Work

“Weather”

In the sky’s envelope there is a letter for us. A vast stretch of air in wide orange and white strips. The gentle giant goes in front of us: he is rocking back and forth. He carries a shining ball attached to a thick club.

—Zbigniew Herbert, from The Collected Poems: 1956–1998

Word

Viverrine. Adjective. Resembling or related to the civet.

“In the science of subjective mind-healing, both cause and effect exist in the full and perfect idea that the mind is Mind. Everything depends on mental typography. This is why we use capital letters so often. Not only in the pamphlets in our reading rooms but in the way we picture our thoughts. Fear-Chains of Asthma. Dominant Drift. Ether of Timeless Being. My name is Viverrine Gentian. Who are you?” —Don DeLillo, from Ratner’s Star

Web

• Charles Barsotti, creator of over 1400 cartoons published in the New Yorker for over 45 years, has passed away. I’ve had one of his cartoons taped to my monitor for years.

• Amy Bennett builds dioramas and then uses them to create her odd, intriguing paintings.

• Leon Wieseltier thinks Alain de Botton’s a twitter twit. Sort of.

• On this day in 1868, Christopher Latham Sholes patented the first practical, personal typewriter: Patent #79265.

As always, I welcome comments, suggestions, thoughts, feedback and all manner of what-have-you: clippings@katexic.com