|k| clippings: 2015-02-23 — braids and blooms

Today’s work comes from Reader D., who included it with her important comment at the end of this issue.

WORK

“Untitled”

You just came from my old village,
so you know all about village affairs.

When you left, outside my window,
was it in bloom—that winter plum?

—Wang Wei (translated by David Hinton)
—from The Selected Poems of Wang Wei

WORD(S)

pleach /pleech/. noun or verb. An interlacing or intertwinement that forms a lattice, usually of branches or stems. To form such a shape to plait or braid. From Middle English plechen, from Latin plectere (to plait).

“Wouldst thou be window’d in great Rome and see
Thy master thus with pleach’d arms”
(William Shakespeare, from Antony and Cleopatra)

“The roof was pleached of flattened oil tins.” (William Gaddis, from The Recognitions)

“They seemed to sleep, but Alex knew there to be a spotlight in every driveway ready to go at the slightest intrusion by man or leaf. Inside, each house was pleached by those invisible lasers, criss-crossed through the landings and the stairs.” (Zadie Smith, from The Autograph Man)

“’If that pleases you. It fell out that in nineteen-sixty-two Tom pleached, plashed and entwined himself with one Eileen Bishop. In due course he pollinated her and there sprung up a fine young son.” (Stephen Fry, from The Liar)

WEB

1. The only thing better than looking at a cool piece of art is getting to see the process as its being made. → Sculptor Yoshitoshi Kanemaki’s “Girl with 12 Faces” [my title]

2. I love the “Monty Hall Problem” because even though I intellectually get it, it just seems so wrong. That’s statistics for you. Incidentally, the images in the top comment make the counterintuitive truth as clear as anything can be. → The Time Everyone “Corrected” the World’s Smartest Woman [ Hat-tip: Reader C. and others]

3. No photoshop! → Colin Batty’s hand-painted and manipulated, oh-so-creepy, vintage cabinet cards

4. “There’s going to come a time where there are so few people repairing these things that they’re just going to have to say, that’s the end of it,” he said. “You can’t fix a typewriter, that’s it.” → The Last of the Typewriter Men [Via Reader G. and others]

5. Today in 1455 (or so many scholars assert; there is no definitive evidence), the first “Gutenberg Bible” is printed. Though far from the first printed book—full-length Chinese block-printed books date back to the 9th century—it was a landmark introduction of mass-produced (relatively speaking; only 180 or so bibles were printed, but there were only perhaps 30,000 books in Europe at the time) printing in the West. And not an inconsiderable introduction, physically-speaking, either…the final product weighed about 14 pounds and cost 30 florins, or three years of an average clerk’s wages. As of today, 21 complete Gutenberg bibles are known to exist.

REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES

• Reader D. responds eloquently: “Thank you also for sharing the Oliver Sacks piece. I have been sharing it myself. What struck me most is his statement about focusing on what is essential for him now: deepening friendships and his own insights and understandings. I think this is the most heartening thing he said as very often people tend to look to a time they are ‘finished’ rather than seeing themselves as works of art that are never finished until we die. A recent article in the New York Times pointed out that having the perspective that you are always growing is essential for maintaining a good attitude towards aging. I don’t remember where I found this quotation, but I have written it in my Midori: ‘Don’t compare yourself to others; compare yourself to the you from yesterday.’ ”

• Reader B. asks about our logo: “Is your ‘|k|’ supposed to mean the absolute value of k?” — I hadn’t thought of that, but I will now work that into the creation story…

• Reader K., prompted by Taylor Swift meets Nine Inch Nails, shares: Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe” + Nine Inch Nails “Head Like a Hole” = Call Me A Hole.

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/.

Daily(ish) email overwhelming you? Email chris+weekly@katexic.com to switch to the weekly digest edition.