WORK
“Embodiment”
how a birch shirks its skins : strange
grain of the language of prayer : to disturb
words addressed to where God is is
what writing is : alphabet alive beneath
the alphabet so far into whiteness
each mind to itself creation come crawling
matter out of nothing : always
longing inquiries at the threshold a question
unanswered : not skin but the look
of skin : what once overheard the talk
of God became matter : ask the birch
did the soul have a choice :
—Brian Teare
—from Sight Map
WORD(S)
decollate /DE-kə-layt/ /də-KOH-layt/. verb. To behead. More generally, to break something off at its apex. Also, less dramatically, to separate sheets of paper (such as paper and matching carbons) into separate piles. From Latin dēcollāre (to behead), from collum (neck).
Males require straight-razors with dull blades and pearl handles—except, of course, in cases of decollation. To shut the eyes, use birdlime and wax. Suture the mouth with a length of wire. (Jason Schwartz, from John the Posthumous)
“Also, when thinking of him, saw always a stern severed head or death mask as if outlined on a grey curtain or veronica. Decollation they call it in the fold. Puzzled for the moment by saint John at the Latin gate. What do I see? A decollated precursor trying to pick the lock.” (James Joyce, from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)
“And ah took the hammer and prized the three six-inch nails out of the crucified she-bitch and let the stiffened decollated carcass drop heavily to the ground, rolling on its back in the blood-hardened dust.” (Nick Cave, from And the Ass Saw the Angel)
WEB
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“I’d love for dictionary entries to be used as you’d use the technical specs for some piece of equipment. In the same way that you’d check whether the washing machine you want to buy has the right cubic capacity for your household, you’d look up a word to check whether it had the right denotation, range of use, tone, literary allusions, or what-have-you for your intended use. The role of the dictionary is to help you decide on the right word for you, not to rule whether something is or isn’t a word.” → The Chicago Manual of Style Online interviews Erin McKean
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Wow! Thanks Reader G. → Biology’s Most Stunning and Strange Images of the Year
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What if Shakespeare were forced to undergo peer review? → Triaging Shakespeare
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I enjoy my Kindle very much (I also enjoy paper books…free literary love, baby). But some of the self-published book covers are, umm, regrettable. → Kindle Cover Disasters
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Today in 1887, Juan Gris, the best of the Cubist painters, is born. Known as “The Third Cubist” for the manner in which he adapted Picasso and Braque’s Cubist style into something instantly recognizable as his own, Gris’s paintings are typically more dynamic and employ color in startling combinations compared to his Cubist compatriots. Sadly, Gris died at just 39.
WATCH/WITNESS
Salome and Head of St. John the Baptist (Carlo Dolci)
[click for larger views and more info]
REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES
- Reader D. shares a thought-provoking article: “Here’s an interesting speculation that you might enjoy: http://ktxc.to/reich-knowledge-replacing”
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