Thirsty doll

[“Thirsty doll drinking milk.” Photograph by Bernard Hoffman. March 1950. Life Photo Archive.]

This doll is drinking what Roland Barthes calls “the true anti-wine”:

Wine is mutilating, surgical, it transmutes and delivers; milk is cosmetic, it joins, covers, restores. Moreover, its purity, associated with the innocence of the child, is a token of strength, of a strength which is not revulsive, not congestive, but calm, white, lucid, the equal of reality.

“Wine and Milk,” in Mythologies , trans. Annette Lavers (New York: Noonday Press, 1972).

Related reading
All OCA Barthes posts

Wine, spiritual

Joseph Joubert:

It seems that there is something spiritual in wine.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert: A Selection  , trans. Paul Auster (New York: New York Review Books, 2005).

Also from Joseph Joubert
Another world : Form and content : Irrelevancies and solid objects : Lives and writings : New books, old books : Politeness : Resignation and courage : Ruins v. reconstructions : Self-love and truth : Thinking and writing

[This post is for my friends Jim and Luanne Koper.]

Mystery actor

This guy was in countless movies, but he is most likely remembered for just one. Do you recognize him? Take your best shot in the comments.

8:08 a.m.: He’s now identified in the comments.

More mystery actors
? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ?

Overheard

“He spent thirteen hundred dollars a month on bird seed and peanuts for the squirrels.”

Related reading
All OCA “overheard” posts (Pinboard)

[If, like me, you’re never sure whether there should be a hyphen before hundred , consult this hyphenation guide from The Chicago Manual of Style .]

“Two Minutes About Sardines”

“‘Mom,’ I said, ‘Did you put a lot of salt on this sardine? Why is it so salty?’” From an essay by high-school student Fue Xiong, “Two Minutes About Sardines.”

Today I saw someone carrying a Chipotle bag with the words “Two Minutes About Sardines” printed on one side. (I know: what ?) The Internet did the rest. Here’s some background.

Related reading
All OCA sardines posts (Pinboard)

From The Song of the Lark

Dr. Howard Archie is thinking:


Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark (1915).

Related reading
All OCA Cather posts (Pinboard)

Barthes on Proust

“[A] kind of alchemical operation occurred within Proust during that month of September [1909] which transmuted the essay into a novel and a short, discontinuous thing into a long, sustained, and fully formed one”: Roland Barthes on how Proust became a great writer.

Related reading
All OCA Barthes posts
All OCA Proust posts (Pinboard)

A joke in the traditional manner

What kind of dogs do scientists like?

No spoilers. The punchline is in the comments.

More jokes in the traditional manner
The Autobahn : Did you hear about the cow coloratura? : Did you hear about the mustard-fetching dogs? : Did you hear about the thieving produce clerk? : Elementary school : A Golden Retriever : How did Bela Lugosi know what to expect? : How did Samuel Clemens do all his long-distance traveling? : How do amoebas communicate? : What did the doctor tell his forgetful patient to do? : What did the plumber do when embarrassed? : What happens when a senior citizen visits a podiatrist? : What is the favorite toy of philosophers’ children? : Which member of the orchestra was best at handling money? : Why did the doctor spend his time helping injured squirrels? : Why did Oliver Hardy attempt a solo career in movies? : Why did the ophthalmologist and his wife split up? : Why does Marie Kondo never win at poker? : Why was Santa Claus wandering the East Side of Manhattan?

[“In the traditional manner”: by or à la my dad. He gets credit for all but the cow coloratura, the produce clerk, the mustard-fetching dogs, the amoebas, the toy, the squirrel-doctor, Marie Kondo, Santa Claus, and this one. He was making such jokes long before anyone called them “dad jokes.”]

Saxophone logic

If this logic holds, I am a tenor Saxophone.

Thanks, Ian!

DFW at Kenyon

“The list dwindled. Soon, just a few names — including Wallace — remained. A political science major on the committee asked who he was”: from an account of how David Foster Wallace came to give a commencement address at Kenyon College.

Related reading
All OCA DFW posts (Pinboard)