Did you know that the ancient forests of Germany, so deeply rooted in folklore, aren't confined to Europe?  In California, the Berlin Forest sits in the shadow of the Observatory at Griffith Park.  For unicorn listeners, this forest atop Mt. Hollywood is a "must hear" attraction.

by jovike

The Little-Known Meanings of Crazy Color Names vol. 4

Seemingly unintelligible color names often tell fascinating and amusing stories, at least to those who are willing to delve beneath the surface. We continue our strange and wonderful adventure into the uncharted fringes of language, where we'll discover new "shades of meaning."

The light green color called hmm represents a sound which a “great conversationalist” makes while listening to keep people talking, as discussed in Think Like Your Customer: A Winning Strategy to Maximize Sales by Understanding and Influencing How and Why Your Customers Buy by Bill Stinnett.

The bright orange color called hmmmm refers to a “trite expression of wonder, envy and awe” that, along with “oh my,” “well well,” “say now,” and “really?” “will cover your adventures in New York” (Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967).

The golden color similarly called hmmmm recalls a chant from the Igbo Folk Epic from Sub-Saharan Africa, as discussed in Traditional Storytelling Today: An International Sourcebook by Margaret Read MacDonald.

The dark red color called hmph recalls an exclamation by the “Good Magician Humfrey” that, according to a translator golem, means “You blundering aviary feline! Get your catty feet on the ground!” (Piers Anthony, Source of Magic).

The pale orange color called hnnn echoes the grunt of Frankenstein’s monster, according to poet John Quinn in “Subway Station Meditation (New York),” Do Not Ask Me to Compete with the Angels.

by Love Not Fear

The deep purple color called hssss refers to the sound of a city bus pulling away from a stop, as in The Hearse You Came In On by Tim Cockey.

The bright blue color called kkkk refers to the sound of silk being stolen: "Aye, Silk’s what they fancy out in India ... over the wall, in your Window, kkkk! Job’s done." (Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon).

The deep green color called kkkkkkk echoes the rapid bill-clapping sound of the Choco Toucan, as described in Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides: Ramphastidae, Capitonidae and Indicatoridae by Lester L. Short.

The dusky purple color called mmmmm recalls an expression of feeling vulnerable upon finding oneself stranded in a strange place at night, as in the song “Cross Road Blues” by Robert Johnson, as transcribed in Trouble in Mind by Leon F. Litwack.

The pale yellow color called nnn echoes a response to the question “You spigotty anglease?” in Finnegans Wake by James Joyce.

All of these color name insights are derived from my Dictionary of Improbable Words, which is available for online reading.

[Read the entire article in my guest blog at ColourLovers.com.]

Diedrik van der Wal, custodian of one-letter words in the Netherlands, promises a Dutch dictionary of single letters by September.  The book will most probably be called: Achter de letter: het eerste Nederlandse eenletterwoordenboek.

The poet Geof Huth is our fellow custodian of English one-letter words.  We'd still love to see his unfinished dictionary some day. 

"Twenty Saints" made of twigs, by Chris Kenny.  Alas, the names of the saints are indecipherable in this image, and the piece has been sold.

 

Chris of the Buggeryville blog refers us to this thoughtful piece on why unicorns are traditionally slaughtered rather than caught.

Meanwhile, our Field Guide to Identifying Unicorns by Sound: A Compact Handbook of Mythic Proportions is now available through Amazon.com.  Did you know you can preview the book in HTML format at OneLetterWords.com?

A pragmatic reference book replete with tips and easy-to-digest tidbits from folklore, physics, and literature, A Field Guide to Identifying Unicorns by Sound is at once a commonplace book, a work of refined playfulness and wit, and ultimately a self-help tool for centering and opening awareness through active listening.  Blending the author’s signature sensitivity to the awe and magic wrapped up in folkloric phenomena with a tongue-in-cheek bending of scientific principles to his fanciful purpose, this concise book uniquely balances humor, scholarship, spirituality, and imagination.

A Field Guide to Identifying Unicorns by Sound invites imaginative readers to step outside and suspend disbelief for a spell.  The book gently reminds readers of their capacity to perceive subtle signals in nature as they meditatively pay attention.  As readers open their ears and awaken their inner senses, they are guided to effortlessly attune to whispers of the soul.  Receptivity and intuition emerge from dormancy.  Readers may set off in search of hearing a unicorn, but through deep listening they are likely to encounter their higher selves.

From time immemorial, unicorns have captured the imagination of humankind and figured in fantasy, folklore, and myth.  Public interest in unicorns is at an all-time high, as evidenced by the American Museum of Natural History’s recent “Mythic Creatures” exhibit about dragons, unicorns and mermaids.  Yet until now there has not been a practical guide to observing these beloved creatures.  A Field Guide to Identifying Unicorns by Sound fills this void with light-hearted humor.  It’s the only portable handbook of auditory unicorniana you’ll ever need.

A Field Guide to Identifying Unicorns by Sound is organized into approximately fifty brief chapters, each of which serves to expose the reader to a particular variety of unicorn sound.  Only the author who dazzled us with a thousand One-Letter Words could have catalogued 49 distinct varieties of unicorn sounds and described in luscious, colorful detail their salient qualities.  Delightful, enchanting, and unique, it is perhaps the ultimate in whimsical zoology.

Through how-to narration, evocative imagery, meaningful quotations, and irreverent asides, the author sustains a premise as well developed as it is accessible and as engaging and convincing as it is fantastic.  The meditational imagination is stimulated, and the funny bone tickled, by means of eclectic lists of evocative associations that illustrate the sonic flavor of each featured unicorn sound.  In concert with all this, dozens of easy-to-grasp, deceptively sensible illustrations expertly marry science and whimsy.

Enchanted by the author’s hushed whispers, cogent explanations, and fresh, sparkling laughter, readers will experience a strong yearning to listen for unicorns.  Moreover, they will be pleased to learn that in the stillness of profound, focused listening they may discover a transformative connection to the grand mystery of the universe.  The book encourages readers to “slow down, sit in silence, and savor all of the precious moments that enrich our daily lives,” as in Virginia Lang & Louise Nayer’s How to Bury a Goldfish.

(Thanks, Jonathan!)

A collaged story we assembled for a singular Frank and henceforth dedicate to all the Franks of the world. Click on the thumbnails below to view an enlarged version in a new window.

Page 1	Page 2: ruins	Page 3: hands
Page 4: gardening	Page 5: planting	Page 6: whirlwind

Piecing together the secret of the totem . . .


 

Who uses this staircase?

The staff.

"Fluffy Cloud People crowd the sky.  I can feel their floating souls."
—Kathleen O'Neal Gear, People of the Silence (1997)

Will we talk about the black bird?”

The fat man laughed and his bulbs rode up and down on his laughter. “Will we?” he asked, and, “We will,” he replied. His pink face was shiny with delight. “You’re the man for me, sir, a man cut along my own lines. No beating about the bush, but right to the point. ‘Will we talk about the black bird?’ We will. I like that, sir. I like that way of doing business. Let us talk about the black bird by all means.
—Dashiell Hammett; Sam Spade and the fat man, conversing in The Maltese Falcon, 1930.

"The myriad facets of cat care."
—Kim Thornton, Your New Cat (2004)

Piecing together the secret of time . . .


 

"She reaches back into history to carve an identity that represents all her facets, strong and black and resilient."
—Sharon Malinowski, Gay and Lesbian Literature (1994)

Lady Nihilism
Patron Saint of Decadence.

Lady Nihilism rules over:

• the decay of cultural idols
• the pursuit of self-abnegation
• involuntary paroxysms

There is still only one miracle, only one: the Taj Mahal. . . . [It] has the fascination not of a work of art but of a natural and eternal beauty like the sea, the sky, like the highest, most immaculate mountain peaks. It had the color of the granular ice on certain glaciers today as I contemplated it for the last time. Then, as evening approached, it changed to pink and azure, to green, to the ardent violet of steel just before it is tempred. And the bronze- green cypresses, the cobalt sky, and the enclosed waters that repeated the miracle — it is all imprinted inside my eyelids, as when one looks at something blindingly bright.
—Guido Gozzano (1883—1916), Journey Toward the Cradle of Mankind, translated by David Marinelli, 1996.

Our Semicolon's Dream Journal was honored by a mention over at Blue Pencil Editing blog:

Speaking of the word dream, is the past tense dreamed or dreamt?  The Blue Pencil Editing blog has the answer. 

The Golden Corral restaurant needs re-branding.  (Thanks, Mike!)

(But seriously!  Who finds it appetizing to be likened to cattle herded toward a trough?)

What next, the Silver Coop?  Would that be a maternity ward?  (If diners are like cattle, then mothers-to-be are like hens, no?)  Perhaps the Silver Coop would be a Chinese restaurant (referring to the Egg Drop Soup, you see.)

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In other mitten news, armored mitten gauntlets are all the rage this year (and not just for those in their Middle Ages).

Meanwhile, a mitten grapples with the meaning of life.