"To some extent punctuation is sound that you do not hear, a pause that implies the presence of withheld sound.  To some extent, then, language is as dependent upon the unspoken as the spoken, and the rhythm of silence as well as of sound.  In that context, however, silence involves merely a pause of sound in which sound is implied but withheld.  Inner sound deals primarily with that kind of relationship.  Language is meaningful only because of the rhythm of silence upon which it rides." —Jane Roberts, The Nature of the Psyche

(Thanks, Tamara!)

"Not infrequently books speak of books: it is as if they spoke among themselves.  In the light of this reflection, the library seemed all the more disturbing to me.  It was then the place of a long, centuries-old murmuring, an imperceptible dialogue between one parchment and another, a living thing, a receptacle of powers not to be ruled by a human mind, a treasure of secrets emanated by many minds, surviving the death of those who had produced them or had been their conveyors." —Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose

True or False: Line graphs are 50% funnier than bar charts.

Clue:  This is according to a guide to drawing comics

Answer:  True.  (The answer is in black text on the black background.  Highlight it to view.)

Citation:  Suck School of Comic Art, Suck.com, (Nov. 7, 1997)

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

 

You can’t step on the same stream bank twice.

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

WANING CRESCENT (FUTURE)

"Space, semicolon, space."

—International Standard Bibliographic Description (2007)

 

True or False: Sideburns are funnier than Vandykes.

Clue:  This is according to a guide to drawing comics

Answer:  False.  (The answer is in black text on the black background.  Highlight it to view.)

Citation:  Suck School of Comic Art, Suck.com, (Nov. 7, 1997)

Though Frederic Tuten is correct when he says, "It's always meanly satisfying to blame the young for the darkening of the culture," here's an exception: it's impossible not to blame the young fiends Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei for darkening the culture by driving a violin prodigy to suicide.  The following curse is less judgmental than their inhuman punishment of their gay roommate: may they be neutered by jackals as they choke on violin strings.

From our Magic Words outpost:

"Sometimes it is better for certain secrets to remain veiled by arcane words.  The secrets of nature are not transmitted on skins of goat or sheep.  Aristotle says in the book of secrets that communicating too many arcana of nature and art breaks a celestial seal and many evils can ensue.  Which does not mean that secrets must not be revealed, but that the learned must decide when and how." —Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose

The title of this volume proves the old saying: "He couldn't see the forest for the trees"!

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook: