Today’s word via Errata, Wordnik’s “Wordie” blog, which every logophile should be reading.
WORK
“Boo, Forever”
Spinning like a ghost
on the bottom of a
top,
I’m haunted by all
the space that I
will live without
you.
—Richard Brautigan
—from The Pill vs. the Springhill Mine Disaster
WORD(S)
logolatry /lə-GAW-lə-tree/. noun. An unhealthy veneration or worship of words. Coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. From Greek logo- (speech, words) + -latry (worship of).
“What is the whole system from Philo to Plotinus, and thence to Proclus inclusively, but one fanciful process of hypostasizing logical conceptions and generic terms? In Proclus it is Logolatry run mad.” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
“What Mark scroggins calls the poet’s ‘logolatry’ includes not just an entrancing litany of polysyllabic and arcane words but also a fondness for utterances of humbler origin.” (Harryette Mullen)
But as “Protestant ‘logolatry’ supplant[ed] the idolatry of which the reformers accuse Catholicism,” Shakespeare’s stupid puritans point to what was potentially dangerous about the cult of the ear. (Robert Hornback)
WEB
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“Science news you won’t read anywhere else” AKA The Onion for nerds » The Allium [Thanks, Reader M.!]
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“Insomniacs Unite! The Podcast That Bores You to Sleep, on Purpose”
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Today in 1954, Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young is born. The “Godfather of Grunge” (see also: Sleeps with Angels) and twice-member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Young’s voice—both literally and in the form of his guitar playing and songwriting—is instantly recognizable and undoubtedly unique. Surprising fact: Neil Young is an an avid model train enthusiast who bought into (and helped revive) the Lionel model train company and who owns multiple patents on model train technologies of his own devising. A few great videos ►“Helpless” at Massey Hall, 1971, ►“Old Man”, early 70s, ►“The Needle and the Damage Done (unplugged), 2012” and ►“Southern Man”, last month.
WATCH/WITNESS
![Map from the "Box of Crazy" [click to view images]](https://buttondown-attachments.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/81952fbe-736b-4be6-9030-c2c1fd3ed5d8.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJEXF6S6TCOKT7N3Q&Signature=ZdO4OLzKtFnSPQcrTgFVhyfrhKo%3D&Expires=1707568878)
A man finds an old box by a dumpster. He opens it. The contents get mysteriously and continuously weirder. Pair with comments on the “Box of Crazy”.
REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES
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Reader D. enjoyed the Sesame Street trivia: “Thank you for the factoids about Sesame Street. I did not know there was a day when there was no guest star for Sesame Street. It seems such an integral part of the show. I do like the idea of the Cookie Monster liking everything wheel-shaped (cookies, included). ¶ The poem is very nice, too.”
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As did Reader C.: “Loved the Sesame Street trivia. Thanks for sharing!”
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