Monday, April 23

words

mareld: (Swedish) sea-fire, also known in English as 'seasparkle": the phenomenon of bioluminescence, where high concentrations of plankton (Noctiluca scintillans) containing an enzyme called luciferase give off light when disturbed.

Robin Robertson, The Wrecking Light

words

strake
n. - Each of the several continuous lines of planking or plates, of uniform breadth, in the side of a vessel, extending from stem to stern. Hence, the breadth of a plank used as a unit of vertical measurement in a ship's side.--A strip, narrow tract (of land or water).--A ray, beam of light.--A swath (of mown grass); a wisp (of straw).
n. - A shallow pit for the purpose of washing ore.
v. - To extend, stretch.
v. - To sound (a particular call) on the horn.
v. - To rub lightly, esp. with an unguent or the like; to smear, grease. Also with over.
v. - To draw (something) along a surface. 
v. - To become streaky.

tawse
n. - A whip for driving a spinning top; esp. one made of a thong.--spec. An instrument of family or school discipline, used in Scottish and many English schools, consisting of a leathern strap or thong, divided at the end into narrow strips.

lucken
ppl. - Closed, locked, shut up, close-joined; said e.g. of the hand or fist (lit. and fig.); also spec. of web-feet.

spoor
n. - The trace, track, or trail of a person or animal, esp. of wild animals pursued as game.--The track of a vehicle.

dunt
n. - A firm but dull-sounding blow or stroke. A wound produced by such a blow.--A beat or palpitation of the heart.
adj. - Stupid, dizzy, or giddy, from an affection of the brain: said especially of sheep or calves.
v. - Of the heart: To beat violently.
v. - To drive stupid, to deafen or stun with noise.

imbricate
n./adj. - Covered with or composed of scales or scalelike parts overlapping like roof-tiles; e.g. said of the scaly covering of reptiles and fishes, of leaf-buds.

slub
n. - Thick sludgy mud; mire, ooze.
n. - A lump on a thread.--A yarn containing thickened parts, or slubs, at intervals; a fabric woven from such a yarn. Also attrib., having an irregular effect given by a warp of uneven thickness.
v. To draw out and twist (wool, cotton, etc.) after carding, so as to prepare it for spinning.

Thursday, April 19

words

albumen
n. - The white of an egg.--The substance which exists nearly pure in the white of an egg, and forms a constituent of animal solids and fluids, and of the tuberous or fleshy roots, and seeds of plants.--The substance interposed between the skin and embryo of many seeds, of which it usually constitutes the eatable part. It varies greatly in consistency and amount, and is sometimes entirely wanting.--Designating a photographic paper or plate coated with albumen; also denoting a process using such a paper or plate.

glair
n. - The white of an egg.--Any similar viscid or slimy substance. 

haar
n. - A wet mist or fog; esp. applied on the east coast of England and Scotland, from Lincolnshire northwards, to a cold sea-fog. 

styptic
adj. - Having the power of contracting organic tissue; having an austere or acid taste; harsh or raw to the palate; having a binding effect on the stomach or bowels.

Thursday, April 12

fishermen at sea



Jean Gaumy, Magnum Photos

Monday, April 9

words

piacular
a. - making expiation or atonement.

Saturday, April 7

home movies


"Once Around"

Wednesday, April 4

words

crowberry
n. - The fruit of a small evergreen heath-like shrub (Empetrum nigrum), found on heaths in northern Europe and America; the berry is black and of insipid taste.

fuliginous
adj. - Pertaining to, consisting of, containing, or resembling soot; sooty.

caliginous
adj. - Misty, dim, murky; obscure, dark.

atrament
n. - Blacking, ink; any similar black substance, as the ‘ink’ of the cuttle-fish.

piceous
adj. - Of, pertaining to, or resembling pitch: a. Inflammable, combustible; b. Pitch-black; brownish or reddish black.

à la "Bad Sheep" by Hailey Leithauser

Tuesday, April 3

"You are always there"

"to observe my inadequacies and misdemeanors."

Geoffrey Hill

Monday, April 2

desire

32

I need, my sweet girl Ipsithilla,
your pleasures passing through my hands,
like honey dripping from the sun,
so call me to you for the long afternoon.
And if you do, you’ve got to help me out,
check that no one bolts the door and also
watch yourself, don’t leave the house,
I need you at home, ready for me,
ready for us to fuck, to fuck each other
inside and out nine times straight.
Then call me now if you’re ready,
I’m drowsy after lunch, stuffed, lying
on the couch, daydreaming, my cock
hunting for you out through my tunic.

Catullus, trans. Keith Newton

Sunday, April 1

coyote and a girl


Joseph Beuys


Arnold Genthe, "Portrait of Lee Miller"