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April 10, 2022

Things I learned while looking up other things, 2022.04.11

Dear friends,

I've been thinking lately that the opposite of curiosity isn't indifference, but dread. If perseverating over vague fears takes up all your free time, how can you lift your head to see something new? There should be worry beads, but for curiosity (implementation is left to the reader, but this is not what I'm thinking of). 

If you buy stuff on Etsy, remember that there's a seller strike this week! You can usually buy direct (and/or wait a week). If you treat Etsy like holding a garage sale where you never have to make sure you have a roll of quarters on hand (like me) here's how to set your shop to vacation mode. 

One of the joys of this new era of abundant television in languages that aren't English is hearing something (okay, reading it in the subtitles) and trying to figure out if it's a fresh metaphor or a fossilized one (an idiom). Last week I was trying to figure out if one character asking if another character was a 'pencil' (suggesting they had ulterior motives, or a hidden 'dark heart') was a Korean idiom or not. I still don't know, but I did find this delightful review of a vintage pencil shop in Seoul! And that the Korean equivalent of 'too many cooks spoil the broth' is 'too many boatmen, the boat goes to the mountain'.

Speaking of pencils, there's a big Sol LeWitt show at MassMoCA! If you're near you should check it out. (Big surprise, the person who loves definitions loves an artist whose works are definitions of artworks 😂.)

If you celebrate Easter (or even if not) I fully endorse adopting this Norwegian holiday tradition. 

If you're planning to go to Milwaukee, double-check that you're headed to the right place. 

Does your name have a color? Mine does (I don't like it). The artists Henry Davy and Anthony van Dyck have colors named after them, but the best artist's color is obviously International Klein Blue.

Stay well, stay safe—

Your friend,

Erin
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