Things I learned while looking up other things, 2023.10.11
Dear friends,
I always think of the year as downhill from August, and like anything rolling downhill it accelerates as it goes. I suppose it slams into the wall of 31 December with a crash, and then jumps up whole again 1 January? (Is the year a Sisyphean boulder?)
That's a long and rambling way to say that it feels like the last TILWLUOT was, like, two days ago, despite the testimony of the calendar. Also: welcome to those of you who are here on Robin Sloan's recommendation!
Unicode has about 800K remaining "places" for characters, which should give all you conlangers hope. Also, in the category that the kids label 'iykyk': jq 1.7!
I was pleased to learn that there exists a philosophical razor known as "Newton's flaming laser sword".
"Baudelaire, according to his friend the photographer Nadar, was to be seen strolling in his neighbourhood wearing his rose gloves with a blue workman’s smock, a blood red cravat and a magenta chenille boa, of the sort that the minor actresses of the city apparently affected." (From Proverbs of a She-Dandy) Sadly, none of the photographs of Baudelaire by Nadar here show this particular getup.
"Harry Craddock was once asked what was the best way to drink a Cocktail: “Quickly,” replied that great man, “while it’s laughing at you!”" (from The Savoy Cocktail Book)
The first moquette fabric pattern used on the London Underground was called "Lozenge".
"Residuality theory states that the future of a system is a function of its residues—the leftovers of the system after the impact of a stressor. A stressor is anything that is previously unseen or unknown that impacts the system."
I find myself reloading this page of Bridget Riley's work more than I expected. This one is a definite vibe.
Stay well!
Your friend,
Erin