This newsletter receives no financial compensation from the Chipotle restaurant chain, though I am now hungry for a burrito.

WORK

“Two Minute Personality Test”

What’s the kindest thing you almost did? Is your fear of insomnia stronger than your fear of what awoke you? Are bonsai cruel? Do you love what you love, or just the feeling? Your earliest memories: do you look though your young eyes, or look at your young self? Which feels worse: to know that there are people who do more with less talent, or that there are people with more talent? Do you walk on moving walkways? Should it make any difference that you knew it was wrong as you were doing it? Would you trade actual intelligence for the perception of being smarter? Why does it bother you when someone at the next table is having a conversation on a cell phone? How many years of your life would you trade for the greatest month of your life? What would you tell your father, if it were possible? Which is changing faster, your body, or your mind? Is it cruel to tell an old person his prognosis? Are you in any way angry at your phone? When you pass a storefront, do you look at what’s inside, look at your reflection, or neither? Is there anything you would die for if no one could ever know you died for it? If you could be assured that money wouldn’t make you any small bit happier, would you still want more money? What has been irrevocably spoiled for you? If your deepest secret became public, would you be forgiven? Is your best friend your kindest friend? Is it any way cruel to give a dog a name? Is there anything you feel a need to confess? You know it’s a “murder of crows” and a “wake of buzzards” but it’s a what of ravens, again? What is it about death that you’re afraid of? How does it make you feel to know that it’s an “unkindness of ravens”?

—Jonathan Safran Foer
—from his Chipotle “two-minute story cup”

Bonus: see the Chipotle cup two-minute stories by Toni Morrison and Michael Lewis.

WORD(S)

sangfroid (sang froid/sang-froid) /saw-frwa/. noun. Indifference, lack of excitement, particularly under stress. From French sang-froid (literally “cold blood”).

“Marathe’s tone now became derisive despite his legendary sangfroid in matters of technical interviews…” (David Foster Wallace)

“Gummy bears, in particular, suggested a certain sangfroid, because they were German. I tended to burn them with matches, thus combining my overt sugarlust with a more latent strain of pyromania.” (Steve Almond)

“A toreador crushed one of his balls jumping the barricade. He was a fair man with grey eyes who showed great sang froid — they said he’ll be laid up for a long time.” (Vincent Van Gogh)

WEB

1. Reader J. shares “11 Dramatic Photos from World War I”. Which reminded me of something I should have shared yesterday: the amazing ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ installation—using 888,246 poppies—at the Tower of London, commemorating the World War I centenary. Such a powerful visual.

2. Jonty Hurwitz is back, this time with nano sculptures, including the smallest representation of human forms in history. Pretty amazing…these sculptures are dwarfed by the eye of a needle. So small, in fact, you can’t see them with the naked eye…and yet beautiful and intricate. Wowza.

3. After 16 years, Hanna Rosin confronts her former best friend, plagiarist Stephen Glass. I think she’s getting played again.

4. The Golden Age of Telegraph Literature. I’ll let Slate’s own subtitle dare you not to read: “The 19th-century genre showcased technology anxieties and Catfish-esque storylines.”

5. Today in 1970, Oregon DOT engineers make a disastrous attempt to remove a beached sperm whale—► mistakenly using 20 cases of dynamite instead of 20 sticks—in what is now known as the “Exploding Whale Incident.” Because the DOT employees were unsure how much dynamite to use, they consulted with Walter Umenhofer, a military vet who happened to be on the scene at the time…Umenhofer’s brand new car, purchased as part of a “Whale of a Deal” promotion, was crushed by a huge chunk of falling blubber. Not to be confused with the ► exploding whale of Tainan, China.

REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES

• Reader S. shares a link that pairs well with the story of ► A Letterpress Printer in the Age of Twitter: “When worlds collide: Letterpress Printers Are Running Out Of @ Symbols And Hashtags.”

• Reader B. is glad to learn of Miklós Radnóti: “Thank you so much for introducing me to that fierce, doomed Hungarian.”

I welcome comments, suggestions, thoughts, feedback and all manner of what-have-you. Just press ‘Reply’ or email to: clippings@katexic.com.

And please feel free to share anything here as far and wide as you want! If you want to give a shout-out, please link to: http://katexic.com/clippings/.