WORK

“Glacial Erotic”

When the great sheet of ice lifted,
enormous boulders were left scattered
on mountainsides and deep in the forests.
They assumed unusual positions.

One massive example, with a smooth top
and curved sides, served as the trysting place
for lovers from the town of Bar Harbor.
They assumed unusual positions.

You say erratic, I say erotic, let’s call
the whole thing rock. And when the glaciers
next return, flipping us over in our beds,
we, too, will assume most unusual positions.

—Carl Little
—from Take Heart: A Conversation in Poetry

WORD(S)

zeugma /ZYOOG-muh/. noun. A sentence construction that applies a single adjective or verb to two nouns, though strictly appropriately only to one of them. When cleverly or mis- used, much hilarity ensues. AKA syllepsis. From Greek, literally, “a yoking.”

For example, Robert Latham writes, “they wear a garment like that of the Scythians, but a language peculiar to themselves,” applying the verb wear to both the garment and language.

Some more vivid examples of zeugmas:

“Mets Blow a Save and a Fan 18 Times in Opening Loss” (Wall Street Journal headline.)

“You are free to execute your laws and your citizens as you see fit.” (Commander Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation)

“piano: A parlor utensil for subduing the impenitent visitor. It is operated by depressing the keys of the machine and the spirits of the audience.” (Ambrose Bierce)

WEB

1. Mark your calendar for next year’s Boring Conference, where past topics have included: “sneezing, toast, IBM tills, the sounds made by vending machines, the Shipping Forecast, barcodes, yellow lines, London shop fronts, the television programme Antiques Road Trip and the features of the Yamaha PSR–175 Portatune keyboard.” Pair with the Guardian’s expected-and-confirmed-ironically interesting article on the conference’s founder and some of its participants who have “obscure passions.”

2. Derek Powazek on the third wave of photo sharing (spoiler: it’s about storytelling).

3. Harriet the Spy is to The Elegance of the Hedgehog as James and the Giant Peach is to…? find out in “22 Books You Should Read Now, Based On Your Childhood Favorites”. I misread one of the entries as pairing The Hobbit with The Road…which is a whole different thing.

4. Digital diets are the new low-carb, in so many ways. Read one person’s tale of a year without screens. If that’s too caveman, how about a year with a distraction-free iPhone?

5. Today in 1920, the pioneering war correspondent Marguerite Higgins was born. Marguerite would eventually report from war zones during World War II, Korea and Vietnam. She witnessed the liberation of Dachau, covered the Nuremberg trials, was present at the Soviet blockade of Berlin, interviewed Franco, Khrushchev and Nehru, barely escaped death while walking beside Robert Capra when he stepped on a land mine, and shared a Pulitzer prize. She would ultimately die from a tropical disease contracted while on assignment in Vietnam.

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