An anecdote from Mark Shields

Mark Shields, in his most recent column, on what WikiLeaks e-mails suggest about the workings of the Clinton Foundation:

Unhappily, what comes to mind is an anecdote author Kurt Vonnegut told about fellow author Joseph Heller, a close friend of his. At a lavish party hosted by a billionaire on New York’s Shelter Island, Vonnegut asked Heller, “Joe, how does it make you feel to know that our host only yesterday may have made more money than your novel Catch-22 has earned in its entire history?” Heller responded, “I’ve got something he can never have.” Vonnegut asked, “What on earth could that be, Joe?” And Heller answered, “The knowledge that I’ve got enough.” Wading through WikiLeaks makes you doubt whether Bill Clinton ever knew Joseph Heller.

Usage tip of the day

From Leddy’s Imaginary Dictionary of Usage (2016).

Also from this non-existent volume: entries for get and nice .

[Getting my Fowler on.]

From an old notebook

“The things that you cannot do are the things that you should do”: Eleanor Roosevelt, as quoted by the tenor saxophonist David Murray, Downbeat , January 1993.

Also from an old notebook
Alfalfa, Ted Berrigan, Jack Kerouac, metaphors : Alfred Appel Jr. on twentieth-century art and literature : Barney : Beauty and the Beast and kid talk : John Ashbery and Kenneth Koch : Plato, Shirley Temple, vulgarity, wisdom, Stan Laurel

[What Roosevelt wrote: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” From You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life (New York: Harper & Row, 1960).]

From an old notebook

“All the better for smiling and eating healthy snacks!”

*

“Would you like to feel me with your hands and make a picture of me in your mind?”

Both from the PBS children’s show Barney , March 1993.

Also from an old notebook
Alfalfa, Ted Berrigan, Jack Kerouac, metaphors : Alfred Appel Jr. on twentieth-century art and literature : Beauty and the Beast and kid talk : John Ashbery and Kenneth Koch : Plato, Shirley Temple, vulgarity, wisdom, Stan Laurel

Hem and haw and Lois

[Hi and Lois , October 28, 2016. Click for a larger view.]

I like the way the perspective changes to match the dialogue (left to right). I like, too, the way Lois’s frontal curl shifts from the right side of her head to the left. Magic? Not really. The image, I’m almost certain, has been flipped, curl and all.

But what first caught my attention in today’s strip is “hemming and hawing.” Jeepers, maybe Chip will find his way to an Orange Crate Art post about that very expression. Is his connection strong enough to break the fourth wall?

*

11:25 a.m.: I played around with the Mac Preview app’s Flip Horizontal and the Alpha tool. Yes, Lois has been flipped.

Related reading
All OCA Hi and Lois posts (Pinboard)

Domestic comedy

[In the car, taking turns reading the back of a National Carriers semi-trailer .]

“‘Liberal, Kansas.’ Which is probably anything but.”

“‘Irving, Texas.’ Which is probably anything but.”

Related reading
All OCA domestic comedy posts (Pinboard)

Smells like teen spinach

[As seen in the produce section.]

Teen spinach is for real. The Classic Salads website explains the difference between baby spinach and teen spinach: “a week of additional maturity.” Yeah, right — like that’s gonna make you mature? One week? I’m sure.

Teen spinach is at times awkward, at times moody. It would just like to be left alone, in its bag, until it is time for dinner.

[Post title with apologies to Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl.]

“No Cash”

[As seen in a parking garage.]

I would like to think that saying “No cash,” or more politely, “Sorry, I have no cash” would prompt the attendant to wave the driver through, saying “Your excuse or explanation or barefaced lie is good enough for me, sir. Have a pleasant day.” But no.

File under Unnecessary “quotation marks.”

A tribute in dubious taste

In the aftermath of the Great Blackwing Fiasco of 2010, I’ve had little to say about the Palomino Blackwing pencil. This pencil doesn’t interest me. But I had to say something when the Palomino Blackwing’s manufacturer attempted to associate the pencil with the music of Duke Ellington and John Lennon. And now once again I have to say something:

California Republic recently began a line of limited-edition Blackwing “tribute” pencils. The latest one, “A Tribute to Dorothea Lange,” marks the eightieth anniversary of Lange’s photograph Migrant Mother. This pencil is a tribute in dubious taste — or a tribute to dubious taste. From the company website:

Blackwing 344 celebrates the 80th anniversary of this historic photo and the artistic legacy Dorothea Lange left behind. The deep red barrel, red foil imprint, bright red ferrule and black eraser reflect what a Blackwing 602 pencil would look like in a darkroom. The model number references Library of Congress LOT 344, which contains a number of her photographs, including the iconic “Migrant Mother.”

The arbitrariness (eightieth, 344) of this tribute aside, I have to wonder what it means to ”celebrate” a photograph that documents human suffering by turning that photograph into an opportunity to market high-end stationery supplies. And I wonder what Dorothea Lange would make of it.

See also Montblanc’s Gandhi pen.

Related reading
All Blackwing posts (Pinboard)

[I follow The Chicago Manual of Style in italicizing the title of the photograph.]

“One of the last joys in life”

From Mascots (dir. Christopher Guest, 2016). Greg Gammons Jr. (Fred Willard) is watching a pencil-and-sharpener mascot performance:

“That’s one of the last joys in life, sharpening a pencil. It’s hard to do that wrong.”

Mascots is streaming at Netflix. Not the best Guest, but still a pleasure, with all the usual suspects and a special Guest appearance.

Related reading
All OCA pencil posts (Pinboard)