|k| clippings: 2015-04-17 — out of patience

WORK

“Should we continue to look upwards? Is the light we can see in the sky one of those which will presently be extinguished? The ideal is terrifying to behold… brilliant but threatened on all sides by the dark forces that surround it: nevertheless, no more in danger than a star in the jaws of the clouds.”

—Victor Hugo
—from Les Misérables

WORD(S)

ilunga. noun. A Bantu word meaning, according to a BBC article, “a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.” The same article notes that a survey of more than 1000 linguists crowned this the “world’s most difficult word to translate.” Seems akin to “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me a third time and you will be sorry.”

WEB

1. Google goes “Inside Abbey Road” and it’s impressive.

2. Digital Renaissance Editions shares “scholarly editions of early English drama and texts of related interest, from late medieval moralities and Tudor interludes, occasional entertainments and civic pageants, academic and closet drama, and the plays of the commercial London theaters, through to the drama of the Civil War and Interregnum” replete with “photo-facsimiles and diplomatic transcriptions of early textual witnesses alongside a modern-spelling text with full critical apparatus and generous introductory and supplementary materials”.

3. Kick back and relax (or work) to the Sounds of the Bodleian.

4. Like typewriters? Old-school clicky keyboards? Check out the Qwerkywriter, a “typewriter inspired, bluetooth mechanical keyboard.” [Hat-tip: Reader C.]

5. Today in 1885, Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke—better known by her pen name Isak Dinesen—is born in Denmark. Dinesen began seriously writing at age 46 and her first book, Seven Gothic Tales, was a sensation…though she is now most-remembered for her memoir Out of Africa (later made into a movie starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep) and her story “Babette’s Feast”, the source for the Academy Award winning Danish film of the same name (in English, anyway…the “real” title is Babettes Gæstebud). Dinesen was a flamboyant character who married a rich, cheating Baron, contracted syphilis, left him, and became a renowned author who many believe should have won the Nobel prize…before finally becoming something of both a recluse (at home) and a celebrity (abroad). Dinesen died of malnutrition that may have stemmed from gastric syphilis and/or anorexia, conditions which also contributed to her striking appearance. Oh, and she is also featured on a Danish 50 kroner bill. See also: Isak Dinesen’s “Art of Fiction” Interview.

REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES

• Reader D. writes: “Hanging about the internet waiting to hear that ”Drone“ has been published. Thanks for the snippet and the reference!” — Ask and ye (in this case, satisfaction not guaranteed, claims not verified by science, &c.) shall receive

• Reader B. defies analysis: “Three questions in to identifying my ‘circadian rhythm type’ and I get the following remarks: ‘This questionnaire was not designed for people with your sleep / waking pattern. The results may not be valid for you. Do you want to continue anyway?’”

• Reader B. on the $2 bill: One of the major failures of the $2 bill was the standardized trays of cash registers, which had no place for the extra denomination. — That seems semi-mythical: most cash drawers have five rows for bills, with the last being used for $50/$100 and/or credit card slips. ‘Extra’ is in the eye of the beholder.

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