Abecedarian: Newest Entries

Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The emotional magician wore his heart on his sleeve. No one suspected he had a heart up his sleeve, too.

Ampersands

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The 40 Most Meaningful Things

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

A Fine Line Between...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

A printed collection of A Fine Line Between... is now available from Amazon.com.

Book of Whispers

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

"Most secret of all is what's forgotten."
—John Crowley, Daemonomania
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.

No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.

Puzzles and Games :: Which is Funnier

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

What’s funnier than “the long, grave discussions that you hear after dinner about the genuineness of the wines”?

Clue: This is according to a nutritionist

Answer: Nothing (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Citation: Dio Lewis, Our Digestion, Or, My Jolly Friend’s Secret (1873), p. 316
(Thanks to Jonathan Caws-Elwitt for inspiration!)

Annotated Ellipses

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

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Guelmus writes:

Luverly. If all the empty spaces in the universe ever got together, we'd be in real trouble.

Gary Barwin adds:

But if these are anti-ellipses --anti-matter ellipses-- showing how what was not there in the first place was left out, then the universe would gradually fill with our memories of tomorrow, our recollections of the future, the words between the emptinesses that we chose to leave out, the not-deer of deer not howling, camouflaging themselves behind the trees that are not there.

Silesius of Rhodes responds:

Optimism is a metaphysical disease. Poetry is the panacea sold in those funny little bottles. It's the alcohol in the panacea that does the real work. That's the generator of non-deer. The other stuff is closer to the coffee grounds of reality.

Guelmus adds:

Deer that "howl" should be seen by physicians. Those might be lycanthropic deer.

Gary Barwin replies:

Or perhaps the deer should be seen by 'pataphysicians. They are ellipsistropic deer, and we, seemingly always forgetting, our gap-toothed minds filtering the metaphysical riches of the world, are ellipsanthropic.

Silesius of Rhodes says:

When I see language in need of a haircut, I want to loan my Occam's razor out. This gentleman clearly has a Mint, but I'm not sure anything is legal tender that's coming out. When a metaphysical ship sinks, the war amid the waves is usually between the wits and the witless. The witless miraculously survive, because the wits are engaged in diving for the meaning below the wreck, or looking for the mermaid Public Transportation System. And the deer in question does not seem the least bit "ellipsistropic" to me. The ellipsis has clearly been inflicted upon the poor creature by the antecedent pronoun in the grammatical (and likely erotic) scheme of some hyperbolic (probably 19th century) purple prosateur or prosateuse. Harumph.

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* Ellipses don’t merely omit superfluous words or mark pauses. Far from it! In an astonishing number of cases, the ellipses illustrate a narrative, inviting the reader to “connect the dots.” Learn more about Annotated Ellipses at Amazon.com.

A Fine Line Between...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

A printed collection of A Fine Line Between... is now available from Amazon.com.

Book of Whispers

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Evening Promenade, or Sea Beach Costumes, Autumn, 1810. Via Bibliodyssey.

Colorful Allusions

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Were Adam’s eyes the green of paradise? Did they open on the vivid green of the Garden of Eden? God’s green mantle. Was green the first colour of perception?

—Derek Jarman, “Green Fingers”, from Chroma: A Book of Color; quoted by Bruce R. Smith in The Key of Green, 2009

* Though printed in black and white, great literature is bursting with vibrant colour. In this rebus-style puzzle, color words and parts of words have been replaced with colored boxes. Try to guess the exact hue of each. Roll your mouse over the colored boxes to reveal the missing words. Click the colored boxes to learn more about each hue. Special thanks to Paul Dean for his colorful research.

Not Rocket Science

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

* Inspired by Martha Brockenbrough, Not Rocket Science is available from Amazon.com.

A Fine Line Between...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

A printed collection of A Fine Line Between... is now available from Amazon.com.

The Right Word

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Here's a delightful list of "supernatural collective nouns" (thanks Wilfried!)

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Gary Barwin adds:

... an of invisible spirits.

A Fine Line Between...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Inspired by and dedicated to William Keckler, who writes, "Very Honored, Professor! Merci!"

Annotated Ellipses

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST