Parisian hand-bills

Vladimir Nabokov, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. 1941. (New York: New Directions, 2008).

Strange to move from one novel to another and find a similar moment, also on a Paris street.

Emmanuel Bove. My Friends. 1924. Trans. from the French by Janet Louth. (New York: New York Review Books, 2019).

Griffy and Zippy and Hi and Lois

[“A Dirty Job.” Zippy, July 27, 2021. Click for a larger view.]

Today’s Zippy, first panel. Look closely.

Venn reading
All OCA Hi and Lois posts : Hi and Lois and Zippy posts : Zippy posts (Pinboard)

A leaking pen

[Nancy, November 15, 1955.]

“I’m ready for Irma’s party,” said Nancy. “Now don’t soil your nice white dress,” Aunt Fritzi warned. But things happen.

Yesterday’s Nancy is today’s Nancy.

Related reading
All OCA Nancy posts (Pinboard)

[Decent fountain pens don’t leak.]

Walking with Pete

I was walking with Pete Seeger back from a protest. Pete was wearing his usual 1960s–70s uniform: jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with a dense floral design. He heard someone calling his name from a window. It was a third-story window in a three-story apartment building.

Pete stepped away and climbed up the side of the building. There appeared to be handholds and toeholds to make that possible. He made it to the third story and had a conversation with the person at the window, all the while hanging on to the gutter with one hand. It looked effortless. And then he climbed down.

Related reading
All OCA dream posts (Pinboard)

[I know: what?!]

Call “Dr. Fauci” by his full name

A note to the news, not that the news is listening:

When introducing or making a first reference to Dr. Anthony Fauci, please refer to him by his full name and position. He is not a cartoon or character, à la Drs. Evil, No, Oz, and Phil. So “Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,” please.

Peanuts selfhood

I followed as best I could the guidance in “How to draw yourself as a Peanuts character” (kottke.org).

Alas, the Peanuts childhood paunch is too much like adult reality.

Related reading
All OCA Peanuts posts (Pinboard)

[It seems to me that if you’re going to post about this video, you should be willing to share a drawing.]

Today’s Newsday Saturday

Today’s Newsday  Saturday crossword, by Matthew Sewell, is a satisfying puzzle. Nothing like last week’s Saturday (which was a Stumper in everything but name), and too many three-letter answers (seventeen of seventy-two), but still a good puzzle, with tough spots here and there and two triple-stacks of ten-letter answers.

Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:

1-A, ten letters, “Hard to read at the table.” Just because I saw it right away.

22-D, five letters, “Taco truck descriptor.” A tad misdirective.

34-D, nine letters, “Action or war.” Unexpected.

35-D, nine letters, “It’s carried out.” Regularly.

64-A, four letters, “Smartphone add-on.” Not that obvious at first.

One clue I take exception to: 40-A, five letters, “Word from the Greek for ‘skill-less person.’” The phrasing here is tricky: Is it a word for ‘skill-less person’ that comes from the Greek? Or is it a word that comes from the Greek word for ‘skill-less person’? It’s meant to be the latter, but it’s a bit of a reach to tie the Greek word to this meaning. I’ve written more about the Greek word in the comments.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

No no. 2s?

A CNN teaser for a story about shortages affecting back-to-school shopping just made reference to children “stuck with the dreaded no. 1 pencil.” In other words, there’s a shortage of no. 2s — at least supposedly.

Dreaded? I say no. Soft and dark, a no. 1 pencil makes for pleasant writing. And if you’re a kid in school, a no. 1 gives you additional opportunities to get up from your desk and sharpen. All good.

But what multinational retailer sells no. 1 pencils?

Related reading
All OCA pencil posts (Pinboard)

A Lifehacker headline

A clickbait headline from Lifehacker this morning: “How to Start Dating Again If You’re Unvaccinated.” (I won’t link.)

I think the last time I looked at Lifehacker they were pushing a mini-tool for cleaning semi-automatic weapons as a perfect everyday carry.

Stay classy, Lifehacker.

“Got that? Sardines.”

Jeanne (Isabelle Huppert), the village postmistress, calls in an grocery order for her friend Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire), a maid in service at a country estate. That’s Sophie standing off to the side. From La Cérémonie (dir. Claude Chabrol, 1995). Click any image for a larger view.


I find the dialogue a little puzzling. The family makes their own sardines, but those from the grocer are better? No matter: there are more important things in this movie to think about.

Related reading
All OCA sardine posts (Pinboard)