words | words
Jun.17.2008
I was walking along the river and heard the strangest noise. It was one of those noises which, when I found out what It was, sounded exactly as it should. A beaver was chewing at a branch on the bank of the river. First there were small rolling noises as the branch went through its hands, and then...
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Jun.15.2008
In the interests of transparency, I thought I’d mention that I had a pleasant e-mail from Huntington Sharp informing me that my post title refering to John Updike in Paris had been censored.
“…as you know, the titles and previews of all blog posts automatically appear on the blogs main “browse”...
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Jun.10.2008
Anybody who knows me for more than five minutes knows that I love to eat. And since I'm as obsessed with words as I am food, it won't surprise you that I'm deeply into menus. There's some amazing -- and some scary -- writing that happens on menus, and sometimes prose so purple you expect Prince...
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Jun.03.2008
Do you have a relationship with your handwriting? I've had a an interesting friendship with mine. I think about this almost every time that I write in my paper journal.
I've noticed that my penmanship has suffered some from my addiction to the keyboard... and so has my spelling. Some of my...
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May.17.2008
Words often strike me a little differently. Here's today's example. I walked out of a coffee shop and headed for my car. Parked near me was a car with what I'd thought was an obsolete sign in the window. It read: Baby on Board. I thought people stopped using those long ago, that they'd gone...
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Apr.09.2008
One of the wonderful things about words is that they leave a little something to the imagination – even the words black and white are not black and white, as you know if you have ever shopped for black fabric or white paint.
I love to knit, crochet, and spin, and spend a good deal of time either...
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Mar.30.2008
German for "environment" / "surrounding world," coined by Jakob Johann von Uexküll (September 8, 1864 - July 25, 1944) to refer to seeing the world from a particular lifeform's p.o.v.
Here, for example, is Baron von Uexküll writing of a tick's umwelt:
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Feb.22.2008
I'm reminded of William S. Burroughs lately-Language is a virus from outer space, and the wonderful tagline from Laurie Anderson: "That's why I'd rather hear your name than see your face.
She also uses a wonderful line from her lyrics: "And I had to sell the car and go to Florida...
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Feb.20.2008
The family is split.
My mom refuses to vote for "that man" because he used the word "periodically" when referring to Clinton.
She says that's sexist. I know words have power, but "periodically??" . . . or am I off base here?
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Jan.29.2008
Walking home I stop. The neighborhood rabbi sits at the window table of the corner cafe. Outside, I stand alongside him. Shoulder to shoulder. Only a pane of glass between us. He's far too absorbed now to look up and notice me observing.
His hands hover over his laptop, poised. His fingertips are...
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