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no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
—Warsan Shire
—from “Home”
cupidity /kyoo-PID-ə-tee/. noun. Despite the sensual connotation of its Latin roots, cupidity now refers to non-erotic greed, covetousness, lust, or inordinate appetite for material things. From Latin cupidus (ardent desire); from cupere (desire); maybe from Proto-Indo-European root kup-(e)i- (to tremble; to desire). File under: words that might not mean what you think they mean. See also: avarice, rapaciousness and venality.
“Tantalizing aromas: food frying in vats or simmering in huge kettles or roasting on sticks over fires. Sarah pulling me from one culinary spectacle to another in an agony of cupidity.” (Deborah Eisenberg)
“Cassandra in some crafty excitement this woman alone she elected as worthy to share with her—ever more agitated, insisting; Mop, ever so evasively placating—the girl almost hilariously angry; each, although obviously at odds, fully enjoying a tussle in cupidity.” (Mina Loy)
“Inevitably, the unknown became the focus for legends; frustrated cupidity acted as a spur to imagination…” (Evelyn Waugh)
“…this woman had a child, that was unable to walk or talk, at the age of five years, neither could it cry like other children, but made a constant, piteous, moaning sound. This exhibition of helplessness and imbecility, instead of exciting the master’s pity, stung his cupidity, and so enraged him, that he would kick the poor thing about like a foot-ball.” (Sojourner Truth)
The New York Times asks: Why Are Some Crows Committing Acts of Necrophilia?. A fascinating article in itself…and includes one of the best corrections ever (at the end of the article). Pairs well with podcast listening: ► HBM038: Do Crows Mourn Their Dead? and ► The Genius of Birds: Live From the Aspen Ideas Festival. Closer to (my) home and involving the greatest of corvids: Hundreds of birds seem to mourn deaths of fellow ravens.
BAP! BARM! COB! BLAA! → Why the UK has so many words for bread. Thanks, Reader B.!
The Digital Newberry collections feature more than a million “manuscripts, maps, books, photographs, artworks, & other rare & unique materials” from the famed Chicago research library. Such as my first cool find: a 1931 map of Chicago’s gangland from authentic sources.
Myrtis Dightman not only broke the color barrier, but became one of the best bull riders who ever lived…and then he just kept going. → The Jackie Robinson of Rodeo
Science says: You Should Actually Send That Thank You Note You’ve Been Meaning to Write
The OEDILF—pronounced /oh-DILF/—aims to create “at least one limerick for each meaning of each and every word in the English language.” Currently at about 100,000 entries but most are marvelous! → OEDILF: The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form || Via the highly-recommended A Way With Words podcast
Terrifying, sad and emblematic. → Alt-Right Troll To Father Killer: The Unraveling Of Lane Davis
Sichuan, spice and spies. → How the chili pepper got to China
This week in bots: Botnik’s Twilight Zone but creates eerily apt ideas for revivals of the iconic show. On Twitter, @venmodrugs culls public profiles on Venmo to highlight … umm … strange transactions … and @ThinkPieceBot creates hot take, think piece headlines that often sound much more interesting than the real thing.
Today in 1849, poet, translator and teacher Emma Lazarus is born in New York City. Lazarus would publish her first volume of poems and translations, to no small acclaim, at just 18, but her most enduring work was the sonnet “The New Colossus,” which is (for the time being?) inscribed on a plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, ending with the famous lines:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Recorded in 1987, this is ► the song of the last male Kauai ’O’o singing for a mate. The Kauai ’O’o was declared extinct in 1989. Listen also: an orchestral piece inspired by the song.
Reader H.: “Somehow I can imagine you and some of Katexic’s readers doing this kind of thing in their spare time. King of Dictionopolis: Why I procrastinate by compiling my own niche dictionaries.”
Reader S.: “Do you get stats on how many people follow the links you share? Would be interesting to see ‘Katexic’s Top 10 Links for 2018’ at some point if you do. I’m always intrigued by what links call to me. It’s never immediately obvious. There is inevitably at least one per issue (and that is a high success rate in my books) if not more that I do follow, but always interested to see where what piques me does the same to others.” — Great idea! I will dig into this and do a retrospective best of previous years soon!
Reader P.: “Interesting, as always…” — Glad to hear from you! I miss you and many others from the ol’ Café!
Reader B.: “This is one of my favorite emissions from the Katexic nebula. ¶ Jára Cimrman! ¶ wyr_bot! ¶ Formation flying over the Alps! ¶ And a good reminder to finally start reading Murdoch. ¶ Thank you so much for this regular deluge of splendor.”
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