|k| clippings: 2016-03-08 — eternally returning mail

WORK

/ the ache / toská: No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom, skuka.

—Vladimir Nabokov
—from Eugene Onegin: Commentary and Index

WORD(S)

dysthymia /dis-THIY-me-ə/. noun. Morbid anxiety. Despondency. Chronic depression. AKA “blunted affect.” See also: the adjective form dysthymic. From Greek dys- (hard, bad, unlucky) + thymos (spirit, mind, courage).

“The shrink they sent her to diagnosed her more specifically with dysthymia, which he defined as an inability to enjoy things that she should be enjoying. Which she recognized the justice of, since she enjoyed nothing, though there was a world of space inside that ‘should’ that a dysthymic semiotician could have argued with, if she had had the energy.” (Lev Grossman)

“We’re social animals, basically, but the group is more versatile if you have maybe a couple of hyperthymic types for cheerleaders, some dysthymics to sit home and mumble, and the one guy—let’s say, you—who edges away from the crowd, who sits up when everybody else is asleep, who basically keeps the watches of the night. The one who sees the lions coming.” (Robert Charles Wilson)

“But Jules couldn’t do much for Dennis except eat meals with him, rent movies from Blockbuster with him, lie in bed with him, and listen to him talk about the intractability of his dysthymic state.” (Meg Wolitzer)

WEB

1. Look upon me/we/it/us and despair… → 15+ Funniest Face Swaps From The Most Terrifying Snapchat Update Ever

2. “We wrote a program to analyze hundreds of works by authors with and without creative-writing degrees. The results were disappointing.” → How Has the MFA Changed the Contemporary Novel? [Thanks, Reader K.!]

3. “English isn’t uniquely vibrant or mighty or adaptable. But it really is weirder than pretty much every other language.” → English is not normal

4. The Hemingwrite (mentioned here last year) is now the Freewrite, the “world’s first smart typewriter.” I’m intrigued by the device, skeptical of the price.

5. Today is International Women’s Day. Established in 1911 in Copenhagen, IWD is “a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.” This year’s campaign theme is “Planet 50–50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality” or, as a hashtag, #PledgeForParity. Linkage: 15 Books To Read This International Women’s Day and VIDA’s 33 Life-Changing Books.

WATCH/WITNESS

Mark Powell uses old maps, used envelopes and magazine covers, among other found materials, as a base for his incredible drawings.

REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES

• Reader G.: “Thank you for [the Raymond Carver poem] ‘Interview’ – it rang true.”

• Reader C.: “That Carver poem was a punch in the gut. I forgot how much I loved, now make that ‘love’, his poetry.”

• Reader B.: “Sitkin is very Cronenbergian. Nice.”

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