Naming of parts

From The New York Times: “Taking the ‘Shame Part’ Out of Female Anatomy.” The word in question: pudendum. I knew about hysteria, but not pudendum. It’s patriarchy, inscribed in the language of anatomy.

Dip Night

In honor of Only Murders in the Building, tonight is Dip Night: baba ghanoush, hummus, carrot and celery sticks, orange and yellow pepper slices, Kalamata olives, and pita. Viewers of the show will understand. Dip Night is Elaine’s idea, prompted by an abudance of eggplant from a friend’s garden.

Are we alone in this kind of TV-centric whimsy?

A newly identified Van Gogh

Smithsonian magazine reports on a newly identified Vincent van Gogh drawing, made with the simplest materials:

Van Gogh used a carpenter’s pencil to draw the scene on a 19- by 12-inch sheaf of watercolor paper. He finished off lighter parts of the composition by rubbing pellets of bread on the coarse surface, then applied a fixative made from milk and water to better emphasize the dark pencil strokes.

Related reading
All OCA Van Gogh posts (Pinboard)
When to capitalize Van Gogh

One letter, two pages, six points

Today’s installment of Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American should make any right-thinking person’s head spin. It begins with a two-page, six-point memo for stealing a presidential election.

Just One Thing, a podcast

A worthwhile podcast from the BBC: Just One Thing, with Michael Mosley. Each short episode is devoted to one suggestion for better health. Much of the evidence is anecdotal (“I’m sleeping better”), and at least one suggestion (about the superior benefits of short bursts of exercise) has been challenged by more recent research. But any podcast that recommends morning walks, time spent in nature, and the consumption of dark chocolate is all right by me.

Index, A review of

“Like writing and the printed book, indexes created excitement as well as anxiety, just as digital aids do now”: from Anthony Grafton’s review of Dennis Duncan’s Index, A History of the.

More about Index, A History of the on the publisher’s page. The book arrives in the States next February.

Thanks to Gunther at Lexikaliker for letting me know about this book.

[My favorite index: that of Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire. Gunther tells me it’s mentioned in Duncan's book.]

Recently updated

Pinboard tags They appear to be working again.

Idol worship

[Zippy, September 19, 2021. Click for a larger view.]

In today’s Zippy, Little Zippy has spotted a statue on the sidewalk. He brings it home in a red wagon. Purpose: “I’m going to idolize you!”

Venn reading
All OCA Nancy posts : Nancy and Zippy posts : Zippy posts

[And for anyone who needs to know: Bill Griffith has a biography of Ernie Bushmiller in the works.]

Turtles

[Photograph by me. Click for larger turtles.]

The nearest faraway place for our household right now is a trail around a lake.

See also this heron and Little Baby Turtle Who Would Not Brush His Teeth.

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Greg Johnson, is a fun, fast puzzle. 1-A, ten letters, “Slowdown en route”: that looks like a giveaway. 1-D, five letters, “Convention of dramatists”: can the answer be that obvious? 2-D, five letters, “Come loose”: this one too? 4-D, five letters, “UK’s best-selling female album artist of the century”: uh, yes, pretty obvious. Anyone who fears the Stumper should try today’s puzzle as an opportunity to build up the chops. Contra 63-A, it is.

Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:

4-D, nine letters, “Boss doing training and fighting.” 33-A had me thinking in the wrong direction.

12-D, nine letters, “Many Greek-made planters.” Ah, so that’s what they are.

15-A, ten letters, “Prime-time fare of old.” How old?

16-A, four letters, “‘Rudolph . . .’ rhyme for ‘history.’” Why was it so hard for me to reverse-engineer the lyrics?

39-A, four letters, “It’s a swell thing.” That’s a swell clue.

51-D, five letters, “They’re often seen on greens.” BACONBITS won’t fit.

58-A, three letters, “It’s seen at the end of A Beautiful Mind.” Good ’n’ weird. I was thinking a Greek letter?

62-A, four letters, “Contraction lacking three letters.” WOULDNTVE wouldn’t’ve fit.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.