I Found a Penny Today, So Here’s a Thought
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Jonathan Caws-Elwitt reports a record from the Guinness book — the Alec Guinness book, that is.* Tyrone Guthrie was ... quite the tallest enfant terrible to be found in the English-speaking world--standing six foot four in his socks.
*Alec Guinness's memoir, Blessings in Disguise.
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soon there will be no pennies luck will migrate — Gary BarwinWe're reminded of a Zen koan: What was your luck before pennies were minted? |
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Geof Huth told us that he just acquired an uncorrected proof of One-Letter Words: A Dictionary, the first in a collection of uncorrected dictionary proofs. We're now hoping that O.L.W.'s proof is riddled with errors and constitutes a wicked reference like The Wicked Bible of 1631 (though that one, if memory serves, is merely missing a "not" in one of the Commandments). We love the idea of uncorrected proofs deliberately being cited as [faulty] evidence. We didn't think to tell Geof this, but we're picturing an entire research project in which every single footnote references an uncorrected proof. No one has any reason to know this, but when we appeared at O.L.W. book signings/talks, we read favorite one-letter words from the uncorrected proof. Our talks were technically illegitimate, springing from liminal matter that wasn't quite the "thing" itself. We didn't do it as some sort of art piece (more fool we) but were merely caught between worlds: a reclusive writer publicly reading from a softcover of a hardcover to people listening but not buying any of it.
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There may be no "i" in "team," but there might be an "if" in "us" (which we learn from the sublimely talented Swedish band Kite on their third EP. However, if you deserve a treat, don't miss their cover of "I Give You the Morning" on their second EP or their divine "Say It Ain't So" on their first EP). |
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We're reading a bawdy farce of old-time radio ( The Pleasure Dial by Jeremy Edwards), and the spectacles are one of the tools we use whenever we delve into material from (or set in) the past (to help filter and focus the mists of time, naturally). What has us so delighted? It's a passage in Chapter 22, involving imaginary water. (Jeremy Edwards is the first author we've encountered who is witty enough to make a glass of water hilarious.) Here are the lines, though we mustn't explain the context lest we ruin a plot twist: The last time she’d been here, she’d been in the company of a Dada composer she was sleeping with, who wanted to see his sister carry a bucket across the stage in a rustic allegory. Not a memorable role for the poor young woman, who had not yet graduated to 'ingenue'; but to her credit she had not spilled a drop of the imaginary water, and Mariel had duly congratulated her.
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"Christmas in July" has become a day. It used to be a season.
In the last fifty years, Christmas in July has become much more materialistic, even perversely overcommercialized.
For too many, Christmas in July is the most stressful event of the year.
The thing is, you can't avoid Christmas in July. Just try not to hear Christmas carols everywhere you go in July. Impossible! And it begins so early, too. Sheesh -- back in the day, we thought that Juneteeth Day was too early for Christmas in July to begin, but now it seems like D Day is what gets it all rolling. Every year the old compromise gets floated around, to begin with Flag Day, but good luck with that.
On a late walk last night, we nearly stumbled over a tinseled star discarded in the street like last week's TV Guide. The photo says it all, doesn't it?
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We were honored to share with Kindred Spirit Magazine insights into our favorite mystical village, Portmeirion. In particular, we expand on how Portmeirion's sunken gardens, sunken forests, and sunken boats constitute a shamanic otherworld, but one so-well marked and so well-lit that seekers can wander safely entranced. Author Simon Wells, of The Rolling Stones: 365 Days and The Beatles: 365 Days fame, said of our travel guide, " Puzzling Portmeirion has detected a labyrinth of wonder and discovery that exists within the village’s many layers." |
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Our work on Platonic solids tumbling through time is entitled Astragalomancy. It's all about how to divine the meanings of 21 discrete dice throws. Knowledge of ancient Greek divination rituals is unnecessary. The simple interpretations are clear-cut, based upon specific, indisputable references to history, mathematics, literature, mythology, and arcane sciences from around the world. Read more about about this work over at Amazon.com. This illustration of Lady Luck appears in Punch, 1877.
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We were honored to consult on the Story Forge card deck for novelists, screenwriters, playwrights, and game masters. The deck is a marvelous accomplishment -- intriguing, inspiring, and as useful as it is fun. Every card is a steppingstone that illuminates and guides the writer toward the heart of his or her work. Indeed, the deck could be likened to a treasure map torn into bits. Each card offers clues, even as it invites us to detour to our heart's desire. The deck is the perfect diversion for anyone with writer's block, since it offers an alternate route to bypass the blockage. Pictured below, we drew "The Hidden" card: "Forces are reaching out from beyond the normal realm, attempting to intervene in mortal affairs for good or ill." But check out the reversed meaning — we like it even better: "The Threshold: Someone is being drawn into other realms, beginning a voyage that largely takes place outside the normal world." One neat thing about this card deck is that you're invited to cheat! If you don't like a card, you get to draw another one.
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We marvel today at the sorry state of the arts, but the Muses were suffering from exhaustion all the way back in 1892. We find proof in The Idler.
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Page 149 of 170
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Original Content Copyright © 2025 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.
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