"We're like handshadows illuminated by stars, and the shadow on the wall, lit by a star, is really a shadow of what isn't us." —Gary Barwin

An illustration from a 1903 issue of Saturday Evening Post.

Dedicated to the Master of Masks, Jeff McBride.

An illustration from a 1908 issue of Metropolitan magazine.  The caption reads: "Silence, emptiness, and beside the bed, burning steadily, the lighted candle."

The DVD release of Anthony Newley's series The Strange World of Gurney Slade doesn't feature subtitles, so we took it upon ourselves to transliterate the following rather marvelous made-up words:

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook, for Navid Sinaki:

An illustration from a 1903 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.  The caption reads: "The vicar prodded most of the them with his stick."

An illustration from a 1912 issue of Metropolitan magazine.

"The sooner you catch yourself in the act of building your mental snowball, the easier it is to stop."
—Richard Carlson, The Big Book of Small Stuff

"This might surprise you, but I don' t really hate rap.  I like the fact that it tells a story.  I just can't sing it. It's not me—"
—John Nieman, The Wrong Number One

Years ago we quipped that John Venn traveled in many circles.

But as it's been too long since our last Venn joke, here's a new one:

John Venn's favorite way to waste time was running in circles.

(One might think these jokes write themselves, but the process is protracted and requires protractors.)

[A] very humorous series of essays, experiments and actual OBJECTS (?!) all addressing metaphysical ideas in literature--but in an EXTREMELY playful way.  I LOVE this book.

An illustration from a 1905 issue of Metropolitan magazine.

The opposite of hubris is hubrisn't.

(We're proud to claim "hubrisn't" as a Googlewhack.  Google's one other instance of the word is from a tweet.)

Before the advent of Internet porn:  an illustration from a 1908 issue of Life magazine.

An illustration from a 1912 issue of Life magazine.  The caption reads: "Sports of All Nations:  'Cut your Neighbor' or 'Freeze the Blighter,' the popular pastime of England.  The players endeavor to outstare each other.  It is played in twosomes, foursomes and then some.  The player dropping his H is disqualified."

This 1904 edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Cayenne is apparently really hot.

Our Caption: Yes, do take stock and leave the bonds.

(Illustration from a 1912 issue of Life magazine)

"The answer is simple: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

—Nicholas Rescher, On the Nature of Philosophy