the unpredictable, perplexing and endlessly fascinating beings around us (also: alien)


(eref: #8438)

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
― Thomas A. Edison
(also: Thomas Edison)

(n.) Catchphrase. Triplicate. Iconic.

ex. Julius Caesar's "i came, i saw, i conquered," or France's "liberty, equality, brotherhood"

Someone who dwells in conscious dreams (can be even when dreaming asleep).

the most pointless crime, because everybody knows mass cannot be truly destroyed (or created)

(n.) noodles prepared by italians, as opposed to noodles prepared by east asian people, which are referred to as "takeout"

It always seems impossible until it's done. Nelson Mandela
(also: Nelson Mandela)

singularity!

(n.) a somewhat roguish canine creature, not quite as rugged as a wolf, roughly analogous to wood-elves in the same manner domestic dogs are analogous to hobbits. usually red in color with splashes of white.

species of fox live on every continent except antarctica. the hunting of foxes in britain is an example of the kind of pointlessly cruel idiocy (see bloodsport) characteristic of the upper class.

To tipple, booze, swill, soak, guzzle, lush, bib or swig. In the individual, toping is regarded with disesteem, but toping nations are in the forefront of civilization and power. When pitted against the hard-drinking Christians the abstemious Mahometans go down like grass before the scythe. In India one hundred thousand beef-eating and brandy-and-soda-guzzling Britons hold in subjection two hundred and fifty million vegetarian abstainers of the same Aryan race. With what an easy grace the whisky-loving American pushed the temperate Spaniard out of his possessions! From the time when the Berserkers ravaged all the coasts of western Europe and lay drunk in every conquered port it has been the same way: everywhere the nations that drink too much are observed to fight rather well and not too righteously. Wherefore the estimable old ladies who abolished the canteen from the American army may justly boast of having materially augmented the nation's military power.

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

a country with a rich history, diverse culture, and complex social issues

(also: country)

a play that's supposed to be pretty good or something. sprung from the mind of william shakespeare.

it's the tale of a prince of denmark whose father dies mysteriously, and he comes to believe his uncle killed said father for the throne after he either a) receives a visit from said father's ghost or b) merely hallucinates seeing the ghost. the rest of the play consists of him trying to trip his uncle into admitting it while he makes lots of vagina jokes, and in the end everyone dies. also there are two clowns who keep showing up to caper around so that the main actors have a chance to change costumes.

at least, i think that's the gist of it. it's kinda hard to make sense of all this iambic pentameter.

aeschylus (525-465 BC) was a playwright of ancient athens, perhaps best known for his oresteia trilogy ('agamemnon,' 'the libation bearers,' and 'the eumenides'), which is about a family caught in a bloody and endless cycle of revenge, as well as 'seven against thebes,' which is about some motherlover who tries to enjoy retirement but is repeatedly interrupted by his awful sons.

aeschylus was also an initiate into the cult of the eleusinian mysteries, joining cults being all the rage at that time.

aeschylus reportedly died when a hawk tried to smash a turtle open on the playwright's bald head, which the hawk had mistaken for a rock. this bizarre vagary of fate reminds us that one man's tragedy is always another man's comedy.

not exhibiting the cheating, hypercompetitiveness, or general lack of integrity expected of athletes

Specifically, a cave-dweller of the paleolithic period, after the Tree and before the Flat. A famous community of troglodytes dwelt with David in the Cave of Adullam. The colony consisted of "every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented" — in brief, all the Socialists of Judah.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) a razor-sharp grin attached to a large fish, with a dorsal fin to give fair warning

a crueler, land-based form of the animal prefers to swindle rather than outright eat its prey

n. A person more learned in the languages of others than wise in his own.

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) a madonna who is depicted with dark skin. found from Italy to France, to Spain, to Philippines, to South America. a patron saint of outsiders, often.
"Research into the Black Madonna phenomenon is limited due to a wide consensus among scholars that the dark-skinned aspect was unintentional." something in art, something on the outskirts of mainstream religion, found across *many* instances -- unintentional? the silliest thing I've read in some time now! it may be metaphorical & symbolic, or it may be literal, or (most definitely) it may vary across the cities and centuries, but it sure is intentional. and that outskirts/ outsider thing -- yea, you bet it is addressing an otherwise-unfulfilled need of the community.

Guadalupe, Spain (crying olive oil):

Poland:

Prague:


https://www.matthewfox.org/blog/the-return-of-the-black-madonna-a-sign-of-our-times-or-how-the-black-madonna-is-shaking-us-up-for-the-twenty-first-century
https://podcastaddict.com/episode/123051483
https://www.missmelindasmetaphysicalservices.com/blog/cult-black-madonna-our-lady-guadalupe
http://libgen.rs/search.php?req=black+madonna&lg_topic=libgen&open=0&view=simple&res=25&phrase=1&column=def
https://www.goodreads.com/search?page=1&q=black+madonna&qid=WPqLt3m3OA&tab=books

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/793242.Longing_for_Darkness
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1197067.The_Black_Madonna_In_Latin_America_And_Europe
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28648036-faces-of-the-black-madonna

a smol creature dedicated to destroying ur belongings with its epic cuteness and sharp beak

A depressed person typically between the ages of 17 and 18.
Commonly found crying into a empty cup noodles and wondering where they went wrong in life