Dialogue and the comma

At CMOS Shop Talk, Carol Sallers asked, “Is a Comma Needed to Introduce Dialogue?” And she answered, “Yes, at least sometimes.”

I will happily admit that this question of punctuation has always baffled me, and I’ve done my best — and will continue to do my best — to avoid having to face it. But I’m saving the link for future reference.

Two sentences Sallers wonders about:

Kat set the painting on the windowsill, muttering “One more to go.”

Kat set the painting on the windowsill, muttering, “One more to go.”

And she concludes — rightly, I’d say — that either way is fine.

When I taught writing, I would have called the second comma in that sentence a comma of seasoning. Put it in? Fine. Leave it out? Fine. Your call. Just be sure not to skimp on the garlic.

Related reading
All OCA punctuation posts (Pinboard)

A new Swann in Love

From Pushkin Press, Swann in Love, translated by Lucy Raitz and billed by the publisher as “the perfect introduction to one of the world’s great novelists.” The Washington Post has a review (caution: it’s all spoilers).

I dunno: I’d think of “Combray,” the first section of Swann’s Way, as the perfect introduction to Proust. After all, it’s the beginning to the novel, and it gives the reader the madeleine, which to my mind is all one needs to want to keep going.

Here is the first paragraph of “Un amour de Swann,” as translated by Raitz and by Lydia Davis:

[Lucy Raitz, 2022.]

[Lydia Davis, 2004.]

And the original:

[Marcel Proust, 1913.]

What do you notice?

Related reading
All OCA Proust posts (Pinboard)

[I’ve omitted note numbers for Planté, Rubinstein, and Potain from both translations.]

No FOXES

The New York Times now as a Wordle editor, Tracy Bennett. And the game will have a Times-made word list and a new rule: no -es or -s plural forms of three- or four-letter words. Thus no FOXES, only CACTI, GEESE, &c.

QAnon conjecture

Elaine noted that we don’t see as many tabloid psychics as we once did. Where have all the psychics gone?

It occurred to me that they’ve been replaced by QAnon, which allows everyone to tell the future. And the bizarre celebrity content that’s become part of QAnon fabulism — JFK Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Michael Jackson, Robin Williams, all spotted or expected in Dealey Plaza last November — adds a strong tabloid flavor to the political lunacy. Remember Elvis sightings?

I have neither the time nor the interest to pursue this conjecture. But I think it’s plausible.

California fail

As the Mike Love–John McLaughlin–Charles Lloyd version ran through my head yesterday, I realized that I’ve always misunderstood “California Girls.”

I’ve always thought that the singer dreams the impossible dream that girls from all regions, in all their variety, could somehow be found in California — east coast girls, southern girls, midwest farmers’ daughters, northern girls. But no: what the singer really wants is for girls everywhere to look and be like the girls of California. He’s been all over the world and “seen all kinda girls,” but he couldn’t wait to get back to “the cutest girls in the world” — those of his home state.

And that is so dumb. And I am so dumb.

Related reading
All OCA Beach Boys posts (Pinboard)

[On the original recording Mike Love does indeed sing “I seen all kinda girls.”]

Got twine?

[4701 New Utrecht Avenue, Boro Park, Brooklyn, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click either image for a much larger view.]

I continue to wander the streets of a lost city. Just call me the Ghost of Brooklyn Past.

Here, under the El tracks, is the Culver Paper Co., named perhaps after the Culver Line? I was drawn to this storefront by the attention its signage gives to the most humble goods. To the left: PAPER TWINE. To the right: PAPER BAGS TWINE SUNDRIES. TOYS and HOUSE FURNISHING (also to the right) take us into pricier territory. I would guess that PARTY GOODS (above the door) would cost somewhere between bags and furnishing.

Back in a certain day, twine was everywhere, securing packages and furnishing little loops by which to hang up, say, a dustpan or flyswatter on a kitchen door. But when did you last see a store announce itself as a purveryor of twine? Or, for that matter, of sundries? O dowdy world, that had such storefronts in’t.

Today 4701 houses a silver repair service. I doubt that anyone would leave a carriage outside while dropping off the silver, though the carriage in the photograph looks as if it might be holding merchandise, not a waiting baby.

The long-gone candy store in the second photograph is a bonus. We can head there now for imaginary ice cream.

Related reading
More OCA posts with photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Holy moly. Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, is by “Anna Stiga,” Stan Again, Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor, appearing under the pseudonym that signals an easier Stumper. But I found today’s puzzle a real challenge, half an hour’s worth of challenge. I repeat: holy moly.

I shopped around in search of a toehold (yes, that’s a deliberate mixed metaphor) and started with 52-A, five letters, “Capital city closest to the equator” and 53-D, four letters, “Swimmer in every ocean.” And from there, my solving was hit or miss, words here and there. I was feeling truly 1-A, six letters, “Not very quick.”

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

2-D, nine letters, “They're fit for kings and queens.” Clever.

7-A, eight letters, “Be persnickety.” See 7-D.

7-D, five letters, “Potable associate of Rice-A-Roni.” When I saw the first letter, I knew what it had to be. The answer feels like a stretch to me, but I do acknowledge that “associate” is the right word. We’re not speaking of a beverage that pairs well with the San Francisco treat.

17-A, six letters, “Was in circulation.” Now there’s a Stumper-y answer.

20-A, five letters, “Target area.” Nice.

27-D, seven letters, “Red White & Blueberry limited edition (summer 2022).” Something to do with Oreos, right? THEOREO? No. And 25-D, seven letters, “Partner for a 27 Down” has nothing to do with milk.

29-D, five letters, “Fall over in elation.” I laughed.

34-D, nine letters, “Monitor monitors.” They seem to get well-deserved respect in the Newsday puzzle.

39-D, eight letters, “Refuses to even think about.” I had the first letter wrong for some time. Is it supposed to mislead?

40-A, fourteen letters, “Handler of fried eggs.” My first thought of course was SHORTORDERCOOK.

47-D, five letters, “What program notes provide.” Uh, the names of the members of the orchestra?

61-A, six letters, “Early entrant into the game console business.” A name I haven’t thought of in decades.

My favorite clue in this puzzle: 31-A, fourteen letters, “Mystic contemplation of one’s navel.” Why? Because I knew the answer right off. But I didn’t take time to read the clues for the two fourteen-letter answers as I worked my way down to 52-A and 53-D.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

A 2023 calendar

[Click for a larger month.]

Free: a 2023 calendar, in large legible Gill Sans, three months per page. The calendar includes all the days, weeks, and months of the year, with days painstakingly distributed across weeks and weeks painstakingly distributed across months. Minimal holiday markings: MLK Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.

You can download the PDF from this Dropbox link.

[I’ve been making calendars in the Mac app Pages since late 2009, when the cost of outfitting my house with Field Notes calendars began to feel unjustifiable.]

Elizabeth Cotten in the news

She’s being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence.

Recently updated

New directions in chicken soup I can now say that I agree with Joe.