No. 72
Don’t say you want love.
Say you want the morning light through a painted-flecked window; say you want the distance and the ache that foretells it; say you want the autumn air always arriving that never arrives; a gust of wind scraping leaves along the pavement; hills rolling toward the sea; a forest clearing at twilight; say you want the inadequate glow of a lamp hidden behind a stack of books; a glance sufficient unto itself; a memory that comes suddenly; say you want to notice, in a tree you walk past every day, a nest exposed as the leaves fall away; say you want to learn the etymology of the word “leave” and that you want to apply that knowledge somehow (but how?); say you want the sea, the sea, always the sea; clouds lowering upon the day; a meander; a slow afternoon of conversation in a shadowy bar; say you want postcards and letters, that you want to write everything, to divest yourself of words in the hope that it leaves you feeling empty in a new way; say you want to give it all up, but keep clinging; say you want a narrow path and a mountain close and a mountain faraway; a pit to fall into; the smell of bread baking; say you want lists that never end; say you’ll settle for a landscape of words; maps over which to compose voyages; say, fuck it, I want to daydream.
Say you don’t want love.
ELEGY
in memory of Kim Zorn Caputo
(1952-2004)
This water is surface, glittering
with light. The eye glances level
seeing mere light. Beneath, the tricky
depths you can’t navigate.
Is there a bottom? Is there any-
thing beyond light?—the sheerest
membrane dividing.
Joyce Carol Oates
23 December 2004
noun • a kind or loving look
If only I received more of these, from the right person…
(Source: ragbag)
noun • a so-called improvement that makes things worse
Let’s use it in a sentence!
Congress passed legislation to rake in the financial industry’s abusive practices, but many consumer advocates decried it as nothing more than a schlimmbesserung.
(Source: ragbag)
The politician’s syllogism, also known as the politician’s logic or the politician’s fallacy, is a logical fallacy of the form:
- We must do something
- This is something
- Therefore, we must do this.
(via @werttrew)
Will this solve the problem? No. Will it delay the problem and make me re-electable? Yes. Let’s do it.
That’s the formula for heat index. It was developed in 1978 by George Winterling and was originally called “humiture.” Humiture.
-Jody, BL Show-
Humiture is clearly better than heat index.
The tolerance paradox arises from a problem that a tolerant person might be antagonistic toward intolerance, hence intolerant of it. The tolerant individual would then be by definition intolerant of intolerance. This problem is at the heart of the dilemma faced by pluralist societies who wish to embrace diversity, but in doing so ostensibly exclude those who do not embrace diversity, which includes a large portion of the world’s population. (via boringben )
I am intolerant of the intolerant…wait a minute.
Mithridatism is the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually self-administering non-lethal amounts. The word derives from Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus, who so feared being poisoned that he regularly ingested small doses, aiming to develop immunity. Having been defeated by Pompey, legend has it that Mithridates tried to commit suicide using poison but failed because of his immunity and so had to resort to having a mercenary run him through with his sword. (via yeslikethemotorcycle)
Reminds me of The Princess Bride.
Apophasis refers, in general, to “mention by not mentioning”. Apophasis covers a wide variety of figures of speech. (via Dylan)
This tactic cannot be used for an elephant in the room scenario, I imagine.
“Little Emperors” is a name that refers to only children in the People’s Republic of China after the one-child policy was implemented. Attributed most frequently to increased spending power within the family unit and the parents’ desire for their child to experience the benefits they were denied, the syndrome results from the children’s sole command of the attention of their parents and grandparents. Described as a problem “so acute that it’s changing how society functions, the Little Emperor effect has grown beyond a side effect that “the architects of China’s one-child policy could never have foreseen” into a “behavioral time-bomb.” (via sleevia)
Unintended consequences. Of course, I’ve seen quite a few “little emperors” and “empresses” in America…
