "close or constant attention to what one is doing".
July 8, 2014
Word of the Day: lexiphanic
"Lexiphanic" (adjective) is a word from my book, "The Word I'm Thinking Of: A Devilish Dictionary of Difficult Words". TWITO is not a comic book; I'm just having some fun with stripcreator.com. The dialog, however, is from the book (slightly adapted).
