Friday, December 25, 2020

An observer observed observing

Général de Froberville, the Marquis de Bréauté, Charles Swann, and an observer:

Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way, trans. Lydia Davis (New York: Viking, 2002).

Each man in this scene wears a monocle. Individual monocles, as seen from Swann’s perspective, are the subject of extensive description before and after this sentence.

Related reading
All OCA Proust posts (Pinboard)

Christmas 1920

[“Tree for Horses in Boston: They Nibble Apples and Sugar From Branches in Post Office Square.” The New York Times, December 25, 1920.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it.

[Post Office Square: at the intersection of Milk, Congress, Pearl, and Water Streets.]

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Cover for the turn of the year

[Harry Bliss, “In with the New.” The New Yorker, December 28, 2020. Click for a larger view.]

Some background on the cover here.

[There’s still plenty of time for him to burn things. But today it’s time for golf.]

Alvin will return

Gunther at Lexikaliker shares the good news that Alvin & Co. will return. A welcome development for all fans of “supplies.”

Mystery actor

[Click for a larger view.]

Do you recognize her? Leave your answer in a comment. I’ll drop a hint if necessary.

*

Here’s a hint: There’s a farm in her future.

*

Another hint: Also space travel.

*

Oh well. The answer is now in the comments.

More mystery actors (Collect them all!)
? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ?

[Garner’s Modern English Usage notes that “support for actress seems to be eroding.” I use actor.]

“Pestilential and longed-for”

Two staircases. Odette will travel one, to her old dressmaker’s apartment. Swann now travels the other, in the home of the Marquise de Saint-Euverte.

Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way, trans. Lydia Davis (New York: Viking, 2002).

Related reading
All OCA Proust posts (Pinboard)

[Anfractuosity : “a winding channel or course especially : an intricate path or process (as of the mind).”]

Dokchok

[All foods are vignettes. Click for a larger vignette.]

We ordered takeout yesterday, the last takeout of the year before our favorite restaurant (Thai) closes for a short vacation. And we received a special treat: dokchok, or dokjok, a traditional Thai dessert. It’s delicious — a thin, crispy treat. Here’s an explanation of how it’s made. Thank you, Mao, Aoy, and Pean.

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

“You can take me home”

Swann sometimes finds himself at a party that Odette too is attending.

Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way, trans. Lydia Davis (New York: Viking, 2002).

I like the way this difficult sentence comes to such a breezy end, with words of some consequence “tossed at” someone who’s about to leave.

Related reading
All OCA Proust posts (Pinboard)

[Bal des Incohérents: "The Incoherents were artists who mocked the official salons and organized highly successful exhibitions of their own starting in 1882. They celebrated the opening day with a costume ball.“ (Translator’s note.) They might be described as proto-Dadaists.]

An unexpected question

I’m zooming through the frozen foods aisle when I hear a voice behind me:

“Are you [unintelligible]?”

Was he talking to me? I turned around to look. He pulled down his mask to speak. Jeez. I wanted to move on, and away.

“Uh, no,” I said, and turned back around.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm,” he said.

“Oh, I know,” I said, still moving forward. “I just wasn’t sure that you were talking to me.”

It wasn’t until I was in the next aisle that I realized what he had asked: “Are you from England?” He must have noticed my beret. I can’t think of another explanation.

[Okay, granted, it was a Kangol Anglobasque beret. But it looks like a beret, nothing Anglo- about it. But as a reader points out in the comments, there is something Anglo about a beret. But I still feel okay about having felt baffled.]

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

For D.W. Read fans only

At 4:30 p.m.: Arthur.

At 5:00 p.m: DW News.

[In truth, DW is the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. D.W. Read is Arthur’s sister.]