|k| clippings: 2018-02-04 — sunglasses in fights

Did you know I was on the radio? I’m pleased to be a regular on Robert Hannon’s Northern Soundings. You can also listen to just my 3–5 minute segments in the KUAC-WORD section of the Katexic website, updated today!

WORK

The snow here hadn’t thawed. Its large, rough crystals were filled with the blue of the lake-water. But on the sunny side of the hill the snow was just beginning to melt. The ditch beside the path was full of gurgling water. The glitter of the snow, the water and the ice on the puddles was quite blinding. There was so much light, it was so intense, that they seemed almost to have to force their way through it. It disturbed them and got in their way; when they stepped on the thin film of ice over the puddles, it seemed to be light that was crunching under their feet, breaking up into thin, splinter-like rays. And it was light that was flowing down the ditch beside the path; where the path was blocked by stones, the light swelled up, foaming and gurgling. The spring sun seemed to be closer to the earth than ever. The air was cool and warm at the same time.

—Vasily Grossman
—from Life and Fate

WORD(S)

ruction /RUK-shən/. noun. A noisy disturbance; an uproar. Etymology unclear, but possibly derived from insurrection (not to mention destruction, which was first recorded almost 500 years earlier), or even eruption. See also: ruckus (rumpus + ruction?), rumpus, rookery and ruffle.

“Oh God, but is hard sometimes to love one another; if he get on like a beast, bind him hand and foot. I can’t have no ruction in this place.” (Derek Walcott)

“Pratt was raving. He appeared to be not only sore because the general ruction had spoiled his barbecue plans and ruined the tail end of his country sojourn, but specifically and pointedly sore at Wolfe for vague but active reasons…” (Rex Stout)

“They arrived at the church and waded through the tall, unshorn grass of the graveyard, amongst crooked ranks of crucifixes, stones and slabs, many of them askew and at oblique angles, as though they had been displaced by some crazy ruction of the earth.” (Jonathan Barnes)

WEB

1. A beautiful photo exploration. → Inside One of America’s Last Pencil Factories.

2. Notes: 1) the main point is about cursive writing, not handwriting generally and, 2) education today is based more on “myth” than not (because…the art part!) → Cursive Handwriting and Other Education Myths

3. Robin Sloan is always doing interesting things at the intersection of writing and technology. Two new projects: Penumbra’s New Fiction, featuring one story at a time in a limited edition printed on an old school Risograph (remember those?), and Music of the Mazg, about the “creative machine”-created music for the audiobook version of his fantastic novel Sourdough (that does, indeed revolve around sourdough starter).

4. Behold! More technology that works for us. → Automated Voice Recognition Typewriter

5. “Being on Twitter felt like being in a nonconsensual BDSM relationship with the apocalypse.” → I Quit Twitter and It Feels Great by Lindy West

6. East Village Bar Boldly [and literally] Bans Customers Who Say ‘Literally’

7. Well, not literally all of us… → Why do we all have balls on our hats?

8. A great story about how Charles Schultz brought Franklin to his comic strip. → Guess Who’s Coming to ‘Peanuts’

9. This gets a little geeky, but I can’t be the only person challenged (and often troubled) by how marginalia is represented on the web. → Interactive marginalia

10. Today is World Cancer Day, which “aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about the disease [and] pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action.” You can still get involved and, even better, think about how you might contribute a little toward this disease that has surely affected all of us.

WATCH/WITNESS

The hype is intense, but I don’t see any reason technology can’t support focus, mindfulness and meditation…which makes these brain-wave sensing sunglasses quite interesting! See also: brief reviews from Digital Trends and The Manual.

WHAT!?

Marbles, Magnets, and Music (Synchronized) to Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” (you’ll recognize the tune).

REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES

• Reader B. loves the puns, I am sure: “Flours of Evil? I groan, sir. ¶ On Tarrare, I notice this Gothic theme from Wikipedia: ”After being suspected of eating a toddler".

• Reader C. was the first to express this sentiment about those Flours of Evil: “Cookie dough ruiner!”

I welcome comments, suggestions, thoughts, feedback and all manner of what-have-you. Just press ‘Reply’ or email to: clippings@katexic.com.

Enjoy the WORK section? Try Notabilia http://ktxc.to/nb for a new WORK every day and concīs http://ktxc.to/concismag publishing original short pieces of all kinds.

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/.