WORK
The only alternative left for mankind…is discipline…But by discipline I don’t mean harsh routines. I don’t mean waking up every morning at five-thirty and throwing cold water on yourself until you’re blue. Sorcerers understand discipline as the capacity to face with serenity odds that are not included in our expectations. For them, discipline is an art: the art of facing infinity without flinching, not because they are strong and tough but because they are filled with awe.
—Carlos Castaneda
—from The Active Side of Infinity
WORD(S)
rhopalic /rə-PAL-ik/. noun or adjective. A sequence in which each word has one more letter or syllable than the one before it. From Latin rhopalicus > from Greek rhopalos (a tapered club). Some examples of both the syllabic and letter variety:
“This sentence cleverly exemplifies rhopalicism.” (Stephen Fry)
“I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting; nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality, counterbalancing indecipherability, transcendentalises intercommunications’ incomprehensibleness.” (Dmitri Borgmann)
“I never totally misinterpret administrative, idiosyncratic, uncategorizable, overintellectualized deinstitutionalization.” (Richard Lederer)
And
a black-
bird follows
you from city
to city, changing…
(Brenda Hillman)
“Goose, gather metrical monstrosities.” (Macmillan’s Magazine)
WEB
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This week in weird Wikipedia → Category:Vehicle wreck ballads (it feels like there should be more of them) :: pairs well with the List of car crash songs
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Something to add to your arguments about books vs ebooks and Amazon vs publishers → Amazon expands its literary horizons, making big imprint in translation niche
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An oldie but a goodie → “Toto’s ‘Africa’” by Ernest Hemingway
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In Harper Lee’s Letters: Books, Fame and a ‘Lying’ Capote
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A contrasting photographic diptych → Jessica Weiser’s ‘Freckle Project’ (in black & white) and Colourised Pics Of Russia’s Female Snipers
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If you don’t know Zardulu, you should..and probably do without knowing it → Meet Zardulu, the “art villain” behind the latest viral video :: pairs with well with ► Reply All #56 - Zardulu
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An interesting essay by an art critic who returns to—or tries to return to—actually being an artist → Jerry Saltz: My Life As a Failed Artist
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The American Shakespeare Center has never shied away from interpretations of the Bard’s work…now they are offering thirty-eight $25,000 prizes for plays that “vibe off of and are inspired by Shakespeare’s work” → You could win $25,000 for your Shakespeare fanfic [Thanks, Reader C.]
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A trio of readings about artificial intelligence that should be considered together, probably in this order → Artificial Intelligence Tech Will Arrive in Three Waves + Our Machines Now Have Knowledge We’ll Never Understand + The Myth of a Superhuman AI
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Today is Email Debt Forgiveness Day, where you can send, “without apologies or explanation,” that email you’ve anxiously been avoiding. I suspect even the most ardent Inbox Zero-ists in the Clamor have an email or three they’ve been dreading sending.
WATCH/WITNESS
Luna Lee covers a lot of songs on the gayageum (an instrument that is awesome and hard to describe)…but ► her version of Nirvana’s “Lithium” is my favorite.
WHAT!?
Sports aren’t a big thing in Katexic Clippings, but ► bowling twelve strikes in a row in under 90 seconds!?. Plus, any sport in which one can play as well as one’s friends without putting down one’s beer and cigarette is in its own category.
REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES
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Reader S.: “I was prepared not to like it, but the ‘mindfulness in plain english’ essay is absolutely masterful. Rarely have a read a summary of the human condition (as I experience it) as good as the intro section. I look forward to reading the whole thing.”
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Reader J.: “Incredible, as usual. You do great work, Mr. Lott.” — Thank you!
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Reader C.: “Nabokov could be the featured WORK every week!”
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Reader K.: “Google Books, what could (and should) have been. Argh.”
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Reader B.: “The language of air travel is almost as skull-crackingly unbeautiful as, well, air travel.”
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