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June 14, 2025
Note 0
A General Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 2 by John Pinkerton (1808)
wild-fowl, saffron, rich pastures, corn, clay and loam soils, pasturage, dairies of cows, waggons containing eighty or ninety hundred weight each, drawn with six horses only, throughfare, market-towns, wheat, barley, malt, and all sorts of grain, many hundred quarters, bone-lace, straw-hats, plucked up, when balled, it is laid upon hurdles to dry; and then ground into powder, spread on a floor, and watered, which is called couching, and then it is turned every day till it is perfectly dry and moudly, which is called silvering. After silvering, it is weighed, and put into a bag containing two hundred weight, and then sent to the dyer to try it, who sets a price on it according to its goodness. The best is commonly valued at 181 a ton. 
pleasant wood and fine streams, graziers, the shavings and cuttings of paper, corn-fields and meadows, sweet healthful air, 
Alaska by James A. Michener (1988)
flecks of rock, resounding cracks, sunlight glistening on its towering spires, with waves playing about its feet, clouds passing overhead, 
Archipelago, Volumes 2-12 (1974)
corkscrew road, Luzon sweeping out as far as its western boundary in the mountains of Zambales, high earthfill dam, the resettlement of people, ancient townsite, town nestled among rivers and hills, deer, boar, and hunting game abounding in the forests all around the town attracted Quezon, then serving in the Senate, Nueve Ecija game, huntsman, few left precipitously, cargo-packed jeepney, 
page 18
Note 1
The trees standing next to the poles, a parked bicycle, a green cart with three kinds of peanuts in a glass display, plastic-wrapped pink Hello Kitty phone cases hanging on a gridwall stall, a wandering light-yellow stray dog, various passersby wearing shirts, shorts, and blue pants, motorcycles, buses, white taxi cars, and a parked Mitsubishi Fuso Canter truck, a 7-Eleven, an Andok’s, a banner that read “Malunggay Bakery”, political posters, the thickly entangled electricity lines, a Petron, an orthodental clinic, black corrugated construction panels, red fence gates, A Domino’s Pizza tarpaulin banner, a 24-hour junkshop, security banks, LBC, an Muillier sign, a Chooks to Go, a giant blue fence gate, and plenty more.
Note 2
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)
Low-slung canvas chair, swivel chair, chintz-covered chair, shabby over-stuffed chair, split-bottom chair, red plush seat of a stiff, carved, walnut chair, sort of hitched my chair back from the table, great soft leather chair, leather chair, So I sat down and hitched my chair up closer and lighted a cigarette, rocking chair, scooted his manacled hands beneath him to the back of his knees, 
Note 3
The 900 Days: Siege of Leningrad by Harrison E. Salisbury (1969)
sparkling blue, fox-trotted, gateway, painters’ crew, Saturday’s Leningradskaya Pravda, the item he had encircled was headlined: “Tamerlane and the Timurids at the Hermitage”, embankment, flamboyant comparatives, sweated slum, ripe for agitation, intrigue, revolution, adjoining rooms, 
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (1929)
book-satchel swinging and jouncing toward her, stooped down, took my overshoes off and unbuttoned my coat, buttoned my coat and we went toward the door, 
Note 4
The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton (1975)
spring forward, hulking, tattered, blue-uniformed, burly, fast-receding figure, Soon it was gone round a gentle curve.
lingering drifting smoke tat slowly settled over the tracks and the body of the motionless youth
instantly collapsed back to the ground, gave a final convulsive shoulder and lay wholly still
smallish fleet of cabs, croquet equipment, croquet-pronounced “croaky”, publican houses, a white scar across his forehead, screevers, plainclothes constable, silver-headed cane, twinged, smoky, consignment, 
seated opposite him, puffing his cigar, waistcoat, gold bullion shipment, wholly impregnable, bullion, ironbound strongboxes, sip his brandy,
The sealed strongboxes are taken by armed guard to the railway station. 
At the station, the strongboxes are loaded into the luggage van of the Folkestone Railway where we place them into two of the latest Chubb safes.
they were on all sides constructed of one-quarter-inch tempered steel. interior hinges.
And he patted his starched shirt front with a flat hand. erected a terminus.
drew plans, moratorium, fury of public debate, 
This was done on a leasing arrangement. South Eastern leased tracks, platforms, and office space from the London & Greenwich line, whose owners were not disposed to give South Eastern any better facilities than necessary.
He added to the box as contains in volume.
page 21
Note 5
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (1929)
Caddy knelt and put her arms around me and her cold bright face against mine.
Mother came out, pulling her vein down. She had some flowers. The carriage jolted and crunched on the drive.
said, clutching me, the bright shapes went smooth and steady on both sides, the shadows of them flowing across Queenie’s back. They went on like the bright tops of wheels.
She climbed the fence with the letter in her hand and went through the brown, rattling flowers.
smell the clothes flapping, smoke blowing against the branch. 
He hunted in the water, along the bank. They hunted in the branch. Then they all stood up quick and stopped, then they splashed and fought in the branch. Luster got it and they squatted in the water, looking up the hill through the bushes.
page 24
Note 6
Archipelago, Volumes 2-12 (1974)
1973 rice shortage
Above all, a commanding view of the valley and the reservoir when it fills up, and an end to isolation from the rest of Nueva Ecija during the Pampanga River’s seasonal floods during the monsoons. 
faces were pressed up against the screen.
antique shops’ shelves of santos, or religious images
June 17, 2025
Note 1
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (1961)
sweat-dribbled face, dribbled into the church, encampment, beveled building stones, Now when it rained he scooped up his velvet covering from the folding table, grabbed his bag of coins from between his feet and ran through the wet streets to his friend, Amatore the cloth cutter, who allowed him to set up his table under cover,
He started raining blows on the bow, his right elbow crooked stiffly so that he could use his arm as a club. Francesco also began hitting the boy, boxing his ear with the heel of his palm.
He lowered his head as dumb beasts do in the storm. 
From the corner of his eye, he saw his aunt Casandra bulking in the doorway.
altarpiece
page 22
Note 2
Alaska by James A. Michener (1988)
faltered, whipping wind, edging her family toward the alder thickets, muddy crevice, water birds that prowled the shore, monsters poured from the immense nest, mud hut that faced the sunrise, in one big room excavated a few feet below the level of the surrounding earth, howling winds, loosely woven branches plastered with mud, cave-hut, half-wet logs, smoke which lent flavor to what they ate and endless irritation to their eyes, indissoluble, fastened his attention upon a young woman of rare attractiveness, gathering moss and searching for antlers to pulverize, searched the land for the merest scrap for their two sons, eleven seasons old, agencies of control, superior forms of civilization, people along the edges being forced to live on cold and arid lands which could barely support them, sun-darkening hordes, hardier breed, took from the sealskin tunic she wore in winter a piece of dried seal blubber and apportioned it among the children, retaining none for herself, eyes aglimmer, harsh winds, low shrubs, sparse grasses and mosses, predacious, wore such massive pieces of fur clothing that they looked like hulking animals, rumpled black hair drooped low above their eyes,
The five women had different styles of dress, featuring decorating skins with seashells along the hems, but their faces were surprisingly alike. Each was heavily tatooed with vertical blue stripes, some covering their chin, others running the length of the face beside the ears, which were pierced with rings carved from white ivory. When they moved, even the old woman, they did so with determined steps, and as four sleds on which each family’s goods would be carried were brought into position, it was these women who grasped the reins and prepared to do the hauling.
The ten children were like a collection of colorful flowers for the clothes they wore were varied in design and color. Some wore short tunics with stripes of white and blue, others long robes and heavy boots, but all wore in their hair some ornament, some flashing bit of shell or ivory.
sinews, long-handled cooking spoons of ivory, shrubs along its banks,
page 48
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)
a patch of grass roots, grind and whir of the springs and cogs, dusky-dark hallway, red, slick-skinned long faces, or the brown, crinkled faces, marble-topped tables with wirework legs, rub knees under the table and the wirework would always get in the way, 
you knew he was a city-hall slob long before you could see the whites of his eyes. He had the belly and he sweated through his shirt just above the belt buckle, and he had the face, which was creamed and curded like a crow patty in a spring pasture, only it was the color of biscuit dough, and in the middle was his grin with the gold teeth. He was Tax Assessor, and he wore a flat hard straw hat on the back of his head. There was a striped band on the hat.
haw-haw of camaraderie, trails of damp sawdust the old broom, 
So I sat there in the silence (Duffy was never talkative in the morning before he had worried down two or three drinks), and listened to my tissues break down and the beads of perspiration explode delicately out of the ducts embedded in the ample flesh of my companion.
Fate comes walking through the door, and it is five feet eleven inches tall and heavyish in the chest and shortish in the leg and is wearing a seven-fifty seersucker suit which is too long in the pants so the cuffs crumple down over the high black shoes, which could do with a polishing, and a stiff high collar like a Sunday-school superintended and a blue-stripped tie which you know his wife gave him last Christmas and which he had kept in tissue paper with the holly card (“Merry Xmas to my Darling Willie from your Loving Wife”) until he got ready to go up to the city, and a gray felt hat with the sweat stains showing through the band. It comes in just like that, and how are you to know? It comes in, trailing behind Alex Michel, who is, or was before the piano player got him, six-feet-two of beautifully articulated bone and gristle with a hard, bony, baked-looking face and two little quick brown eyes which don’t belong above that classic torso and in that face and which keep fidgeting around like a brace of Mexican jumping beans. So Fate trails modestly along behind Alex Michel, who apporaches the table with an air of command which would deceive no one.
slapped me on the shoulder with a palm that was tough enough to crack a black walnut. who extended a hand without rising.
Alex jerked a thumb toward his trailing companion. Alex whickered like a stallion and nudged the teacher’s pet in the ribs.
bowed to the blast and stood there with the old gray felt hat in his hand, with the sweat showing around the band outside where it had soaked through. Willie’s large face, above the stiff country collar, didn’t show a thing.
I contributed only a grin which felt sickly on my face, and Willie was a blank.
Note 3
The 900 Days: Siege of Leningrad by Harrison E. Salisbury (1969)
rambling wooden porch, soft air and pale light attracted scores of young couples to the linden alleys and stately parks surrounding Rastrelli’s exquisite Catherine Palace.
squat buildings, open windows, haunting sounds of a Skryabin sonata, a nest of creative artists, sat down at his desk, correcting proofs of a long historical novel, 
old villa, now a writer’s rest home, dark, handsome, intense and as yet unmarried, finished his novel and sent it off to the publisher, old Mannerheim fortified line across Karllia whic had lain in Soviet hands since the winter war.
Special buses would leave promptly at 7:30 A.M., June 24.
Sayanov, a middle-aged poet with a round face and gold-rimmed spectacles, walked a bit with his friend before turning back to go to bed.
quiet but lighted by a refracted luminosity which flattened the colors, melted out the shadows and washed the great stone buildings with eggshell tints. From a distance came the sound of young voices. They were singing a popular Soviet song.
The chant rose clear and fresh, and down the street appeared a band of students, the girls’ dresses white against the darkness of the pavement, the boys in light shirts and navy-blue trouseres. Their arms were linked and they slowly walked, singing with a beauty that was rare and unearthly.
slim young boy, spray of jasmine from an overhanging limb. The boy and girl came up to the Kamenny Ostrov Bridge over the Malaya Neva River. The draw was raised and they waited at the embankment, the girl shivering in the coolness of the night. When the boy tried to put his arm around her, she pulled away willfully and said: “One thing I would never be so stupid as to do is to marry you!”
Finally, the drawbridge was let down. The boy and girl silently crossed over, the girl still holding the sprig of jasmine. They parted at the corner; then the girl called back: “Fedya!”
The young couple vanished. Now the avenue stretched empty and quiet. Leningrad was sleeping through teh night that was no night… the longest of the white nights.
Hours after hour he stood looking out the window of his polished-mahogany compartment with its heavy brass fittings, its Brussels carpet, its French plumbing.
searchlight of the Red Arrow’s locomotive cut through the dusk and, then, as the train hurtled down the straight course laid out by the engineers of Czar Nicholas I, the horizon slowly lightened.
June 18, 2025
Note 1
The Fist of God by Frederick Forsyth (1994)
hefted onto his shoulder, fumbling for his keys, trenchcoat, lavatorial, dark-jowled, self-locking plate glass swing closed behind him, jangling his keys, russet-brown carpet, key into the lock of his apartment door, lift-well which jutted into the dimly lit lobby.
He came quietly round the lift-shaft holding his silenced 7.65-mm Beretta automatic, which was wrapped in a plastic bag to prevent the ejected cartridged spilling all over the carpet.
Five shots, fired from less than a metre range, all into the back of the head and neck.
big, burly man slumped forward against his door and slithered to the carpet.
latterly armorer, wayward genius, swarthy East Mediterranean appearance
officers seized on the docks of Middlesbrough eight sections of huge steel pipes, beautifully forged and milled and able to be assembled by giant flanges at each end, drilled to take powerful nuts and bolts
tubes were not for a petrochemical plant as specified on the bills of lading and the export certificates but were parts of a great gun barrel designed by Gerry Bull and destined for Iraq. The farce of the Supergun was born.
double-dealing, stealthy paws of several Intelligence agencies, a mass of bureaucratic ineptitude and some political chicanery
grid-locked, to burrow a way out of Marion Penitentiary with a blunt teaspoon, 
cornucopia of inside information, katsa, 
the tiny nipple of the payload, 
system of springs and valves,
straddling the border of North Vermont and his native Canada
universal 155-mm howitzer field gun, field battle = long range is king, sit back and blow the enemy away while remaining inviolate, 
full-bore extended-range shell, 155-calibre field gun itself, rocket-assisted shells, 
GC-45 cannon, sold under world licence by Voest-Alpine, towed howitzer called the G-5 from his GC-45 and a self-propelled cannon, the G6. Both had a range with extended shells of forty kilometers.
battle of Fao, poison gas in the shells,
page 25
Note 2
Dirt Music by Tim Winton (2001)
traipsed, footsore, pokies, welter, snatched up the mug and recoiled as her lips met the cold sarcoma that had formed on the coffee’s surface. moony sea, eight-seater dining table, whole seaward wall, slugged the vodka down at a gulp. stewing seagrass, of brine and limey sand, of thawing bait and the savoury tang of saltbush. The outdoor furniture beaded with dew. scalloped hems of the Perrier brolly, bow rails, biminis, and windscreens. mooring buoys into fitful, flickering stars. sea was dark and blank, cold slate, childhood dose of codliver oil, sea air misted on her skin, chill burned her scalp, stockinged feet, sniff the Jeddah air, whiff of pure sea breeze, high perimeter wall, bog-standard homesickness, sniffing for was the highball mix you imbibed every night of your riverside Perth childhood, the strange briny effervescence of the sea tide stirring in the Swan River, into its coves, across the stuarine flats. Miasma of the corniche, the exhaust of Cadillacs and half a million aircon units blasting Freon at the Red Sea.
Note 3
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)
blackstrap molasses, corn blades, narrow-gauge tracks got covered with grass, kindling wood, broadcloth, gullies eat deeper into the red clay, eaves of the veranda, gangly craning look a kid’s head has, debouched, girl ladling up ice cream, garter belt, hips pumping hell-for-leather under the lettuce-green smock, plunging through the crowd from the back of the store. 
strong-set man, the pouches under the eyes and the jowls beginning to sag off, and the meaty lips, which didn’t sag but if you looked close were laid one on top of the other like a couple of bricks, and the tousle of hair hanging down on the not so very high squarish forehead.
a tall, gaunt-shanked, malarial, leather-faced side of jerked venison, wearing jean peants and a brace of mustaches hanging off the kind of face you see in photographs of General Forrest’s calvarymen. And the boss started toward him and put out his head. He shuffled one of his broken brogans on the tiles, and his Adam’s apple jerked once or twice, and the eyes were watchful out of that face which resembled the seat of an old saddle left out in the weather, but when the Boss got close, his hand came up from the elbow, as though it didn’t belong to Old Leather-Face but was operating on its own, and the Boss took it.
in the dazzle,
June 23, 2025
Note 1
Alaska by James A. Michener (1988)
small fish huddled along their banks, pitched their sleds against the wind that night, the runners worn from having no slow to glide upon, huddled in the bare lee of their sheds on the third night, food in our bellies, chewing until teeth met on only nothingness, thus savoring each morsel as it vanished down their throat, in midafternoon of the sixth day, a river appeared, with reassuring shrubs along its banks, low tent, in the growing darkness, 
he plunged into the river, swam across, and went well inland before heading east, 
swimming back across the river, he took his stance beside some trees, and now if the mammoths sought to flee eastward, they would have to run over him.
staggered about, 
Just as the sun appeared, the mammoths sighted them, and begun to move eastward, as Varnak had anticipated, but they did not get far, because when they approached him, he daringly ran at them, brandishing his club in one hand, his spear in the other, and this so confused the old monarch that she turned back, seeking to lead her troop westward, but now two other Chukchi men dashed at her, until, in despair, she headed due north, ignoring spears and clubs and taking her companions with her.
aspen tree, jabbed deep.
He jabbed his finger into the air.
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (1961)
incense-heavy, ogive arches, rustic brick, 
Tears burned, and then overflooded his eyes.
interlarded, florin, scudo, frescoed, heavy coat of intonaco, pounced, billowing gown, carrying matrons, elaborate, cross-beamed ceiling, richly carved wooden bedboards, elaborately robed with the richest of Florentine silks and jewels, high-backed bed, bed-bench, weaving his way through, mettalic luster, worshipping Florentines in their short velvet farsetti, doublets, voluminous cloaks of camlet trimmed in miniver, and high-crowned hats.
cool barble steps, everyday in Florence was a fair, 
The Florentine girls were blond, slender, they carried their heads high, wore colorful coverings on their hair and long-sleeved gowns, high-necked, with overlapping skirts pleated and full, their breasts outlined in filmier fabric and color. The older men were in somber cloaks, but the young men of the prominent families created the great splash between the Duomo steps and the Baptistery by waering their calzoni with each leg dyed differently and patterned according to the family blazon. Their suite of attendants followed in identital dress.
stood against the jagged tan brick face of the cathedral.
with the sinking sun setting the domes of the Baptisery and cathedral on fire.
spots of color on his usually pale cheeks,
cast a pall
a pall of 
a dark cloud or covering of smoke, dust, or similar matter:
“a pall of black smoke hung over the quarry”
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1867)
But before Pierre could decide what answer he would send, the countess herself in a white satin dressing gown embroidered with silver and with simply dressed hair (two immense plaits twice round her lovely head like a coronet) entered the room, calm and majestic, except that there was a wrathful wrinkle on her rather prominent marble brow. 
old prince, in a dressing gown and a white nightcap
purple velvet gown with a high collar
Hélène’s dazzling bare shoulders which emerged from a dark, gold-embroidered, gauze gown,
illuminated garden
But the Emperor and Balashëv passed out into the illuminated garden without noticing Arakchéev who, holding his sword and glancing wrathfully around, followed some twenty paces behind them.
Countess Potocka who, he thought, had gone out onto the veranda, and glided over the parquet to the door opening into the garden
They were moving toward the door. Borís, fluttering as if he had not had time to withdraw, respectfully pressed close to the doorpost with bowed head.
The sun was only just appearing from behind the clouds, the air was fresh and dewy. A herd of cattle was being driven along the road from the village, and over the fields the larks rose trilling, one after another, like bubbles rising in water.
handsome sleek gray horse, accompanied by two hussars
a black horse with trappings that glittered in the sun
a tall man with plumes in his hat and black hair curling down to his shoulders
He wore a red mantle, and stretched his long legs forward in French fashion. This man rode toward Balashëv at a gallop, his plumes flowing and his gems and gold lace glittering in the bright June sunshine.
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (1961)
cool marble steps, cobbled streets,
he sprang out of bed, slipped into his loincloth brache, short drawers, shirt and sandals, and left the house.
the streets freshly washed and the stoops scrubbed. open-sided gallery, his eyes sought the outline of the Nino Pisano sarcophagus, held up by its four carved allegorical figures.
its green banks covered with trees and luxuriants vegetation. a little cluster of houses at what had been a Russian ford.
made his way up the slope toward Settignano.
the red poppies in the growing green wheat, the stands of almost black cypresses, 
On seeing the Russian general he threw back his head, with its long hair curling to his shoulders, in a majestically royal manner
distant peaks, rolling ridges, villas, trees, stone terraces, planted vineyards and olive orchards in haromny with the hills, haycocks, circular, oblong, umbrella, tent.
He climbed the cart road into the hills, closed in by the walls that are the buttress of the Tuscan’s life, standing as much as thirteen feet high to hold the descending slopes, and built to last a hundred generations. Stone was the dominant factor. with it he built his farms and villas, enclosed his fields, terraced his slopes to retain his soi. Nature has been bountiful with stone; every hill was an undeveloped quarry. If the Tuscan screatched deep with his fingernail he struck buiding materials sufficient for a city. And when he built of dry rock, his walls stood as though masoned.
“The skill with which men handle stone tells how civilized they are.”
he climbed through land of which he knew every jutting boulder and tree and furrow.
His upward push brought him to the settlement of Settignano, a dozen houses collected around a gray stone church.
It was only two miles from the city, on the first rise above the valley floor, and an easy haul to town.
surrounding hills.
tiny settlement, dozen stoneyards scattered among the poderi or farms.
marble tombs,
Down the winding road a few hundred yards was the Buonarroti villa in the midst of a five-acre farm, leased to strangers on a long-term agreement.
house hwen two hundred years before by the best Maiano ietra serena, graceful in its austere lines, and with broad porches  overlooking the valley, the river gleaming below like a silversmith’s deecoration.
He could remember his mother moving in the rooms, weaving on the broad downstairs porch, kissing him good night in his big corner room overlooking the Buonarroti fields, the creek at the bottom, and the Topolino family of stonemasons on the opposite ridge.
He crossed the back yard and the bone-textured stone walk past the stone cistern with its intricate hatching and crosshatching from which he had taken his first drawing lesson. He then scampered down the hill between the wheat on one side and the ripening grapes on the other, to the deep creek at the bottom, shaded by lush foliage. He slipped out of his shirt, short drawers and sandals and rolled over and over in the cool water, enjoying its wetness on his anxious third body. Then he crouched in the hot sun for a few moments to dry, put on his clothes and climbed refreshed to the opposite ridge.
fluted column, the youngest son beveling a set of steps, one of the older two carving a delicate window frame, the other graining a door panel, the grandfather polishing a column on a pumice wheelstone with thin river sand. Behind them were three arches, and under them scurrying chickens, ducks, pigs.
paving blocks, being jostled in the cart, 
Between the arches hung an oblong piece of pietra serena with examples of the classic treatments of the stone: herringbone, subbia punch-hole, rustic, crosshatch, linear, bevel, centered right angle, receding step: the first alphabet Michelangelo had been given, and still the one he used more comfortably than the lettered alphabet with which he had been taught to read the Bible and Dante.
roughed-out column, a hammer in one hand, a chisel in the other. He liked the heft of them. Stone was concrete, not abstract. 
There was a natural rhythm between the inward and outward movement of his breath and the up-and-down movement of his hammer arm as he slid the chisel across a cutting groove.
The tactile contact with the stone made him feel that the world was right again, and the impact of the blows sent waves of strength up his skinny arms to his shoulders, torso, down through his diaphragm and legs into his feet.
The pietra serena they were working was warm, an alive blue-gray, a reflector of changing lights, refreshing to look at.
“Stone works with you. It reveals itself. But you must strike it right. Stone does not resent the chisel. It is not being violated. Its nature is to change. Each stone has its own character. It must be understood. Handle it carefully, or it will shatter. Never let stone destroy itself.
“Stone gives itself to skill and to love.”
In order for it to remain docile it had to be kept warm in sacks, and the sacks kept damp. Heat gave the stone undulations it had in its original mountain home. Ice was its enemy.
cattle, pigs, vines, olives, wheat.
a formless woman who worked the animals and fields as well as the stove and tub
They rode side by side on the high seat behind the two beautiful-faced white oxen. In the fields the olive pickers were mounted on ladders made of slender tree stalks, notched to take the light crossbar branches. Baskets were tied around their waists with rope, flat against the stomach and crotch. They held the branches with their left hand, stripping down the little black olives with a milking movement of the right. Pickers are talkers; two to a tree, they speak their phrases to each other through the branches, for to the contadino not to talk is to be dead a little.
prattle, 
The road, winding along the contour of the range, dipped into a valley and then slowly climbed Mount Ceceri to the quarry. As they rounded the bend of Maiano, Michelangelo saw the gorge in the mountain with its alternating blue and gray serena and iron-stained streaks. The pietra serena had been buried in horizontal layers.
He planted his legs wide, swung his weight from the hips. opened the first crack between the stone nad the ground with an iron bar. moved the stone over the boulders to open ground, then with the help of the quarry-men the block was fulcrumed upward through the open tail of the cart. Michelangelo wiped the sweat fom his face with his shirt. Rain clouds swept down the Arno from the mountains to the north. He bade Topolino good-by.
Warm rain fell on his upturned face. The dark clumps of leaves on the olives were silver green. In the wheat the peasant women were cutting with colored kerchiefs over their hair.
Below him Folerence looked as though someone were sprinkling it with gray powdered dust, blotting out the carpet of red tile roofs. Only the mammal dome of the cathedral stood out, and the straight proud upward trust of the tower of the Signoria, complementary symbols under which Florence flourished and multiplied. He made his way down the mountain, feeling fifteen feet tall.
drawing by candlelight, unshaven, blue beard, hollow cheeks in the flickering light, giving him the appearance of an anchorite, 
Michelangelo went to the side of the platform on which the desk stood majestically in command of its bottega, waited for Ghirlandaio to look up, then asked: “Is something wrong?”
Ghirlandaio rose, raised his hands wearily to breast height, then shook his fingers up and down loosely, as though trying to shed his troubles.
baking sun with his chin resting on his chest, the legs twisted in an angular position, a little knock-kneed,the chest, shoulders and arms of a man who had carried logs and built houses; with a rounded protruding stomach that had absorbed its quantity of food; in its power and reality far outdistancing any of the still-life set figures that Girlandaio had as yet painted for the Tornabuoni choir.
crescent-shaped lunette topping the left side of the choir.
A Tuscan road winding up a mountainside to a white villa,
old women in their blck shawls praying before the Madonnas. The canvas screen has been taken down to let fresh air into the choir. Michelangelo stood irresolutely beneath the scaffolding, unnoticed, then began to walk the long center nave toward the bright sunlight. He turned to take a final look at the scaffolding rising tier upon tier in front of the stained-glass windows, dark now in the slight western light; at the glowing colors of the several completed panels; the Girlandaio artists, tiny figures weaving across the lunette; at the wooden stalls at the base of the choir covered with canvas, the sacks of plaster and sand, hte plank table of painting materials, all bathered in a soft glow.
embroidered red mantle, his flowing feathers, and his glittering ornaments
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (1929)
brown, rattling flowers
the smoke blowing across the branch, 
looking up the hill through the bushes, 
took off my shoes and rolled up my trousers, slobbering and moaning, squatted down and got her dress wet,
June 24, 2025
Note 1
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (1961)
shadows climbing down the scaffolding, fish instead of bistecca, saint floating above the paving stones,
the country people were dozing in their carts as the donkeys and oxen clop-clopped over the stones with their produce for the Old Market
The boy sat before Ghirlandaio, who pulled aside the curtain behind him so that the north light fell on them.
saltpeter, the slightest patch and your paint will be eaten up, Avoid the sand that has been taken from too near the sea. Your lime should be old. I’ll show you how to use a trowel to get a full smooth surface. Remember, plaster has to be beaten with the least possible amount of water, to the consistency of butter.
An artist has to be the master of the grubbiest detail of his craft.
connecting outline with red ochre, and, when this had dried, dusted off the charcoal with a feather
seven natural colors, let’s start with black,
walnut-sized pieces of pigment, piece of porphyry stone was used as a base, a porphyry pestle to grind with. minimum grindig time was a half hour, no paint was allowed on a Ghirlandaio panel that had been ground hard for less than two hours.
his hands and arms blackened with the pigment, 
real mineral black, black chalk, slag black, little mineral gree, flesh colors mix too parts of the finest sinopia with one part white well-slaked lime.
one hand clutching a sheaf of bills, under his other arm an account book.
hog bristles, white pigs, pound of bristles to a brush, bind them to a large stick like this,
threw his stained arms ceilingward in mock despair, 
the early October air was crisp and lucid, crops were in, wine pressed, olive oil secure in big jars, foliage turned a russet brown to match the warm tan stones, crenalated tower,
pungeance of paint, His hand clamped the brush, He squeezed it between the fingers and the thumb of his left hand.
suggesting a man’s bones by the folds of a cloak,
youngsters ragged him mercilessly, cone-shaped mountain crowned by a castle, high-pillowed bier, little black hat, 
the valley of the Arno had the worst winter weather in Taly. The skies overahead were leaden, the cold had a creeping quality that permeated stone and wool and bit at the flesh within.
After the cold came the rain and the cobbled streets were running rivers.
Anything not cobbled was a bog of mud. with her large train of ladies and gentlemen sumptuously gowned by her father
the men sat at a semicircular table facing the flames, crowded together for warmth, their backs cold but their fingers getting enough heat to enable them to work. Santa Maria Novella was even worse. The choir was as icy as an underground cave. Drafts that blew through the church rattled the planks and leather thongs of the scaffolding. It was like trying to paint in the high wind, with one’s nostrils breathing ice watter.
the sun’s rays had a little warmth in them again. The sun’s rays had a little touch of blue.
the skies were powdered with a touch of blue
keyed up, a jaw and an armbone richly bound in silver and gold, from the altar of Santa Maria del Fiore. On the Via Larga, opposite one side of the church, was a gate.
He pushed the gate open.
an enormous oblong garden, with a small building, or casino, in the center; in front, and directly at the end of a straight path, was a pool, a fountain, and on a pedestal a marble statue of a boy removing a thorn from his foot. On the wide porch of the casino a group of young men were working at tables.
All four walls of the garden were open loggias displaying antique marble busts: of the Emperor Hardian, of Scipio, of Emperor Augustus, Agrippina, Nero’s mother, and numerous sleeping cupids. There was a straight path leading to the casino, lined with cypresses. Coming from each corner of the quadrangle and centering on the casino were other tree-lined paths curving through green lawns as big as meadows.
toohthed chisels.
His knees sagged.
Grecian urns, vases, the bust of Plato beside the gate.
walked down the gravel path, circled the pool and fountain. Half a dozen men from fifteen to thirty years old were working at board tables. Bertoldo,a figure so slight as to seem all spirit and no body, had his long white hair wrapped in a turban. His red cheeks glowed as he instructed two boys in roughing a piece of marble.
sat on a bench in the Piazaa San Marco with pigions thronging about his feet and the heel of his palm pressing his forehead bruisingly. When he looked up at Granacci his eyes were feverish.
Tears of frustration came to his eyes.
Granacci gazed at the naked longing on his friend’s face. 
“Perhaps.”
clodhoppers,the flesh tones a sunburned amber, the figure clumsy, with graceless bumpkin muscles; but the face transfused with light as the young lad gazed up at John. Behind him he did two white-bearded assistants to John, with beauty in their faces and a rugged power in their figures. Granacci hovered over him uneasily as the figures emerged.
warm-colored lemon-yellow and rose robes
sundown, damigiana of wine, his scowl blacker than the base of his beard, 
cartoon crowded with figures, 
stood riveted to the planks of the studio floor,
assemblage, sat hunched over the angular corner desk, dwarfed by the fourteen-foot ceiling, 
It took the Florentine sun the better part of spring to permeate the stone.
stone dust, collapsed onto a hard leather chair with a havy plop, tears coming into his eyes, 
long after her candle was out lay open-eyed and motionless, gazing at the moonlight through the frosty windowpanes.
Alaska by James A. Michener (1988)
aboveground huts made of stone and branches, dome above made out of matted branches and skins plastered with mud, 
hung out great curtains of fire, filling the sky with myriad colors of dancing forms and vast spears of light flashing from one horizon to the next in a dazzling display of power and majesty. 
Then men and women would leave their frozen mud of the mean caves to stand in the starry night, their faces to the heavens as those others beyond the horizon moved the light about, hung the colors, and sent great shafts thundering clear above the firmament. There would be silence, and the children who were summoned to see this miracle would remember it all the days of their lives.
bandy-legged, sturdy fellow
pebbled shore fronting the village of Pelek, 
umiak, village larder, watertight sealskin-swen kayak, aspen paddle,
sight a whale surfacing in the distance, black whale riding the surface of the water, its huge tail propelling it forward
cut directly across the whale’s path, 
talisman. It was a small circular disk, white and with a diameter of about two narrow fingers. It had been made of ivory from one of the few walruses his father had ever killed, and it has been carved with fine runic figures depicting the ice-filled ocean and the creatures that lived within it, sharing it with the Eskimos
had watched his father carve the disk and smooth the edges so that it would fit properly, and since both realized from the beginning that when finished, this dish was to be something special.
sharp knife made of whalebone, pierced his lower lip, and stuffed the incision with grass. As it healed and the opening grew wider, with larger plugs of wood inserted in each mouth, his lower lip would form a narrow band of skin surrounding and defining a circular hole.
applied herbs to his feet and packed warm rocks against his feet, 
his hair extremely long and matted with a filth that had not been removed in a dozen years,
devoid of birds, devoid of headlands and gulfs and bays, 
stood erect, wedged his knees against the gunwales of the boat, Far behind trailed Oogruk.
with an overhand motion, 
A throwing-stick was a carefully shaped, thin length of wood about two and a half feet long, so devised as to increase considerably the length of a man’s arm. The rear end, which contained a kind of slot in which the half of the harpoon rested, snuggled in the crooked elbow of the thrower. The length of the stick ran along the man’s arm, extending well beyond his fingertips, and it was against this wood that the harpoon rested. Toward the front end there was a finger rest enabling the man to retain control over both the harpoon and the stick, and close nearby a smoothed place at which the thumb could steady the long harpoon as the man prepared to throw. Steadying himself, the harpooner drew his right arm bearing the stick as far back as possible, checking to ensure that the butt end was secure in its slot. Then, with a wide sweep of his right arm, parallel to the surface of the sea and not up and down as one might expecet, he snapped his arm swiftly forward, released his hold on the nestled harpoon at the precise movement, and, thanks to the doubled length this gave his arm, released the flint-tipped harpoon at the whale with such force that it could drive through the thickest skin. in this intricate method the man slung the harpoon much as little David, twelve thousand years later, would sling his rock against big Goliath. It sometimes requires years of practice before accuracy was obtained, but once the various tricks were synchronized, this slingshot harpoon became a deadly weapon.
Somehow, men with no knowledge of engineering or dynamics deduced that their harpoons would be trebly effective if they were loaded into their atlatls and slung forward instead of being thrown.
that the best way to deliver a harpoon was with a sideways slingshot motion, almost like an awkward child throwing a ball.
On this day the Eskimo leader had calculated perfectly his approch to the target, and from a position a little to the right and close behind the lumbering beast, he planned to flash ahead on an angle which would enable Shaktoolik to strike at a vital spot just behind the right ear and thus provide the two paddlers on the left-hand side an opportunity to unleash their spears also, with the headman remaining available in the stern to plunge his spear somewhat behind the others. Using this maneuver, the four Eskimos on the left-hand side of the umiak would have a chance to wound this enormous creature, perhaps not mortally but certainly deeply enough to render it vulnerable to their subsequent attacks and ultimate victory.
wheeled on its midsection and swung its huge tail viciously.
anticipating the destruction of his umiak if the tail struck, heeled his craft over, but this left the man in front, Shaktoolik with his harpoon, exposed, and the tail swept past, one fluke struck Shaktoolik in the head and shoulders, sweeping him into the sea. Then, in what could have been an accidental blow, the mighty tail smashed down, crushing the harpooner, driving him unconscious deep below the surface of the sea, where he perished. The whale had won the first encounter.
turned adrift, climbed into the umiak, reshuffled the men, in this new configuration, various strategems, pestiferous little creatures, 
silvery dawn,
Toward noon of the second day the headman judged that the whale was tiring and that the time had come to attempt a master thrust, so once more he brought his umiak to a position slightly behind the whale, and again moved forcefully ahead so that his new harpooner would have a clear shot, as would he and the two left-hand rowers.
dereliction, 
moved on, bleeding from its right side,  
the point of the harpoon struck bone and was diverted.
lucky labret,
gathering the whaling lances, holding them aside in one bundle.
feckless,
headway, some distance south of the Arctic Circle, fishing lines, stout poles, ivory hooks, slabs of meat and blubber, 
stayed close to the huts, periodically knocking off the snow that threatened to engulf them, huddling by their meager fire,
superstructures of wood and whalebone and sealskin
spars of wood washed up by the sea, lengths of sinew from the bodies of dead animals
and as he furtively collected these items, a plan evolved.
hairy fellow crouched among his magic pieces, his tattered grments,
page 77
late-evening situation report
June 25, 2025
Note 1
Dirt Music by Tim Winton (2001)
cut-offs, sweat prickle her all over, prow, scald her scalp, fistful of his shirt and drags him inside, 
elastic-sided boots, butterfly swarm of spinnakers, plangent heat, bedhead, aircon hiss receded, Pelicans hung over the freeway like billowing newspapers, scarfed the peanuts, 
knee pants, bugs bang on the tin reflectors and splatter to the pavment to lie stunned,
peeling gold frames, big brass reading lamp,
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)
make a pass at the bottle and sloshed out some whisky into a glass and poured in some water
stuck out his legs on the red carpet, 
looked up at him from the chair,
his white jack on the back of the chair, eyes snap over to it, 
whip his head over at you and his eyes would snap open,
He popped up and his heels dug into the red carpet
The grandfather’s clock in the corner of the room, I suddenly realized, wasn’t getting any younger. It would drop out a tick, and the tick would land inside his head like a rock dropped in a well, and the ripples would circle out and stop, and the tick would sink down the dark. For a piece of time which was not long or short, and might not even be time, there wouldn’t be anything. Then the tock would drop down the well, and the ripples would circle out and finish.
swung his face in my direction
pulled off toward the door, 
I had just about made the door, 
in the dips of the road, the mist frayed out over the slab and blunted the headlights,
Negritos of Zambales, Vol. 5 by William Allan Reed (1904)
a group passing through a grove of heavy timber with very little underbrush
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1867)
hoar frost, a gleam of bayonets
Among them were grooms leading the Tsar’s beautiful relay horses covered with embroidered cloths.
As when a window is opened a whiff of fresh air from the fields enters a stuffy room
“I am waiting, Your Majesty,” answered Kutúzov, bending forward respectfully.
The Emperor, frowning slightly, bent his ear forward as if he had not quite heard.
“Waiting, Your Majesty,” repeated Kutúzov. (Prince Andrew noted that Kutúzov’s upper lip twitched unnaturally as he said the word “waiting.”) “Not all the columns have formed up yet, Your Majesty.”
In the Emperor’s suite all exchanged rapid looks that expressed dissatisfaction and reproach. “Old though he may be, he should not, he certainly should not, speak like that,” their glances seemed to say.
a roll of volleys of musketry from the slopes of the hill before Pratzen, interrupted by such frequent reports of cannon that sometimes several of them were not separated from one another but merged into a general roar.
He could see puffs of musketry smoke that seemed to chase one another down the hillsides, and clouds of cannon smoke rolling, spreading, and mingling with one another. He could also, by the gleam of bayonets visible through the smoke, make out moving masses of infantry and narrow lines of artillery with green caissons.
A handful of men came galloping toward him. 
pockmarked 
red epaulets
He could see nothing more, for immediately afterwards cannon began firing from somewhere and smoke enveloped everything.
Having passed the Guards and traversed an empty space, Rostóv, to avoid again getting in front of the first line as he had done when the Horse Guards charged, followed the line of reserves, going far round the place where the hottest musket fire and cannonade were heard. 
Russian and Austrian soldiers running in confused crowds across his path.
Several wounded men passed along the road, and words of abuse, screams, and groans mingled in a general hubbub, then the firing died down. 
The highroad on which he had come out was thronged with calèches, carriages of all sorts, and Russian and Austrian soldiers of all arms, some wounded and some not. This whole mass droned and jostled in confusion under the dismal influence of cannon balls flying from the French batteries stationed on the Pratzen Heights.
At last seizing a soldier by his collar he forced him to answer.
How they made the four black horses fly! Gracious me, they did rattle past! 
The Emperor was pale, his cheeks sunken and his eyes hollow, but the charm, the mildness of his features, was all the greater.
After five o’clock it was only at the Augesd Dam that a hot cannonade (delivered by the French alone) was still to be heard from numerous batteries ranged on the slopes of the Pratzen Heights, directed at our retreating forces.
Every ten seconds a cannon ball flew compressing the air around, or a shell burst in the midst of that dense throng, killing some and splashing with blood those near them.
Impelled by the crowd, they had got wedged in at the approach to the dam and, jammed in on all sides, had stopped because a horse in front had fallen under a cannon and the crowd were dragging it out. A cannon ball killed someone behind them, another fell in front and splashed Dólokhov with blood. The crowd, pushing forward desperately, squeezed together, moved a few steps, and again stopped.
Suddenly a cannon ball hissed so low above the crowd that everyone ducked. It flopped into something moist, and the general fell from his horse in a pool of blood. Nobody gave him a look or thought of raising him.
Still the cannon balls continued regularly to whistle and flop onto the ice and into the water and oftenest of all among the crowd that covered the dam, the pond, and the bank.
Above him again was the same lofty sky with clouds that had risen and were floating still higher, and between them gleamed blue infinity. He did not turn his head and did not see those who, judging by the sound of hoofs and voices, had ridden up and stopped near him.
“Fine men!” remarked Napoleon, looking at a dead Russian grenadier, who, with his face buried in the ground and a blackened nape, lay on his stomach with an already stiffened arm flung wide.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2600/2600-h/2600-h.htm#link2HCH0001:~:text=Prince%20Andrew%20understood,his%20own%20pity.
The soldiers who had carried Prince Andrew had noticed and taken the little gold icon Princess Mary had hung round her brother’s neck, but seeing the favor the Emperor showed the prisoners, they now hastened to return the holy image.
At last the sleigh bore to the right, drew up at an entrance, and Rostóv saw overhead the old familiar cornice with a bit of plaster broken off, the porch, and the post by the side of the pavement. He sprang out before the sleigh stopped, and ran into the hall.
“Oh God! Is everyone all right?” he thought, stopping for a moment with a sinking heart, and then immediately starting to run along the hall and up the warped steps of the familiar staircase
A solitary tallow candle burned in the anteroom.
plaiting slippers out of cloth selvedges
Prokófy, trembling with excitement, rushed toward the drawing room door, probably in order to announce him, but, changing his mind, came back and stooped to kiss the young man’s shoulder.
“All well?” asked Rostóv, drawing away his arm.
threw off his fur coat and ran on tiptoe through the large dark ballroom
the serfs, men and maids, flocked into the room, exclaiming and oh-ing and ah-ing.
holding him tight by the skirt of his coat, sprang away and pranced up and down in one place like a goat and shrieked piercingly.
All around were loving eyes glistening with tears of joy,
She could not lift her face, but only pressed it to the cold braiding of his hussar’s jacket.
In the room next to their bedroom there was a confusion of sabers, satchels, sabretaches, open portmanteaus, and dirty boots.
A rustle of starched petticoats and the whispering and laughter of girls’ voices came from the adjoining room. The door was opened a crack and there was a glimpse of something blue, of ribbons, black hair, and merry faces. It was Natásha, Sónya, and Pétya, who had come to see whether they were getting up.
The girls sprang aside. Denísov hid his hairy legs under the blanket, looking with a scared face at his comrade for help. The door, having let Pétya in, closed again. A sound of laughter came from behind it.
Sónya, when he came in, was twirling round and was about to expand her dresses into a balloon and sit down. They were dressed alike, in new pale-blue frocks, and were both fresh, rosy, and bright. 
Natásha, taking her brother’s arm, led him into the sitting room,
She pulled up her muslin sleeve and showed him a red scar on her long, slender, delicate arm, high above the elbow on that part that is covered even by a ball dress.
“I burned this to prove my love for her. I just heated a ruler in the fire and pressed it there!”
Curving her arms, Natásha held out her skirts as dancers do, ran back a few steps, turned, cut a caper, brought her little feet sharply together, and made some steps on the very tips of her toes.
extremely pointed toes and small silver spurs
jacket laced with silver
On that third of March, all the rooms in the English Club were filled with a hum of conversation, like the hum of bees swarming in springtime.
The members and guests of the club wandered hither and thither, sat, stood, met, and separated, some in uniform and some in evening dress, and a few here and there with powdered hair and in Russian kaftáns. 
Powdered footmen, in livery with buckled shoes and smart stockings, stood at every door anxiously noting visitors’ every movement in order to offer their services. 
went about in his soft boots between the dining and drawing rooms,
He walked shyly and awkwardly over the parquet floor of the reception room, not knowing what to do with his hands; he was more accustomed to walk over a plowed field under fire, as he had done at the head of the Kursk regiment at Schön Grabern—and he would have found that easier.
committeemen 
a large silver salver
But before he had finished reading, a stentorian major-domo announced that dinner was ready!
The door opened, and from the dining room came the resounding strains of the polonaise:
He winked at the butler, whispered directions to the footmen, and awaited each expected dish with some anxiety.
With the second course, a gigantic sterlet (at sight of which Ilyá Rostóv blushed with self-conscious pleasure), the footmen began popping corks and filling the champagne glasses. 
He was just going to take it when Dólokhov, leaning across, snatched it from his hand and began reading it.
He leaned his whole massive body across the table.
When all was ready, the sabers stuck in the snow to mark the barriers, and the pistols loaded, Nesvítski went up to Pierre.
Next morning when the valet came into the room with his coffee, Pierre was lying asleep on the ottoman with an open book in his hand.
Pierre leaped up from the sofa and rushed staggering toward her.
“I’ll kill you!” he shouted, and seizing the marble top of a table with a strength he had never before felt, he made a step toward her brandishing the slab.
Hélène’s face became terrible, she shrieked and sprang aside. His father’s nature showed itself in Pierre. He felt the fascination and delight of frenzy. He flung down the slab, broke it, and swooping down on her with outstretched hands shouted, “Get out!” in such a terrible voice that the whole house heard it with horror. God knows what he would have done at that moment had Hélène not fled from the room.
She forgot all fear of her father, went up to him, took his hand, and drawing him down put her arm round his thin, scraggy neck.
The princess sank helplessly into an armchair beside her father and wept.
Her eyes were smiling expectantly, her downy lip rose and remained lifted in childlike happiness.
Princess Mary knelt down before her and hid her face in the folds of her sister-in-law’s dress.
Princess Mary had long since put aside her book: she sat silent, her luminous eyes fixed on her nurse’s wrinkled face (every line of which she knew so well), on the lock of gray hair that escaped from under the kerchief, and the loose skin that hung under her chin.
Suddenly a gust of wind beat violently against the casement of the window, from which the double frame had been removed (by order of the prince, one window frame was removed in each room as soon as the larks returned), and, forcing open a loosely closed latch, set the damask curtain flapping and blew out the candle with its chill, snowy draft. Princess Mary shuddered; her nurse, putting down the stocking she was knitting, went to the window and leaning out tried to catch the open casement. The cold wind flapped the ends of her kerchief and her loose locks of gray hair.
Dirt Music by Tim Winton (2001)
wheatlands, veranda, mosquito coils, 
thrum with cicadas, crickets, and birdwings, chirr of frogs,
Boats scuppered at their moorings, shucked off his jeans, 
feels the air chaffing at him, a pair of shorts,
short black shirt and sleeveless blouse, washed-out grin, 
The skirt rides up on her thighs. old vaccination scar high on her arm. A smear of vermillion lipstick brightens the pillowslip.
she could still feel the sun still on it and the sugar sent a ripple through her
The truck rattled and lurched toward the highway.
They swayed and jounced uphill in four-wheel drive along a fenceline between grasstrees and acacia scrub.
They slalomed up the back of a dune and came drifting down onto a hard pan of beach behind a scrubby headland.
Colored lights raining onto the yard amidst all that laughter. Sidling off with the keys to the ambulance.
June 26, 2025
Note 1
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)
CLUMP OF TREES, 
heaved up off the wire, seersucker skirt, chinaberry tree, 
hammock made out of wire and barrel staves, swung between a post and the live oak, bottle into my side pocket, watched the undersides of the oak leaves, dry and grayish and dusty-green, eusty-corroded-looking spots, 
dry, cracking sound, blue serge pants bagging around his underslung behind and with the last rays of the evening sun faibtly glittering on his bald spot among the scrubby patches of hair like bleached lichen.
grassy, starlit sea, posthole, straightened a salt shaker, 
ground mist was starting to show in the low places
gravel sprayed on the undersides of the fenders, 
gusting along the slab, which would be pale in the starlight between the patches of woods and the dark fields where the mist was rising. 
blaze whizzed past and withered on off btween the fgields and the patches of woods,
big black crate ghost down the street and one of them would spit on the concrete and say, “The bastard, he reckins he’s somebody,”
maybe a taint of the fishy, sad, sweet smell of the tidelands to it, but fresh nevertheless.
sharp, brittle-looking, age betraying hand showing the painted nails,
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (1929)
lowing, chunking into the shadows, hopped way over to the garden,
nuzzled at the wire,
lightning ugs in a bottle, 
bones rounded out of the sitch, where the dark vines were in the black ditch, into the moonlight, like some of the shapes had stopped.
He laced my shoes and put on my cap and we went out.
bullfrog voice, knobnot, parlor window, wet grass, squinch owl, 
pushed the bottle through the lattice, 
long veil like shining wind,
prissy dress, set the glass down, decanter (fill it),  bathrobe, snuggled her head beside mine on the pillow, 
came scuffing along
flower tree by the parlor window, ricklick seeing you, 
jimson weed, His tie as red in the sun, 
went to the fence, looked through the curling flower spaces
sun slanting on the broad grass
the gate, where the girls passed with their booksatchels, 
bright, whirling shapes,
Alaska by James A. Michener (1988)
sea crossing, driftwood, his arms folded over the rim of the hatch,
seafronts, seacoast, largesse,
moose towered in the air, with antlers bigger than some trees, 
shaggy musk ox,
unskilled at flicking sharp arrow points from cores of flint,
twist of deerskin he wore, consternation, tumbling brook, 
poultice, caribou trousers, sealskin cloak, 
a place half underground, half wood and stone aboves
flintknapper,
page 91 Alaska
The Fist of God by Frederick Forsyth (1994)
needle-pointed towers, kittenish esteem, pillared building, part of a rabbit warren of small rooms whose lack of splendor belies the importance of the operations planned there
glass of single-malt whisky, 
stripped-down, heavily armored long-base Land Rovers over open terrain, and the Amphibians, skilled in canoes, silent-running inflatables and sub-aqua work.
Mike Martin straightened and ran a nut-brown hand through jet-black hair.
forebears, 
British tea-planter at Darjeeling in India.
pink-faced, blond-moustached, pipe in mouth, gun in hand, standing over a shot tiger. Very much the pukka sahib, the Englishman of the Indian Raj.
the wild, ravined countryside teeming with game and tigers, the deep green tea slopes, the climate, the people. And there Susan was born in 1930. The raised her there, an Anglo-Indian girl with Indian playmates.
All British cadets promoted straight to major, they were not supposed to serve under an Indian officer, but Indians could make lieutenant or captain.
drenched Burmese jungles, 
tumbling chestnut hair, hazel eyes and skin lie a European with a permanent golden suntan
four-propeller Argonaut.
crew stop-over, Bara, south of Iraq, where the crew “slipped” while another took over.
BOAC station, 
swarming throngs of brightly colored robes, the sights and smells of the street, the cooking meats by the edge of the Tigris, the myriad little shops selling herbs and spices, gold and jewels—all reminded her of her native India.
short, stocky, pink-skinned and ginger-haired.
a single, lean man in jeans, desert boots, shirt and bomber jacket with a tote bag over one shoulder, a number of those still awake glared at him.
rubbed fingertips over tired eyes, rose and walked to the picture windows. The swath of silver birches that masked his view of the Potomac when they were in full leaf as they were now still lay shrouded in darkness.
catnapping between calls from the President, the National Security Council, the State Department and, so it seemed, just about anyone else who had his number.
oil embargo and the trade blockade?
The sattelites, KH-11 and KH-12, were rolling over Iraq every few minutes taking happy snaps of everything in the entire country. poison gas factory, nuclear facility, bicycle workshop.
boffins, 
Hidden away, stashed deep underground?
before electronic gizmos took over the business of Intelligence-gathering
About the same time the Latvian steamer Gaisma, en route to Germany with a cargo of wood, was torpedoed in an attack by four German cutters off the Swedish island of Gotland.
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (1961)
“A teacher is like a cook; give him a stringy chicken or a tough piece of veal, and not even his most delicious sauce can make it tender.”
mynah bird
Featherstonhaugh’s Excursion Through the Slave States
The rocks, composed of talcose slate, greenstone, hornblendic and other very ancient slaty materials, jut over, in bold ledges, from the lofty and craggy sides of the valley. To the left the mountain is covered in forest-trees growing amidst the crags, and beneath runs the pretty river murmuring through the glen, in which the rifle-manufactories of the government of the United States are situated, the wheels of which were creaking at this early hour, a pleasing proof of the industry that prevails here.
The road was very rough and knobby, occasioned by the cropping out of the edges of the limestone strata, over which we were traveling at right angles, and which dipped very rapidly to the east.
we came abreast of what is called the Massonetto mountain
June 27, 2025
Note 1
Dirt Music by Tim Winton (2001)
His shadow fell across the water.
bound down, retreat to the shadow of the riverbank whose open veins (try vines) are ropy with shadow. They pull his cheek to the soil.
light across the farm but behind hiim it’s dirty dim
Shadows flit across the sandbar.
One stoops at the water’s edge
scrambles up the bank toward the house
limped up the steps like a flogged animal,
lacerated, sunburnt, crusty with salt and dirt, his lips split, his eyes red above bruises of exhaustion
hair full of grass seeds and cobwebs, his flayed thighs and feet,
it made her eyes sting with tears,
…he had hiccups. He tried to smile but they sounded painful, sob-like
painted him with antiseptic cream and rubbed oil into his sunburn.
petal-like eyelids, marbled with capillaries like those of a child.
thought of herself a couple of days ago sprawled on this bed, languid as a duchess. With his hand in her, warm and startling.
She stooped and took his hand. Held it to her cheek. Listened to the night beyond the insect screen.
winy sea, creekmud, glanced by slick bodies, curtains spill against the dado wall, 
grubby envelope protrudes
sticks to his damp fingers.
craggy frown, rainy granite coast 
He turns the light out and goes back to bed but he doesn’t sleep.
hank of toilet paper 
a few gulls skirled in Beaver’s forecoat lights 
modest box of chattels,
hoary cheek, and
July 3, 2025
Note 1
The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates (1863)
busy pens, furnished, 
I embarked at Liverpool, in a small trading vessel.
pilot-station, 
It is a small village, formerly a missionary settlement of the Jesuits, situated a few miles to the eastward of the Para river.
Here the ship anchored.
gazed on the land, bare sand-hills and scattered trees, 
a long line of forest, rising apparently out of the water,
a densely-packed mass of tall trees, broken into groups, and finally into single trees as it dwindled away in the distance
the great primaeval forest characteristic of the region, 
Towards evening we passed Vigia and Colares, two fishing villages, and saw many native canoes, which seemed like toys beneath the lofty walls of dirty forest.
the lofty walls of dark forest,
Note 2
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (1961)
unloading his cart, roughhewn young contadino, clodhoppers, sunburned amber, white-bearded assistants, a rugged power in their figures, 
warm-colored lemon-yellow and rose robes
never got stone dust in their lungs, woodchoppers, 
snow-white hair, red-cheeked face and pale-blue eyes
wren, elaborately gowned in silk and pearls, 
homely details of cooking, 
a roughhewn face that appeared to have been carved out of dark mountain rock, 
muddy skin, a jutting jaw, lower lip which protruded beyond the upper, a turned-up nose, the up-tilting end of which bulked larger than the bony bridge; large dark eyes, cheeks showing dark hollows beyond the corners of the mouth; and a mass of dark hair parted in the center, then combed down to the middle of each eyebrow. He was dressed in a long sienna-colored robe, with purple sleeves, the tip of a white collar showing at the neck. He was just medium height, with a sturdy physique which he kept in condition by days of hard riding, and hawking.
Bert’s Treatise of Hawks and Hawking by Edmund Bert (1619)
They are at first to be put upon a little clean straw, in a large hamber, firmly fixed upon its side, about breast high, on the branches of a tree, in a retired situation. The lid of the hamber may be so supported as to serve as a sort of platform for the young birds to come out upon, when they are fed.
Twice a day with fresh raw beef, the skin and fat of which to be carefully removed
shelter them from the rain
Pigeons, rooks, or any other birds just killed should be given to them occasionally.
By this treatment, they will soon learn to know the voice or whistle of the falconer.
Unaffiliated:
sun beating down, dusty expanse, report scrawled on a scrap of hide, 
footed the distance around the long way, 
footed the twenty leagues through the Whispering Woods and came back with a report for the king.
Looking eastward still.
Soviet-supported nations and insurgencies are increasingly clustered in areas of critical importance to the survival of the United States.
from thence to
from thence I went to
Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardener, and Country Gentleman (1909)
They are planted in regular rows, and poles set for them to run upon. When the poles are covered to the top,
hop-gardens, scaly flowering heads,
An Excursion from London to Dover, Vol. 2 by Jane Gardiner (1806)
When the hops have been picked and dried in the oast, or tin floor, they are so brittle that they would break to pieces and be spoiled if they were immediately to be put up.
thereabouts
packthread
tassel,
The Gardeners Dictionary, Vol. 1 by Philip Miller (1835)
flitches, the flesh sprinkled with salt, and laid in a tray, that the blood may drain off: then it is to be salted a little, and rolled up as hard as possible. The length of the collar of brawn, should be as much as one side of the bear will bear; so that when rolled up, it may be nine or ten inches diameter.
mulberry-tree, 
first, finest, and strongest cods are kept for the grain,
yellow, orange color, sea-green, some of a flesh-color, others of a sulphur, and some white.
A Dialogue Between a Lady and Her Pupils by Mrs. Brook (1808)
The whole is then stirred briskly about with birchen rods, in the shape of brushes; and when the heat and agitation have loosened the ends of the silk, they are apt to catch at the rods; they are then drawn out and joined ten, twelve, or fourteen together, and formed into threads, according to the size required by the work for which they are designed.
bobbins,
fastened to an arm of it.
He fastened his gaze to her.
scissars,
The Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 3 (1766)
Two workmen will spin and reel three pounds of silk in a day.
throwsters, worked with a shuttle on a loom
lustrings and taffetas
figured or striped silk,
An Excursion from London to Dover, Vol. 2 by Jane Gardiner (1806)
gave rise to a variety of censorious remarks,
she indulged the vein of that humourous wit to which she was so naturally prone.
prolix for me to describe, 
proverbially licentious,
Mr. A— also informed us, that Richard Boyle, an eminent English Statesman, distinguished by the title of the Great Earl of Cork, was born at Canterbury in 1566, and died in 1643; having spent the last as she did the first years of his life, in the support of the crown of English against Irish rebels, and in the service of his country.
And binds the golden sheaves in brittle bands
The rising rivers float the nether ground.
And rocks the bellowing voice of boiling seas rebound.
The wind redouble, and the rains augment
The waves on heaps are dashed against the shore.
And now the woods and now the billows roar.
botanizing, playing on the flageolet, small portable library of chosen books in three languages, 
We left Canterbury very early that we might see all the beauty of the morning.
The dewy grass sparkled like crystal. every object in nature was animated.
The wild brooke babbling down the mountain’s side, 
The lowing herd, the sheep-fold’s simple bell;
hum of bees, the linnet’s lay of love,
And the full choir that wakes the universal grove,
cottage curs at early pilgrims bark
Crown’d with her pail the tripping milk-maid sings
The whistling plowman stalks afield;
Down the rough slope the ponderous waggon rings;
Throu’ rustling corn the hare astonish’d springs,
partridge bursts away on whirring wings
Birds whirred along the byways.
She tripped up the terrace steps. She tripped from Oma City to Olo City.
stately range of barracks, where a number of troops are stationed.
We then passed through Sturry, two miles north east from Canterburry
the river Stour, running close by the house, has at that place a neat stone bridge of three arches over it.
Opposite the mansion, and across the public road, stands a water-mill for grinding corn, which, by the noisy circulation of the wheels,
tapering spire, 
ran across the lane to a corn field, pulled violently, and drew up a root that had seven stalks growing from it.
for the most part, no sooner, Some seed, indeed, is…
Care must afterwards be taken…
but besides that, nothing more can be done. It is left for the rain to water, and the sun to ripen it.
fresh-colored boys, rencontre,
He next pointed out to them two large flat stones, shut up in a kind of box.
understone is fixed, but the upper one turns rond, and presses so heavily upon it, as to bruise and grind the corn to powder,
To do that, there is a contrivance called a boulting engine, and you may look at it if you step this way.
Man. Mansfield then opened a little door in the large wooden box, or bin, that contained the engine.
At the door sit two healthy looking girls
grist, 
gentle eminences,
and at length empties itself into the sea at the distance of about seven miles.
On the northern side of the house, the ground is appropriated to useful gardens, an orchard, and a shrubbery.
the intermingling branches of woodbine and jasmine are formed into an arbour; and, while they afford an agreeable shade, dispense a most grateful odour.
meadow-greens, corn-fields, woods of various greens, combine to render the prospect infinitely beautiful.
the tall elm rears its lofty head erect and stately; while the foliage of an humbler growth decorates the lovely landscape with the utmost luxuriance, and enriches the view with a thousand different shades.
we are transported to distant regions, where the enervated Indian faints beneath the scorching rays of a meridian sun
Mrs. Belton, always mistrustful and suspicious, instantly glided downstairs, and on tip-toe listened behind the door, and heard every word.
fine specimens of minilite, wood stone, and chalcedony
obtained the gren jade, or axe-stone, for ornaments and weapons of war.
The whole body of the shell is pearly white, with an orchreous tinge towards the upper part of the largely dentated keels, which, two in number, are there of a dark umber color.
whence the steam and smoke ascended in dense clouds
procumbent compositaceous plnat,
small shrubby succulent-stemmed plant, with fleshy leaves,
under a high cliff of white clay. The cliffs here, are composed of a bluish indurated clay, and conglomerate, and abound with marine fossils.
the plants being planted in quincunx order, and the grund strewed with white sand,  with which the large pendulous dark-green and shield-shaped leaves of the young plants beautifully contrasted.
Small screens, formed of the young branches of Leptospermum scoparium, to shelter the young plants from the violence of the northerly and easterly winds, intersected the ground in every direction.
On these shores, the clayey rocks had been so acted upon by the sea, as to be worn quite flat.
thick and evergreen rampart between the sea breeze and the main land, their roots and trunks being often laved with the flowing tide.
The wood of this tree is exceedingly hard, close grained, and heavy; and is much in request for knees in ship and boat building.
It in variably inhabits the immediate sea-shore, often grotesquely hanging in an almost pendant manner from rocky cliffs and headlands, and, although of irregular growth, attains a large size. Here, in a clayey rock near high-water mark, the natives shew the impression of the foot of Rongokako, one of their illustrious progenitors; the print of his other foot, made in striding hence, being near Poverty Bay, a distance of more than fifty miles!
I discovered, on a little sandy plain, a species of Veronica, a rambling shrub with large oblong leaves, which to me was quite new.
I did not, as on my former visit, go round the cape (a bold and high promontory composed of indurated clay, reclining back in solemn grandeur, on the face of which, from the continual descent of debris from its summit and sides nothing grows), it being nearly high-water; but, striking inland through a narrow sandy defile, emerged beyond it to the beach.
Here, however, on the side of a very steep hill, open to the South Pacific, which rolled its immeasurable billows to our feet, both shelter and food were anything but obtainable.
spoke in a deeply resonant voice, 
talking to him from the adjoining worktable, 
on an hour’s notice, dark dank dungeons,
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (1961)
dressed in a long-sleeved gown of rose-colored wool, a gamurra with its full skirt falling in soft, loose pleats, and a tight-laced bodice under which she wore a pale yellow blouse with a high rounded neck. Her slippers were of brocaded yellow and on her thick dark hair was a rose satin cap encrusted in pearls. She was so pale that not even the rose-colored cap and gown could throw color into her thin cheeks.
pecked at her leathery cheek, hunched-over shoulders
searched his friend’s features, puzzled.
cold clammy clay
hogshead,
Live models were drawn from every quarter of Florence, provided through Lorenzo: scholars in black velvet; soldiers with bullencks, square heads and thick arching eyebrows; swashbuckling toughs; contadini off their carts; bald-headed old men with hooked noses and nutcracker chins; monks in black coats, black caps with their flaps turned up over their gray hair; the gay blades of Florence, handsome, with Greek noses running straight from the brow, curly hair worn low on their necks, round empty eyes; the wool dyers with stained arms; the callused ironmonges; the burly poters; plump house servants; nobles in red and white silk hemmed with pearls; slender boys in violet; chubby children to serve as models for putti.
neighboring places,
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott (1874)
portraits of solemn old gentlemen in wigs, severe-nosed ladies in top-heavy caps,little bob-tailed coats or short-waisted frocks
fitful spring rain that pattered on the window-pane
draggle-tailed chicken under a burdock leaf
The girl wiped her hands, crossed her feet on the little island of carpet where she was stranded in a sea of soap-suds, and then, sure enough, out of her slender throat came the swallow’s twitter, the robin’s whistle, the blue-jay’s call, the thrush’s song, the wood-dove’s coo, and many another familiar note, all ending as before with the musical ecstacy of a bobolink singing and swinging among the meadow grass on a bright June day.
who had taken a sudden fancy to this girl, who sung like a bird and worked like a woman.
a girl who wore a silk frock, a daintily frilled apron, a pretty locket, and had her hair tied up with a velvet snood.
tales of found-lings
Phebe stopped rattling her beans from one pan to another,
they rested on the curly head bent down on Rose’s knee,
that the heart under the pretty locket ached with its loss, and the dainty apron was used to dry sadder tears than any she had ever shed.
brown calico gown and blue-checked pinafore
who from her elevated perch had caught glimpses of a gay cart of some sort and several ponies with flying manes and tails.
He held out his hand as he spoke, and Rose timidly put her own into a brown paw, which closed over the white morsel and held it as the chief continued his introductions.
Rose hastily retired to the shelter of a big chair and sat there watching the invaders and wondering when her aunt would come and rescue her.
then sheered off with a relieved expression.
Archie came first, and, leaning over the chair-back, observed in a paternal tone,
“I’m glad you’ve come, cousin, and I hope you’ll find the Aunt-hill pretty jolly.”
Mac shook his hair out of his eyes, stumbled over a stool, and asked abruptly,
“No, you won’t! We’ll fix you,” cried the lads, as one clapped his cap on her head, another tied a rough jacket round her neck by the sleeves, a third neatly smothered her in a carriage blanket, and a fourth threw open the door of the old barouche that stood there, saying with a flourish,
“Plenty of plum-cake, please.”
“Tell Debby to trot out the baked pears.”
lemon-pie, fritters, tarts
When Rose came down, fifteen minutes later, with every curl smoothed and her most beruffled apron on, she found the boys loafing about the long hall, and paused on the half-way landing to take an observation, for till now she had not really examined her new-found cousins.
They were all so characteristically employed that she could not help smiling as she looked. Archie and Charlie, evidently great cronies, were pacing up and down, shoulder to shoulder, whistling “Bonnie Dundee”; Mac was reading in a corner, with his book close to his near-sighted eyes; Dandy was arranging his hair before the oval glass in the hat-stand; Geordie and Will investigating the internal economy of the moon-faced clock; and Jamie lay kicking up his heels on the mat at the foot of the stairs, bent on demanding his sweeties the instant Rose appeared.
handful of sugar-plums
black frock
“When will she have it?” demanded Geordie, bouncing in his seat with impatience.
“Heart alive! what is the boy talking about?” cried the old lady from behind the tall urn, which left little to be seen but the topmost bow of her cap.
“Some people think so, but I shouldn’t like to try it,” answered Charlie, laughing so he split his tea.
“Well, dear, how do you like your cousins?” asked Aunt Plenty, as the last pony frisked round the corner and the din died away.
A brown, breezy man, in a blue jacket, with no hat on the curly head, which he shook now and then like a water dog; broad-shouldered, alert in his motions, and with a general air of strength and stability about him which pleased Rose, though she could not explain the feeling of comfort it gave her. She had just said to herself, with a sense of relief, “I guess I shall like him, though he looks as if he made people mind,” when he lifted his eyes to examine the budding horse-chestnut overhead, and saw the eager face peering down at him. He waved his hand to her, nodded, and called out in a bluff, cheery voice,
“How does my girl do this morning?” he asked, taking the little cold hand she gave him in both his big warm ones.
“That we can cure and we will,” said her uncle, with a decided nod that made the curls bob on his head, to that Rose saw the gray ones underneath the brown.
As she spoke, Rose pointed to a little table just inside the window, on which appeared a regiment of bottles.
“Ah, ha! Now we’ll see what mischief these blessed women have been at.” And, making a long arm, Dr. Alec set the bottles on the wide railing before him, examined each carefully, smiled over some, frowned over others, and said, as he put down the last: “Now I’ll show you the best way to take these messes.” And, as quick as a flash, he sent one after another smashing down into the posy-beds below.
Something in Uncle Alec’s face touched Rose to the heart, and when he held out his hand with that anxious troubled look in his eyes, she was moved to put up her innocent lips and seal the contract with a confiding kiss. The strong arm held her close a minute, and she felt the broad chest heave once as if with a great sigh of relief; but not a word was spoken till a tap at the door made both start.
Rose popped her head through the window to say “come in,” while Dr. Alec hastily rubbed the sleeve of his jacket across his eyes and began to whistle again.
Phebe appeared with a cup of coffee.
“That’s the drink for my patient. Go bring me a pitcherful, and another cup; I want a draught myself. This won’t hurt the honeysuckles, for they have no nerves to speak of.” And, to Rose’s great discomfort, the coffee went after the medicine.
And away he went down the water-spout, over the roof, and vanished among the budding honey-suckles below.
“I de-test it!” answered Rose, with all the emphasis which a turned-up nose, a shudder, and a groan could give to the three words.
Rose dared not look up after a while, for these bad boys vented their emotions upon her till she was ready to laugh and cry with mingled amusement and vexation. Charlie winked rapturously at her behind his mother’s fan; Mac openly pointed to the tall figure beside her; Jamie stared fixedly over the back of his pew, till Rose thought his round eyes would drop out of his head; George fell over a stool and dropped three books in his excitement; Will drew sailors and Chinamen on his clean cuffs, and displayed them, to Rose’s great tribulation; Steve nearly upset the whole party by burning his nose with salts, as he pretended to be overcome by his joy; even dignified Archie disgraced himself by writing in his hymn book, “Isn’t he blue and brown?” and passing it politely to Rose.
Rose liked the big, kindly, silent man who came to her when papa died, was always sending her splendid boxes of goodies at school, and often invited her into his great warehouse, full of teas and spices, wines and all sorts of foreign fruits, there to eat and carry away whatever she liked. She had secretly regretted that he was not to be her guardian; but since she had seen Uncle Alec she felt better about it, for she did not particularly admire Aunt Jane.
When church was over, Dr. Alec got into the porch as quickly as possible, and there the young bears had a hug all round, while the sisters shook hands and welcomed him with bright faces and glad hearts. Rose was nearly crushed flat behind a door in that dangerous passage from pew to porch; but Uncle Mac rescued her, and put her into the carriage for safe keeping.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)
One step brought us into the family sitting-room, without any introductory lobby or passage: they call it here “the house” pre-eminently. It includes kitchen and parlour, generally; but I believe at Wuthering Heights the kitchen is forced to retreat altogether into another quarter: at least I distinguished a chatter of tongues, and a clatter of culinary utensils, deep within; and I observed no signs of roasting, boiling, or baking, about the huge fireplace; nor any glitter of copper saucepans and tin cullenders on the walls. One end, indeed, reflected splendidly both light and heat from ranks of immense pewter dishes, interspersed with silver jugs and tankards, towering row after row, on a vast oak dresser, to the very roof. The latter had never been under-drawn: its entire anatomy lay bare to an inquiring eye, except where a frame of wood laden with oatcakes and clusters of legs of beef, mutton, and ham, concealed it. Above the chimney were sundry villainous old guns, and a couple of horse-pistols: and, by way of ornament, three gaudily painted canisters disposed along its ledge. The floor was of smooth, white stone; the chairs, high-backed, primitive structures, painted green: one or two heavy black ones lurking in the shade. In an arch under the dresser reposed a huge, liver-coloured bitch pointer, surrounded by a swarm of squealing puppies; and other dogs haunted other recesses.
long table with its cover of crimson blaize,
July 6, 2025
The Youth’s Companion, Vol. 44 (1871)
We all loved her, as she grew older. She was a pretty little blossom as you would want to see, with her eyes as blue as the violets on a south slope in May, and her hair like yellow gold spun into glittering threads. She had a funny little rose-bud of a mouth, too, and the daintiest little figure-well-made all through, and no mistake about it.
come to or reach.“several days out of the village, we struck the Gilgit Road”
move or proceed vigorously or purposefully.
reach, achieve, or agree to (something involving agreement, balance, or compromise).“the team has struck a deal with a sports marketing agency”
cancel, remove, or cross out with or as if with a pen.“strike his name from the list”
produce (fire or a spark) as a result of friction.“his iron stick struck sparks from the pavement”
ignite (a match) by rubbing it briskly against an abrasive surface.“the match went out and he struck another”
(of a thought or idea) come into the mind of (someone) suddenly or unexpectedly.“a disturbing thought struck Melissa”
cause (someone) to have a particular impression.“it struck him that Marjorie was unusually silent”
find particularly interesting, noticeable, or impressive.“Lucy was struck by the ethereal beauty of the scene”
carry out an aggressive or violent action, typically without warning.“it was eight months before the murderer struck again”
(of a disaster, disease, or other unwelcome phenomenon) occur suddenly and have harmful or damaging effects on.“an earthquake struck the island”
(of a beam or ray of light or heat) fall on (an object or surface).“the light struck her ring, reflecting off the diamond”
accidentally hit (a part of one’s body) against something.“she fell, striking her head against the side of the boat”
inflict (a blow).“the armies assembled but never struck a blow”
cause (something unpleasant or painful) to be suffered by someone or something.“they inflicted serious injuries on three other men”h 
impose something unwelcome on.“she is wrong to inflict her beliefs on everyone else”
“he raised his hand, as if to strike me”
struck off at a tearing pace through the woods
And then she sprang by me like some wild creature, and called through the darkness to my father to come with his lantern, quick, quick, for Nelly had been alone in the dark woods for an hour.
Instantly, as it seemed to me, my father and my oldest brother were following mother along the woodlandpath, and I stole after them, feeling like a second Cain.
So I saw them move off, carrying her between them, and I followed after like an outcast, until it occured to me that, at least, I could call a physician. So I flew by them like the wind, and off on the road to town. By some singular good fortune, if we ought not always to say Providence and never fortune, before I had gone forty rods I met Dr. Greene, who was coming in our direction to visit a patient. So I had him with me on the door-stone when they brought Nelly in.
Besides these, I read daily in my pocket Testament
which strewed the sea with wrecks
Miss Nelly of the violet eyes and the spun-gold hair.
hillocks
a turban or the folds of a thick band of muslin around the temples.
His pillow was on his head and a cool fragment of rock made him no mean bolster.
green window-blinds, 
The first was a jeweller’s, and she directed my attention to a ruby velvet case, in which laid a gold thimble. It was the loveliest gold thimble I ever saw in my life! Little tiny leaves and flowers were wrought round the rim, and under that the fine metal shone like flakes of sunlight.
Of course I thought so, but I fear there was an ugly feeling in my heart; it might be called envy. I struggled against it, though, but when she took me to the next shop, and displayed another prospective gift, a lace collar, of exquisite design, I quite broke down, and the collars, and fans, and parasols danced about in all directions, through the trembling mist in my poor foolish eyes.
little red pincushion for his vest pocket, and a watch-case
“Nonsense! ” I said, but with such a ghost of a little quavering laugh!
Mother and father both noticed that I was more quiet than usual. Sometimes, when I keptshop for father for a few moments, amid the mingled odors of cheese, salt fish and damp sugar, I forgot to give change, and, indeed, my thoughts were strangely perturbed during those eventful days.
Two fresh, crisp bills, each one with the figure 50 staring me in the face !
cunning little envelope,
So on New Year’s Eve, when they thought me sound asleep, I crept downstairs with my goods, and ranged them around everywhere. What a sight it was, to be sure! Such a love of a breakfast shawl! A silver thimble in a fine case! A pretty pattern for a dress! Two or three sets of collars and cuffs! A delicate little dress-cap, some gloves, handkerchiefs, and stockings, and the mighty web of snowy cloth!
doorstone
Unaffiliated (playing around with the word “pelt”):
I pelted across the road
the rain was pelting down
he spotted four boys aged about ten pelting stones at ducks
two little boys pelted him with rotten apples
traders brought reindeer pelts
the alsatians, their thick pelts soaked, sniffed around the trees
“I kissed Gillie briefly on the cheek, and ruffled the pelt of Stuart
the raw skin of a sheep or goat, stripped and ready for tanning.
kemps:     a coarse hair or fiber in wool.
Unaffiliated maybe:
India-rubber leather. red-hot stove
to sell lace and ribbon, or corsets and hoop skirts.
reach the top of (something such as a hill or wave).“she crested a hill and saw the valley spread out before her”
US(of a river) rise to its highest level.“the river was expected to crest at eight feet above flood stage”
(of a wave) form a curling foamy top.“the swell begins to curl and crest”3.have attached or affixed at the top.“his helmet was crested with a fan of spikes”
The smell of rain on hot asphalt as the car door opens. The gritty texture of the rope biting into their palms as they climb. The distant siren that punctuates the dialogue.
The Vegetable Kingdom Or, The Structure, Classification, and Uses of Plants by John Lindley (1847)
velvet-carpeted bark, 
The bark of ancient trees is carpeted with velvet
branches are hung with a grey-beard tapestry,
the face of rocks is stained with ancient colours
Heaths and moors wave with a tough and wiry herbage, meadows are clothed with an emerald mantle, amidst which spring flowers of all hues and forms, bushes throw abroad their many-fashioned foliage, twiners scramble over and choke them, above all wave the arms of the ancient forest
Lush, soft herbage threw abroad their many-fashioned foliage, while vines crawled, climbed, creeped, wrapping, and threw tendrils.
Before this lie the bones of some fallen giant of the forest, overspread with great tufts of
Close by, some Psychotria expands its large leaves and wide branches. A Heliconia and a Phrynium start from the mud and marshy foreground
The tall tree on the right of Eschweilera, with a smooth bark and pinnated leaves
These and different kinds of Bilbergia have also taken possession of the rotten trunks in the neighbourhood. Near these is the white-barked Cecropia peltata, with large green leaves hoary with down on the under side.” The cable-like climbers on the extreme right are not named by Dr. Von Martins
The Youth’s Companion, Vol. 44 (1871)
gable window 
rain was dashing against the window
racket 
Then he flung out of the room
But bethink you, if you die, what good will all your possessions do you?
large American steamer at the whar
although he had grown so tall, and stout, and sunburnt, and was in coarse working clothes, instead of the pretty suit of navy blue I last saw him wear.
he color came to his cheek, and he turned his head this way and that, like a stray bird that hears its mother’s voice, but he did not see me
becalmed
We had run through the “trades,” and had been lying becalmed for several days, when abreeze sprang up that promised soon to take us round the African Continent.
eddying
the mists from the river eddied around the banks
cape pigeon-
though dozens of its companions were eddying around us within the course of the next few days .
A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr (2012)
Then the guard whistled, the train jerked forward a couple of paces—and stopped
Then the engine blew up a splendid plume of steam and shuffled off, a row of faces staring woodenly at me.
The Legend of William Oh by Macronomicon (2024)
the wad of stew-soaked bread
The shop was packed wall-to-wall with others
close-shaved head
and scars near his eyes
hoisting his leather sack of supplies
Together, the two of them followed the path to The Tower, joining asteady stream of men and women marching along underneath thesweltering heat of The Tower
The Vegetable Kingdom Or, The Structure, Classification, and Uses of Plants by John Lindley (1847)
overgrown slab 
velvet-carpeted bark, 
The bark of ancient trees is carpeted with velvet
branches are hung with a grey-beard tapestry,
needlegrass
rapt attention,
July 11, 2025
Note 1
gentle zephyrs breathing through the fragrant pines, inlands and knolls, 
Travels Through North and South Carolina by William Bartram (1791)
tenacious cinereous-coloured clay
stately trees of the great
Broom-Pine
checkered
high open forests of stately pines, flowery plains, and extensive green savannas, chequered with the incarnate Chironia pulcherrima, andAfclepias fragrans, perfumed the air whilst they pleased the eye.
endless green savannas, chequered with coppices of fragrant ſhrubs, filled the air with the richest perfume.
The perpetual forest hems the city in on all sides landward
and towards the suburbs, picturesque country houses are seen scattered about, half buried in luxuriant foliag
glossy velvety-green leaves
strongly digitated foliage,
As night came on, many species of frogs and toads in the marshy places joined in the chorus: their croaking and drumming, far louder than anything I had before heard in the same line, being added to the other noises, created an almost deafening din.
The fire-flies were then out in great numbers, flitting about the sombre woods, and even the frequented street
The tract of land is intersected by wellmacadamised suburban roads, the chief of which, the Estrada das Mongubeiras (the Monguba road), about a mile long, is a magnificent avenue of silk-cotton trees (Bombax monguba and B. ceiba), 
huge trees whose trunks taper rapidly from the ground upwards, and 
whose flowers before opening look like red balls studding the branche
The naked branches, the sodden ground matted with dead leaves, the grey mist veiling the surrounding vegetation, and the cool atmosphere soon after sunrise, all combine to remind one of autumnal mornings in England
Negritos of Zambales, Vol. 5 by William Allan Reed (1904)
The more prosperous Negritos in the long-established rancherias have four-posted houses of bamboo, with roof and sides of cogon grass. The floors are 4 feet from the ground and the cooking is done underneath the floors. A small fire is kept burning all night. The inmates of the house sleep just above it, and in this way receive some benefit of the warmth. If it were not for these fires the Negrito would suffer severely from cold during the night, for he possesses no blanket and uses no covering of any sort.
The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates (1863)
large glossy heart-shaped leaves,
wings are cream-coloured
the protected under-surface of the leaves
We were amazed at seeing ants an inch and a quarter in length, and stout in proportion, marching in single file through the thickets.
This ant is seen everywhere about the suburbs, marching to and fro in broad column’
My servant told me that they would carry off the whole contents of the two baskets (about two bushels) in the course of the night, if they were not driven off; so we tried to exterminate them by killing them with our wooden clog
What they did with the hard dry grains of mandioca I was never able to ascertain, and cannot even conjecture
baskets out of palm leaf, nito grass, and thick, dried forest vines
A long bench or two, a pillow rack, and a semi-reclining chair,
separate note from grab driver: palaka removed head Pampanga
Pouteria campechiana goes by many names, from Canistel and egg fruit to Tisa, Tiesa, Tiessa, or Chessa
The Youth’s Companion, Vol. 44 (1871)
The shark showed over the taffrail, 
dark alleys, and squalid houses,and damp, mouldy cellars, and filthy court-yards. 
bloodshot eyes, matted hair, emaciated faces, shrivelled limbs.
grating doors,
haggard, emaciated, matted hair, pallid face, glaring eyes
Travels Through North and South Carolina by William Bartram (1791)
as a breeze from the river had scattered the clouds of mosquitoes that at first infested me
It being a fine cool morning, and fair wind
They are first produced on, or close to, the shore, in eddy water, where they gradually spread themselves into the river, forming most delightful green plains, several miles in length, and in some places a quarter of a mile in breadth.
The Annals of the Barber-surgeons of London by Sidney Young (1890)
On Monday before the feast of St. Gregory the will of Richard le Barber, our first Master, was proved in the Court of Husting. To Katherine his wife and Johanna his daughter, he left tenements and rents in Bread Street, Cordwainer Street, Queenhithe, Candlewike Street, and Whitecrouche Street. To Thomas de Mangrave his apprentice, a shop in Bread Street; to the fabric of London Bridge 20s., and the residue to pious uses.
Note 2
re-combined notes:
studded with flowers, enamelled with emerald-green, dotted with, checked with, 
birds edying overhead, fitful spring rain pattering, rain dashing against the window pane, carpeted matted foliage, inlands and knolls, deer and boar, bullcart, 
stout, wide-shouldered, lush and soft herbage, parti-colored frocks, needlegrass, cutting through the field, pelting toward the door, chattering(?) Eurasian tree sparrows,
the dark-gray undersides of urban concrete installments, 
the bank of the river, sandbank, eddy, lagoon, breakwater / sandbar, 
large lance-shaped leaves,
July 12, 2025
Note 1
Travels in Western Africa by William Gray and Dochard (1825)
swampy hollows, a cluster of wide-spreading trees, down a shady lane, ambles sturdily ahead, land-carriage, earthen or pewter plates, glass window, coarse linen shirt,kitchen-grate, a thicket composed of underwood and cane; a hard yellow clay, intermixed with small quartz pebbles, a large circular mud hut, 
For about two miles the road led us over hilly and broken ground within a few yards of the river side.
rice, pistacios, cassada, and small beans
gently rising hills, covered with wood.
small iron stone gravel, large masses of which rose above the surface in all direction
white cotton cap, coloured silks, worsteds, close shirt of white cotton, short sleeves, long loose sleeves, surplice (descends below the knees), embroidered (about the shoulders and breast), smallclothes, wear their hair cut close, sandals, slippers, complete the catalogue of their wardrobe.
The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates (1863)
retired creeks, gloomy pathways of the forest, Brazilian seaport towns
Note 2
Trying to learn use of the term “bathe” with water:
The rain bathed him.
“The warm waters of the Caribbean bathed the sandy shore.” (The waves are gently and continuously washing up against the beach).“The river bathes the ancient stone walls of the castle.” (The river flows alongside the walls, constantly touching them).“He sat on the dock, letting the cool lake water bathe his feet.” (The water is softly flowing over his feet).
“she retired into the bathroom with her toothbrush”
everyone retired early that night”
The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates (1863)
retired creeks
gloomy pathways of the forest
Brazilian seaport towns
verdure
Travels in Western Africa by William Gray and Dochard (1825)
It is about fifty yards wide, two feet deep, and runs rapidly to the north, over a rough stony bottom.
The low ground on the borders between the forest wall and the road was encumbered with a tangled mass of bushy and shrubby vegetation, amongst which prickly mimosas were very numerous, covering the other bushes in the* same way as brambles do in England
The light coloured sandy and rocky soil, which, with little variation, we passed over since entering the Foolah country, here changed to a rich dark mould 5 hills on all sides, rising gently one above another, and covered with large clumps of trees, bounded this luxuriant spo
assing some large unconnected lumps of rock of from five to twenty feet perpendicular height
baskets of cane
sanguinary
The vegetable productions are indigo, cotton, rice, maize, yams, cassada, shalots, and pompions; and their fruits are oranges, lemons, plantains, bananas, tamarinds, and nittas, or the locust fruit; the latter is a kind of mimosa, very much resembling the tamarind tree
They are, like all other African females, extremely fond of amber, coral, and glass beads, which they bestow in profiision on their heads, necks, arms, waists, and ancles.
the brig sprung a leak, and nearly carried away her mainmast in a squall
Our horses (one of which died) were reduced to the very last stage of want, having subsisted, for several days, on a little rice and biscuit dust, with a very small quantity of water.
I so far succeeded as to purchase seven horses, and was fortunate enough to meet there fifteen camels 
chiefly engaged in trade, except when the approach of the rains summons them to the corn and rice grounds.
They subsist chiefly on milk, a little corn, which they obtain in exchange for butter when in the vicinity of towns, and such game as they can kill.
Their only furniture consists of a few mats to lie on, some wooden bowls and calabashes, and a few leather bags ; the latter serve them as churns, and to carry water in when encamped at a distance from where it is to be found.
Their dress is very plain, being nothing more than a piece of cotton cloth, about two and a half yards long and three quarters wide, wrapped round the waist, and descending a little below the knees, with another of the same kind thrown over the shoulders. The men wear a cotton cap besmeared with grease, to which is sometimes added, by way of ornament, the end of a cow’s tail, died blue or red. Like all other pagans, they are very superstitious, and wear a great number of grigres, or charms, round their necks, arms and legs. They are inordinately fond of red cloth, which they make use of in covering those charms. Their weapons are long spears, bows and arrows, and occasionally a long gun. They are good marksmen with all these, and seldom throw away a shot ; but this arises more from the difficulty they find in obtaining powder, ball, and small shot, than from any dislike to miss their mark
Caravans from the interior frequently stop there, on their way to the settlements on the coast, and dispose of their goods to the masters of some of the small trading vessels from St. Mary’s, or to the native merchants, who carry on at tliat place, and the towns lower down the river, a very considerable trade in gold, ivory, and bees’ wax ; in exchange for which they receive fire-arms, powder, Indiagoods, coral, amber, glass beads, iron, tobacco, rum, and cutlery.
The dress of these people is far from being inelegant or inconvenient : the men wear on the head a white cotton cap, very neatly worked with different coloured silks or worsteds ; a close shirt of white cotton, with short sleeves, next the skin, covers the body from the neck to the hips, and is surmounted by a very large one of the same materials, with long loose sleeves, not unlike a surplice ; this descends below the knees, and is embroidered, in the same way as the cap, about the shoulders and breast. The smallclothes, which are very roomy above, descend about two inches below the knee, where it is only sufficiently large not to be tight. This part of their dress is generally blue. They wear their hair cut close, and make use of none of the grease or rancid butter of which the JolofF men are so lavish. Sandals or slippers protect their feet from the heat of the sand, and from thorns; and complete the catalogue of their wardrobe.
The dress of the women is neither so decent nor so clean. The body, from the waist upward, is almost always naked, except when enceinte , in which case a sort of short chemise, without sleeves, covers the neck and stomach. They plat their hair neatly into a profusion of small braids, but are so lavish of butter or palm oil on them and their skins (which are generally of a very fine black) that they cannot be approached without experiencing the very unpleasant effects of such anointings, rendered doubly offensive by the addition of profuse and constant perspiration.
The huts and yards of these people are extremely clean, and, although small, are comparatively comfortable. The walls of both are, for the most part, composed of split cane formed into a sort of wicker work resembling hurdles. The roofs of the former are conical, and covered with long dry grass, fastened on with a small line made from the inner bark of the monkeybread tree. On the whole, their houses have a very neat appearance.
The amusements of these people are confined to dancing and music, which take place almost every fine evening at a late hour, in the centre of the village, where, when the moon does not afford them light, a large fire is made for that purpose.
The young of both sexes, dressed in their gayest attire, attend on these occasions ; a ring is formed by them and the spectators, and the former dance in regular succession by pairs. The instrument which accompanies this dance is called a ballafo *, and affords better music than might be expected from such rude materials ; it is composed of cane and wood, in the following manner. A frame, three feet long, eighteen inches wide at one end, and nine at the other, is made of cane, split very thin, and supported at the corners, about nine inches from the ground, by four upright sticks of nearly an inch diameter ; across this frame are laid twenty pieces of hard wood, diminishing in size in the same proportion progressively, from one end to the other, as the frame to which they are slightly attached with thin twine. Under each of these cross pieces, is suspended an empty gourd, of a size adapted to the tone of note required, having a hole in the part where it comes in contact with the stick, and another at the bottom ; the latter is covered with a thin piece of dried sheep’s gut.
It is played on with two small sticks, by a man who sits cross legged on the ground, and is accompanied by one or more small drums.
I also observed here a sort of amusement, or rather inquisitorial exhibition, called by the natives Kongcorong. It was thus : a man, covered from head to foot with small boughs of trees, made his appearance in the afternoon near the town, and gave notice to the young women and girls that he would pay them a visit after sunset. At the appointed time he entered the village, preceded by drums, and repaired to the assembly place, where all were collected to meet him with the music and singing. He commenced by saying that he came to caution the ladies to be very circumspect in their conduct towards the whites, meaning the men of the Expedition, and related some circumstances, with which he said he was acquainted, little to their credit : — but, as it was his first time, he would neither mention names, nor inflict the usual punishment, namely, flogging. He, however, would take advantage of the first opportunity which they would be imprudent enough to afford him.
All he said was repeated by the girls in a sort of song, accompanied by the music and clapping of hands. Every one who had any thing to fear from his inquisitorial authority, made him a present j and I observed that not one of the girls withheld this proof of their fear of his tongue, or of their own consciousness of guilt. He remained with them until near midnight.
ocre-coloured clay intermixed here and there with small fragments of ferruginous stone, which, in several places, makes its appearance above the surface in the form of large rocks
one hundred bars in baft, muslin, coral, amber, tobacco, scarlet cloth, and a pair of pistols
vociferous
acceded 
Our means of transport decreased daily ; we had lost since the 2d, one camel, one mule, and four horses, and there was no possibility of procuring any at Kayaye ; the camels left on the road by Bon-ama, had not yet come up, although we had despatched a man to bring them. Every thing, however, being ready, we fixed the 25th for our departure.
We travelled along nearly east at the rate of two miles an hour over a flat country thinly covered with baobabs, tamarinds, rhamnus lotus, and other fruit trees within a short distance of the river ; between us and which lay a low tract of land, annually inundated, where rice is cultivated by the natives when the water retires after the periodical rains
The path, for the most part of the way, was extremely narrow and inconvenient, in consequence of the closeness of the wood, which is low and stunted, the soil being a mixture of dark red sand, and small iron stone gravel, large masses of which rose above the surface in all direction
Coonting is a considerable town, partly surrounded with a mud wall, about six feet high. It is in three divisions, each separated from the other by a clear space of about two hundred yards, in which stand some fine large evergreen trees, in whose shade the natives spend the most part of the day, engaged in conversation, playing a game somewhat resembhng draughts, at which they are very clever, and sleeping, a very general recreation in that country. Here also is held the assembly of the head men and chiefs, when any matter of importance requires their attention. Each of those divisions is governed by a head man, who is under the control of a chief, subject to the king of Katoba, The town is pleasantly situate in an extensive plain, and bears the marks of cultivation to a considerable distance, surrounded on all sides, except the sw., by gently rising hills, covered with wood. The town is plentifully supplied with water of a good quality, from wells nine fathoms deep, at the bottoms of which is a stratum of solid rock
Here… place afforded an abundance of forage and water for the animals, and an opportunity of procuring a small quantity of rice, pistacios, cassada, and small beans, for ourselves.
seated in a large circular mud hut, surrounded by about twenty-five boys, from the age of seven to fourteen, learning to read and write Arabic
alcaide: a commander of a castle or fortress (as among Spaniards, Portuguese, or Moors)
We left Coonting at four o’clock on the morning of the S8th, and travelled east. Two of the horses were unable to rise from the ground this morning, and were left to their fate. At about a mile from Coonting, we entered a thicket composed of underwood and cane, which was so close that we were obliged to cut down the branches and some trees, for a considerable distance, in order to admit of the camels passing with the loads. The face of the country begins to rise here considerably, and to be diversified by hill and dale — the former high and covered with wood, and the latter apparently very fertile. The soil, too, changed from light sand to a hard yellow clay, intermixed with small quartz pebbles. For about two miles the road led us over hilly and broken ground within a few yards of the river side.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (1776)
I have seen several boys, under twenty years of age, who had never exercised any other trade but that of making nails… could make, each of them, upwards of two thousand three hundred nails in a day… blows the bellows, stirs or mends the fire as there is occasion, heats the iron, and forges every part of the nail: in forging the head, too, he is obliged to change his tools…the making of a pin, or of a metal button
In the first fire engines {this was the current designation for steam engines}, a boy was constantly employed to open and shut alternately the communication between the boiler and the cylinder, according as the piston either ascended or descended
One of those boys, who loved to play with his companions, observed that, by tying a string from the handle of the valve which opened this communication to another part of the machine, the valve would open and shut without his assistance, and leave him at liberty to divert himself with his play-fellows.
Observe the accommodation of the most common artificer or daylabourer in a civilized and thriving country
The shepherd, the sorter of the wool, the wool-comber or carder, the dyer, the scribbler, the spinner, the weaver, the fuller, the dresser, with many others, must all join their different arts in order to complete even this homely production. 
ship-builders, sailors, sail-makers, rope-makers
The miner, the builder of the furnace for smelting the ore, the feller of the timber, the burner of the charcoal to be made use of in the smelting-house, the brickmaker, the bricklayer, the workmen who attend the furnace, the millwright, the forger, the smith, must all of them join their different arts in order to produce them.
all the different parts of his dress and household furniture, the coarse linen shirt which he wears next his skin, the shoes which cover his feet, the bed which he lies on, and all the different parts which compose it, the kitchen-grate at which he prepares his victuals, the coals which he makes use of for that purpose, dug from the bowels of the earth, and brought to him, perhaps, by a long sea and a long land-carriage, all the other utensils of his kitchen, all the furniture of his table, the knives and forks, the earthen or pewter plates upon which he serves up and divides his victuals, the different hands employed in preparing his bread and his beer, the glass window which lets in the heat and the light, and keeps out the wind and the rain
Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson (1983)
-a(ny) reader
sticky Semarang road
he has no idea of the word “socialism”: nonetheless he feels a profound malaise in the face of the social organization that surrounds him and he feels the need to enlarge his horizons by two methods: travel and reading
newspaper as cultural product
caprice, 
imagined linkage, calendrical coincidence,
Within that time, ‘the world’ ambles sturdily ahead.
famine reportage, 
Reading a newspaper is like reading a novel whose author has abandoned any thought of a coherent plot. (!)
each book has its own eremitic self-sufficiency.
Small wonder that libraries, personal collections of mass-produced commodities, were already a familiar sight, in urban centres like Paris, by the sixteenth century.
The significance of this mass ceremony—Hegel observed that newspapers serve modern man as a substitute for morning prayers—is paradoxical. It is performed in silent privacy, in the lair of the skull. Yet each communicant is well aware that the ceremony he performs is being replicated simultaneously by thousands (or millions) of others of whose existence he is confident, yet of whose identity he has not the slightest notion.
daily or half-daily intervals,
Dickens too serialized his popular novels in popular newspapers.
individual egotisms into an impersonal collective will, what would otherwise be chaos into a new state legitimacy
sodalities, centripetal,
The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates (1863)
Cassia trees, with their elegant pinnate foliage and conspicuous yellow flowers, formed a great proportion of the lower trees, and arborescent arums grew in groups around the swampy hollows
The road then ascended slightly, and the soil and vegetation became suddenly altered in character.
Some of them were elegantly veined and hairy (Melastomae), whilst many, scattered amongst the rest, had smaller foliage (Myrtles), but these were not sufficient to subtract much from the general character of the whole.
a few cattle belonging to an estate down a shady lane were congregated, panting, under a cluster of wide-spreading trees
giddy height
The leaves, which have the ordinary pinnate shape characteristic of the family, are emitted from the stems at long intervals, instead of being collected into a dense crown, and have at their tips a number of long recurved spines
Many of the woody lianas suspended from trees are not climbers, but the air-roots of epiphytous plants (Aroidese), which sit en the stronger boughs of the trees above, and hang down straight as plumb-lines
Some are suspended singly, others in clusters ; some reach halfway to the ground and others touch it, striking their rootlets into the earth
Amongst them were species of Marantaceae, some of which had broad glossy leaves, with long leaf-stalks radiating from joints in a reed-like stem
The trunks of the trees were clothed with climbing ferns, and Pothos plants with large, fleshy, heart-shaped leaves. Bamboos and other tall grass and reed-like plants arched over the pathway
a vegetation like that in the great palm-house spread over a large tract of swampy ground
it mingled with large exogenous trees similar to our oaks and elms covered with creepers and parasites
the ground encumbered with fallen and rotting trunks, branches, and leaves; the whole illuminated by a glowing vertical sun, and reeking with moisture
a large building, white-washed and red-tiled as usual, raised on wooden piles above the humid groun
The second story was the part occupied by the family, and along it was an open verandah, where people, maie and female, were at work.
He complained also of the dearness of slaves, owing to the prohibition of the African traffic, telling us that formerly a slave could be bought for 120 dollars, whereas they are now difficult to procure at 400 ($13,535.37 in 2025 ?) dollars.
On Sundays gay parties of forty or fifty persons used to come by land and water, in carriages and gay galliotas, to spend the day with the hospitable owner
spotted-fever
This hurry of the people was such for some weeks that there was no getting at the Lord Mayor’s door without exceeding difficulty; there were such pressing and crowding there to get passes and certificates of health for such as travelled abroad, for without these there was no being admitted to pass through the towns upon the road, or to lodge in any inn. Now, as there had none died in the city for all this time, my Lord Mayor gave certificates of health without any difficulty to all those who lived in the ninety-seven parishes, and to those within the liberties too for a while.
It appeared like a deſart to a great extent, and terminated, on the land side, by frightful thickets, and open pine forests.
inviolate
At the reanimating appearance of the rising sun, nature again revives ; and I obeythe cheerful summons of the gentle monitors of the meads and groves.
The house was a square building, consisting of four equal-sized rooms ; the tiled roof projected all round, so as to form a broad verandah, cool and pleasant to sit and work in. The cultivated .ground, which appeared as if newly cleared from the forest, was planted with fruit trees and small plots of coffee and mandioca. The entrance to the grounds was by an iron-grille gateway from a grassy square, around which were built the few houses and palm-thatched huts which then constituted the village.
emendations, text is literally bristling
(especially of hair) close-set, stiff, and spiky:“a bristling beard”
aggressively brisk or tense:“he fills the screen with a restless, bristling energy”
recondite, dotages
The age of Shakespeare, 1579-1631, Vol. 1 by Thomas Seccombe and John William Allen (1903)
species of commonplace book of aphorisms flowing out of the poet’s daily reading
Timber Or Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter by Ben Jonson (1892)
For every note is stamped with the powerful individuality of the writer, so that even the reflected thoughts of others have become wholly Jonson’s own ; while the care with which the notes have been penned, and the painstaking attention to matters of style and expression, entitle Jonson here as elsewhere to challenge the first place of his age as a master of vigorous, idiomatic English prose
Learning definitions, grudged and wreathe:
he grudged the work and time that the meeting involved
“he watched the smoke wreathe into the night air”
“he sits wreathed in smoke”
“shall I once more wreathe my arms about Antonio’s neck?”
streams of flame
Indian earthen ware
July 21, 2025
Note 1
Alaska by James A. Michener (1988)
knocking away the snow that threatened to engulfed them, meager fires
superstructures of wood and whalebone and sealskin.
premonitory forms, salvaged his pride by shifting the discussion,
precipitate departure, stygian waters,
Athapascans,
July 31, 2025
Note 1
Banded rustication 
eye-glass
for aught I know
The French Marshall, a poem by Henry Abbey, (either excerpted from Appletons’ Journal of Literature, Science and Art, Vol 2 [1869] or from The Ark Vol. 3 [1913], likely the former)
loud-mouthed bells, flower-sweet face, laid her Springlike head against the Autumn of his cheek, with charms of smile and mien, her gold loose hair with flowers like jewels set, wondrous epaulet, war’s red van, 
tarred and feathered
tarred him on!
feathered a perfect lob over the net
watered stock:
The term came from his time in the livestock business, when he would have his cattle lick salt and drink water before selling them, to increase their weight.
: to draw together the edges of by or as if by a lace passed through eyeletslaces her fingers behind her head
a: to adorn with or as if with lacethe surrounding countryside was laced with villages and hamlets—L. C. Heinemannb: to mark with streaks of color
: to add something to impart pungency, savor, or zest toa sauce laced with garlicconversation laced with sarcasm
: to admit of being tied or fastened with a lace2: to make a verbal attack —usually used with intohis boss laced into him for being late
: a cord or string used for drawing together two edges (as of a garment or a shoe)2: an ornamental braid for trimming coats or uniforms3: an openwork usually figured fabric made of thread or yarn and used for trimmings, household coverings, and entire garmentslaced laceless lacelike 
Prince Alexis: or, ‘Beauty and the beast’. (1882)
the huge jaws writhe convulsively, and from their edges the hot flakes of blood and foam spurt over Michael’s face
August 14, 2025
Note 1
A Boston Girl’s Ambitions by Virginia Frances Townsend (1887)
poured through the window-panes [and flickered around the ceramic tiles]
solitary beam glanced over a head that lay, as though in deep slumber, on the pillow. The light shot across his face and into the hair.
He dipped the spoon in the broth.
A small hand, the delicate skin chapped and roughened, stole out from under the blanket, and laid itself on his arm.
tear-wet lashes, 
broiled beefsteak, hot coffee, and fresh rolls.
shrub-shaded driveways, beds and borderings of flowers gave vivid color and grace to the landscape.
At the back of the house stretched a large, fragrant old garden.
Wide stretched the buildings.
Some of the fruit-trees drew their mellow juices from a soil that had nourished them for more than a century.
Discovering the word scarf:
He scarfed his favorite drink. He scarfed his favorite meal.
a quick short movementlithe snaps of its body
a sound made by snapping somethingshut the book with a snap
a: an act or instance of seizing abruptly : a sudden snatching at something
Learning the word snap:
a sudden spell of weathera cold snap
: the condition of being vigorous in body, mind, or spirit : alertness, energyb: a pleasing vigorous quality
snap
3 of 4adverb: with a snap
snap
4 of 4adjective1: done, made, or carried through suddenly or without deliberationa snap judgment2: called or taken without prior warninga snap election3: fastening with a snapa snap lock4: unusually easy or simplea snap course
Note 2
A Boston Girl’s Ambitions by Virginia Frances Townsend (1887)
He sat near his sister, in a rickety arm-chair.
Her voice faltered and then steadied itself.
He seized the warm little hands, that suddenly reached themselves out to him.
Before she could speak, he seized her in his arms, and whirled her about the room as though she had been a baby.
August 15, 2025
Note 1
A Boston Girl’s Ambitions by Virginia Frances Townsend (1887)
little wafts of cool west wind came through open doors and windows,
the dark, slender, supple-framed young man
Dorrice’s eyes followed him with proud content.
She wore, this afternoon, a white dress, with a wide lace scarf at her throat.
She folded her hands.
There was a knock on the door. An instant later, Mrs. Kent rose to receive Ray Gathorpe.
cool, shaded sitting-room
seedy youth, the thin face, the deep-rimmed, despairing eyes.
fine, eager face, 
clear, decided accent,
She turned to gaze through the honeysuckle-vines at the dull-red afterglow in the western sky.
leaning over the low parapet and plucking a yellow rose from a large bush below her.
fastening the yellow rose in Carryl’s vest button-hole
bushes, gay with blossoms, low, wide-spreading shrubs, hid the piazza in a great nest of greenery,
She thanked him with a smile in which her eyes had, just then, more share than her lips, and it struck him that she looked, as she leaned against the parapet, with her dark head and slender limbs in strong relief against the greenery, like some piece of rare sculpture; but even such a brother as Carryl Dacres would be less likely than a lover to say this to his sister.
In a moment, his thoughts recurred to another subject. “But you haven’t told me yet what you think of young Gathorpe,” he said.
Before she could reply,  there was a movement at one of the windows, and Mrs. Kent and her guest came out and joined the two on the piazza.
They were much in the habit of bantering each other; and in their lively badinage and repartee, sometimes one, sometimes the other, got the better.
There was a little silence. Carryl had been moving about the room, during the last few minutes; he came to a full pause before his sister, and the two looked in each other’s face. Ray caught the glance that stole up from the brown, dark-lashed eyes. There was a strange solemn look in them. What did it mean?
Ray took in at a glance the airy grace of her figure, in a buff cambric, the fine cool fabric clinging close to her limbs, with a scarf of pale lemon color tied in large, pendant bows at her throat. She wore a small round hat of light yellow straw, around which was knotted some soft gauzy stuff, of a little darker shade. Her dresses were always simple in make, as they were quiet in tint, but clinging folds and flexile lines invested her with a subtle womanly daintness.
“No, Chief, I can’t have you along this morning,” she said, in a tone which showed the animal was a pet with her. “Be a good dog and go straight to your mistress, and take care of her until I come back.”
He lifted his hat. “You have a lovely morning for your drive, Miss Dacres,” he said. “Is it to be a long one?”
“Not very: I am going over to Belmont, on some errands for Mrs. Kent.”
“If I should presume to ask permission to accompany you, I wonder if it would be to meet with the fate that Chief did, just now!” patting the big head, for, on recognizing that voice, the dog had returned, and was regarding the pair with solemn, intent gaze.-“Can you muster courage to try and see, Mr. Gathorpe?” she answered, archly.
“Well then, my I have the pleasure of driving with you this morning, Miss Dacres?”
For answer she made room on the seat, and placed the reins in his hands.
perfect morning in the waning midsummer
Days of fiery heat had preceded it, paralyzing the air, and parching the land.
An east wind blew, and stirred the drooping leaves, and thrilled the fainting land.
straw-colored blinds
row of tiger-lillies in the front yard
They drew up to the gate of the farm-house, and after he had assisted her to alight, and she had gone inside, he walked about in the short grass that bordered the road, and patted Dapple’s white nose, and absently snapped off a grasshopper from his coat-sleeve, and smiled to himself a little, as he thought what a grave turn the gay talk with which they started had taken.
small, sharp-featured mistress,
eying Raw curiously, her apron drawn over her head.
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (1961)
One should not become an artist because he can, but because he must. It is only for those who would be miserable without it.
Wasted Fires: A Romance of Australia and England by Hume Nisbet (1902)
after he had taken from his overcoat his pipe and tobacco pouch, fixing a pair of cold, stone-coloured eyes upon the husband and wife
He was an old man, this weekly comforter, how old it would be difficult to guess ; a spare, thin figure, with a shrivelled, wrinkled face, hard in expression, whiskers and hair grizzly and harsh, and eyebrows over-pent and shaggy.
flushed cheeks.
،،Well, what do you think of it ? ” asked Dirk, while his wife sat silent at the other side of the table with closely-clasped hands, as the old man silently folded it up, and, taking off his spectacles, slowly began to fill his pipe
daresay
” Yes, yes, perhaps “—a long pause, filled out with heavy puffs of smoke—“however, I have not come to discourage you ; it may be all right in the end ; let us hope so, for your sake.
said Mrs. Davelock, with a miserable look in her rich brown eyes.
sea-scape
his ghastly pallor 
host and hostess became wan and wearied as the timepiece on the mantel ticked out the lagging moments.
A white tom-cat sprang on to the table at this pause in the conversation, and, arching his back, purred as he rubbed his soft sides against the dark downcast cheeks of his mistress.
A beautiful starry night it was into which the old man briskly walked with a jaunty step, his stick sounding on the pavement as if three heels were ringing along, and the young man watched him as he receded, buttoning up his overcoat.
he resolved to walk the distance.
advanced quickly to step upon it
Dirk had stopped half way, all of a sudden, and was looking behind him with his hand pressing the calf of his left leg as if in great pain.
The chemist looked for a moment very ponderous and solemn as Dirk rolled up his trousers, surprised himself to find no trace of a blow.
A chill of horror struck Dirk as he heard this verdict, alone in Metaltown, and such a catastrophe in store ; he grew blind for a moment, while the place swam round and a cold sickness settled upon his heart, as all the dire consequences flashed before him.
no chance of getting any one to attend to him, he managed to crawl over the bed and dress himself. 
rasher of bacon
Dirk gave a little gasp as he drew out his purse
sank back on the hard antimaccassar-covered sofa to ruminate 
The first trouble which Mrs. Davelock experienced, after getting in, was from a deluge of milk-men. The knocker went from morning to night, while cards lay upon the lobby floor like a heavy shower of snow, and before her bewildered brain could grasp the difficulty, she had committed herself to about two dozen of these milk-decocting adventurers
parcel of drawings
he strode down the office stairs and out to the street with a mist of hot blood before his eyes
Place Saint-Georges in Paris, showing top-floor garret windows
aldermen, chattels
Fitz-Stephen’s Survey of the Metropolis (excerpted either from Saint Pancras Past and Present or The Municipal Parks, Gardens, and Open Spaces of London)
yew trees, wood of which esteemed the best for making bows.
cavalcade
odoriferous woods
The Picture of London (could be 1802, 1810, who knows)
In 1419, Sir Thomas Eyre, compassionating the distress of the poor in times of scarcity, built Leaden-hall at his own expense, and gave it to the City to be employed at a public granary. It is now (1800?) used as a market for poultry, meat, hides, and leather.
charities in 1419
In the ensuing year Smithfield was paved, and in 1615 the sides of the principal streets, which had before been laid with pebbles, were now paved with broad free-stone and flags.
amerced
Shortly after Charles’s execution, Sir Abraham Reynardson, then lord mayor, refusing to proclaim the abolition of monarchy, was degraded from his office and imprisoned; a more obsequious one was then chosen. On the death of Commonwell, the common council made a strong opposition to the committee of safety, declared for a free parliament, and refused to advance resources; when government, dreading the effects of such an opposition, ordered General Monk to march his army into the city, who broke and cut to pieces the city gates, portcullises, and posts.
About the beginning of May, 1665, one of the most…
Bring out your dead!
in one week = 6988 dead
was London actually paganism in 17th century, or is that a byword for Protestants?
burgesses
corporate bodies of tradesmen,
any of the most expensive seminaries for private tuition,
A Boston Girl’s Ambitions by Virginia Frances Townsend (1887)
small, steep-roofed, slender-pillared portico, 
faltered
solemn, faltering tones,
? dignity in the ward, in death,
Travels and Adventures in Southern Africa by George Thompson (1827)
diversified with hanging woods, rocks, and waterfalls,
a gothic cathedral, with narrow sloping buttresses covered with a smooth turf of the liveliest verdure,
The garden is watered by a little brook…
Somerset Farm—extensive Government establishment—under the superintendence of Mr. Hart
August 18, 2025
Note 1
Excerpt 1
The Green Satin Gown by Laura E. Richards (1903)
Here we sat, and fanned ourselves with our pocket-handkerchiefs, while I tried to find breath for a question; but there was not time! 
snowy hair, arranged in puff on puff
We were wearing large sleeves then, something like yours at the present day, and high collars; the fashion was at its height. This gown had long, tight, wrinkled sleeves, coming down over the hand, and finished with a ruffle of yellow lace; the neck, rounded and half-low, had a similar ruffle almost deep enough to be called a ruff; the waist, if it could be called a waist, was up under the arms: briefly, a costume of my grandmother’s time. Little green satin slippers lay beside it, and a huge feather-fan hung by a green ribbon.
Excerpt 2
?
He flutterred his finger to her. He fluttered around the room.
sunfaced
he came wrapped in robes,
battlemented wall
August 19, 2025
Note 1
The Green Satin Gown by Laura E. Richards (1903)
stuffed chairs, its tidies, and cabinet organ
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (1961)
haircloth
coverlets, cupboard, catercorner, hatrack,
small bundle of clothes,
drew in his breath sharply,
lay, his hands locked behind his head,
entresol, foyer,
the walls in a cool cream color,
light brown hair and fair complexion, tall and corpulent, with a heavy face and plump underchin.
dark, handsome, saturnine. his eyes slashed through the assemblage, separating every personage and relationship. He missed nothing that could be useful to him,
young suckling pig roasted on a spit, with rosemary in their mouths,
slipped her arm through his,
The following morning he and Bertoldo walked through the sentient air of early spring, the sky a cerulean blue, the stones of Florence fire-gold as they absorbed the sun. Above them on the hills of Fiesole each cypress, villa and monastery stood out from the green-gray background of olives and vines. They went to the far end of the garden, to the collection of marble books. It was as though they were standing in an ancient cemetery whose tumbled headstones had been bleached by the sun.
August 20, 2025
Note 1
o——[[ NOTAS! ]]—-—o
The Home Grounds By Edward Gorton Davis & Ralph Wright Curtis, 1915
Floral Life: Devoted to the Flower Garden and the Home, Volume 2, 1904
History of Oregon, Volume 1, by Hubert Howe Bancroft & Frances Fuller Victor, 1890
The Story of a Pioneer: With The Collaboration Of Elizabeth Jordan by Anna Howard Shaw, 1915
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone, 1961
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, 1946
Caravans to Santa Fe by Alida Malkus, 1928
Raquel of the Ranch Country by Alida Malkus, 1927
The Life and Letters of Washington Irving, Volume 4, Oxford University, 1864
The Home Grounds By Edward Gorton Davis & Ralph Wright Curtis, 1915
A rustic pergola over a long, straight, bricked walk.
Inclosing borders should not be of a monotonous and rigid outline. Such monotony comes largely from an overuse of shrubs as compared to trees; a continuous line of this low material gives no relief nor variety. Tree should be used first where there is room for them, and should form the bulk of the plantings.
A garden may be a perfectly lawless place…
An inclosed and flower-bordered kitchen garden three hundred years old
Vines… for draping the arches of garden walks…
A dooryard where the stone steps form a flower garden of rock plants. These steps lead from a terrace to a garden in which native wood plants have been naturalized
Vines should be used with caution and placed where they will accentuate ideas already established.
Norway Maple… a tough and hardy tree, low-headed but excellent for the lawn or the average city street where there are no wires.
Cornus mas; bears yellow flowers early in spring, before the leaves appear.
Tulip Tree, or Whitewood… foliage is rich and glossy, but limbs are very brittle.
Weeping European Beech… purple varieties, erect and weeping, are more striking, but the normal green-foliage types are more satisfactory.
Trembling Aspen… usually a small tree, from 40 to 50 feet high, with gray-green trunk and limbs, most attractive against a dark background.
Scotch Pine… irregular spreading habit, and bluish green foliage with salmon-colored trunks; grows rapidly but is short-lived in America.
Red, or Norway, Pine… a native pine, little used but very handsome and thoroughly satisfactory; foliage long and dark green, in heavy clusters, making a strong, bold effect when the trees are massed in groups.
Weeping Japanese Cherry… pale rose-purple flowers, appearing early, before the leaves.
Alternate-Leaved Dogwood… a slender little native tree or large shrub, with branches in whorls wide apart, very Japanese-like.
Retinospora pisifera var. squarrosa, a Japanese Cypress with blue-gray, feathery foliage 
(e.g., The young man passed the blue-gray, feathery foliage of a Japanese cypress.)
Maidenhair Tree… this remains narrow for forty or fifty years, and then broadens out, with wide-reaching limbs.
Umbrella Pine… A hardy but rare plant, conspicuous in both form and foliage. The leaves are clustered twenty to thirty in a whorl, are long and narrow, and are dark glossy green in color.
These conical evergreen types are always emphatic and conspicuous, and do not harmonize readily with normal surroundings in America. As specimens such evergreens should be used sparingly. They are much safer in solid groups. Even when planted in mass, the individuals themselves are so emphatic that it takes years for them to merge together into a solid evergreen mass. Comparing a solid planting of Norway Spruce… with a similar planting of Hemlock… it is seen that in the former every individual spruce is stiff and conical and remains so for years, while in the latter, even five years after planting, the hemlocks, with their graceful habit and foliage, have lost their individuality and merged into one indefinite mass. The hemlock is the finest tree that can be used for solid evergreen planting.
As a class, the rapid-growing trees are weak-wooded and transient. They are cheap, and are usually thought of as fillers for temporary or quick effects.
The White, or Silver, Poplar… has striking foliage, green above and white woolly below, but it easily collects dirt and soon becomes unsightly. The tree grows very rapidly, suckers abundantly, and is likely to become a nuisance.
The Box Elder, or Ash-leaved Maple… is another worthless tree for the street. It is a small, straggling tree, good for holding a bank because it grows and spreads so rapidly. It is used in western street planting because it is resistant to drought; but there is no justification for it in the East, where one may have such sterling good trees as Elms, Oaks, Oriental Planes, and Sugar and Norway Maples.
The Horse-chestnut, like the Soft Maple, is planted far too much on city streets. It is a tree for the open lawn, and when set in the average dry city street it not only invites vandalism by its flowers and fruits, but also invariably suffers from lack of water and becomes unsightly before the summer is gone.
The Hardy Catalpa is both weak-wooded and conspicuous in flower. It also has large, tender leaves, which easily collect dust and become torn and ragged in a storm.
The Beech (Fagus) is not suitable for street planting, although it is not mentioned above. It is hard to get established, casts a dense shade, and is worthless on dry soil.
Floral Life: Devoted to the Flower Garden and the Home, Volume 2, 1904
Leaf-cuttings make the most compact and shapely plants, but more graceful plants are grown from soft-wood cuttings taken in May, June, July and August
Begonia… The branches are drawn down over the sides of the basket so as to cover it completely, the effect being that of a hanging great ball of bloom.
but when rightly grown, well hardened and intelligently handled they frequently retain their bloom for four weeks or more.
Several years ago the church at which occurred one of the most notable weddings in Newport was decorated with Easter Lilies and this magnificent Begonia, the aisles being flanked by hundreds of magnificent baskets upon high pedestals, the standards of which were festooned with Smilax, forming a strikingly rich and graceful effect.
To me this same Pine-all Pines, in fact has a stately, soldier-like air, as if doing battle with the storms of this world to protect its frailer treasures.
The Southern Pine has a minstrel’s voice, and a proud, commanding mien;  It sings the songs of the winds that smite its musical boughs of green.
But whether its silvery foliage be likened to priestly vestments, steel-blue lances, or vibrating cords, the beauty of the White Pine is unquestioned.
A botanist would note that the needles are three sided and grow five in a group, while you and I were merely admiring their silken sheen, as the wind tossed them about and the sun sparkled in many swift changes of silver and steel-blue light among them.
But the trees that stand on poor, parched hillsides, from which all fertility has gradually washed away, are the ones that usually bear the heaviest crop of fruit. 
Their leaves are small and poorly colored, their branches thinly set, and after a few years of prodigal fruitage they die, recalling the old practice of ringing vines and trees to make them bear heavily
The tall, scraggy Gum-trees of our swamps 
steel-blue berries
On high, cold mountain tops grows another pretty little evergreen shrub, Dendrium buxifolium prostratum. “Mountain Heather” it is familiarly called, though its near relative, D. buxifolium, of the coast region, is knownas Sand Myrtle. It is an exceedingly pretty little bush, and grows in dense, rounded clumps in the bare spaces about and among the Rhododendrons. Its flowers are small and dainty-pale pink and scentless.
A combination of rocks and rustin work will form an ideal floral rockery, if set in irregular, careless fashion.
A novel change from the regulation primly-set, stone-banked imitation is an arrangement of half a dozen huge rocks (which will frequently cost less than a cart-load of small ones) covered with trailing bloomers. Stiff Geraniums and stately bedding plants would be manifestly out of place here; so drooping and trailing plants and old-fashioned ribbon-grasses fill the crevices, partly cover the rocks, and surround the rustic bench or chair at their base.
Effectiveness of large masses of stone in a rockery 
Rockeries, as made in the past, are held in contempt by all gardeners who have not survived their taste, but large rocks in semi-detached masses are always susceptible to artistic treatment and suggestive of bold and beautiful effects.
Among the Japanese this germ in the child is fostered and trained to adorn life with the same kind of grace and charm which results from the honeysuckle or the climbing rose that you train to adorn the pillars of the home verandah.
Do not crowd too many blossoms into one vase; do not join discordant colors; do not let the arrangements be too symmetrical, or too stiff. A few loosely arranged roses in a bowl with honeysuckle, or a few sprays of Clematis paniculata, are far more pleasing than an over-crowded arrangement of the same flowers.
as golden-rods and asters growing together in a bit of marsh-land
Shujiu-aikio: The esteem of all mankind…. Fortunate indeed must the Japanese student of the mysteries of flower-lore be, if he becomes endowed with the half of these most desirable graces. 
The garden of a grand mansion should not be copied from the one belongingto the cottage, nor the garden on the hillside be a counterpart of the one on the plain.
The paths therein were keys to the place.They were either covered with pebbles, shells, or else made simply of well-trodden earth. These dirt walks, after a heavy dew or shower, undoubtedly were moist and muddy, consequently, the paper-soled shoes or dainty slippers-the only foot-gear the dear ladies, our foremothers, considered either appropriate or be coming—must have been in a sorry condition following the early morning’s visit to the garden, when the huge basket was filled with the full-blown roses for the making of most excellent rose water, the favorite perfume of that time. 
These antiquated, simple and fragrant gardens of the first part of the last century were divided by clipped box into squares or parallellograms, diamonds and circles. 
Fruit trees were scattered about here and there through the garden…  later turned into most toothsome preserves, jellies, jams and marmalades.
Holding an important place in this old-time garden was a sort of latticed arbor, retreat or summer-house. 
In September, when one walked in the dear old garden, the shout of the cicada, the shrill chirrup of the cricket, and the drowsy hum of the bee, busy storing its winter supply, could be heard, for these indefatigable little workers were after the fruit-honey.
As autumn advanced this luxuriant verdure and vegetation gradually lost its charm; it grew weedy, untidy and unkempt; but the month of May, with its Snowdrops, Crocuses, Hyacinths and Violets abounded in promise ; June with its rich rankness of bloom and perfume being the culmination of that assurance.
History of Oregon, Volume 1, by Hubert Howe Bancroft & Frances Fuller Victor, 1890
glistening heights
purpled summits of the continuous range, silvered with snow in spring and autumn, and glowing during the afternoons of summer under a rosy violet mist
As the eastern foothills sink to plain, the forest disappears, only a few scattering pines remaining in the vicinity of the Dalles; by the bars and on sandy margins of the river grow willows and low shrubs, while above them rise high rounded buffs, bald and monotonous, yet not without picturesque effect.
Beyond these the country rolls off in broken plains, covered in spring by a delicate verdure bright with flowers, later wearing a russet hue that early gave it the name of desert.
There is an abundance of water-fowl, conscpicuous among which are brant, geese of several species, cranes, mallard, canvas-back, and summer duck, blue-winged and green-winged teal, snipe, golden and killdee plover, and other wading birds, some of which are not palatable.
The streams are well-stocked with fish—the brooks with trout, and the rivers with salmon of two or three species.
It consisted of a strong stockage about twenty feet high, without bastions, embracing an area of two hundred and fifty by one hundred and fifty yards.
grapevines trained along a rude trellis
The steps leading to the hall of the governor’s house were of horseshoe form, and between the two flights stood a twenty-four-pound cannon, mounted on a ship’s carriage, and on either side of this were two mortar guns, all with shot piled orderly about them, but otherwise looking innocent enough in their peaceful resting-places.
There were no galleries around the walls for sentries, nor loop-holes  for small-arms, no appearances, in fact, indicating a dangerous neighborhood.
…trader, clerk, smith, baker, or tailor.
A bell large enough for a country church was supported by three stout poles about twenty feet high, covered with a little pointed roof to keep off the rain. This brazen monitor rang out at five o’clock in the morning, rousing the furriers, mechanics, and farmers to their tasks.
consisting in winter of eight gallons of potatoes and eight salt salmon, and in summer of pease and tallow
And if within the fort this industry was necessary, it was none the less so without, where a farm of about seven hundred acres had been brought under cultivation, on which was raised abundance of grain and vegetables, requiring extensive storehouses. 
Large bands of cattle and sheep were kept, the latter improved by careful breeding until they yielded twelve-pound fleeces.
The Story of a Pioneer: With The Collaboration Of Elizabeth Jordan by Anna Howard Shaw, 1915
We were with five hundred emigrants on the lowest deck of the ship but one, and as the storm grew wilder an unreasoning terror filled our fellow-passengers.
for hours we watched the dreary shuttle of labor swing back and forth as the convicts carried pails of water from one side of the island, only to empty them into the sea at the other side. 
As a return for my service of song the men kept my little apron full of ship sugar—very black stuff and probably very bad for me; but I ate an astonishing amount of it during that voyage, and, so far as I remember, felt no ill effects.
I was at the foot of a ladder up which a sailor was carrying a great pot of hot coffee
The western sky was a mass of crimson and gold clouds,
I can still see a line of big Irishmen standing very straight and holding out their tongues for inspection.
Discovering that my tiny petticoats were in my way, my new friend had a little boy’s suit made for me; and thus emancipated, at this tender age, I worked unwearyingly at his side all day long and day after day.
blows of my dull but active hatchet
I had a little adventure of my own, as when one day, in visiting our cellar, I heard a noise in the coal-bin. I investigated and discovered a negro woman concealed there. 
The first banana I ever ate was purchased that day, and I hesitated over it a long time. Its cost was five cents, and in view of that large expenditure, the eating of the fruit, I was afraid, would be too brief a joy. I bought it, however, and the experience developed into a tragedy, for, not knowing enough to peel the banana, I bit through skin and pulp alike, as if I were eating an apple, and then burst into ears of disappointment. 
berry-patches
We forded innumerable streams, the wheels of the heavy wagon sinking so deeply into the stream-beds that we often had to empty our load before we could get them out again. Fallen trees lay across our paths, rivers caused long detours, while again and again we lost our way or were turned aside by impenetrable forest tangles.
In the back of the wagon my mother had a box of little pigs, and during the afternoon these had broken loose and escaped into the woods.
Possibly she had visions of red barns and deep meadows, sunny skies and daisies
but her face never lost the deep lines those first hours of her pioneer life had cut upon it.
That night we slept on boughs spread on the earth inside the cabin walls
Behind our blankets, swaying in the night wind, I thought I saw the heads and pushing shoulders of animals and heard their padded footfalls.
Mother was practically an invalid. She had a nervous affection which made it impossible for her to stand without the support of a chair. But she sewed with unusual skill, and it was due to her that our clothes, notwithstanding the strain to which we subjected them, were always in good condition. She sewed for hours every day…
On every side, and at every hour of the day, we came up against the relentless limitations of pioneer life. There was not a team of horses in our entire region. The team with which my brother had driven us through the wilderness had been hired at Grand Rapids for that occasion, and, of course, immediately returned. Our lumber was delivered by ox-teams, and the absolutely essential purchases we made “outside” (at the nearest shops, forty miles away) were carried through the forest on the backs of men. Our mail was delivered once a month by a carrier who made the journey in alternate stages of horseback riding and canoeing. But we had health, youth, enthusiasm, good appetites, and the wherewithal to satisfy them, and at night in our primitive bunks we sank into abysses of dreamless slumber such as I have never known since. Indeed, looking back upon them, those first months seem to have been a long-drawn-out and glorious picnic, interrupted only by occasional hours of pain or panic, when we were hurt or frightened.
All the horrible stories we had heard of Indian cruelty flashed into our minds, and for a moment we were dumb with terror. Then I remembered having been told that the one thing one must not do before them is to show fear. 
There were also a few arithmetics and algebras, a historical novel or two, and the inevitable copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, whose pages I had freely moistened with my tears.
Our coffee soon gave out, and as a substitute we made and used a mixture of browned peas and burnt rye.
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone, 1961
fractured off the high corners
pulled up a bench, straddled the block, gripping it with both knees, picked up hammer and chisel
His body settled down in a soughing movement
brass lamps on Lorenzo’s writing desk
Seven chairs were drawn up to a low table.
Perched on the edge of a stiff leather chair
Pico della Mirandola put his elbows on the low table, resting his chin on his clasped hands.
moistened his overly red, projecting underlip
He took a book down from the shelf, quickly thumbed through it and read the story of the statue
the white blouse embroidered with grapes and leaves, the short surcoat with cape sleeves belted in front with silver buckles, the wine-colored stockings
Torrigiani came stalking down the path, his flame-colored cloak and orange plumes on his black velvet hat flying. He hauled up short in front of Michelangelo.
Torrigiani seized his arm. Michelangelo held back.
The carpenter and grocer sitting in the sun before their shops pulled at their caps respectfully; otherwise his new clothes were no more of a success at home than they had been with Rustici.
He eyed the three gold coins gleaming on the desk.
said, his face a deep red
He murmured to Lorenzo, “We shall not be too far apart, only a few hundred feet across the Piazza San Macro. If you lean out the window of your monastery cell you will hear me cutting stone in the garden”
three gold coins on his washstand
linen tablecloth bordered with openwork
The color rose to his cheeks.
gowned in gray damask embroidered with jewels
high-backed purple throne chair
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, 1946
I stood there against the wall, under the bookshelves that went up to the ceiling, full of old leather books, a lot of them law books, that got lost in the shadows up above and made the room smell musty like old cheese.
rubiginous-hided… face
his white jacket hung on the back of the chair
the Judge’s face was the color of calf’s liver again
heaved himself in the direction of the bottle
…right—” the Boss ruminatively turne the glass in his hands—”back…
said from way up there where his head was, above the rays of the desk lamp
admitted ruefully, lifting his face under the light. and shaking his head in fatalistic sadness
popped straight up in the chair with that inner explosiveness he had when, all of a sudden, he would snatch a fly out of the air or whip his head at you and his eyes would snap open.
popped up and his heels dug into the red carpet
sloshed out of his glass onto his Palm Beach pants
thicker’n blue-bottle flies on a dead dog
walk barefoot in the cow pasture
looked up at [anyone]’s face, squinting, studying it, cocking his own head to one side.
Caravans to Santa Fe by Alida Malkus, 1928
Slipping to a window where one long dazzling shaft of sunshine pierced a crack in the shutter
rope-haired trappers
barbaric Yanqui caravaners
Consuelo stretched herself reflectively upon the bed, tossing aside a hand-woven coverlet of drawn threads
and lifted the bare foot to catch a breeze stirring through deep-silled windows.
In fact, her mirrored face was all that she cared about at the moment. Hers was that most charming of Spanish types, which in profile is straight-nosed, delicately cut, but which in full face appears childish, the nose short, a trifle broad, the eyes large and heavy-lidded, the lips full, petulant. There was strength in the squaring of the jaw and in level, heavily marked brows, scowling now with her rebellions.
ancient blue Chinese mantle
Dipping a wide-toothed tortoise comb into the tepid water that still stood in a heavy silver washbasin by her bed, she ran it through the dark waves till they curled crisply, with a shining order.
Large and high-ceiled, its adobe walls were tinted a salmon pink; the two windows, square-paned, deeply recessed by the three-foot walls, were curtained with lace, and the great carven bedstead was draped with rose-red damask hangings from Spain.
Before a small corner fireplace with an Indian chimney lay a thick and enormous buffalo skin, and the rough board floor was strewn with other peltries.
There were many shawls, black Spanish lace from Seville, a bright embroidered peasant challis, gold and salmon flowers on a white ground, fine merinos and cashmeres of European peasant patterns.
Consuelo chose now a white dress of sheer batiste, embroidered heavily in white, full-skirted, with a short plain bodice. She donned the red shoe that still lay under the bed, and when Felicita had brought her the other from the doorway, she permitted the peon woman to throw the flowered shawl over her shoulder, and stepped out into the corredor. Then she turned impulsively and ran back. Snatching a silk scarf from the bed, she draped it over Felicita’s head.
Her dress of black silk was voluminous and hung straight from her shoulders,—a fact which the shawl about her shoulders could not hide.
Manuel, taking silence as assent, was already strumming, and intoning his new copleta in a plaintive nasal tenor.
Raquel of the Ranch Country by Alida Malkus, 1927
fashionable school for girls whose turrets overlooked the Hudson
this feudal castle in its beautiful grounds, all splashed with the reds and golds of autumn.
Lights were already glowing within the school.
Raquel could see girlish figures passing and repassing before the windows in their soft-colored frocks.
long-legged, handsome girl from the depths of an easy chair where she sprawled with a book.
At the ranch there was only the odor of fresh alfalfa blossoms to cover the smell of frying meat or sizzling frijoles.
calfskin bags
Raquel attacked the clumsy-looking knotted rope with deft fingers
Raquel was so absorbed that she did not hear the door softly open and close.
But the pride and confidence in her voice faded as her empty hand fell to her side
She laid a cordial hand on Raquel’s arm.
Anne Marvin winced at Raquel’s grip
Tall, blonde, handsome, she was easily the best and the most simply dressed girl at school. Her hair was ashen fair, her skin a flushed ivory, and she wore tans, ashes of roses, sage greens, deep blues, avoiding the usual pinks and blues affected by blondes.
Anne could not have imagined her in Lois’ setting of taffetas and filet laces.
The Life and Letters of Washington Irving, Volume 4, Oxford University, 1864
Don’t snub me about my late literary freak. 
Besides, I write for pleasure as well as profit 
You tell me Pierre was quite distressed lest any “thoughtless word of his should have marred my happy literary mood.”
self-complacency
jewing the world
restive
felicitating
unexampled
superintending
fagged 
snug establishment
New York… It is really now oneof the most racketing cities in the world, and reminds me of one of the great European cities (Frankfort,for instance) in the time of an annual fair.
boudoir
lilies of the valley 
unpretending affair
importunity
adverting
the trees along the bank formed a screen
raciness
desideratum
the winter fireside
soi-disant
he then gazed at it until the tears gathered in his eyes
After tea he took mallet and chisel, and proceeded to unbox it.
Delve by SenescentSoul, 2019 (June 2)
white undershirt with a pair of plaid cotton pajama pants
hook-nosed man 
Rain pulled his bound hands down underneath himself and, with some struggling, managed to get them in front of him. 
ragged slab of meat
Mid-sentence, the archer cut off and tilted his head, then looked out to the road, narrowing his eyes. Rain followed his gaze and started searching the treeline across the road for whatever had caught his attention.
There was a faint white glow in the air, pulsing in intensity. Looking for the origin, he noticed that the woman had her eyes closed and arms spread. The glow was emanating from her body and washing away the filth as if it had never been. The pulses of light built on her skin before silently breaking away, diffusing outwards in a sphere. The light drifted through the clearing like a pale, luminous fog, curling around objects it encountered and rolling along the ground in eddying waves.
more:
psionics
The Zombie Knight Saga by George M. Frost, 2013 (April 6)
The door flew from its hinges, ripping its deadbolt and chained lock right out of the wood and plaster.
August 27, 2025
Note 1
NOTAS
Raquel of the Ranch Country by Alida Malkus, 1927
A Boston Girl’s Ambitions by Virginia Frances Townsend,
Raquel of the Ranch Country by Alida Malkus, 1927
Smiling her prettiest and edging her horse closer to Raquel’s, she waited for an introduction to the attractive strangers.
She waved a comprehensive hand at the other girls.
As the boys lifted their caps with a flourish and cantered away, Marian turned on Raquel.
drawly
Then rage boiled up to her rescue.
Tears stung Raquel’s eyes.
In her pocket was a letter from Dad.
pale pink
There was a long yellow envelope awaiting Raquel when she and Anne set down their bags three mornings later in the great hall at The Towers, a night message from Dad.
“Enlisted today. Assigned to animal transport section,” it ran. “Need you back to run the rancho.” He was to leave as soon as she could get home. Dad enlisted! And she was to be the Boss of the Lazy L!
When the girls were assembled in the auditorium, Miss Hetty Carter stepped before them to make an announcement. Something in her manner commanded a deeper hush than usual.
It was always bewildering to Raquel, the recollection of that leave-taking at The Towers.
Deep in the old trunk, with Anne sorting her traveling clothes, she rose at a knock to see the whole school, apparently, trying to crowd into her room.
Girl after girl, they squeezed in, and then bright little Lillie Matthews was speaking for them.
And here was a token of their esteem.
And earnest little Lillie, eyes suddenly brimming, planted a kiss on Raquel’s cheek.
a shower of books, scarves, boxes of candy, girls’ trinkets, came pouring into Raquel’s lap and trunk
That same afternoon two west-bound trains sped into the setting sun, bearing two girls
into a strange country where life might deal none too gently.
a lazy cigarette drooping from his lips
On the long kitchen table twelve big golden-brown loaves cooled, giving off a delicious odor.
Beside it were spread some three dozen plump little birds
crinkly-eyed
tiny wrinkles protested against the desert glare.
She stooped to take out the second pan of bread, and the smell of roasting venison escaped as the oven door was opened. The mingling of meat odors and fresh bread brought the hound dogs sniffing at the kitchen screens. On the back of the stove the inevitable frijole beans simmered.
Mrs. Daniels hurried out to the piazza where Jami, his eyes glued to a pair of field glasses, was looking towards the pass through which ran the road to town.
ice cream fountain
cream-plastered walls
Raquel drew a sigh of content.
Her eyes sparkled as she called over her shoulder, “I pretty nearly forgot what the sun looked like back there.”
purty clothes
overhead sky
afeared
high-ceilinged, deep-walled
a platter of golden brown quail at the other, flanked with savory bacon… flaky potatoes, chili and beans, winter squash… sweet-pickled peaches… mounds of bread
Ole Hossfoot speared a piece of bread, deftly reaching across Jimmy’s face
Jami’s smooth cheek was bulging, and Georgie’s face was bisected with a whole slice of bread and butter.
Angel’s eyes followed lovingly the bowl of beans, which, never stopping its circuit of the table, was now in Dad’s hands.
There was a momentary pause in the clatter of fork and knife against plate long enough to hear a pounding on the dining-room floor from beneath. 
Every one roared, except Russell and Georgie, who sank down in his seat.
It was long and fairly wide, with heavy, irregular beams studding its ceiling.
Mesquite roots and dried tulas burned in an uncommonly large fireplace, built with a projecting hood by some Mexican craftsman with a cunning hand. The firelight leaped ruddily on the cream plastered walls, and on trophies of ranch hunts hanging there.
A Boston Girl’s Ambitions by Virginia Frances Townsend, 1887
a smooth yellow-brown line, between wide margins of grass, flecked with daisies and white clover
She drew off her glove, and gave him the soft, slender hand; and his own, large and white and shapely closed over it.
entered the cool shaded avenues
A little later, when the two ladies sat at lunch…
It was an old, fragrant, dreamy place, reaching far down from the back of the house, filled with fruit-trees and vines and bushes, while beds full of sweet, old-fashioned flowers edged the walks with narrow borderings of bright color.
The sun of the waning afternoon caught the dark, clear outline, and sent little golden flecks among the thick, glossy hair.
wore suits of dark, well-fitting summer-cloth
said Carryl, meeting his friend’s gaze, and plucking a spear of grass,
spoke absently
as you lay there, and I looked at your profile, cut sharply against the grass, the whole thing came up to me, clear and fresh as though it happened yesterday
is coming on in a blind, rapid way… Something in his gait or manner strikes me curiously. He runs against me at the corner, and then starts back;
and when I get a glance into his eyes, there is a look of wild misery in them which I hope never to see in human eyes
Among the soft brown shadows, his face had a strained, white look.
he said, in a low, imperative voice
Carryl sprang to his feet.
His black eyes blazed large in his white face.
It brought her, swift and startled, down the stairs. She had on a dressing-sacque of cream-colored cashmere, edged with a light blue embroidery. She had been arranging her hair; and, in her haste, a part of the rich auburn mass had slipped down, and hung, a rippling heap about her shoulder.
exclaimed Dorrice, her startled glance going from one to the other
He would never forget how she looked at that instant, with the great shining in her eyes, with her proud, tremulous lips, and her hair, with its golden glints, like a dark cloud, about her pale face.
Then the train began to move, and Ray had to spring aboard.
Carryl found his sister pacing the room.
She gave a low cry at sight of him, and tried to speak; but sobs broke instead of words. When he went to her, she clung to him, white and shaken.
A faint flush crept under the clear olive skin.
She answered in low, shaken tones.
Late that evening…
The rattling of horse-cars, the rumbling of coach wheels, the hum of voices, the movement of feet, and all the myriad sounds, with which the great city was filling the summer night, came through his window in a dim, muffled way.
he threw himself into a chair, crossed his arms on the table, buried his face in them, and broke down in a great sob.
All his future he must remember the charming little suppers they had on the piazza, embowered in the greenery of shrubs and vines, while the old garden behind filled the air with the sweet, subtle odors of ripening flowers and fruits, and the sunset slowly dulled into the pale safforns and lavenders of twilight.
upon Dorrice, cool and graceful in some light summer-dress, the glint of a sunbeam in her hair, the glancing of a shadow on the curve of her cheek; and upon the strong, stalwart young men
letter-case
glanced at him with startled, questioning eyes
They had a fancy for this remote nook, and always preferred it to the small terraces and pretty summerhouses and little, shadow-dappled grass-plots that offered such tempting lounging-places nearer the house.
stretched himself on the grass dim and cool with shadows
Carryl was on the little rustic bench beside him.
He bent over suddenly, and placed the leather case under Ray’s eyes. “Do you know who wrote that?” he asked, pointing to a card which lay on the silken lining.
Ray took the card up, and scanned it contiuously. He read Caryl Dacres’ name, and an address, in a large, scrawling hand.
staring curiously from the card—a good deal worn round the edges—to his companion’s face
Ray drew a long breath, turned over the case, and inspected it curiously. Then, in a flash, it all came back to him; he was on his feet in a moment.
looking at his friend with an unutterable look in his eyes.
Drowsy little winds woke and went to sleep again among the leafy cherry-boughs. A yellow shaft of sunlight struck down on the big bole, and brought out all the knots and wrinkles of the old bark. Big yellow butterflies, and brown-belted bees flitted about in the dim, purplish shadows.
fair, girlish figure
what splendid pluck that girl carries under all her softness
At last the young men rose. While Carryl had been talking, the dim blue shadows had gathered under the great tree, and a mass of low-lying, fleecy clouds in the west, began to flush into deep crimsons and brighten into dazzling yellows.
These acquiescent laconics were not Dorrice’s habit.
Dorrice slipped out of the front door. Her white dress gleamed between the shrubberies, as she came swiftly down the path to where Ray was standing.
Some of these were so amusing that, once or twice, people passing on the sidewalk stopped to listen to the laughter that floated out into the night.
It was only when they went inside that the talk took a graver tone.
The young men had barely stared for the train, when…
That was Carryl’s stride along the gravel.
She had sprung into a side-path which led up to the house; and, as she disappeared among the shrubberies, she heard him calling, “Where are you, Gathorpe?”
continue on Chapter 44 (XLIV)
Every one roared, except Russell and Georgie, who sank down in his seat.
hit something at an angle and bounce off obliquely:“the stone glanced off a crag and hit Tom on the head
(of light) reflect off something with a brief flash:“sunlight glanced off the curved body of a dolphin”
August 28, 2025
Note 1
ELLC by Exterminatus, 2016
A sword had punctured through the nape of her neck. § The sudden thrust had driven the blade completely through her throat, leaving the bloodied tip poking out from underneath her chin.
August 29, 2025
Note 1
Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871)
iron-grey hair
said, with an easy smile,
observe her newly
“You see how widely we differ, Sir James. I have made up my mind that I ought not to be a perfect horsewoman, and so I should never correspond to your pattern of a lady.” Dorothea looked straight before her, and spoke with cold brusquerie, very much with the air of a handsome boy, in amusing contrast with the solicitous amiability of her admirer.
was at the tea-table
said Sir James, in a tender tone of remonstrance
Mr. Cassaubon had come up to the table, tea-cup in hand, and was listening.
he interposed, in his measured way.
the balanced, sing-song neatness of his speech, occasionally corresponded to by a movement of his head
Mr Brooke wound up, rubbing his thumb transversely along the edges of the leaves as he held the book forward.
…But now, how do you arrange your documents?”
“In pigeon holes partly,” said Mr. Cassaubon, with rather a startled air of effort.
“Ah, pigeon holes will not do. I have tried pigeon-holes, but everything gets mixed in pigeon-holes: I never know whether a paper is in A or Z.”
“I wish you would let me sort your papers for you, uncle,” said Dorothea. “I would letter them all, and then make a list of subjects under each letter.”
Mr. Cassaubon gravely smiled approval, and said to Mr Brooke,” You have an excellent secretary at hand, you perceive.”
“No, no,” said Mr Brooke, shaking his head; “I cannot let young ladies meddle with my documents. Young ladies are too flighty.”
Dorothea felt hurt. Mr. Cassaubon would think that her uncle had some special reason for delivering this opinion, whereas the remark lay in his mind as lightly as the broken wing of an insect among all the other fragments there, and a chance current had sent it alighting on her.
and in looking at her, his face was often lit up by a smile like pale wintry sunshine. Before he left the next morning, while taking a pleasant walk with Miss Brooke along the gravelled terrace he had mentioned to her…
And he delivered this statement with as much careful precision as if he had been a diplomatic enjoy whose words would be attended with results.
ordinary long-used blotting-book which only tells of forgotten writings
bridle path: a trail suitable for horseback riding
bridle-road
dissimulated by tall barricades of frizzed curls and bows
bright full eyes.
absorbing into the intensity of her mood, the solemn glory of the afternoon with its long swathes of light between the far-off rows of limes, whose shadows touched each other.
the disadvantages of the short-waisted swallow-tail
hemmed in by enemy troops
hemmed and hawed
walled of the eyes: to roll in a dramatic manner.
to roll (one’s eyes) in a dramatic manner.
He was in the least jealous of the interest with which Dorothea had looked up at Mr Cassaubon: it never occurred to him that a girl to whom he was meditating an offer of marriage could care for a dried bookworm towards fifty, except, indeed, in a religious sort of way, as for a clergyman of some distinction.
Dorothea, who had been on her bonnet and shawl, hurried along the shrubbery and across the park that she might wander through the bordering wood with no other visible companionship than that of Monk,the Great St Bernard dog, who always took care of the young ladies in their walks.
She walked briskly in the brisk air, the color rose to her cheeks, and her straw bonnet (which our contemporaries might lok at with conjectural curiosity as at an obsolete form of basket) fell a little backward. She would perhaps be hardly characterized enough if it were omitted that she wore her brown hair flatly braided and coiled behind so as to expose the outline of her head in a daring manner at a time when public feeling required the meagreness of nature to be dissimulated by tall barricades of frizzled curls and bows, never surpassed by any great race except the Feejeean.
she wore her brown hair
“How delightful to meet you, Miss Brooke,” he said, raising his hat and showing his sleekly-waving blood hair.
Miss Brooke was annoyed at the interruption.
his dimpled hands were quite disagreeable.
Her temper made her colour deeply, as she turned his greeting with some haughtiness.
equivocate
Note 2
NOTAS
Raquel of the Ranch Country by Alida Malkus, 1927
Raquel of the Ranch Country by Alida Malkus, 1927
Rummaging under the dead grass and leaves she soon found the end of the pipe
dust-clogged
Climbing up above, Raquel found that under a shelving rock there was moisture.
to watch the tiny stream trickle forth—to be sucked into thirsty, heat-caked muzzles
As she rode Raquel’s eyes traveled anxiously over the plains in search of wandering stock. 
the amount she wanted in bills and gold, stowed away in a money belt about her slender waist
The pinto stood the trip very well indeed, and came daintily down the runway of the box car at the small tank stop, their last station. Georgie’s pony followed with the air of a veteran traveler.
And so on a hot day in July down the dusty little street that was Agua Prieta (which means dirty water) rode two boys who might easily have passed for natives. They were Raquel and Georgie.
They trotted out of the dusty little town and loped away across the desert with full saddle bags and light hearts.
Long alkaline stretches reached before them, stunted palms and huge Spanish daggers sped merrily behind them.
Don Martin was comfortably soothing, stretched out again in his chair, with a whiskey at his elbow.
Georgie rolled his eyes lugubriously, and heaved an eloquent groan.
He suddenly bellowed forth, and finally from the rear of the casa appeared a very ancient old woman who set about laying a table.
Again they were in the saddle—steady lope and trot and walk and lope, across burning deserts, cactus covered, with mirages unfolding on the flats before them.
Sundown brought them to a rambling hacienda, where curious, tousled heads and frightened faces peered from a dirty doorway.
An old man slept on his haunches against the wall.
Then she closed her lips with an effort and seemed alarmed that she had said so much.
green plaza, statue in the center, the deep galleried hotel covered with a profusion of scarlet roses.
There were plenty of beautiful boy faces in Mexico, soft-eyed, long-lashed.
over palm-covered mesas, through palmetto groves by streamlets shrunken with the heat
crumbling walls laden with purple bougainvillea, with creamy roses, caressed by a mellower moonlight than northern nights know.
balconied bedroom, cool linen sheets inviting rest, Raquel went dreamily over
The carven table, laden with ancient, hand-hammered silver
Don Nestor came trembling up the little flight of stairs that gave upon the court yard, knocking at their doors. He was in nightshirt and cap, a candle in his hand.
They rode breathlessly through the night, up into the foothills over a rocky trail.
The heaving horses climbed
There was a short pursuit and shooting but Manuel shook it off by cutting sharply upward into the hills over this unfrequented path.
They had reached the deserted house, perched near the edge of a sharp cliff, the height of which could not be seen in the darkness.
replied Manuel courteously but firmly
Manuel spread his blanket, and made ready to lie down on the floor.
Instinctively he drew nearer Raquel.
suddenly pointing through the window to a distant hillside, where firelight flared up for a moment, then died down.
There are probably sheepmen, vaqueros, even bandits, in these hills.
Without troubling to look, he lay down in his blanket.
How long a time had passed as she slept Raquel could not have told. She became conscious of some one fumbling about her. Wrapped in that heavy torpor of first sleep, she could not move. Then hands touched her, crept about her waist. The touch brought her instantly fully awake, but an instinct kept her motionless; the hands felt for the pockets of her money belt.
A Boston Girl’s Ambitions
sitting-room
The hair, coiled high on the beautiful-shaped head, and lying in large, soft rolls about the delicate temples, was heavily frosted with gray, and there were hints of wrinkles about the corners of the eyes and the firm, sweet mouth.
The ancient lady was dressed in a silver brocade of richest texture, and in the scant, stiff lines of her time.
A kerchief, whose soft, white folds, thin almost as mist, were drawn over her bosom, showed the curve of her neck and the snowy throat.
a bewitching spell must have dwelt in those sweet, gray eyes.
There was a sudden stir at the door, and Dorrice Dacres came into the room.
moonlit gravel-path
large vase of brilliant-hued flowers
she was seateed in the big wicker-chair, with the huge mastiff stretched on the rug at her feet
great gallery of fine portraits
said Dorrice, with the light which a sudden pleasure always brought up from the dark depths of her eyes.
it was his large, gary eyes that smiled upon her. 
the small, bustling, seaport town, with its narrow streets, its little gabled houses, and its old-world social atmosphere
subjoined Ray
In a moment, Dorrice said, “But though I was persecuted with a legion of names…”
Carryl made a wry face; but there was a touch of embarassment, and something deeper than that, in his laugh.
could not exchange the freedom and quiet of her own home, for the gay crowds, the confined rooms, and the daily excitements, of the summer-resorts
To Dorrice’s healthy organization of soul and body frequent changes of scene and climate were not essential; and, with all her delight in shore and mountain scenery, she did not hanker for these, so long as there was a chance of seeing Carryl each day.
eager for some of the former life and brightness in the silent old rooms
much impressed with her first glance at the stately stone house, amid its noble grounds, as she caught sight of it from the road
As she drew nearer, 
the sultry heats had passed, and though the days were bathed in rich, sunny atmospheres, these held also the first fine, bracing tonic of the autumn.
The sky was a deep, shining, mysterious azure, unlike all other azures of the year.
It had a calm, brooding peace.
impossible to gaze on it and not think of heaven
the wide land, green with that last rich, dazzling green, just before the frosts steal in, and illuminate it with more than the glory of sunrise and sunset.
Eight Cousins by Louisa M. Alcott
odd nooks
Windows broke out in unexpected places, little balconies overhung the garden most romantically
pink satin hats and tiny hose
till her aunt caught her wiping tears away with the train of a wedding-dress, and that discovery put an end to the sewing society.
heavy-eyed and listless
cooking-stove, and Aunt Peace petted her like a poodle.
Bad weather and a cold kept her in-doors
she spent most of her time in the library where her father’s books were stored
a sound broke the stillness, making her prick up her ears
Running down the long hall, she peeped out at both doors, but saw nothing feathered except a draggle-tailed chicken under a burdock leaf
following the changeful song, it led her to the china-closet door
girl in a blue apron scrubbing the hearth
answered the girl, looking up with a twinkle in her black eyes
And Rose crept through the slide to the wide shelf on the other side, being too hurried and puzzled to go round by the door.
crossed her feet on the little island of carpet
bobolink singing and swinging among the meadow grass on a bright June day
watched with interest the scattering of dabs of soft soap over the bricks
asked Phebe, looking up at her guest and wondering how life could be dull to a girl who wore a silk frock, a daintily frilled apron, a pretty locket, and had her hair tied up with a velvet snood.
For a minute there was no sound in the kitchen but the little daughter’s sobbing and the sympathetic patter of the rain. Phebe stopped rattling her beans from one pan to another, and her eyes were full of pity as they rested on the curly head bent down on Rose’s knee, for she saw that the heart under the pretty locket ached with its loss, and the dainty apron was used to dry sadder tears than any she had ever shed.
brown calico gown and blue-checked pinafore
Phebe’s last words made Rose smile in spite of her tears, and she looked out from behind her apron with an April face, saying in a tone of comic distress,
“That’s one of my troubles! I’ve got six aunts, and they all want me, and I don’t know any of them very well. Papa named this place the Aunt-hill, and now I see why.”
“I do hope it isn’t Aunt Myra; she always scares me out of my wits asking how my cough is, and groaning over me as if I was going to die,” said Rose, preparing to retire the way she came, for the slide, being cut for the admission of bouncing Christmas turkeys and puddings, was plenty large enough for a slender girl.
growled Debby, who thought it her duty to snub children on all occasions.
Rose scrambled into the china-closet as rapidly as possible, and there refreshed herself by making faces at Debby, while she settled her plumage and screwed up her courage. Then she crept softly down the hall and peeped into the parlor.
So she skipped boldly through the half-open folding-doors, to behold on the other side a sight that nearly took her breath away. § Seven boys stood in a row all ages, all sizes, all yellow-haired and blue-eyed, all in full Scotch costume, and all smiling, nodding, and saying as with one voice, “How are you, cousin?”
Rose hastily retired to the shelter of a big chair and sat there watching the invaders and wondering when her aunt would come and rescue her.
As if bound to do their duty manfully, yet rather oppressed by it, each lad paused beside her chair in his wanderings, made a brief remark, received a still briefer answer, and then sheered off with a relieved expression.
Russian essays and stories by Maurice Baring, 1908
In Central Russia there is a bite in the morning air, a smell of smoke, of damp leaves, of moist brown earth, and a haze hangs before the p. 58tattered trees, which are generously splashed with crimson and gold.
At last the monk said that everybody attacked him and
September 7, 2025
Note 1
Russian essays and stories by Maurice Baring, 1908
Browning was a writer who was all sound and no sense, a victim to a fatal fluency and an incredible facility of expression
saugrenu
the ground is littered with straw
the great column of smoke mixed with flame issuing from the furnace
a stone building with a Doric portico consisting of four red columns, a white pediment, a circular pale green roof, and a Byzantine minaret
wooden log-built cottages thatched with straw dotted over a rolling plain
The plain was variegated with woods—oak trees and birch being their principal trees—and stretched out infinitely into the blue distance.
It was Wednesday, the day of the bazaar. The bazaar in the village is the mart, where the buying and selling of meat, provisions, fruit, melons, fish, hardware, ironmongery, china, and books are conducted.
dressed in stiff robes of green and gold
as they walked they intoned a plain song
The peasants gathered round in a semicircle with bare heads and joined in the service, making countless genuflexions and signs of the cross, and joining in the song with their deep bass voices.
There was Wotan in a blue shirt, with a spear; and Alberic, with a grimy face and a hammer, was meddling with the furnace, and Siegfried, in leather boots and sheepskin, was smoking a cigarette and waving an enormous hammer, while Mimi, whining and disagreeable as usual, was having his head smacked.
barefooted children with straw-coloured hair and blue eyes running about everywhere
And the bell was born. I hope the silver rouble which I threw into it, and which now forms a part of it, will sweeten its utterance, and that it may never have to sound the alarm which signifies battle, murder, and sudden death.
LAST night I went to see my old friend Dimitri Nikolaievitch A⸺. I found him, as usual, in the little den which he shares with a bullfinch, a lizard, and a fox terrier on the sixth floor of a huge sordid barrack. As usual, he was smoking, and there was a lack of buttons on his coat.
If a man dislikes Shakespeare he feels it incumbent on himself to proclaim the fact on the housetops, p. 99as though it were a great discovery, oblivious of the fact that people and literature are like a Seidlitz powder, the man must have the complementary blue powder which when mixed with the white powder of the book produces a fizzing combustion in a glass of water. Count Tolstoi being without the blue powder that makes Shakespeare fizz for him has to write a book in which he explains that Shakespeare knows nothing of human nature and could not draw a living character. This does not damage Shakespeare’s reputation as a playwright, but it destroys Count Tolstoi’s reputation as a critic. Byron produces the same effect; people who dislike Byron get very angry if one says that he is a great poet, and quote you a long list of the errors in syntax which are to be found in his works. Now, the reason I want to talk about Byron is that being a foreigner and living far off from the literary fashions of London, far from the catchwords and quarrels of cliques and coteries
To judge Byron by the standard of Tennyson is like criticising Michael Angelo by the standard of Benvenuto Cellini.
obiter dicta
“Read all that Goethe says about Byron in ‘Eckerman,’ not merely the oft-quoted phrases of his being the greatest genius of the nineteenth century, but all his obiter dicta with regard to Byron, and you will be struck by their profound wisdom and incredible acuteness.
thundershower
it is impossible to read it without being convinced that the man who wrote it was more than a ‘clever man.’ He was a poet. He was a great poet. Because to have said—
‘his eyes
Were with his heart, and that was far away,’
in this connection signifies that he had the gift by the use of the simplest possible and most ordinary words of piercing the heart and brain with the divine stab which only great poetry can inflict.
“Other poets can do other things. But because Virgil and Keats touch you with a wand that produces a ravishing enchantment, because Shelley and Coleridge lift you into unimagined heavens of light and music, because Shakespeare takes your breath away by the potent magic of his phrases, that does not prove that Byron has not in his fashion achieved what is generally accepted as being one of the highest achievements of poetry: that is to say, the achievement of making style disappear and of knocking you on the head with poetry made out of the language of every day.
grand comme le monde
But to do justice to Byron one must take a deep draught of his foaming beverage, and to refresh your memory just listen to these stanzas. Don’t stop to pause and criticise line by line, but drink the whole thing in at a draught
??????? the French ideals of stagecraft, of the “well-made” play, which produced the skill of Scribe, the ingenuity of Sardou, the logic of Alexandre Dumas fils
In France there was likewise a revolt against the “well-made” play, and dramatists of the naturalist school gave to the public what they called “slices of life,” which in its turn produced a reaction towards romanticism and artificial comedy.
??????? But in spite of the various phases of Scribisme and naturalism, and in spite of the fact that the Scribe-Sardou tradition has been thrown to the winds, certain ideals belonging to this school remain in the modern French stage, namely, the necessity of “situations,” or of fundamental theses to be worked out logically, which cause many modern French plays to resemble mathematical problems.
the modern French play à thèse goes back for its machinery to the old ideal of the well-made play; that is to say, the wine is new, but the skins are old.
!!!!!!!!! The Russian stage simply aims at one thing—to depict everyday life; not exclusively the brutality of everyday life, nor the tremendous catastrophes befalling human beings; nor to devise intricate problems and far-fetched cases of conscience in which human beings might possibly be entangled. It simply aims at presenting glimpses of human beings as they really are, and by means of such glimpses it opens out avenues and vistas on to their lives. The Russian stage, therefore is like the Russian novel, realistic because it is a reflection of life, and it is unlike the French naturalist novel or naturalist play because these two things never reproduced life as it is, but portions only of life exaggerated and magnified by the fantastic vision of men of talent who were sometimes men of genius. The reflection of anybody who has some experience of the stage, on reading this will, I imagine, be the following: The everyday life of ordinary human beings can be reflected in a novel, but not on the stage, which demands the observation of certain conventions and the presence of certain cardinal factors such as dramatic interest, the conflict of wills, etc., which are indispensable to the acted drama. Moreover, the public goes to the theatre to be amused, and the faithful photography of everyday life cannot be amusing; the public wishes to forget everyday life, and to find on the stage that which in everyday life is not predominant. Well, the Russian stage has proved that these two contentions are not necessarily true. Excellent plays can be written on the basis of strong situations, but the Russian playwrights have proved that excellent plays can be written in which the situations are neither more nor less dramatic than those which occur every day before our eyes among our immediate circle of acquaintance. They have also proved another thing—that the public finds this kind of play interesting in the extreme and flocks to see it; and this leads one to conclude that the secret of the matter lies possibly in the fact that these plays are true pictures of life, and not would-be pictures of life which are in reality false, and that the former cannot help being interesting, and the latter cannot help being tedious. I believe that plays written about real life, in which the characters live and behave as they do in reality, would be not only interesting but successful in any country. However that may be, the fact remains that the modern Russian play consists of a series of pictures of everyday life faithfully depicted, without any research of special theses or situations more theatrical than those which everyday life abundantly affords, and that these plays are successful. They make money. A cosmopolitan traveller once said to me that he could no longer sit through a modern French play of the type of Le Dédale or plays such as M. Bernstein writes, because he found them so intolerably artificial, and this was because he had seen many Russian plays, of which the pre-eminent characteristics were reality and naturalness. This being so it is easy to understand that Russian plays form an exceedingly interesting commentary, an illuminating “abstract and brief chronicle” of the Russian life of to-day.
⸺
sidelights:
a light placed at the side of something:“a designer village with sidelights along the pathways”BRITISH ENGLISHa small light on either side of the front of a motor vehicle, used in poor light when full headlights are not required.
wall light(sidelights)a ship’s navigation lights.natural light coming from the side:“through the window blazed the cold light of winter morning; sidelight, the most harsh”a narrow window or pane of glass set alongside a door or larger window:“we added French doors with sidelights and a fanlight overhead”a piece of incidental information that helps to clarify or enliven a subject:“one has to wade through pages of extraneous material in order to discover these sidelights on the management of an estate”
Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871)
taken in the scent of a fresh bouquet after a dry, hot, dreary walk
sat down in his arm-chair, stretched his legs towards the wood-fire… and rubbed his hands gently.
closed her pamphlet… and rose as if to go.
She threw off her mantle and bonnet, and sat down opposite to him, enjoying the glow, but lifting up her beautiful hands for a screen. They were not thin hands, or small hands; but powerful, feminine, maternal hands.
Dorothea’s brow took an expression of reprobation and pity.
said Mr Brooke, with a quiet nod.
little buried in books
said Dorothea, energetically
said Mr Brooke, without showing any surprise, or other emotion.
Since Dorothea did not speak immediately, he repeated, “I thought it better to tell you, my dear.”
said Dorothea, in a clear unwavering tone
Mr Brooke pausde a little, and then said in a lingering low tone,
during which he pushed about various objects on his writing-table, and finally stood with his back to the fire, his glasses on his nose, looking at the address of Dorothea’s letter
Mr Brooke threw his head and shoulders backward as if some one has thrown a light missle at him.
her eyes following the same direction as her uncle’s
It seemed as if something like the reflection of a white sunlit wing has passed across her features, ending in one of her rare blushes.
really startled at the suspicion which had darted into her mind
The day was damp, and they were not going to walk out, so they both went up to their sitting-room; and there Celia observed that Dorothea, instead of settling down with her usual diligent interest to some occupation, simply leaned her elbow on an open book and looked out of the window at the great cedar silvered with the damp.
Celia’s small and rather guttural voice speaking in its usual tone, of a remark aside or a “by the by.”
When she spoke there was a tear gathering.
There as something funereal in the whole affair..
I have been little disposed to gather flowers that would wither in my hand, but now I shall pluck them with eagerness, to place them in your bosom.”
vouchsafed
Mr. s
damp-silvered cedar
damp-silvered smile
September 24, 2025
Note 1
## !-NOTAS-!
A Boston Girl’s Ambitions
Man and Nature
Youth’s Companion
The Railway Children
A Boston Girl’s Ambitions
Sometimes she caught a whiff of syringas and lilacs.
The great, solemn-faced moon looked on her through the twisted boughs and tremulous leaves of the gnarled pear-tree. She sat down, at last, on a low seat by the window, and leaned her head forward on the sill. Bits of moonlight glimmered about the small, dark head. She heard a hum of voices below, and occasionally a man’s full, deep-chested laugh. Bt at last the sounds grew faint, as did the scent of the syringas. When she awoke…
Travels Through North and South Carolina
the wide ocean, which, a few moments past, was gentle and placid, is now thrown into disorder, and heaped into mountains, whole white curling crests seem to sweep the skies
This furious gale continued near two days and nights, and not a little damaged our fails, cabin furniture, and state-rooms, besides retarding our passage.
He got into Charleston that evening, and we the next morning, about eleven o’clock.
the gentle moon rising in dignity from the east, attended by thousands of glittering orbs;
the mighty whale, sovereign of the watery realms, who cleaves the seas in his course
The surface and vegetable mould here is generally a loose sand, not very fertile, except some spots bordering on the sound and inlets.
These seashells, through length of time, and the subtle penetrating effects of the air, which dissolve them to earth, render these ridges very fertile; and, when clear of the their trees, and cultivated, they become profusely productive of almost every kind of vegetable.
Caterby’s ground doves… cooing
settled in this fruitful district
and on the verges of the canals, where the road was causwayed
The tempest being over, I waited till the floods of rain had run off the ground, then took leave of my friends, and departed. The air was now cool and salubrious, and riding seven or eight miles, through a pine forest, I came to Sapello bridge, to which the salt tide flows. 
their tops and verges stained with a rose-red, which, at a little distance, has the appearance of clusters of roses, at the extremities of the limbs
The leaves are oblong, lanceolate and entire, somewhat hoary underneath; their upper furface of a full green, and shining…
The sudden transition from rich cultivated settlements, to high pine forests, dark and grassy savannas…
Man and Nature
Vast forests have disappeared from mountain spurs and ridges…
the soil of the alpine pastures which skirted and indented the woods
Youth’s Companion
If the wind whisks off a man’s hat and gives him a long chase for its recovery, does he expect or get any sympathy?
Yesterday morning, as an old colored man was coming down town, the wind, in a frolicsome mood, blew his hat high in air and deposited it inside of the high iron picket fence of the old Franklin school-house.
with his head powdered with dust
good beef and mutton
The man threw off his bonnet.
white-headed hornet darted off
the hornets speedily fell upon her
milk-pail
The Railway Children
an ordinary red-brick-fronted villa, with coloured glass in the front door, a tiled passage that was called a hall, a bath-room with hot and cold water, electric bells, French windows, and a good deal of white paint
December 27, 2025
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
germinal heat
worldling (came from searching earthling)
serried
annunciation
pain-fraught
He decided that he would carve Mary at the moment of decision, while suckling her infant, when, knowing all, she must determine the future: for herself; for her child; for the world.
Mary would dominate the marble.
secondary; present, vitally alive, but in no way distracting
The figure of Mary could be a composite of these strong Tuscan mothers.
He poured water on it to look for cracks, struck its ends with a hammer to listen for its sounds, tested for flaws, bubbles, stains.
The block was as though translucent.
eyes pierced through… through the built-up layers of crystals compounded within its structural unity
January 9, 2026
Note 1
Being and Time by Martin Heidegger (1927)
unity of analogy vs. multiplicity of the highest generic concepts applicable to things
Being as the most universal concept : remains darkest of all rather than clearest
“Being” being indefinable due to being “supreme universality” (the topmost thing of all?)?
traditional logic
Being of all concepts is self-evident
average kind of intelligibility which demonstrates that this is unintelligible
Being towards entities as entities—in which lies a priori as an enigma
Being-towards-death, Being towards Others, Being towards entities within-the-world
if indeed the “self-indeed” (Kant’s “convert judgments of the common reason”) is to become the sole explicit and abiding theme for one’s analytic—[which is] ‘the business of philosophers’,
formulating Being
we keep an understanding of the “is” though we are unable to fix conceptually what that “is” signifies
We do not even know the horizon in terms of which that meaning is to be grasped and fixed. But this vague average understanding of Being is still a Fact.
its very indefiniteness is itself a positive phenomenon* which needs to be clarified
What we seek when we inquire into Being is not something entirely unfamiliar, even if at first we cannot grasp it at all.
the most natural and obvious experiences which we have at an uncritical and pre-philosophical level
“non-linguistic, pre-cognitive access” to the meaning of Being
the present as the nodal moment
Whereas Husserl conceived humans as constituted by consciousness, Heidegger countered that consciousness is peripheral to Dasein, which cannot be reduced to consciousness. Consciousness is thus an “effect” rather than a determinant of existence. By shifting the priority from consciousness (psychology) to existence (ontology), Heidegger altered the subsequent direction of phenomenology. 
Dasein as the inquiry as thus related to Being.????????????????????????
both the most basic and the most concrete (??????? how)
…real progress comes not from collecting results…as from inquiring into the ways in which each particular areas is constituted [Grundverfassungen]… by reacting against just such an increase of information.
real movement of the sciences… when their basic concepts undergo a more or less radical revision which is transparent to itself
how far it [science] is capable of a crisis in its basic concepts
“freshly awakened tendencies to put research on new foundations”
Mathematics… seemingly the most rigorous and most firmly constructed of the sciences…crisis in its foundations…controversy between the formalists and intuitionists…securing the primary way of access to what are supposedly the objects of this science.
every such area is itself obtained from the domain of entities themselves, this preliminary research, from which the basic concepts are drawn, signifies nothing else than an interpretation of those entities with regard to their basic state of Being
Such research must run ahead of the positive sciences, and it can. Here the work of Plato and Aristotle is evidence enough. Laying the foundations of the sciences in this way is different in principle from the kind of ‘logic’ which limps along after… in order to discover its “method”. 
The word "method" reminds of Hegel's "anger" at people who spend so much time going crazy over the method.
Laying the foundations, as we have described it, is rather a productive logic—in the sense that it leaps ahead.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Page 31 is the sin of man.
the ontological task of a genealogy of the different possible ways of Being (which is not to be constructed deductively)
derivation / deduction
pg. 33: Why “a” world?
???????
philosophical cognition
We are accustomed to contrasting the “timeless” meaning of propositions with the “temporal” course of propositional assertions. It is also held that there is a “cleavage” between “temporal” entities and the “supra-temporal” eternal, and efforts are made to bridge this over.
Here “temporal” always means simple being [seiend] ‘in time’—a desigation, which, admittedly, is still pretty obscure.
 “strong poets”, who perform “strong misreadings” of their precursors, and “weak poets”
methodological concept
object of empirical intuition
emanation of something which hides itself in that appearance—an emanation which announces
January 12, 2026
Note 1
# Kolb and Brodie’s Medical Clinical Psychiatry (10th ed), first chapter, notes:
genetic inheritance, persistent stresses of life, deficiencies in certain theoretical explanations of behavior that come from a study of man in a particular culture during a given time span
affections, methods of treatments… in the framework of magical and religious practices, rudiments of psychotherapy, malignant invading force, 
the sources of illness within the biosocial organization and development of man
recommendations for kindness and suggestions for the use of physical and recreational activities
sense organs to the  brain, phrenites, the social attitudes of his day, the court appointed a guardian for the accused, 
Galen… rational soul as divided into external and internal parts, 
psychologic biography, 
tripartite soul composed of rational, libidinous, and “spirited” portions, the latter containing various animal qualities
Freud’s structural concept of the personality, modern psychodynamic movement initiated by Freud
psychic epidemics, ecstatic visions, study of these epidemics led to some of the earliest conceptions of social factors as causation of mental derangement—the beginning of social psychiatry
Weyer (physician, first psychiatrist?) worked openly against the then current beliefs of supernational possession as the cause of mental *phenomena, gave explanations of the mass psychoses,  described many as arising from symptoms of melancholy arising from love
advised that one might find the pathogenesis of mental phenomena through developing detailed information about the sufferer
Bacon and 17th century philosophers: the functions of “mind” were of concern to the natural order of the universe
At this time, the philosophic interest of Descartes and others in the “mind” and its function established a dualistic explanation of human behavior
mind as “a collective designation for certain functional activities of the organism”
physiological v. integrated response of the organism to the complex physiological, psychological, and sociological forces that impinge upon it
mind is merely one aspect—the psychological aspect—of biological functioning of the organism and not a metaphysical entity having an existence parallel to the body. The dichotomy implied by “mind and body” does not exist in the organism.
modern era (18th and 19th century): revival of interest in the humanitarian care of the mentally ill, Pinel
this revolutionary climate also fostered the first demonstrations of hyponosis by Anton Mesmer
Benjamin Rush encouraged physicians to recognize the importance of their commanding social position, realized that antisocial acts had originated in emotional disturbances, recommended gentleness in contacts with the depressed, firmness with the manic, and attention-getting actions with the distracted. some instances threats were necessary to induce fear for the modification of antisocial behaviors
the modern psychotherapies are based upon a series of hypothetical prepositions and operational tenets lacking in the earlier “moral therapy”
open hospital movement in the 1950s
Kraepelin first comprehensive descriptions of what he believed were entities of mental disease. prior to his time, psychiatric attention had been directed to the symptom, which was regarded as the illness. He searched for physical origins of mental diseases, etiologic, symptomatology, course, and outcome, his classifications not based on an understanding of etiologic factors, including those of psychodynamic processes. little appreciation of the inner life of his patients,
New therapeutic and preventive approaches and hypotheses with powerful heurisitc potentials have emerged.
January 13, 2026
Note 1
# Foucault’s The Order of Things, preface to the English translation, notes
in short, it describes the processes and products of the scientific consciousness. But on the other hand, it tries to restore what eluded that consciousness: the influences that affected it, the implicit philosophies that were subjacent to it, the unformulated thematics, the unseen obstacles; it describes the unconscious of science.
archaeological
anonymous body of knowledge
replace the traditional ‘X thought that …’ by a ‘it was known that …’?
I do not wish to deny the validity of intellectual biographies
wonder… whether they do justice to the immense density of scientific discourse
from the point of view of the formal structures of what they are saying
the historical analysis of scientific discourse should, in the last resort, be subject, not to a theory of the knowing subject, but rather to a theory of discursive practice
# Merleau-Ponty’s The Phenomenology of Perception
If the reality of my perception were based solely on the intrinsic coherence of ‘representations’, it ought to be for ever hesitant and, being wrapped up in my conjectures on probabilities.
misleading syntheses
The real is a closely woven fabric. It does not await our judgement before incorporating the most surprising phenomena, or before rejecting the most plausible figments of our imagination.
Perception is not a science of the world, it is not even an act, a deliberate taking up of a position; it is the background from which all acts stand out, and is presupposed by them. 
there is no inner man, man is in the world, and only in the world doeshe know himself.
a subject destined to the world
January 14, 2026
Note 1
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche (1886)
Every great philosophy so far has been … the personal confession of its author and a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir
psycho-physical
Moralities are … merely a sign language of the affects
Answers to the questions about the value of existence … may always be considered first of all as the symptoms of certain bodies
symptoms and sign languages which betray the process of physiological prosperity or failure
Our moral judgments and evaluations … are only images and fantasies based on a physiological process unknown to us
it is always necessary to draw forth … the physiological phenomenon behind the moral predispositions and prejudices
A morality of sympathy is just another expression of physiological overexcitability
Ressentiment — and the morality that grows out of it — he attributes to an “actual physiological cause [Ursache]”
Our thoughts, values, every ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘if’ and ‘but’ grow from us with the same inevitability as fruits borne on the tree
= Absence of good, Wikipedia article
The theory is most closely associated with late antique and medieval Christian thought, especially Augustine of Hippo, who adapted Neoplatonic ideas (notably from Plotinus) and argued that evil is a privation of the goodness that God has created in all things. It was further developed by figures such as Boethius, Pseudo-Dionysius, John of Damascus, and Thomas Aquinas, and later taken up—often in modified forms—by early modern philosophers like Spinoza and Leibniz.
, privationist,
diseases and wounds are privations of bodily health; when health is restored, the evils “altogether cease to exist” rather than moving elsewhere
Boethius: evil is nothing
Todd Calder: pain has a distinctive phenomenology that appears intrinsically bad rather than merely not good
green capacities as conditioned by contemporary evolutions in the form and pace of capital accumulation
green state projects, overproduction
how states are scrambling to govern the intersecting crises of climate catastrophe, economic stagnation, and surplus humanity
trilemma 
the case of the solar photovoltaic boom
{Institute for Creation Research (???????):
robber barons
The Darwinian worldview was critical, not only in influencing the development of Nazism and communism(?)}
a narrow conception of nature perpetuates a capitalist “production bias” that inadequately accounts for the more-than-capitalist relations involved in reconfiguring natures for capitalist value production.
facultative
aesthetic health
Untimely Meditations. The essays shared the orientation of a cultural critique, challenging the developing German culture suggested by Schopenhauer and Wagner.
Nietzsche believed one’s geography dictated one’s philosophy.
He could walk alone for 6-8 hours a day.
sanitary zone for his intellect.
economic engine of his philosophy/ allowances?
pre-personal: Prior to the development of the individual ego.
woven stuff of phenomena
pain has lost its symbolic power
Philosophy is autobiographical
ideas are downstream from experience
Show me a philosopher, and I will show you the physical environment, trauma, or privilege that forced them to invent that philosophy.
January 15, 2026
Note 1
# Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception, preface, notes
faculty psychologism    
The world is there before any possible analysis of mine
Thus reflection is carried off by itself and installs itself in an impregnable subjectivity, as yet untouched by being and time
In Idealism (Kant): The necessity of apperception is to prove that “I” control the world. The mind organizes the chaos of reality.
In Existentialism (Merleau-Ponty): The necessity of apperception is to realize that the world holds “me.”
it is the ambition to make reflection emulate the unreflective life ofconsciousness.
He flips the traditional logic upside down. He argues that you cannot associate “yellow” and “sour” unless you already have the unity of the “Lemon” to hold them together.
pre-reflectively
Merleau-Ponty is noting a strange feature of human consciousness. When you look at an object, you do not experience it as something created by your brain in that second. You experience it as something that was already there waiting for you.
January 20, 2026
Note 1
The Fixer by Bernard Malamud (1966)
glassy brown river, pasty-faced, barred windows,
rattail hair, parchmented hand, groped his way on in the dark,
rolled his eyes. another bulged his
with his tool sack slung over his shoulder he trudged from street to street
The Jewish quarter swarmed and smelled
low-ceilinged cubicle, in a printer’s assistant’s flat
a bench covered with a burlap’s sack.
smelly feather beds, greenish coppers,
at night in his cubible, a glass of hot tea cupped in his reddened hands, 
popeyed horror, half-starving, 
the gas lamps casting a greenish glow in the snow, 
the trodden snow, 
fattish, bald-headed Russian… his heavy face splotched a whitish red and blue, snow on his mustache
reeked of drink,
A girl wearing a green shawl over a green dress was running crookedly towards them.
with a crippled leg
knelt, brushed the snow from the fat man’s face, shook him and said breathlessly 
cracking her knuckles against her breast 
half dragged, half carried 
three-story yellow brick house with a wrought-iron awning above the door
he and the fixer, she hobbling up after them, carried her father up the stairs into a large-roomed, well-furnished flat on the first floor
tile stove in the bathroom
The dog barked shrilly through the door,
her father opened his humid eyes
dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief
unbuttoning her father’s overcoat
in a tight high voice from the top of the stairs, quickly hobbled down after him, holding to the banister
twenty-five, slightly built, her torso long, with thick honey-colored hair that she wore loose around the shoulders
not quite looking at him, her eyes lowered, then shifting to a direct glance. She stared at the sack of tools on his shoulder
sweated in his thoughts 
wearing an embroidered peasant blouse and skirt, with two green ribbons plaited into her hair and some strings of yellow glass beads at her throat
loose wadded robe with a fur collar
at a table by a curtained window, a huge book open before him
On the wall behind hung a large chart in the form of a tree showing by way of white printed slots on its thickest black branches the descent of Nicholas II from Adam.
The house was over-heated. dog snarled
rose slowly, an old man with wrinkled, red-rimmed, wet melancholy eyes, and welcomed Yakov without embarassment. 
His throat tightened.
the fat Russian said
offering his soft, pudgy hand
thick gold watchchain hung on his paunch, and his vest was dusty with snuff grains
busied herself with the samovar
indicated a chair for the fixer
said, resuming his seat
March 15, 2026
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie Macdonald (1996)
a collar-and-tie job
sat cross-legged
He selected a volume and lifted its front cover; the spine crackled, sending a shower of red flakes into his lap
copper green, gun gray, seducing seaweed
wet with light
Past a stocky evergreen or two, their spiky scent, beaded sap struck with rain
long pale grasses keeled over in the damp
the rocks that sleep and peep out here and there
Startled by the scarlet mushroom, you might stop and stare. Or bend to feel the purity of the stream
rosewood jewelry box
long black braid, coiling it flat
rubies, diamonds, moonstones and pearls
big two-story white frame house
yellow-haired dog
swelled and peeled and leaked like drenched onion paper
pressed-back wooden chair
a long narrow man with leathery cheeks and black wavy hair
splintering brown eyes
raised his forefinger slightly
prying planks off windows
rose-hip wine, new linen sheets. and the mothbally tartan from his late mother’s hope chest, and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
she reached up and stroked the back of his head
To the right of them sank the tepid sun, while to their left the blast furnaces of Dominion Iron and Steel erupted into a new day’s work. A light orange snow began to fall.
a painted Roman arch with potted wax ferns
shared a dish of Neapolitann ice cream and melted their initials onto the window
said his name in her soft buzzy way
looked at the loose piano teeth scattered at his feet
girls spilled down the steps in giggling groups or private pairs
His lips brushed her cheek, her hair sweet and strange
salt mist coming off Sydney Harbour crystallized in the fuzz above his lip and alighted on his lashes; he was Aladdin in an orchard dripping diamonds
March 19, 2026
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie Macdonald
cutaway cliffs that curve over narrow rock beaches below, where the silver sea rolls and rolls, flattering the moon
Not many trees, thin grass
colliery, iron tower against a slim pewter sky with cables and supports sloping at forty-five-degree angles to the ground
Railway tracks that stretch only a short distance from the base of a gorgeous high slant of glinting coal, toward an archway in the earth where the tracks slope in and down and disappear
spreading away from the collieries and coal heaps are the peaked roofs of the miners’ houses built row on row by the coal company.
An avenue of packed dust and scattered stones that leads out past the edge of town to where the wide, keelong graveyard overlooks the ocean. That sighing sound is the sea.
White, wood frame with the covered veranda.
had her stockings rolled down for housework
armchair… the pale green wingback
a picture of Mercedes, holding her opal rosary, with one finger raised and pressed against her lips
the creek, flowing black and shiny between its narrow banks. And there’s the garden on the other side.
creek trickling
a real live soaked and shivering girl rise up from the water and stare straight at us
April 10, 2026
^O^ !!!—NOTAS—!!!!> ^O^
Tolstoy’s Childhood
Sanger’s The history of prostitution
Eastern phoebe - Wikipedia
Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra
Bartram’s Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia..
Tolstoy’s Childhood
through a mist of tears—dim and blurred
but her general appearance escapes me altogether. 
lifting his cap above his head
one or two of the more privileged servants
little piles of coin [“piles” used for “coins”]
These movements always appeared to me an index of Jakoff’s secret thoughts
Not sure whether the movement was meant for a caress or a command, I kissed the large, sinewy hand which rested upon my shoulder.
Mamma [spelling]
Eastern phoebe - Wikipedia
dirty gray
a sharp chip
fee-bee -> phoebe
contrasting wing-bars
The nest is an open cup with a mud base and lined with moss and grass, built in crevice in a rock or man-made site; two to six eggs are laid. 
streamsides
brushy areas
fruits and berries in cooler weather
winter quarters
The increase in trees throughout the Great Plains during the past century due to fire suppression and tree planting facilitated a western range expansion of the eastern phoebe as well as range expansions of many other species of birds.
Adult removing fecal sac(?) of a fledgling
Sanger’s The history of prostitution
The researches of science have been unheeded. They have traced the physical results of vice, and have foreshadowed its course. [Erm…!]
contumely
are there seen in legislation, which aims not to dam a wild torrent, but to lead it where its rage may be harmlessly spent. 
When a mighty river overflows its banks, the uncontrollable flood works wide-spread ruin and devastation along its course
puerile
Again: it must be conceded that the demands of propriety are universal. [sir wtf]
They are not restricted to any person or place, but press with equal force upon every member of the community in every possible situation. The common welfare is involved in their general application, and he well merits the good opinion of his fellow-men who points them to a case where propriety is outraged, and asks their aid to apply the remedy. In a word, propriety demands an exposure of all acts of impropriety, and the application of the needful cure. [a buncha prudes, fr?]
prurient
Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra
cortege
move off through streets filled with the slush of an early thaw
bier
hidden choir
Then he set the horses to flying under the walls and domes of the city and across the frozen white landscape.
blazing with diamonds [the use of the term “blazing” for anything other than something fiery or related to light]
Bartram’s Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia..
magnolia
The islets are high shelly knolls, on the sides of creeks or branches of the river, which wind about and drain off the superabundant waters that cover these meadows during the winter season.
under the shelter of a large live oak
having good reason to dread the subtle attacks of the alligators, who were crowding about my harbour.
excellent haunts for trout
the laughing coots with wings half spread were tripping over the little coves, and hiding themselves in the tufts of grass
water becomes thick and discoloured
Again they rise, their jaws clap together, re-echoing through the deep surrounding forests.
hiding himself in the muddy turbulent waters and sedge on a distant shore
plaited tribes around, witnesses of the horrid combat
roaring terribly and belching floods of water over me
struck their jaws together so close to my ears, as almost to stun me
gunwale
I soon dispatched him by lodging the contents of my gun in his head
I hauled my bark upon the shore
the peninsula and grove, at the difference of about two hundred yards from my encampment, on the land side, were invested by a cypress swamp, covered with water, and above to the marshes surrounding the lagoon… but by either ascending one of the large oaks, or pushing off with my boat.
the clouds of vapour issuing from their wide nostrils
kettle of rice stewing… oil, pepper, and salt… oranges hanging in abundance over my head (a valueable substitute for vinegar)
rekindled my fire for light
the whooping of owls, screaming of bitterns, or the wood-rats running amongst the leaves
as running the gauntles betwixt two rows of Indians armed with knives and firebrands
hay-cocks [???]
the nostrils are large, inflated and prominent at the top, so that the head in the water resembles, at a distance, a great chunk of of wood floating about
He now swells himself by drawing in wind and water through his mouth, which causes a loud sonorous rattling in the throat for near a minute, but it is immediately forced out again through his mouth and nostrils, with a loud noise, brandishing his tail in the air, and the vapour ascending from his nostrils like smoke.
The swamps on the banks and islands of the river are generally three or four feet above the surface of the water, and very level; the timber large and growing thinly, more so than what is observed to be in the swamps below lake George… black rich earth… succulent tender grass, somewhat like young sugarcane… and so spreads itself, by creeping over its surface.
height of fifteen or twenty feet… perfectly straight tapering stem… resembling leaf silver… curiously inscribed with the footsteps of the fallen leaves; and these vestiges are placed in a very regular uniform imbricated order… as if the little column were elegantly carved all over.
perfectly spherical top is formed of very large lobe-sinuate leaves, supported on very long footstalks
sconce candlestick
the bill long, straight, and slender, tapering from its ball to a sharp point
black and glossy as a raven’s, covered with feathers so firm and elastic, that they in some degree resemble fish-scales… feathers of a cream color… tail… very long… deep black… tipped with a silver white, and when spread, represents an unfurled fan.
They delight to sit in little peaceable communities, on the dry logs of trees, hanging over the still waters, with their wings and tails expanded… watery mirrour [sic].
page 168
April 11, 2026
16:00:02 – 16:14:00
Floral Life
cellular pasteboard boxes
each plant is securely fastened to the bottom of the box… a wire handle projects through the cover
well-rotted manure
flower-racemes
hanging-baskets
branches are drawn down over the sides of the basket… to cover it completely, the effect… a hanging great ball of bloom.
winds that smite its musical boughs of green
silvery foliage [like] priestly vestments, steel-blue lances, or vibrating cords
heavier, often grotesque scrub and pitch pines…
great whorled branches
smooth clean bark of the young trees
silken sheen
the wind tossed them about… the sun sparkled in many swift changes of silver and steel-blue light among them.
16:22:16 – 23:15:38
Bartram’s Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia..
a narrow strip of high shelly bank, on the west side
spreading Oak
saved one or two barbecued trout
sultry heats of the day… by stewing them up afresh with the lively juice of Oranges
a brisk cool breeze sprang up
in dreadful peals vibrating through the dark extensive forests, meadows, and lakes
seizing my fusee well-loaded
cool morning dews [using plural dew?] and breezes
composed of varieties of climbing [quite literally, but climbing can also mean rising tall] vegetables, both shrubs and plants, forming perpendicular green walls, with projecting jambs, pilasters, and deep apartments, twenty or thirty feet high
near the insertion of the foot-stalk
lofty [lofty used for the limbs themselves?] limbs of the trees
fruit… pendant from the extremities of the limbs over the water
middling high bank
low sandy testaceous ridge along the river side was but narrow
There being no underwood to prevent the play of breezes from the river, it afforded a desirable retreat from the sun’s heat.
spreading Cypress trees
sultry [sultry used for hours] hours of noon
The afternoon being cool and pleasant [in stark contrast to noon], and the trees very lofty on the higher western banks of the river, by keeping near that shore I passed under agreeable shades the remaining part of the day. 
During almost all this day’s voyage, the banks of the river on both shores were middling, high, perpendicular, and washed by the brisk current: the shoes were not lined with the green lawns of floating aquatics, and consequently not very commodious resorts or harbours for crocodiles… saw but few, but those were very large.
did not like to lodge on those narrow ridges, infested [of a swamp??] by such dreary [of a swamp?] swamps 
and evening approaching [interesting], I began to be anxious for high land for a camping place… quite dark before I came up to a bluff, which I had in view a long time, over a very extensive point of meadows… landed however at last… at a magnificent forest of Orange groves, Oaks, and Palms.
collected… dry wood
pleasant vista of grass betwixt the grove and the edge of the river bank, which afforded a very convenient, open, airy encamping place, under the protection of some spreading Oaks
a high perpendicular bluff, fronting more than one hundred yards on the river, the earth black, loose, and fertile: it is a composition of river shells, sand, &c. At the back of it from the river, were open Pine forests and savannas.
the monuments of the ancients
strolling in the dark about the groves, I found the surface of the ground very uneven, by means of little mounds and ridges.
taken up my lodging on the border of an ancient burying-ground, containing sepulchres or tumuli of the Yamasees, who were here slain in the Creeks in the last decisive battle, the Creeks having driven them into this point, between the doubling of the river, where few of them escaped the fury of the conquerors.
graves occupied the whole grove, consisting of two or three acres of ground… near thirty of these cemeteries of the dead, nearly of an equal size and form, being oblong, twenty feet in length, ten or twelve feet in width, and three or four feet high, now overgrown with orange trees, live oaks, laurel magnolias, red bays, and other trees and shrubs, composing dark and solemn shades.
continues my voyage… After doubling the point, I passed by swamps and meadows on each side of me.
The river here is something more contracted within perpendicular banks; the land of an excellent quality, fertile, and producing prodigiously large timber and luxuriant herbage.
air continued sultry, and scarcely enough wind to flutter [active!] the leaves on [!] the trees 
amble plains… grassy marshes and green meadows, and affords a prospect almost unlimited, and extremely pleasing. The opposite shore exhibits a sublime contrast; a high bluff bearing magnifcent forests of grand magnolia, glorious palms, fruitful orange groves, live oaks, bays and other trees. This grand elevation continues four or five hundred yards, describing a gentle curve on the river, ornamented by a sublime grove of palms, consisting of many hundreds of trees together; they entirely shade the ground under them.
Above and below the bluff, the grounds gradually descend to the common level swamps on the river: at the back of this eminence open to view expansive green meadows or savannas, in which are to be seen glittering ponds of water, surrounded at a great distance of high open pine forests and hommocks, and islets of oaks and bays projecting into the savannas.
After ranging about these solitary groves and peaceful shades, I re-embarked and continued some miles up the river, between elevated banks [of swamps? though they were all quite low] of the swamps or low lands
when on the East shore, in a capacious cove or winding of the river, were pleasing floating fields of pistia; and in the bottom of the cove opened to view a large creek or branch of the river, which I knew to be the entrance of a beautiful lake, on the banks of which was the farm I was going to visit, and which I designed should be the last extent of my voyage up the river.
About noon the weather became extremely sultry, not a breath of wind stirring, hazy or cloudy, with very heavy distant thunder, which was answered by the crocodiles—sure presage of a storm !
Featherstonhaugh’s Excursion Through the Slave States
Canvas-back duck
fine sunny [didn’t think to use this to describe weather] weather
the teeth of a column of smoke loaded with sulphuretted hydrogen, proceeding from the pyritical coals of the furnace, which the wind frequently urged upon me
railroad is laid in a very interesting ravine, through which the river  Patapsco flows over its bed, consisting of granite and other primary beds
delighted at being wheeled with the velocity of a locomotive through a singularly picturesque road, where such a variety of primitive rocks presented themselves.
At Marriotsville, 13 miles from Ellicot’s, the beds became more fissile, and clay slate occasionally appeared, but gneiss was the general rock; and at Sykesville, four times farther, where we stopped for a short time, I found it contained small but very transparent garnets
after which the country to Fredericton became less uneven, and we passed many well-cultivated farms, a band of limestone running through the district, of which the farmers are beginning to avail themselves as a manure
At Fredericton we got to a tolerably good inn, and here my first care was to overhaul my case of tests.
One large phial of refined alcohol was broken, as well as one flint-glass phial of nitric acid and one of muriatic acid.
The labels were obliterated from the other phials, and all the caoutchouc coverings to the ground stoppers eaten off.
rifle-manufactories… the wheels of which [United States government] were creaking at this early hour
the road passes over a natural terrace of blue compact limestone, with a base of about 200 feet wide at the bottom, tapering up to 20 feet in width at the top.
old uncle of his, who was worth 80,000 dollars, asked him, when he returned from college, what he had learnt there that he could not have learned at the German school. His nephew told him, that, amongst other things, he had learnt that the sun did not go round the world, but that it stood still, and the world went around it. Upon which the old man said, “You dink so, because de beobles at the college tell you so, but I doesn’t dink so, pecause I knows petter, and I ought to know petter.”
German cattle-feeder… worth 300,000 dolars… hoard their profits in hard money, entertain a great dislike to bank paper, and a still greater to the payment of taxes; and as their lands are continuously increasing in value, are becoming a very opulent community.
Having very little love for their countrymen, the English-talking Americans, they do not sympathize much with their politics; and where a German canditate is opposed to an American, are furious electioneerers.
have it in their power to put the government into the hands of Germans*
footnote: * The dishonourable conduct of the state of Pennsylvania, in relation to the non-payment of its debts, is fairly attributable to the Germans
From hence we proceeded to Mouth Crawford, eight miles, in the neighborhood of which there is a spring water which comes through the sandstone
We were called at half-past three A.M., preparatory to our crossing the Alleghany ridges, on our way to the Warm springs, distant from hence about 56 miles
Jennings’ Gap—one of those defiles which penetrate these ridges—12 miles, we came to a clean tavern at the foot of the hills, where we got a comfortable breakfast.
We now left the limestone valley, which we had followed 130 miles, over a succession of beds of limestone and slate, dipping to the east
and passing the Little North Mountain—which is a short of advanced-guard of the sandstone ridge called North Mountain—where the landlord told me coal was found near some springs, we came to the main ridge, and entered it at a passage called Walker’s Mountain, which was a mean elevation of about 900 feet.
This summit is perhaps two miles wide; and is divided again into smaller ridges, with depressions, or valleys and hummocks, imperfectly separating them.
The denseness of the woods, the pleasant air, the refreshing cheerfulness of the mountain streams, and the delight at finding myself once more in the Alleghanies, where I had so often wandered, made this a very pleasant day for me.
if I had not been already familiar with the structure of the Alleghany ridges immediately west of the Blue ridge, I should have regretted the limited opportunity now afforded me of forming accurate opinions. The general principles, however, of what was already known to me of the structure and direction of this remarkable elevated belt were confirmed by what I saw around.
The reddish and gray sandstones of the mountains, the slates and shales that alternate with them, the limestones in the valleys, and the general anticlinal structure of the ridges, with their strata dipping in contrary directions on each flank, and often rising again, with their imbedded minerals and fossils, on the opposite side of the valley , sufficiently bespeak the nature of the movement which has raised up these ridges, and left the valleys like furrows between them.
our average pace did not exceed three and a half miles an hour; and the stage-coach stopped so often to water and change horses, that we had an opportunity of walking wherever we pleased—a privilege we were all glad to avail ourselves of.
a young dandy of a rattlesnake, who seemed also to have a geological turn, for he was basking in the mouth of his habitat, a warm reddish sandstone, loaded with fine impressions of spirifers. His skin had a beautiful velvety appearance… so, after making some fight, he gave it up at lenth, and I bore away eight rattles from the gentleman’s tail.
where the mountain springs came through freestone, as they call all sandstones
It is always well in the traveller to propound questions of this kind, for the explanations he gives to make them comprehend him set them thinking, and make them more intelligent sources of information to those who succeed him.
the haunch was so wretchedly parboiled, and then put into the oven, which they called roasting, that I was not tempted to take it, more especially as I saw it was a doe, and had not the least fat upon it
We were not alone at this venison feast; a carriage-full of American fashionables from one of the large towns assisted at it, and seemed to relish the wretched stuff surprisingly. They gobbled up and praised the tasteless meat, and the country that produced it, as if nothing better could be imagined: but it is one of the amiable weaknesses of the cockney part of this patriotic people, that when they have read in English books of the estimation in which anything is held in England, they invariably believe that what is good in the Mother Country, from civil liberty down to venison, must be better in America; and so contrive to make themselves as happy with the shadow of things, as English people do with the reality.
More than two-thirds of this distance being on the east side of the ridge, I walked up it at leisure, and certainly it is difficult to do justice, either with the pencil or language, to the magnificent objects that were continually presenting themselves.
Ascending the mountain, a succession of deep precipices and glens presented themselves, environed with dark blue woods and obscure bottoms that no eye could penetrate, the fit habitations of panthers and bears; whilst from the western edge of the summit there was a mighty landscape of the Alleghany ridges one succeeding to the other, almost without number, until the most distant was shadowed out upon the horizon by a pale and misty magnitude, that invested the whole picture with sublimity, and created an impression of grandeur too lofty to be scanned by aught living, save
“The lordly eagle when from craggy throne
He mounts the storm majestic and alone.”
With one of the wheels locked, we commenced the descent of the mountain at speed; the driver dashed down as if he were mad.
They rise through the limestone in a marshy piece of ground, partly overflowed by the south fork of Jackson’s River, which heads about three miles N.E. up the valley.
Over the main bath a rough octagonal building has been raised, open at the top: the diameter of the bath at the bottom is about thirty-five feet, and the average depth is about five feet.
greatest enjoyment in the world, to any one who, rising with the dawn, has been occupied until noon wading through a burning sun, climbing the rugged mountain’s side, hammering rocks, poking his half-willing hand—doubtful of the rattle-snake—into holes after snail shells, and who has had to trudge back with his pockets and hands full of specimens, and with feet and arms equally tired.
where streams of gas go gently creeping over his body, as if little fishes were nibbling at him; where he has ample room to flounder about, and entertains no apprehensions of a cold shock when he jumps in, or of cold air when he jumps out.
Old sick men, young boys, husbands of charming wives, fathers of beautiful daughters, all in the same pickle together, mingling with the most extraordinary looking tobacco-chewing, expectorating, and villainous looking non-descripts
Where are the waters that could undefile a man after coming out of such a polluted liquid?
the albumen of a boiled egg
travertine
toll-house
Vide Frontispiece
helices… in a cleft of the white sandstone at the top of the ridge
pines are scrubby at these summits
and the few deer that remain alive in the vicinity are so worried by the dogs, that their meat is thin and not worth eating. Bears are very seldom seen.
we came to a gradual descent through a very romantic woodland ravine, which lasted eight miles, to Shoemates, where we breakfasted.
From this place to Callahan’s, 13 miles, a sort of outlying mountain is crossed, formed of a decomposing sandstone, which is in some places very ferruginous; this rock coheres so little, that at the summit of the hill the sand is quite deep.
vertical ploughing is practised, which creates gulleys and chasms so broad as to lead in many instances to the abandonment of the land
At present, lands in a state of nature, not distant from the main roads, can be obtained at from three to five dollars an acre, when in accessible situations; at greater distances large tracts may be obtained for 50 cents, and even as low as sixpence sterling an acre, the parties in whom the title lies living at a distance, and wishing to sell it at any price rather than pay taxes for what they derive no benefit from.
For a long period the farmers of this part of the country will be obliged to pack all their agricultural productions into the shape of hogs and cattle capable of carrying themselves to market, but there are many things—if managed with prudence and skill—would repay the exertions of active men; fine wools, fat sheep, fat cattle, and even good tobacco, I am persuaded might be raised here.
Any little lawyer or storekeeper in Virginia, by rigging out a dirty old vehicle, and traveling with it at the rate of 25 miles a day, could, we were assured, get in; whilst those who came in the stage-coach only got out, for the sober truth was, that if they would not receive you, there was no other place to go to.
Persons, therefore, of the greatest worth, seeking relief from the waters, and who came in the stage-coach because they would not destroy a good equipage and horses in a long journey of five or six hundred miles, were said to be turned away without ceremony, or directed to farm-houses in the neighborhood, under strong promises to provide quarters for them the next day; and were thus kept de die in diem with renewed promises and lying excuses until their patience was exhausted.
This was a short thick-set fellow, with a filthy black hat hanging on one side of his head, at an angle of about 45°, his garments as unpromising as his beaver, his arms a-kimbo, and his whole appearance vivified with a fierce, cool, and brazen-faced strut, that made a perfect character of him.
In front there was an enchanting view of the Alleghany Mountains, the spurs of which, clothed with noble woods, sometimes projected into the valley, and sometimes ran parallel with the flanks of the mountains, whose beautiful and picturesque serrated summits, sometimes undulating in rounded hummocks, like the Resegone of the mountains of the Lake of Como in the Milanese, and at others presenting acute ridges and peaks, bore every where a rich velvety appearance, from the depth and luxuriance of their forests.
A respectable old lady, stout, and slow in her movements, who inhabited a cabin below us, hearing the tea-bell ring, and hurrying to obey the summons, thought she could get quicker down by going out at the eastern than at the western door; and the poor dear lady was not mistaken in her conjecture, for having reached the steps, she prudently thought she would take hold of the knob of the door and see if it was well-shut; but, unluckily, taking hold of the key instead of the knob, and giving it a jerk, it came out, and she made a regular somerset before she got to the bottom, happily without breaking any limb.
Compulsion Row, a line of cottages made with frames instead of squared logs, the roofs of which were not quite finished.
The parties followed their trunks, came to the buildings, which were ceiled tightly in, with clap boards, the doors were hung, and things looked quite nice outside.
On examining our premises a little more particularly, we were sorry to perceive that the partition-wall, which was common to us and the next cottage, was only carried up part of the way to the roof; all above the line where a ceiling was intended to be placed to divide the lower from the upper room, was entirely open space, except where the rough brick chimney reared itself up in a rather uncomely manner, so that if a quarrel had existed betwixt us and our neighbours, we could have carried on  the water by throwing missiles at each other, with almost as much facility as if there had been no wall at all.
heavy footsteps of several coarse men… by the loud, drawling, unceasing vulgar conversation they got into.
More stupid, disgusting stuff I never listened to, than that which came from these conceited, self-sanctified, canting jackasses, nor in my opinion can anything tend more to suppress true religious feeling than such contemptible trash as they uttered.
They were all democrats too, to a man, which made them quite perfect. 
In the morning were were awoke by their hawking and spitting, and beginning to talk as insipidly and disgustingly as ever.
During the next day, these farthing candles to lighten the Gentiles were exchanged for another set of a different kind, equally low and vulgar, but without their canting. This new company, four in number, with two very small beds to sleep in, were constantly engaged in disputes about bacon—not Bacon, the great philosopher of England, but salt bacon of Virginia. One of them maintained that in “the hull woorld there was no sich bacon as Virginia bacon.”
drawn from the class of slave-dealers and land-speculators.
who can afford to leave their plantations, to fly to the salubrious air of the mountains, where they usually remain from July until the first frosts set in in October.
The expense of erecting each of these cabins, not exceeding 200 dollars, was to be defrayed by the person for whom it was built, the privilege being reserved to him and his family of occupying it whenever he or they came in preference to any body else, he being bound to leave the key with the proprietor when he went away, who had then the right to put other persons into it.
FoYK
descending in soft arcs to the sandy shore below
glorious sunlight pouring through the open window, bathing the crip in a dazzle of dust sprites.
a rabble of dolls
Buster Brown haircuts
Her skin is peaches and cream and honey, she looks to have been kissed by the sun even in winter She has lips like Rose Red, and an adorable little bump that appears in her forehead when she is perturbed. Frances has told her it is a horn that will soon grow out through the skin.
Today Lily is dolled up in a frilly knee-length dress of light green taffeta with a crinoline
a gleaming crown of french braids scraped so tight by Mercedes that the corners of her eyes are slightly stretched
“Honest, Lilym you were adopted. We just found you in the garbage one day. You had potato peelings stuck all over you.”
Frances… wiry girl… white as a sheet… Except for the freckle on her Roman nose. And except for when she is laughing, or thinking up something really good. Then the bits of green glass in her hazel eyes light up, her nose goes pink and a little white stripe appears across its bridge. Lily watches Frances’s nose as a sailor might watch for a lighthouse beam. When the stripe appears, it means Frances is about to go overboard.
dark blond curls
obliterated by a riot of rust and brassy browns
cruddy rag thing, and twines a finger round a stray coil of hair.
light brown braids are decently folded into a bun at the back of her neck.
blue serge skirt
slim girl who is scrupulous about her posture. Mercedes is twelve going on forty.
emerges into the hallway and dances the highland fling, the iron brace on her left leg swinging like a shilelagh
dances on, high kicking into Offenbach, singing in a Scottish accent
Lily has collapsed at the bottom of the attic stairs, beside herself with giggles, trying not to pee; Mercedes starts to succumb on spite of herself—-
Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra
two ribbons of troops
their curved sabers banging against their soft black boots
gold braid and crimson sashes with jeweled medals sparkling on their chests
red knee breeches and white silk stockings
bold-embroidered uniforms
reined his horse with his left hand only. His right hand was raised to his visor in a fixed salute.
clusters of horsemen, the Russian grand dukes and the foreign princes. Then came the sound of carriage wheels, mingled with the clatter of hoofs.
a wooden grandstand had been built to hold guests who could not squeeze inside the cathedral
a single strand of pink pearls
luminous frescoes
Romaic Beauties and Trojan Humbugs
another coat of dark mist-colour
tottering pedestals
Its rosy hand and entangling fingers are stretched out
a breezy day is overspread with the waving corn
growling to Chaneh-Kalessi, with a formidable bill for roast beef and Burton ales in his pocket, and a reticule stowed full of six-kreutzer pieces
he kissed their chubby cheeks in the cabin doorway when the parting bell for visitors rung
foam-white eyelids
a richly double-gilt saddlecloth
the whole collection of single-gilt saddlecloths at nine hundred piastres
fimbricated sashes and striped apparel
lamp-trimmers
hung down long tassels of golden threads or gilded tinsels, four or five feet long… melted her crown into long golden stalactites
heat-drooped flowers
garlicked and repugnantly dirty heads
whose oleaginous lips have been kissed by every ragamuffin within twenty miles round twice a week for the last twenty years
swarm of workers
buffet stools
pinching out his cigarette between his fingers, and snubbing unwittingly the proffered wine jug
peplos-robed vestals foot it
the piper slackens for very want of breath, and gradually follows a certain tune again
burnt-out sheet of newspaper
The barking of fierce dogs drowned the peculiar tones of the Oracle this time
a flask of fine gunpowder
four white-nosed sisters
floor-bedaubed hands
wide-trowsered
scented pipe
Fatmeh dropped from her chubbiest of fingers the white infidel sugar into the boiling beverage
until we had quaffed, or rather quietly engulfed, the fluid
palm-boughed
dismally thick and clotted ink
jargonelle-pear-shaped faces
half-filled sacks of lentils tied hirsutely round the middle
twenty feet of black deadened roots below
black morass
tarry, scabby, tail-knotted camels
a robed seat
long lashes pressed untwinedly together, and powdered over with fine gold dust richly glittering
takes his cross-legged seat upon an especially laid piece of carpet
the sun in transit
The taller youths struggle in their well-oiled skins.
In the city, too, are book bazaars
wareladen camels
In these ovens they bake their sandy bread, and simmer their unsieved goat’s milk.
Busts of Hellenic heroes, but no two of the same name with similar features, presided over every library shelf.
revivified Gothics, Roman villas, Italian lodges, Chinese temples, and Alpine cottages.
homemade red scented wood
generally hangs a coloured tri-cornered shawl
grassy plot where the unkempt horses and asses can graze
Behind their camp are the high hills and the towering pines and firs and larches, and beneath again, just over their fenced goat-pens, lies always a hurrying streamlet of water, eternally acknowledging in its pretty murmurings, summer and winter, to the rewhispering bushes, how beautiful a scenery these children of Nature have chosen.
Bombazine bag-breeches, fierze jacket, woven fez, horizontally-ribbed stockings, and puckered omentum-like hide sandals
The dresses which they half-wear on the half-trail, are all home-spun, and wondrously complicated with see-saw ribbons of wool, and maudlin selvages of coloured worsteds
On, on they go, the by-and-by loosening hair dancing about in curls to the same tunes, like boats at anchor in a rough sea; a sea, too, ever and anon perplexingly displaying its gulfs and bays upon their jocund persons.
besprinkled with sawdust
besmeared with smithy soot
blear-eyed
short thickset grass of a curragh
wind-waved and flexible tops of a bank of divers growthed rushes
A hundred semi-draperied little children, chiefly girls, screaming, shouting and romping tumultuate, with the gesticulations of a troop of opera dancers round about a frigid youth, with a black board, or a Turkish hornbook in his hand, is a picture that will truthfully suggest an Osmanli village school.
Bartram’s Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia..
shady oak
high forests behind me bent to the blast
deep swamps
the sturdy limbs of the trees cracked
their [great live oaks] limbs lying scattered over the ground
to dry my books and specimens of plants
This tepid water has a most disagreeable smell, much like bilge-water, or the washings of a gun-barrel, and is smelt at a great distance.
pearly clouds in the clear cerulean waters in the bason
this vast fountation [bason]
Spanish curlews driving to and fro, turning and tacking about, high up in the air,  when by their various evolutions in the different and opposite currents of the wind high in the clouds, their silvery white plumage gleams and sparkles like the brightest crystal, reflecting the sun-beams that dart upon them between the dark clouds.
ruff or tippet of long soft feathers, like a collar, bearing on his breast
sylvan pilgrimage
tuneful warblings of the nonpareil, with the more sprightly and elevated strains of the blue linnet and golden icterus
My situation high and airy: a brisk and cool breeze steadily and incessantly passing over the clear waters of the lake, and fluttering over me through the surrounding groves, wings its way to the moon-light savannas, while I repose on my sweet and healthy couch of the soft tillandsia usnea-adscites, and the latter gloomy and still hours of night pass rapidly away as it were in a moment.
how the dew-drops twinkle and play upon the sight, trembling on the tips of the lucid, green savanna, sparkling as the gem that flames on the turban of the eastern prince. See the pearly tears rolling off the buds of the expanding Granadilla; behold the azure fields of cerulean Ixca! what can equal the rich golden flowers of the Canna lutea, which ornament the banks of yon serpentine rivulet, meandering over the meadows; the almost endless varieties of the gay Phlox, that enamel the swelling green banks, associated with the purple Verbena corymbosa, Viola, pearly Gnaphalium, and silvery Perdicium?
blessed unviolated spot of earth, rising from the limpid waters of the lake: its fragrant groves and blooming lawns invested and protected by encircling ranks of the Yucca gloriosa
perspiring their mingled odours
A brisk wind arising from the lake drove away the clouds of mosquitoes into the thickets.
I hung the remainder of my broiled fish on the snags of some shrubs over my head.
When quite awake, I started at the heavy tread of some animal; the dry limbs of trees upon the ground crack under his feet, the close shrubby thickets part and bend under him as he rushes off.
I rekindle my sleepy fire; lay in contact the exfoliated smoking brands clamp with the dew of heaven.
The bright flame ascends and illuminates the ground and groves around me.
When looking up, I found my fish carried off, though I had thought them safe on the shrubs, just over my head; but their scent, carried to a great distance by the damp nocturnal breezes, I suppose were too powerful attractions to resist.
I entered this pellucid stream, sailing over the heads of innumerable squadrons of fish, which, although many feet deep in the water, were distinctly to be seen.
As I approached the distant high forest on the main, the river widened, floating fields of the green Pistia surrounded me, the rapid stream winding through them.
A vast bason or little lake of crystal waters, half encircled by swelling hills, clad with Orange and other odoriferous Illicium groves, the towering Magnolia, itself a grove, and the exalted Palm, as if conscious of their transcendent glories, tossed about their lofty heads, painting, with mutable shades, the green floating fields beneath.
The social prattling coot enrobed in blue, and the squeeing water-hen, with wings half expanded, tripped after each other, over the watery mirrour.
Featherstonhaugh’s Excursion Through the Slave States
subterranean furnace, with dirt and offal of every sort thrown upon the floor, whilst human beings are obscurely seen, some of them standing at the great fires and others running about as if they were so many Cyclops
clinking of knives and forks, the rattling [never seen this used for plates] of plates
oyster-cellar
The ascent commenced by a very rough slope, and a small ridge leading to the base of the main peak: its inclination in many places was near 60°, and every part of the soil and herbage was so glossy and slippery, as well as the soles of our boots, that we were continually falling, and could never have got up without the aid of the branches and twigs that we held on by.
distance destroys the beauties of its details
dry brooks
deep gloomy dell beneath us
Afraid of getting entangled in the dell beneath us, we retraced part of our steps, until we reached a point from which we could process on a horizontal line along the mountain side, until we regained that by which we ascended.
The thorny Robinia pseudo-acacia abounded so much that my clothes were torn to tatters
I soon perceived an unusual dampness in the air, which bore the smell of water, and following a small dry brook some distance, we, to our great joy, found a spring of delicious water.
We had been incessantly in motion for 11 hours.
But the most active causes, which perhaps concur with the waters to the restoration of health, are the journey to the mountains, the exchange of a low infected atmosphere for the invigorating air of a salubrious region, the fine exercise enjoyed in the hills, and a relief from the cares of business.
I mounted the top, and my son wisely preferred walking the whole 18 miles, for a cold bleak fog covered the Alleghany mountain
This ample valley is most agreeably diversified with hummocks, spurs, and knobs jutting out from the mountains, all of them well wooded, and interspersed with numerous sequestered coves and wild-looking little vales which separate them.
we came to an enterprising settler’s called Crow, who keeps a tolerably clean tavern, and here a small stream, in front of his house, runs on the limestone.
Three miles from this place, and four from the Sweet Springs, the country opens, the mountains recede, luxuriant crops of corn are seen growing on the fertile bottom-land, through which the stream flows that takes its rise at the Sweet Springs; indeed all the adjacent country possesses a great deal of beauty, which is increased by a lofty and very graceful knoll that rises immediately south of the springs.
The cabins of the establishment, though by no means as good as they might be, were rurally dispersed over the foot of the slope, and numerous single umbrageous oak-trees served as a shade from the hot beams of the sun
a cabin… old and rude… roomy and water-tight… no disagreeable neighbours.
petrified mosses, the fretted appearance of which is caused by the spray of the cascade
When this valley was formed, the stream probably passed over a gentle rapid, which, breaking the water, would cause the deposit
with innumerable weather-worn remains of old stalactites
whilst the body of the escarpment resembled in every particular the recent one at the cascade, abounding in large moulds of calcareous matter, which had formed enclosed logs and branches of trees
I have repeatedly found bouldered fragments of them on their tops
our feet, which were somewhat bruised and chafed
After breakfast we ascended Caldwell’s Mountain, another eminence which separated us from the valley in which the town of Fincastle is built, and which is a continuation of the great limestone valley running west from Harper’s-ferry: in the ferruginous slaty sandstones towards the top, we found large elliptical nodules of ironstone embedded in concentric circles, some of which were three feet long and twelve inches broad.
summer-leaved trees
plantation with a very respectable mansion-house, surrounded with a stout limestone wall.
in the early grey of the morning
April 14, 2026
00:03:00
Lincoln by Gore Vidal (1984)
Puff of unresonated cold steam filled the space between the congressman and the Negro driver on his high seat
Unslaked fury
White teeth were quickly bared and unbared in the black, cold-puckered face
Buttoned up his overcoat and stepped carefully onto the frozen mud that was
01:38:00
Lincoln by Gore Vidal (1984)
Fluffed up his beard
Porters were slouched near the sidings.
Huge carts stood ready to be filled with Northern merchandise to be exchanged - for Southern tobacco, raw cotton, food.
15:06:35 – 15:10:10
Savage Grace by Natalie Robins & Steven M. L. Aronson
The squalor of Brixton is alleviated only by a colorful market where anything can be purchased, from exotic fruits and vegetables to such old cockney delicacies as jellied eels.
The van, turning down a narrow, two-lane road lined with soot-stained brick buildings, proceeded through an open gate.
a barbed-wire courtyard patrolled by guard dogs
four-story Victorian-style buildings that loomed in front ofs him looked like a cross between a factory and a low-income housing
a meeting room that you came into, with little booths
two little booths with plate-glass windows and a little telephone
huge gray rocks, the sea that glistened
wonderful rows of fishermen’s houses going up and up, and a wonderful golden church with a wonderful light coming through
the madding crowd
enormous great semicircle of mountains where Barbara and Tony were living in Mallorca that’s like an amphitheater
decollete
a violent Irish streak
the most ordinary termination of this wild life
people who are nervously upset or mentally upset can write with such clear writing, a very clear steady hand, and say such logical things
drew several pages of frankly psychotic content
shepharding a black painter by the name of Beaford Delaney, a very good painter—a friend of Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Miller and Jimmy Baldwin
Beauford was so old that he sat down at Brook’s table.
grande geste
a flash of tihs old Tony from Ansedonia—of happy days
And he brought a comb out of his pocket and he was bending the teeth of the comb
Then he gave me a fish, a painting of his… I like this fish very much—it has very good color.
esoteric facade
charted this big yacht
he wrote a novella that telescoped them into the future—he had the son kill the mother in the end!
bored rigid
a cold gray windy rainy day
has sent me books three times
was escorted into the courtroom by an an alderman and a sheriff of the City of London, both in violet robes. The judge’s robe was red—indeed, he is known as the Red Judge and adorned with slate-colored skilk trimmings.
Over the robe he wore a black stole fastened with a wide, black belt; over the stole, slung across his right shoulder, he wore a scarlet band.
His neckwear consisted of a starched wing collar and two plain white bands hanging down in front.
On his head was the English judicial headdress—a wig, abbreviated from the reign of Charles II to one with a single vertical curl at the back and two short rows hanging down behind.
In his hands he carried white gloves and a folded square of black silk known as the Black Cap—a relic from the days when it was placed on his wig as he passed the death sentence.
Three sharp knocks on the door of the judge’s dais signaled the black-robed usher to open the court with the proclamation
The counsel representing the Crown wore a long silk gown, long-cuffed black tailcoat, and a wastecoat with flaps to the pockets.
garbed in the traditional Tudor gown.
To the left of the barristers sat the wigged and gowned clerks of the court
trial… held during the summer months, according to ancient custom, sweet-smelling English garden flowers had been strewn [the use of strewn here not as “strewn with” but “had been strewn on] on the bench and the ledge of the dock.
barrister-writer
April 16, 2026
09:19:48
Bird-bolts: Shots on the Wing by Francis Tiffany (1882)
the late sluggish pool is a rippling, laughing sheet of water
18:51:08
Once I Was a Princess by Jacqueline Pascarl-Gillespie
dotted with lone ghost gum trees
April 18, 2026
13:47:54 – 17:31:38
Spelling? Might be useful for immersion.
The English Huswife
spelling shit:
dyet (diet)
cookt (cooked)
Neighbour-hood (Neighborhood)
Hous-wife (Housewife)
physicall (physical)
wholsome (wholesome)
evill (evil)
confesse (confess)
Countesse (countess)
goodnesse (goodness)
sicknesse (sickness)
feavers (plural: fevers), fever (singular: fever)
Agues
dayly (daily)
dayes (days)
receit (receipt)
painfull (painful)
surpasse (surpass)
figne (sign)
oyles (oils)
waft, wafte (waste)
stomack (stomach)
Spinnage (Spinach)
puffin (purslane)
lettice (lettuce)
julip (julep)
ague sore
pultic (poultice)
jaundies (jaundice)
cloaths (clothes)
succory (chicory)
syrop (syrup)
searst (searsed)
bice and chaw (bite and chew)
tasseld (tasseled)
wrapt (wrapped)
plaister (plaster)
fetherfew (feverfew)
maleflot (madeflot)
sabious (sabiosa)
tanste (tansy)
fteaine (stain)
smalledge (smallage)
burrage (borage)
Camomil (Chamomile)
juyce (juice)
palsie (palsy)
bettony (betony)
carraway (caraway)
coorsly (coarsely)
Licoras (Licorice)
Asterton (Aster)
feldome (seldom)
tooth-ach (tooth ache)
daisie (daisy)
calamus aromaticus (acorus calamus; sweet flag)
stiffe (stiff)
clouts (clothes)
imbroydery (embroidery)
housleek (Houseleek)
flats / pleagants (pledgets; an early form of a compress or poultice)
affodill (Asphodel, Asphodelus)
Mirrhe (Myrrh)
allom (alum)
hony (honey)
mous-ear
King’s-evill (King’s evil)
Red Dock (Rumex crispus)
rew (rue)
alablaster (alabaster)
Oyle Olive (olive oil)
megrim (migraine)
Roach-allome (Roche Alum, rock alum)
venome (venom)
thme (thyme)
Comine, cumine (cumin)
serrindge (syringe)
celladines (celandine)
annoynt (anoint)
Copperas (ferrous sulfate)
Gyneper (Juniper)
limbeck (alembic)
annise (anise)
pease (peas) [but apparently singular too?? ? ? ? ??? ?]
sandragon (sangdragon)
tussia (tussilago; coltsfoot)
hil-wort (hillwort)
euface (Eufraise, Eyebright)
isop, hysop (hyssop)
smoak (smoke)
rayfins (raisins)
gumme arabick (gum arabic)
cynamon (cinnamon)
Horse mint (horsemint, beebalms)
Calamint (Calamintha)
Sperma Cati (spermaceti)
brokelhemp (Hemp Agrimony, brookhemp)
regular notes:
let him try if he can force himself to sweat
the juice of Lemons well mixed and symbolized (blended/harmonized) together
woolen clothes
a Syringe squirted up into the patients nostrils, which will purge and clear his head exceedingly
make the passion of the Frenzy forsake him
very clean coarse cloth
mix all these together, and keep them in a paper in your pocket, and even in the day time when the cough offendeth you, take as much of this dredge as you can hold between your thumb and fingers, and eat it, and it will give you ease to your grief: and in the night when the cough taketh you, take of the juice of Lycoras, as much as two good barley corns, and let it melt in your mouth, and it will give you ease.
during the wane of the moon, or when she is in the sign Virgo, eat the berries of the herb Asterton, or bear the herbs about him next to his bare skin, it is likely he shall find much ease, and fall very seldom, though this medicine be somewhat doubtful.
For the falling evil; take, if it be a man, a female mole; if a woman, a male mole, and take them in March, or else April, when they go to the Buck; then dry it in an oven, and make powder of it whole as you take it out of the earth, then give the sick person of the powder to drink evening and morning for nine or ten days together
sweet earthen pot
dig a deep hole in a horse dunghill, and set it therein, and cover it with the dung, and so let it remain for a fortnight, and then take it out and clear out the oil which will come of it, and drop it into the imperfect ear, or both, if both be imperfect.
To stay the flux of the Rhume, take Sage and dry it before the fire, and rub it to powder, then take bay salt and dry it, and beat it to powder, and take a Nutmeg and grate it, and mix them altogether, and put them in a long linnen bag, then heat it upon a tile stone, and lay it to the nape of the neck.
For a stinking breath, take Oak buds when they are new budded out, and distill them, then let the party grieved nine mornings, and nine evenings, drink of it; then forbear a while, and after take it agian.
quantity of half a nut-shell full of bay-salt, and strew it amongst the roots, and then when they are very well beaten, strain them through a clean cloth; then grate some Calamus Aromaticus, and mix it good and stiff with the juice of the roots, and when you have done so, put it into a quill, and snuff it up into your nose, and you shall find ease.
of the bigness of your cheek
quilt it in a manner of a coarse embroidery
chafing dish of coals [?????]
pearle (cataract, or any opaque film or cloudiness)
sleight stone
if you would not be drunk, take the powder of Betony and Coleworts mixed together; and eat it every morning fasting, as much as will lie upon a sixe pence, and it will preserve a man from drunkenness.
To quicken a man’s wits, spirit, and memory; let him take Landebeef, which is gatered in June or July
King’s evil (scrofula)
Take the leaves of Agrimony, and boil them in hony, till it be thick like a plaster, and then apply it to the wound of the head warm.
Take a table-napkin, or any linen cloth, and wet it in cold water, and when you go to bed apply it to the swelling, and lie upright; thus do three or four times in a night, till this swelling waste [go the fuck away]
saucer of strong vinegar
rub them soundly [soundly?? tf is this]: but not to leed (correction: bleed)
to draw teeth without iron
Take some of the green of the elder-tree, or the apples of Oak trees, and with either of these rub thy teeth and gums, and it will loosen them so, as you may take them out.
Take the juice of Lovage, and drop it into the ear, and it will cure any venom, and kill any worm, ear-wig, or other vermin.
pottle
Take red nettles and burn them to powder; then add as much of the powder of Pepper, and mix them very well together and snuff; thereof up into the nose, and thus do divers times a day.
it will ease any canker or Ulcer, and cleanse any wound; it is best to be made at Midsummer.
bray (“(of a donkey or mule) utter a bray”; “speak or laugh loudly and harshly”)
bray (grind/powder)
sovereign (sure/excellent)
scum off the filth
a sweet vessel
ingredients:
Dragon water
Vinegar
Egg
Rose-water
sorrel
Spinach
purslane
“cold herbs”
violet leaves
lettuce
almond milk
“wholsome” beer or ale
lemon slice, juice of lemons 
mithridate
posset-ale
“a few bruised” aniseeds (“and that will bring sweat upon him”)
endive
chicory water
syrup of Violets
conserve of barberries
strawberry leaves
french mallows
“suppository made of” honey, boiled to the height of hardness, which you shall know by cooling a drop thereof
“hot spices”
ivory finely powdered and sifted through a sieve
yolk, honey, 
herb of grace chopt “exceeding small”
wheat flower
plaster of Milelot (aka sweet clover)
feverfew, madeflot, sabiosa, mugwort
yarrow
tansy
sage
rue
brier leaves
elder leaves
a quart of white wine
little Ginger
treacle
smallage
wormwood
olive
milk
borage
langdebeef (bristly oxtongue)
calamint
hart’s-tongue
red mint
marigolds
saffron
sugar
linseed (flax)
Chamomile
“Womans milk”
wine vinegar
rose-cake
nutmegs, grated to powder
juice of beets
poppy seed (beaten also to powder, till it be a thick salve, and then bind it to the temples of the head, and it will soon cause the party to sleep, and let it lie on not above four hours)
agnus castus (chaste tree)
broom wort
dried camomile
ivy juice
rose oil
half a pint of the decoction of Lavender
powder of… mingled well with clarified honey
betony
Caraway seeds
Chervil dried
Hounds tongue
pepper finely beaten
sugar candy coarsely beaten
ounce of Licorice finely pared and trimmed and cut into very little small slices
half an ounce of
aniseeds
coriander seeds
berries of the herb aster
gray Eel with a whitebelly
bay salt
Oak buds
marjoram
antimony
malmsey 
daisy roots
quantity of half a nut-shell full of bay-salt
houseleek
asphodel
myrrh
alum water
mouse-ear
coleworts (coles)
frankincense
Doves dung
oil of lillies
alabaster
olive oil
white salt [regular table salt, as differentiated from bay salt]
“some of the green of” the elder-tree, or the apples of Oak trees
Hartshorn
red pimpernel
lovage
cumin
burnt-powder red nettles
red Sage [haven’t seen any other color mentioned, but here emplaced in case I find others]
celandine
a handful of honeysuckles
handful of woodbine leaves and flowers
pennyworth of grains made into fine powder, and boiled all very well together
life-honey (unclarified, unboiled honey)
flowers and roots of primroses
white copperas
fifteen seeds of juniper
seeds of gromwell
red snails
plantain
anise
sangdragon (amboyna)
tussilago (coltsfoot) 
red rose leaves
maidenhair
hillwort
eufraise
leaves of willow (boiled in oil, upon hair)
nine or ten eggs roasted very hard (with yolks put away), whites brayed very small
rind of hyssop
one ounce of small raisins
aquavitae (“a strong aqueous solution of ethanol”)
a quartern of fine lycoras powder
two penny worth of gumme Arabick
“a little quantity of Barm”
horehound
the lungs of a fox
a little cinammon
powder of horsemint (beebalms)
powder of Calamintha
a little spermaceti
sheep’s tallow
combined or processes:
handful of
Marigold plant
fennel, as much as May-weed
beat them together
strain them with a pint of beer
Wormwood beaten with the gall of a Bull
the white of an egg beaten to oil, as much Rose water… as much of the juice of Houseleek
fifteen seeds of juniper, and as many gromwell seeds, five branches of fennel, beat them together, then boil them in a pint of old ale, till three parts be wasted; then strain them into a glass, and drop thereof three drops into each eye at night, and wash your eyes every morning for the space of fifteen days with your own water, and it will clear any decayed sight whatsoever 
take red snails, and seethe them in fair water
Take the rind of hyssop, and boil or burn it, and let the fume or smoke go into the mouth, and it will stay any rhume falling from the head.
take the lungs of a fox, and lay it in rose water, or boil it in rose water, then take it out, and dry it in some hot place without the sun; then beat it to powder with sugar candy [?????], and eat of this powder morning and evening
take the herb brokelhemp, and frying it with sheeps tallow, lay it hot [poultice] on the grieved place, and it will take away the anguish
discoveries:
“bruised” to refer to anything other than physical harm on a person, here referring to ingredients; similar is happening with “grief” as in “grief in the head”
the use of different words to refer to the same thing like “linseed” being used earlier and “flax” being used latter
page 18
English Recusant Literature, Volume 203 (1566)
contayned (contained)
beleauing (believing)
spred (spread)
furder (further)
authour (author)
ferveth (serves)
triall (trial)
creditte (credit)
uttred (uttered)
booke (book)
fansie (fancy)
brayne (brain)
bretherne (brethren)
suffring (suffering)
triuphe (triumph)
wynkig (winking)
chardge (charge)
adiuged (adjudged)
maister (master)
be ware (be wary, beware)
presumptios (presumptuous)
ministred (ministered)
vnleffe (unless)
haue (have)
therfore (therefore)
Ghospell (Gospel)
soules (souls)
vs (us)
aduertifed (advertised)
juftifie (justify)
boke (book)
receaued (received)
approvued (approved)
newe (new)
yf (if)
refufe (refuse)
diftemperature (distemperature)
mone (moon)
othes (oaths)
aegerneffe (eagerness)
buſineſſe (business)
hauens (havens, ports or harbors)
zeale (zeal)
apease (appease)
amongeft (amongst)
brotherhoode (brotherhood)
weightie (weighty)
leyfure (leisure)
viewe (view)
worke (work)
drawe (draw)
certayne (certain)
margent (margin)
repete (repeat)
doe (do)
geue (give)
accompte
al that aske (all that ask)
yeres (years)
preched (preached)
ftraunge (strange)
meate (meat)
refufal (refusal)
marriadge (marriage)
ryfing (rising)
vowes (vows)
vp (up)
cloyster (cloister)
beggery
diuell (devil)
fynne (sin)
hym (him)
woorde (word)
bodie (body)
faied (said)
delyuered (delivered)
polycarpe (polycarp)
coniurers (connivers)
17:31:40 – 17:47:55
Dorothea’s The Garland of Flora
youthful brow
the wilds of Araby
the accacia waves her yellow hair
a bridal train
a succession of narcissuses, hyacinths, anemonies, irises, violets of all sorts, roses of every kind, and every odoriferous plant
scatter them [odoriferous plants] on their tables and beds
blue skies of sunny Italy
lilies in full baskets
ambrosial sweets
To France does thy vagrant spirit guide thee?
their ‘fields Elysian’—crowded with the most luxuriant plants; little suspecting that full oft beneath their fragrant shade repose the mortal relics of the dead.
Marble temples, costly pavilions will surround thee—thou mightest indeed believe it a true Elysium
primroses, cowslips, eglantines, woodbines, violets, the fragrant thyme, and every flower the lavish Spring bestows; and yet going still, a wild and sweet way to the land of Burns, there to gather ‘unnumbered buds and flowers, delicious spoils,’ not forgetting
‘The purple heath, and golden broom,
Which scent the passing gale?’
Unwearied still, dost plume thy wings for a yet longer flight?
thou mayst with Persian maidens weave garlands of the violet, jasmine, or lotos flowers
odorous, night blooming nyctanthes, with the drooping mimosa; and cull rich blooms from the canna, the white arum, the yellow zanthium, and the classic hibiscus;
rest secure under the báta tree—or recline beneath the dark cupressus
Or seeing, does thou prefer ‘yonder plain of various colors? It is crowned with groves and gardens, and flowing rivulets; it is a place belonging to the abodes of heroes.
The ground is perfect silk, and the air is scented with musk; you would say is it rose-water which glides between the banks?
The stalk of the lily bends under the weight of the flower;
and the whole grove is charmed with the fragrance of the rosebud
The pheasant walks gracefully among the flowers;
the dove and the nightingale warble from the branches of the cypress.
From the present time to the latest age, may these banks resemble the bowers of Paradise!’
the Persian of Ferdusi; trans. by Sir Wm. Jones.
the young child surrounded by troops of gay laughter loving nymphs
His favorite resorts are the plains of Agra
His bow is of sugar-cane twined with flowers; 
his string is of bees
his five arrows are pointed each with an Indian flower
pg. 3
20:43:01 – 21:07:49
Alice Walker’s The Complete Stories
a jar of cold cream melting on a mirrored vanity shelf
scribbling down impressions of the South
travel broadened him
a hundred acres of peanuts
dirt-eating toad
of brick, with a Japanese bath
he smiled in that snake-eyed way he has
He settled his other hand deep in my hair.
writing in the grape arbor, on the ledge by the creek that is hidden from the house by trees
their glances slide off me in a peculiar way
Then I plugged in one of his chain saws and tried to slice off his head. This failed because of the noise. Ruel woke up right in the nick of time. [dafuck]
I can even whistle it, or drum it with my fingers.
The house still does not awaken to the pitter-patter of sweet little feet, because I religiously use the Pill.
Shoes that will go to mold and mildew in the cellar.
his gold mustang stickpin
The pockets of the jacket came softly outward from the lining like skinny milktoast rats.
pg. 26
21:12:06 – 22:01:40
Featherstonhaugh’s Excursion Through the Slave States
it was a camp of… slave-drivers, just packing up to start; they had about three hundred slaves with them, who had bivouacked the preceding night in chains in the woods… to work upon the sugar plantations in Louisiana
coffles (“A group of animals, prisoners, or slaves chained together in a line.”)
a caravan of nine waggons and single-horse carriages, for the purpose of conducting the white people, and any of the blacks that should fall lame, to which they were now putting their horses to pursue their march.
female slaves… sitting on logs of food, whilst others were standing, and a great many little black children were warming themselves at the fire of the bivouac.
stood, in double files, about two hundred male slaves, manacled and chained to each other
some of the principal white slave-drivers, who were tolerably well dressed, and had broad-brimmed white hats on, with black crape round them, were standing near, laughing and smoking cigars.
manumit
the… population amounts now to about two million… whether the white or the black race is to predominate
Hence… have risen greatly in price, from 500 to 1000 dollars, according to their capacity.
when they are pinched, are compelled to sell a… or two.
a “gang” had surprised their conductors when off their guard, and had killed some of them with axes.
lofty and fertile table-land covered with rich grass and well-watered
talcose, quartzose, hornblende, green altered epidotic rocks, ancient sandstones, and chlorite slates, exceedingly intersected with strong quartz veins: being also non-fossiliferous
Unaykay, which is the Cherokee term for “white;”
patches of chert of a blackish color
Anthracite coal is found in most of the little valleys about here, at the foot of the ridges, conforming to the flexure of the strata.
vein of galena in the limestone
Wythe Court House, at the shabby dirty tavern where the stage-coach puts up, and where they pretended to give us dinner, but everything was so filthy, it was impossible to eat.
The landlord, a noisy, ill-dressed, officious fellow, was eternally coming into the room with his mouth full of tobacco, plaguing us to eat his nasty pickles and trash along with the bread and milk we were contented to dine upon, and for which he charged us half a dollar each.
class of lazy, frowzy, tobacco-chewing country landlords who think nothing is right unless there is a good deal of dirt mixed up with it.
a pair of preposterously-fitting trowsers, covered with grease, a roundabout jacket to correspond, and a conceited, lantern-jawed, snuff-coloured visage, with an old ragged straw-hat stuck at the top of it
expectorating with such force and precision, that he could hit anything within a reasonable distance, and with a force before unknown to belong to that branch of projectiles
a flock of young ducklings
graceful knolls of limestone well wooded to the top, rich grazing-grounds, and a surprising fertility all around.
edges of the limestone strata, however, cross the road often, and make it very rough traveling.
passed many patches of red earth that bore a very luxuriant herbage: soils of this colour appear to be derived from two sources, a red argillaceous rock, of which I have observed some isolated patches, and a red ferruginous sandstone, which last, on decomposing, makes rather a barren surface, probably from the too great abundance of ferruginous oxide.
At the ford of the north fork of the Holston River—a main tributary of the Tennesse—there is a fine bottom land which is very productive, yielding eighty bushels of maize to the acre.
Abingdon, a straggling village
a very opulent landholder, and can count one hundred and sixty-two descendants
a couple of blood mares
his father’s salt-works, sixteen miles distant
a ragged assemblage of wooden buildings where the salt is manufactured, and is situated in a small vale about a mile and a half long, and, perhaps, six hundred yards broad: it is evidently the site of an ancient lake; indeed, canoes were used when the white people first took possession of the place, and even now it is a low, flat, marshy bottom, imperfectly drained.
Plaster Banks, a deep quarry excavation from whence they take the gympsum in blocks, which is sold on the spot at four dollars and a half per ton.
contained between lofty hummocks or hills at the same mineral, round and conical at the top
sometimes hear fragments of gypseous clay splash into it, it is evident there is a vast reservoir of salt water at the depth of 220 feet
one bushel of salt of 50 lbs. to 24 gallons of water; but in the rainy seasons the atmospheric waters raise the wells, and make the brine weaker
subterranean stream of fresh water runs into the Preston Well at a certain depth from the surface, and from thence has an oblique passage downwards into the King Well, and thus reduces its strength.
pure beds of gymsum, or sulphate of lime… and the plaster is… capped by an incoherent sandstone.
graywacke slate
The name of cove is given in this part of the country to any crater-like basin or vale of land entirely surrounded by lofty hills, and there are many such in these mountains.
Some of them contain from 500 to 1000 acres of the most fertile soil.
The cove we went to see was difficult of access; after traveling about three miles up the ridge, we came suddenly upon it, and got into it by a difficult pass, just wide enough for one horse, where the mountain side sloped at an angle of about 65° among the loose sandstone rocks,which made it frequently necessary for us to dismount.
On our right was a deep ravine which separated us from some lofty mural escarpments at the top of which were strong ledges of naked sandstone hanging at an angle of about 55°. The scene was strikingly wild.
Charley Talbot… eyes that glanced incessantly from one object to another, without resting more than an instant upon anything
panther-hunter
wild-cat killer
a man that would drag a bear out of his den
bring down a deer
kill the fat hogs or beeves of the settlers
dabbler in literature
was provided with a grey stallion of great fleetness and bottom to bottom to go to Abingdon on a Sunday
used to boast that his nag [old horse] and himself cared nothing for Monday, because they knew every inch of the country as well by night as by day
the very summit of the mountain to the left was capped by red horizontal rocks, forming an escarpment
strong laurel thickets
This animals, so fond on sucking-pigs, is the spotted wild cat (Felis rufa?) [Featherstonhaugh’s the one who put the question mark, very interesting], and is universally complained of in this part of the country as destructive to young pigs, for the sows are all permitted to run at large in the woods.
pg. 147
22:02:50 – 22:26:05
Bartram’s Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia..
where I securely fastened my boat to a Live Oak, which overshadowed my port
a chain of shallow ponds
its head terminating in the form of a sharp cone [additional abstract shape language to help with drafting difficult structural vocabulary pre-internalization]
silvery whiteness of the leaves of this tree, had a striking and pleasing effect on the sight [filler language here in the latter part of the excerpt, but thought to include it at least once]
Its thick foliage, of a dark green colour, is flowered over with large milk-white fragrant blossoms, on long slender elastic peduncles
the ground beneath covered with the fallen flowers
from scarlet to crimson [didn’t think there was a difference]
lastly to a brownish purple [wtf]
unfading lustre
low wet grounds on rivers, in a sandy soil, the nearest to the water of any other tree, so that in droughty seasons its long serpentine roots which run or upon the surface of the earth, may reach into the water
forming a pyramidal head [might be useful for more structural or architectural drafts]
wood of old trees when sawn into plank… in cabinet-work or furniture
a cinnamon coloured ground, marbled and veined with many colours
inner bark is used for dying a reddish or sorrel colour… imparts this colour to wool, cotton, linen, and dressed deer-skins, and is highly esteemed by tanners
large coral red fruit
deep green fern-like pinnated leaves
its prickly limbs stride and wreathe about
its spikes of crimson flowers… amidst the delicate foliage
22:03:59 – 22:18:01 Lots of Car Movement Verbs
Motherless Brooklyn
chuckleheads
tossed his cigarette behind him into the street, where it tumbled, sparks scattering
went in, sweeping the door wide
grown-ups in business suits shivering their way into gimmicky bars as the nightlife got under way, while my ears built a soundscape from the indoor echoes of Minna’s movement up the stair
shoe leather chafing on wood, stairs squeaking, then a hesitation, a rustle of clothing perhaps, then two wooden clunks, and the footsteps resumed more quietly. Minna had taken off his shoes.
palmed another Castle out of the paper sack—six burgers to restore order in a senseless world
More muffled foostepse, a door closing. A clunk, possibly a bottle and glass, a poured drink.
triply distracted—the power window had seduced my magpie mind and now demanded purposeless raising and lowering
I craned my neck to see past him, but there was nobody visible in the doorway of his building
He held up his hands.
zipped down the powder window again, finally pried my fingers away.
supressed another dickweed into a high, chihuahuaesque barking sound, something like yipke!
I repeated my impulsive flapping motion with my hand, an expedient tic-and-gesture combo, trying to nudge this buffoon back to his doorway
Over the headset I heard Minna shut the bathroom door behind him, begin running water.
pulling the headphones down around my neck
touching my fingertip to his nose
He flinched me away like a fly.
We hustled into the car, and Coney revved the engine.
We sat facing forward, our car shrouded in its own steam, waiting, vibrating.
My jaw worked, chewing the words back down, keeping silent.
Gilbert’s hands gripped the wheel, mine drummed quietly in my lap, tiny hummingbird motions.
I lifted one of the headphones to my right ear. No voices, nothing but clunking sounds, maybe the stairs.
clutching the tall man’s shoulders like a human backpack
waited in a thicket [use for anything other than trees, leaves, and nature] of cabs and other traffic for the light to change
we lurched all together, a floating quilt of black- and dun-colored private cars and the bright-orange cabs, through the intersection
We remained stuck a car back. [the use of car as a measure of distance “a car back”]
he jockeyed for an open spot in the lane to the right
“Spare me,” groused Convey as he got us directly behind the K-car at last.
we hit the end of the cycle of green lights
another car slipped in ahead of us [more movement verbs for anything other than people, cars being an area I have yet to immerse and indulge myself in]
wedged in, unable to follow and brave the stream of crosstown traffic
22:26:34 – 22:31:04
Dorothea’s The Garland of Flora
green robes
balmy showers
many-plumed warbling throng
the streets were strowed (strewed) with flowers
While from the scaffolds, windows, tops of houses,
Are cast such gaudy showers of garlands down
prune their feathers in his golden beams
gaudy train
pendant branches
streets hung with tapestry 
fountaines were running with wine
a long white robe with a purple fringe; her face was covered with a red veil, and her head was crowned with flowers
pg. 6
April 19, 2026
13:54:31
My Threescore Years and Ten
literary chicken
20:21:42 – 20:53:27
Adventures During a Journey Overland to India Vol. 1 by Mayor Skinner, 31st Reg.
Its sandy neighbourhood, and the numerous olive-trees sprinkled about it
The mistrale blew for many days, and prevented the vessels leaving the harbour
hen-coop
three-decker
the wooden stars that are hung over shop-doors in England to receive the lamps on an illumination night.
a towering rage
huddled together a crowd of donkeys, their little ragged attendants “standing at ease.”
I at length reached a turn in the long lane, and found on one side, near the sea, a coffee-house, in which were seated Turks and Arabs, and near which the business of justice seemed to be carried on
Veiled damsels and loaded porters, pompous Turks and dirty fellahs, with strings of donkeys pushing their way, indifferent of the kicks and curses that assailed them as they unceremoniously disturbed the lounging progress of the foot-passengers, were all around me.
the smell… tobacco bazaar
when in rushed a crowd of every description, as if pressed by some terribly enemy,—an avalanche could not have more confused the city.
Away it rattled with four horses and a proportion of outriders, as indifferently as if it had been flying over Salisbury Plain, bumping against the shops from side to side as it went.
an amber-headed pipe at his mouth
although such an advanced in civilization is highly commendable, I hope, when carriages become general, those who indulge in them may see the necessity of building towns to hold them.
a red cap with a long blue tassel, the uniform head-dress of the army, with a pair of scarlet Turkish slippers
coffee-houses and spirit-shops, from which came a most execrable smelll of aqua-vitae, the vilest of all possible decoctions, and with the odour of which every shop and every man in this part of the city is impregnated
reached the midst of an extensive area, on one side of which was a wide street running down to the borders of the old harbour, with a row of high white-washed houses on each side, while, on the other, was a heap of mud, and narrow lanes opening upon it, that would, I think, have done discredit to our St. Giles, my little guide stopped me and asked where we were to go.
alighted in front of a guard-room that stands at the entrance of the street
dressed in blue cloth, a la Turque, with a pair of European boots and large brass spurs: instead of a shawl round his waist, he had a girdle, and no turban graced his head.
wore the close red cap, with about half an inch of a neat white one peeping below it; he was compact, and, I may add, soldier-like enough, but shorn of everything that gives in my eyes dignity and grace to an Oriental.
round his wrist he wore a whip of hide
as I went towards the sea, were the arms of several nations,—among them those of my own,—hanging over the doors like sign-boards, very much tarnished and indifferently painted: the consular establishments have been for some time, I find, removed from Grand Cairo to this place, which has become, since the war with the Sultan, the most useful, if not the most populous, city of the Pasha.
April 20, 2026
2:00:00 Notas-u
Written on phone:
Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China by Evariste Regis Huc (1928)
The coolness of the autumn was becoming somewhat biting.
lances, arrows, portions of farming implements, and urns filled with Corean money
rude grandeur
covered with fine forests
Mongol tents whitened the valleys, amid rich pasturages
All the trees were grubbed up
new cultivators set busily to work in exhausting the fecundity of the soil
Almost the entire region is now in the hands of the Chinese, and it is probably to their system of devastation that we must attribute the extreme irregularity of the seasons which now desolate this unhappy land.
the winds by degrees double their violence, and sometimes continue to blow far into the summer months
Then the dust rises in clouds, the atmosphere becomes thick and dark; and often, at midday, you are environed with the terrors of night, or rather, with an intense and almost palpable blackness, a thousand times more fearful than the most somber night.
Next after these hurricanes comes the rain… for it pours down in furious raging torrents.
Sometimes the heavens suddenly opening, pour forth in, as it were, an immense cascade, all the water with which they were charged in that quarter;
and immediately the fields and their crops disappear under a sea of mud, whose enormous waves follow the course of the valleys, and carry everything before them.
The torrent rushes on, and in a few hours the earth reappears; but the crops are gone, and worse even than that, the arable soil also has gone with them.
Nothing remains but a ramification of deep ruts, filled with gravel, and thenceforth incapable of being plowed.
Hail is of frequent occurence in these unhappy districts, and the dimensions of the hailstones are generally enormous.
some that weighed twelve pounds
One moment sometimes suffices to exterminate whole flocks.
In 1843, during one of these storms, there was heard in the air as of a rushing wind, and therewith fell, in a field near a house, a mass of ice larger than an ordinary millstone. It was broken to pieces with hatchets, yet, though the sun burned fiercely, three days elapsed before these pieces entirely melted.
Next year… there will be neither rich nor the poor; blood will cover the mountains; bones will fill the valleys (Ou fou, ou kioung; hue man chan, kou man tchouan.)
Thousands died upon the hills, whither they had crawled in search of grass; dead bodies filled the roads and houses; whole villages were depopulated to the last man.
our small trunks were packed and padlocked
The night was far advanced, when suddenly numerous voices were heard outside our abode, and the door was broken with loud and repeated knocks.
not in a car, but on camels, in true Tartar fashion
effecting the equipment of the caravan
procure the restitution of a mule which had been stolen from him
Some repaired our traveling-house, that is to day, mended or patched a great blue linen tent; others cut for us a supply of wooden tent pins;
others mended the holes in our copper kettle, and renovated the broken leg of a joint stool
others prepared cords, and put together the thousand and one pieces of a camel’s pack
Tailors, carpenters, braziers, rope-makers, saddle-makers, people of all trades assembled in actice co-operation in the courtyard of our humble abode.
perforate the nostrils of the camels, and to insert in the aperture a wooden peg, to use as a sort of a bit
wild piercing cries of the poor animals
The crowd ranged themselves in a circle around him;
every one was curious to see how, by gently pulling the cord attached to the peg in its nose, our Lama could make the animal obey him, and kneel at his pleasure.
When the arrangements were completed, we drank a cup of tea, and proceeded to the chapel;
the Christians recited prayers for our safe journey;
we received their farewell, interrupted with tears, and proceeded on our way.
Samdadchiemba, our Lama cameleer gravely mounted on a black, stunted, meager mule, opened the march, leading two camels laden with our baggage
the former mounted on a tall camel, the latter on a white horse
for the first mile or two of our journey, we were escorted by our Chinese Christians, some on foot, and some on horseback, our first stage was to be an inn kept by the Grand Catechist of the Contiguous Defiles
novices in the art of saddling and girthing camels, so that every five minutes we had halt, either rearrange some cord or piece of wood that hurt and irritated the camels, or to consolidate upon their backs, as well as we could, the ill-packed baggage that threatened, ever and anon, to fall to the ground.
After journeying about thirty-five lis [the Chinese Li being a quarter of an English mile according to the footnote], we quitted the cultivated district and entered upon the Land of Grass. There we got on much better; the camels were more at their ease in the desert, and their pace became more rapid.
ascended a high mountain… camels evinced a devided tendency to compensate themselves for their trouble, by browsing, on either side, upon the tender stems of the elder tree or the green leaves of the wild rose.
The shouts… alarmed infinite foxes, who issued from their holes and rushed off in all directions.
On attaining the summit of the rugged hill we daw in the hollow beneath the Christian inn of Yan-Pa-Eul.
We proceeded towards it, our road constantly crossed by fresh and limpid streams, which, issuing from the sides of the mountain, reunite at its foot and form a rivulet which encircles the inn.
the landlord… the Comptroller of the Chest
Inns of this description occur at intervals in the deserts of Tartary, along the confines of China.
a large square enclosure, formed by high poles interlaced with brushwood
In the center of this enclosure is a mud house, never more than ten feet high.
With the exception of a few wretched rooms at each extremity, the entire structure consists of one large apartment, serving at once for cooking, eating, and sleeping; thoroughly dirty, and full of smoke and intolerable stench.
Into this pleasant place all travelers, without distinction, are ushered, the portion of space applied to their accommodation beinh a long, wide Kang, as it is called, a sort of furnace, occupying more than three-fourths of the apartment, about four feet high, and the flat, smooth surface of which is covered with a reed mat, which the richer guests cover again with a traveling carpet of felt, or with furs.
In front of it, three immense coppers, set in glazed earth, serve for the preparation of the traveler’s milk-broth.
The apertures by which these monster boilers are heated communicate with the interior of the Kang, so that its temperature is constantly maintained at a high elevation, even in the terrible cold of winter.
Upon the arrival of guests, the Comptroller of the Chest invites them to ascend the Kang, where they seat themselves, their legs crossed tailor-fashion, round a large table, not more than six inches high.
The lower part of the room is reserved for the people of the inn, who there busy themselves with keeping up the fire under the caldrons, boiling tea, and pounding osts and buckwheat into flour for the repast of the travelers.
The Kang of these Tartar-Chinese inns is, till evening, a stage full of animation, where the guests eat, drink, smoke, gamble, dispute, and fight: with nightfall, the refectory, tavern, and gambling house of the day is suddenly converted into a dormitory.
The travelers who have any bed-clothes unroll and arrange them; those who have none, settle as best they may in their personal attire, and lie down, side by side, round the table.
When the guests are very numerous, they arrange themselves in two circles, feet to feet.
Thus reclined, those so disposed, sleep; others, awaiting sleep, smoke, drink tea, and gossip
The effect of this scene, dimly exhibited by an imperfect wick floating amid thick, dirty, stinking oil, whose receptable is ordinarily a broken tea-cup, is fantastic, and to the stranger, fearful.
When we had set up our tent and unrolled  on the ground our goatskin beds, we lighted a pile of brushwood, for the nightd were already growing cold.
Just as we were closing our eyes, the Inspector of Darkness startled us with beating the official night alarum, upon his brazen tam-tam, the sonorous sound of which, reverbersting through the adjacent valleys struck with terror the togers and wolves frequenting them, and drove them off.
We were on foot before daylight.
April 23, 2026
00:34:43 – 01:20:18
Jenny by Sigrid Undset (1911)
A plain of housetops lay beneath him in the valley, the roofs of houses new and old, of houses high and low—it looked as if they had been built anywhere and at any time, and of a size to suit the need of the moment.
a thin veil of white mist, which no busy pillar of smoke dared penetrate, for no factory chimney could be seen, and no smoke came from a single one of the funny little chimney pipes protruding from the houses
round, old, rust-brown tiles
greyish moss, grass and small plants
yellow blossoms
chambers hung in dead cascades from the cornices
Loggias stood out of the mist, looking like parts of an old watchtower, and small summerhouses of wood or corrugated iron were erected on the roofs
even to read the names carved in clear, Latin type on white marble slabs set in the corners of the houses.
The street he took ran into an open space near a bridge, on which two rows of lanterns burned with a sickly, greenish flame in the pale light pouring down from the restless sky.
A low parapet of stone ran along the waterline, bordered by a row of trees with faded leaves and trunks, dropping their bark in big white flakes.
On the opposite side of the river the street lamps were burning among the trees, and the houses stood out black against the sky, but on this side the twilight still flickered on the windowpanes.
The sky was almost clear now, and hung transparent and greenish blue over the hill with the pine avenue, with here and there a few reddish, threatening, slowly moving clouds.
How dull the water was! It flowed on rapidly, reflecting the colours of the evening skies, sweeping twigs and gravel and bits of wood on its way between the stone walls.
A small staircase on the side of the bridge led down to the water’s edge.
Helge thought how easy it would be to walk down the steps one night, when one was tired of everything—had any ever done so? he wondered.
pointing up the river
A huge, dark stone erection stood out against the sky, a low, round tower with a jagged crest and the jet-black silhouette of an angel on top.
A History of Egypt from the 1st to the XVIth Dynasty by William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1920)
brick-lined pit
a large alabaster jar of the king
an ebony label and an ivory cylinder
vases of basalt, crystal, syenite, and ivory
an ivory lid of a kohl palette
The Four Feathers by A. E. W. Mason (1902)
the old redbrick house, lodged on a southern slope of the Surrey hills, was glowing from a dark forest depth of pines with the warmth of a rare jewel
From the terrace the ground fell steeply to a wide level plain of brown earth and emerald fields and dark clumps of trees.
Far away toward Horsham a coil of white smoke from a train snaked rapidly in and out amongst the trees; and on the horizon rose the Downs, patched with white chalk.
Betwixt the ling and the lowland, a book of country life, humour and sport by William Carter Platts (1901)
purling stream, where the mavis [song thrush] sings in the hawthorn bush and the water-voles plunge about the roots of the trailing willow
the crowded, dusty city, where, when jaded and depressed with the din and worry of an artificial life, the reader can turn to its ever-fresh pages for a glimpse of the rural scenes that are far away; and he can then hear the milkmaid’s song, and a whiff of fresh woodland air comes into the room, and a whole legion of weary cares and blue-devils fly scurrying away through the keyhole, and tumble over each other on the steps?
green pastures and still waters
His soul clamours rebelliously for breadth of scene and atmosphere.
let the pining city prisoner
wholesome, literary, rural tonic
Let him smell the scent of the hay through the printing press.
air’s too strong and the people are too common
But the people are not too common to be interesting, and the air is not too strong to be healthy and bracing.
rugged fell and mountain fastness, where the curlews scream and the red grouse call, it sweeps down upon us
pg. 1
08:46:43 – 08:50:32
War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk (1978)
iron-and-glass table
a large plateful of the very savory stew, asking for more onions and potatoes; more food than they had seen him put away at midday since his arrival in Pearl Harbor
carry out the footlockers
soaked halter
tall hard-faced young man
looked sidelong at him through cigarette smoke
The small smoky telephone exchange was crowded with waiting sailors and officers.
The chief operator, a buxom lady of forty or so with a heavy Southern accent, brightened when Pug mentioned Lacouture.
hoarsely chuckled
pg. 22
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie (1967)
nine-pound Imperial Crown.
Shaped like a bishop’s miter, it was crested with a cross of diamonds surmounting an enormous uncut ruby. Below, set in an arch supporting the cross and in the band surround the head, were forty-four diamonds, each an inch across, surrounded by solid masses of smaller diamonds.
Thirty-eight perfect rosy pearls circled over the crown on either side of the central arch.
Nicholas let the gem-encrusted crown rest on his head for a moment.
walked from the church wearing brocaded mantles embroidered with the double-headed Imperial eagle. They climbed the Red Stairway, turned and bowed three times to the crowd.
From thousands of throats roared a mighty cheer.
From the muzzles of massed cannons, thunder rolled across the city.
Above everything, making it impossible for a man to speak into the ear of his neighbor, clanged the thousands of bells of Moscow.
From the towers and churches of the Kremlin the concentrated ringing of the bells obliterated all other sounds.
Among the thousand guests who dined at the coronation banquet, among the grand dukes and royal princes, the emirs and ambassadors, was one room filled with plenty Russian people in simple dress.
They were three by hereditary right, for they were the descendants of people who, at one point or another, had saved the life of a Russian tsar.
At hundreds of tables the guests sat down and found before them a roll of parchment tied with silken cords.
Inside, in illuminated medieval lettering, was the menu.
The meal consisted of borshch and pepper-pot soup, turnovers filled with meat, steamed fish, whole spring lamb, pheasants in cream sauce, salad, asparagus, sweet fruits in wine, and ice cream.
12:17:21 – 12:20:59
Cane River by Lalita Tademy (2001)
peed on the rosebushes
four-poster bed
pushed herself up from her straw pallet on the floor
made her way quickly down the narrow hall, beyond the wall altar, and past the polished mahogany grandfather clock in the front room, careful to sidestep the squeaky board by the front door
inched past the separate entrance to the stranger’s room and around to the side of the big house where the prized bushes waited.
Barefoot into the darkness… aided only by the slightest remnant of the Louisiana summer moon… a sprawling rosebush with delicate pale yellow flowers and visible roots as long as her father’s fiddling bow.
a thin, jagged scratch on her bare arm from a thorn she hadn’t seen in the darkness
12:56:29 – 14:13:32
Travels and Adventures in Southern Africa by George Thompson (1827)
I have attempted to supply, in some degree, this desideratum: and I trust I may, without presumption, aspire to the approbation of my countrymen for the attempt, whatever may be the imperfections of the execution.
exportation of aloes, a branch of colonial traffic which had at that time begun to assume some importance
a long range [range used for buildings when I previously thought them only for mountains and the like] of buildings 
wished to ascertain by personal inspection the resources of those remote districts with the view of opening, if practicable, new and more profitable channels of mercantile enterprize.
enlargement of geographical science
I shall follow their example, by giving a list of my accoutrements; which, compared with those of my celebrated precursors, Vaillant, Sparrman, Burchell, and others, will at least afford an amusing contrast.
A strong saddle and bridle, with holsters, occupied by two brandy bottles instead of pistols
A double-barrelled gun, with a supply of powder and ball; flints, bullet-mould, and other shooting-gear.
A small portmanteau to fix behind my saddle, containing three changes of linen, small shaving apparatus, &c.
In the eight pockets of my shooting jacket were stowed the following articles:—
A map of South Africa; ditto of Albany; a compass, thermometer, and burning glass; four memorandum-books and a dozen black-lead pencils; three pocket knives, tinder-box, roll of twine, &c., a small bottle of Eau de Cologne, and a few other medicines; and four pocket volumes of English poetry for occasional recreation. These, with a few other necessaries, occupied the numerous pockets of my coat, and increased its weight to about twenty-five lbs., a burden which, in hot weather, I found sufficiently cumbersome to carry constantly upon me, but which I could yet neither dispense with, nor otherwise dispose of.
My other accoutrements were a seal-skin cap for wearing in cold weather, and a broad-brimmed straw hat for lightness and shade under the burning sun. The latter, when off duty, was tied on my back: the former was readily slipped into one of my side-pockets.
I had also a warm Flushing great-coat for wrapping myself in at night, and which I designed to be carried by the Hottentot guides who must necessarily accompany me from place to place, with the horses I expected to hire or purchase on my route.
Lastly, I had taken care to prepare myself with proper letters of introduction to the magistrates of the different districts through which I had to pass, in order to procure from them official orders to the inhabitants to supply me with horses and guides for hire, when I should require them.
pg. 7
April 24, 2026
Written physically with a 64-sleeve ruled notebook from April 24, 4:53 AM to April, 26, 6:14 PM during three days of environmental camp at —.
Nothing was erased, only crossed out, during the note-taking, even after I switched to an eraser-headed pencil and a pencil sharpener when the ballpen ink became faded.
meaning:
[/text]/ = brackets with forward slashes by the author, not by me
[text] = brackets by me during note-taking
[[text]] = double brackets by me transcribing manually by keyboard at home after the event
./././ or ././././ = ellipsis by the author in excerpting
... or .... = ellipsis by me during note-taking
text crossed-out by me during note-taking
* crossed-out asterisk by me during note-taking
text underline by me during note-taking to emphasize, with its own place, but one of its roles being to separate two words or phrases that both deserve to be given a bold emphasis, as in “two cars” where the emphasis on the whole and the separation of the two are both kept, while another role being to point out prepositions, like uses or forms or constructions that are novel to me
text written by me transcribing manually by keyboard at home after the event to indicate text inserted in between after line was already written
text written by me during note-taking to de-emphasize line
**text** written by me to emphasize at a bold level, essentially higher than italics, during note-taking, as in using actual asterisks
*text* written by me to emphasize at a italics level, essentially lower than bold, during note-taking, as in using actual asterisks
04:53:00 – 05:46:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
[[Leaf 1, Page 1]]
spicy soup dish of vegetables with legumes, leafy greens with roasted coconut, fried fish, tofu or eggs and a sambal
One dish could provide a
hearty feed for two
a generous spoonful to be eaten with a number of other dishes for up to six to eight people
dinner party for eight… three to five recipes with a sambal should be sufficient, plus rice of course
If… cooking just for one, halve the spices and ingredients in the recipe, or cook the whole dish and freeze the remainder
Leftovers are never a problem as the flavours of simmered spices are more exciting the next day
Spice pastes can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks, with a smear of oil on top
Nowadays, the search for Asian ingredients does not have to compromise comprise an alle all-day trek to a remote suburb. Many supermarkets are stocking their shelves with exotic seasonings as more Australians embrace the cuisine of their closest neighbours.In my home city of Melbourne, Box Hills, Springvale, Abbots ford [[sic]] and the Victoria Market are a won-
[[Leaf 1, Page 2]]
derful source for the ingredients used in this book
05:51:00 – 06:38:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
populist muckraking
importunings
tightly set lips and direct gray eyes
the three of them in plush Victorian parlors, sharing a joke, quarreling, cajoling, encouraging one another
Phoebe in lavender dresses and tight corsets and George enjoying a whiskey served by his faithful black butler, Robert Turner
W. R. sets off a long string of fire crackers
Pretty Millicent Hearst flutters about her mother-in-law, in whose arms rest the twin babies (born in 1915). happy not to have to mingle too often with the
“hoi polloi”
deplored snobbery but basked in the company of royalty
refusal to knuckle under her thumb
deplore the lack of social graces today (thank-you letters were written promptly for the slightest favor in her time), but she would delight in the equality between men and women—if not, perhaps, the equality of garb, the faded blue jeans and sloppy shirts common to both sexes.
smart-aleck
exposés of corporate exploitation
[[Leaf 2, Page 3]]
[[the mother]] canceled subscriptions to magazines that published offensive articles about him and felt [[the critics felt]] that his political ambitions nullified his newspapers’ worthiness because he was wrongly perceived as “buying” public office for his own ends
papers’ losses of a million dollars a year
Govern him by letting him govern himself.
on the fringe of “old-guard” society, although Phoebe… as - She matriach [[sic]] of a “first family” of the West
She and Will, though, were intolerant of those supercilious or less bright than they, thus setting themselves apart.
Will’s wise and down-to-earth father once told his son, when he was starting his newspaper career and complained of the number of fools in the world,
I would not be too hard on the fools if I were you, Willie. If everyone were very clever, you and I might have a pretty hard time getting along.
They lived in extraordinary pre-income-tax luxury
pg. 21
07:24:00 – 07:34:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Hayes [[sic]]
faded front porch and the green metal chair
passed Virginia Street with its tall trees, then on past Cedar Knot Avenue where a couple
[[Leaf 2, Page 4]]
of kids were rolling a ball out into the street.
A sea of early dock grew wid wild along the clay road, standing in waist-high clusters
And though he’d never noticed the wildflowers before June, he’d meet them since and been told more than once that their seeds, still white and hidden, would turn rust-colored once the weather cooled and the days shortened.
He’d been told a tea could be brewed from boiling out the yellow root; a tea good enough to cure the stomach and the gums and certain cases of jaundice.
08:23:00 – 08:41:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
watched the sleepy travelers depart disembark, he wished that he had brought with him at least a half-dozen E Federal guards
Since the guards were just coming off night duty, no one would think it odd if they should converge, in a casual sort of way, upon the depot.
But the other half of the semi-official Joint Congressional Committee of Two, Senator William H. Seward of New York, had said, “No, we don’t want to draw any attention to our visitor. You and I will be enough.”
Since the always-mysterious Seward had then chosen not to come to the depot, only the House of Representatives was represented in the stout person of Elihu P. Washburne, who was, suddenly, attracted
[[Leaf 3, Page 5]]
to a plainly criminal threesome
To the let left, a small-eyed sharp-eyed man with one hand plunged deep in his overcoat pocket where the outline of a derringer was visible
To the right, a large thickset man young man with both hands in his pockets—two pistols?
In the center, a tall thin man, wearing a soft slouch hat, pulled over his eyes like a burglar, and a short overcoat whose collar was turned up, so that nothing was visible between cap and collar but a prominent nose and high cheekbones covered with yellow skin, taut as a drum. In his left hand he clutched a leather grip-sack containg containing, no doubt, the tools of this trade sinister trade.
pg. 4
08:43:00 – 09:10:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
fresh galangal, Chinese greens or lime leaves
off to ‘Vietnam’… grow up thinking that Vietnam is only a ten-minute drive from our house in East Kew.
carry the blessings with you into everyday life.
hundreds of sandwiches and rice meals and collected drinks and other necessities for victims and helpers.
car was loaded withe [[a frequent error of mine]] with people, food, refreshments, towels and other bits and pieces that had been gathered within an hour or two.
A ‘Donations Needed’ sign was placed on a table opposite the piles of freshly baked bread, chocolate
[[Leaf 3, Page 6]]
yoghurt cake and apple crumble.
helped organise a blood donors’ unit at a nearby clinic and a handful of expatriate volunteers sat there with Indonesians to translate.
misty eyes
a large ceremony had taken place south of Kuta during which a giant old turtle had been slaughtered. The turtle had been used purely as an offering and the flesh had not been eaten.
On the Friday after the bombing, under a waxing moon, sprays of fragrant tears fell to the ground from the leaves of a huge shady tree within the inner courtyard of the Ubud palace.
Words spread throughout the town and by 10 p.m. the small area that had received the droplets of water was crowded with Balinese throwing their arms up to receive blessings.
The atmosphere within this royal sanctuary was charged with happiness and hope.
‘Could this be a miracle?’ I heard a Westerner ask
The following day the shower persisted. By midday the pre priests had arrived and began chanting sacred mantras to the anxious crowd
More Balinese arrived to gather water and take it home to their shrines. People lined up for blessings.
The holy men who channel the spirits
[[Leaf 4, Page 7]]
were called upon to communicate withe with God and ask for an explanation. The message finally spread around town that the ancestors of the palace were responsible for the water.
pg. 6
09:14:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
The carriage rolling and bumping up the road on an autumn day in Missouri i [[sic]] 1862 carried an uncommon couple: a great, gangling, bearded, soft-eyed man of forty-two years and his recent bride, about half his size and age
Her diminutive size and youth, nineteen years,
Cool, serious, gray eyes betrayed an intelligence and maturity beyond her age.
The pair were en route to a train that would carry take them to St. Louis and New York, out of the lush Meramec River Valley, away from the Civil War that was being fought in their neighborhood and town squares
the backwoods leaving the backwoods, a “miserable country.”
there was an easier life way to live and cultured people outside the valley with its small farms and lead mines and God-fearing neighbors
The older man beside her, George Hearst, offered the promise of a better life
struck it rich with a little-known silver mine at a place they called Comstock in the Sierra Nevadas far to the west of St. Clair, Missouri, where Phoebe and George had
[[Leaf 4, Page 8]]
grown upon their family farms. He had made money after ten years in the gold fields. In her small purse Phoebe had a lengthy document, a contract withe with her husband that they had signed the day before they married. It gave Phoebe Elizabeth Epperson, as her name was spelled, fifty shares of George’s mining stock if he should die before she died. She would be well cared for, but she did not know that one day she would be among the richest women in the world.
She had dreamed of richly furnished houses, servants, paintings by European masters, of stimulating conversation about books and philosophy, of concerts and plays, of Paris, London, and Rome.
The man beside her would make all these possible. He was kind and gentle if a bit rough-hewn around the social edges.
Perhaps she could refine him. Her plans included more than herself, for she was three months’ pregnant and hoped for several other children as well
pretty in a solemn sort of way
pg. 22
09:45:00 – 09:51:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
He’d been told the leaves were fresher and better than the juice of a ripe lemon and that the seeds could be ground up as meal or coarse flour and baked as bread.
Thinking on it, he watched the curling leaves, caught up and moving in greenish blue waves.
A month ago, the hedge was just one more patch
[[Leaf 5, Page 9]]
of fast-growing springing up wild on the side of the road he walked day in and day out.
Now that patch had a name and a purpose and a deep-seated sermon.
09:58:00 – 10:10:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
“The language of ‘dock’ is patience—you remember that, Even Grade, next time you see it growin’ alongside the road or in a wasted place.”
And while he hummed some nonsense song
Stretching his neck, hearing it pop in all directions, he hummed louder, his hands swinging free.
reached down and pulled off a dark-green, wavy leaf and rubbed it between his hands
Waxed and cool, it felt  soft and thin along its curl.
Folding it up accordionlike, he put the length of it in his mouth and chewed, feeling it unfold and open against his teeth like something still living.
He tasted similarity to lemons and something deeper in that spoke of well-seasoned fish and lemon meringue pie and all those tart, clean foods of summer.
he saw his street coming at him just a hundred steps away.
Knowing he’d turn in and see his porch with its single green metal chair.
pg. 7
10:13:00 – 10:24:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
[[Leaf 5, Page 10]]
- As the three men came abreast
hand half out of his overcoat pocket, revealing the derringer’s barrel
“This is Ward Hill Lamon.” Lincoln indicated the thickset man, who withdrew his right hand from his pocket to share the hand of Washburne, who stared dumbfoundedly dumbly at Lamon’s hand, ablaze with what looked to be barbarous jewellry.
Lincoln laughed. “Hill, when you’re in the big city you take your brass knuckle off.”
“It’s in this city that I better keep them on.” And Washburne noticed that Lamon—who spoke with a Southern accent—did exactly that.
Meanwhile, Pinkerton had moved on ahead, studying the passers-by with such suspicion that he himself began to attract attention.
Lincoln said what Washburne was thinking. “Mr. Pinkerton is what they call a detective, and detectives always make quite a fuss, trying not to be noticed.”
pg. 5
10:28:00 – 10:51:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
a total of 81 banjars representing more than 58,000 people
In the nearby village of Peliatan, thousands of people gathered under the shade of the banyan trees.
The gentle tinkle of the gamelan and chorus of bamboo flutes floated along the road, creating a magical feeling of warmth.
I looked at the faces of the people lining the
[[Leaf 6, Page 11]]
street and saw shades of hope in every color.
Sunbeaten farmers and old grandmas
Moslems sit beside Balinese Hindus, chatting and laughing.
Children on bicycles decorated with white feathers streamed past like doves on wheels.
Balinese dancers wrapped in bright cloth, wearing their gold headdresses, weathered the intense heat with grace
Young girls drifted by carrying roses, others held peace signs and candles.
The world had come together in the little town of Ubud and I was a part of it.
The veil of sadness that had settled over Ubud dissolved in a shimmer of gold decorations, white banners, flowers and love. Would it be any other way in this tropical heaven haven?
But a week later, Ubud had become a ghost town.
The stark reality that our economy relies solely on tourism and the tourist dollar hit me full on.
lying in bed, tears falling on my pillow, as I thought of all the plans I had made for the coming months, plans I now had to abandon. And I was only one amongst thousands.
family compound
At sunset, we sat in a restaurant by the sea and I staed stared at the fringed palm trees alongside the road.
The next village along from Kuta, consisted of coconut groves and fishermen’s huts.
step out of the hot laneway into this cool shady street.
pg. 11
[[Leaf 6, Page 12]]
10:53:00 – 11:17:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
[? 6:17 on broken/mismatched time on phone so likely 4 hours difference]
Her brown hair was pulled simply and sternly back, parted in the middle.
Her lips were full, her eyes clear and direct, her demeanor serious.
left a estate of rich farmland and small lead-mining interests
both came from Anglo-Scotch-Irish stock, although Phoebe had a strong German strain in her ancestry.
The Hearsts, though, were one of the few families in the area to have slaves and substantial land holdings.
Most of the people in the valley eked out a living out of the land and lead-filled rewards mines in the neighborhood.
It was a hard fife life for meager material rewards, it was the western frontier of young America. Everything eaten, worn, or used as tools was raised or made on the land.
live and survive off the land
Her fingers had sewn, carded, cooked, planted, hoed, and milked.
They had writtens [[sic]] lessons and sums and even poems
few books to read, but she devoured all she could lay her hands on, even those in French, which she studied avidly and longed to speak on the avenues and in the shops of Paris.
The image of Paris was fixed in her mind rfrom drawings in Harper’s Weekly Magazine, where she read
[[Leaf 7, Page 13]]
such stories as Charles Dicken’s serialized “Great Expectations” and gazed at the elegant gowns of worldly women.
Although in leaving Missouri her moreno dress was plain and her luggage meager, it one day would expand manyfold to trunks of shoes, dresses, gloves, and handsome jewelry.
Church wa sthe center of social fife life
St. Louis, forty-five miles north was a growing metropolis with opera, theater, and cultural enticements that Phoebe had sampled only briefly.
The rolling hills along the Meramec River were snow-covered in winter, verdant in summer.
In spring the woods blossomed with dogwood and the river ran high.
11:35:00 – 12:07:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
sit there at night, leaning back in study of the stars while his nearest neighbor, who was still back a ways reading yesterday’s paper on the loading dock, yelled out his thoughts from the porch next door.
Under a hard noon sun the white water tower at the top of the hill had a way of looking like a stripped down widow woman, all flaked out and peeling, pale and ugly and sad, but with the sun falling and the sky near purple at the horizon, the tower seemed stately again, its weaknesses shored up and braced; covered over by the evening light.
Spitting out patience to the side of the his porch he climbed the steps with tired, aching feet, glad to see Saturday on its way, just behind tonight’s moon sto [[not really sure about this, but something was crossed out resembling that]] now, with nothing mark-
[[Leaf 7, Page 14]]
ed down on that fresh page to do either, but whatever it was that happened to come to mind.
—I’m goin’ Lo Lo to see Lo Lo, she so Lo Lo, she need Lo Lo./././ [[ellipsis I only marked as belonging in-text rather than by me now]]
At the beginning of August, Even Grade was still a happy man.
The house on Luvenia Korner on Hillcrest Loop had a bedroom at the end of its hall that had not always been a bedroom.
the room at the end had been what was called the peeling platform. [[wrote “should be sub-list” to the left of this because it wasn’t, which I made a sub-list in transcription]]
Simple, a ten-by-ten porch squared off around the backdoor, it was a space where as a child Luvenia had been sent to do various jobs—peel potatoes, shell beans and peas, pluck a fresh-killed chicken, and on Saturdays, wash your clothes.
pg. 8 [[decided to continue after this even if this is likely the one occasion that stating the page didn’t immediately spell the end of the session and the switch to a new book to take active notes of next]]
Her daddy, if it was Thanksgiving or Christmas and the air chilly, would build her a fire out in the backyard, far enough away from the old pecan tree and the house to be safe, about midways back into the field by the old tractor shed.
Luvenia said that she would fall asleep out on the peeling platform watching a red-orange pyramid of wood crash around itseff itself finally until it was left only a smolder—low and gray and blue—shaped like barely anything at all
“The tent wa always smelled like the ass-end of
[[Leaf 8, Page 15]]
the root cellar.
“and there was something [[spelled “samething”]] at moldy growing on top of the old canvas that had made my nose and eyes itch, but falling asleep on the peeling platform, watching a fire while the wind rustled the leaves of the old pecan tree, is one of the best memories I own.
closed it off around 1920 and we called it the dry porch then.”
12:11:00 – 12:30:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal *
Lincoln had pushed down his collar, to reveal a short, glossy black beard that entirely changed the shape—and expression—of his face.
Washburne stared hard.
They were now standing beneath a huge poster of “Abraham Lincoln, the President-elect. Welcome to Washington City.”
The cleanshaven face of the poster was hard, even harsh-looking, while the bearded face looked weary, but amiable. To Washburne, the President-elect resembled a prosperous, down-state Illinois farmer come to market.
Lincoln leapt to one side as two huge black women carrying a tub of pork sausage meat hurried toward the cars.
the shrunken wintry sun resembled a small, pale, yellow seal affixed to the parchment-gray sky to the left of where the Capitol’s dome should be but was not.
Instead, from the sound tab marble table base, reminiscent of one of Gautier’s white wedding cakes, a
[[Leaf 8, Page 16]]
large crane was silhouetted against the sky like a gallows.
“They took the old lid off, I see.” Lincoln ignored Pinkerton’s efforts to get him into the waiting barouche.
The four men climbed into the carriage.
Pinkerton sat next to the driver.
Lamon sat with his back to the driver’s seat while Lincoln and Washburne shared the backseat
Washburne noticed that Lincoln never let go of the grip-sack. Even while seated, he clutched it so hard that the huge knuckles of his hand were white.
pg. 6
12:35:00 – 12:46:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
shrines and temple paraphernalia sparkling in the sun, surrounded by Balinese umbrellas and crowds of people.
A pavilion had been constructed outside the Sari Club and it was there that twelve high priests sat, chanting and ringing small brass bells.
temple dance… mask dance
Curious tourists in skimpy halterneck tops and thin rayon sarongs wandered around.
Other, more sensitive, tourists wore a full ceremonial outfit or a peace T-shirt and sarong.
Amidst such destruction, this one silent shrine, the guardian of the bar, stood unscathed, the black and gold still wrapped around it. It had been showered with offerings and small bottles of holy water were perched on the ledge. Things like that always happen in Bali.
[[Leaf 9, Page 17]]
12:49:00 – 13:03:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
a three-day drive by ox cart
moved to Newberry District, South Carolina, an area known as the NInety-Six District,
where they had operated a tavern and trading post on a north-south highway
Appersons, sometimes spelled with an “E,”
Her father was an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Before his marriage, in the 1830s, he had clerked in a neighborhood general store
owned land along the Meramec River, including ninety-five acres that they had obtained with a federal patent in 1825.
purchased seventry-three [[sic]] acres of government homestead land along the river between farms owned by the Hearsts and the local school teacher, Hugh C. Berry.
Phoebe had walked three and a half miles through the woods and crossed the river twice to attend the Salem District Public School. She owed a great deal to that public school, where lessons had opened new perspectives to her [[[no period here]]] Her sympathy for a good public education would reappear with force years later. some years later.
pg. 25
13:05:00 – 13:17:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
a gabled roof over its top that shielded from rain, and three sides of screening that kept away the bugs and mosquitoes and the biting flies.
[[Leaf 9, Page 18]]
Being Methodist he thought a house “truly plumed” was an abomination in the eyes of God.”
once he was done tacking down the last screen and his saw and nail bag were hanging back on the nail in the shed, he had stood by the new door opening while she—ten-year-old Luvenia—sat at the old back door and placed her jack ball down on the floor by her feet. . [[two periods]]
Knees up under her dress, she watched the ball move forward and away  toward the backdoor, picking up speed until it went flying out the opening.
ball bounced down the steps
She patted the wide window where a door used to be
a love of wide open spaces and nighttime fires as well as the room at the end of the hall that had been other things before it became a room
13:54:00 – 14:19:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal *
two tons of luggage
so many brick barracks interspersed with saloons and shops
six-thirty in the morning the city was not yet properly awake
The hacks that were usually lined up in front of each hotel were not to be seen
Only Negroes—slave and free—were on the move, bringing food to the hotels, cleaning the stairs of the houses and taverns, moving briskly in the cold.
said Lincoln as the carriage skittered over cobbles so ill-set that they made the avenue look
[[Leaf 10, Page 19]]
even more like a vast, wild field than plain frozen mud might have done.
I see they’ve made a stab at paving the avenue,” …”Not a very serious stab,”
windowless red-brick building
A horsecar rattled into view, only half full at this early hour; the stove at the back of the car smoked badly.
Bare trees sprouted from the brick sidewalk to either side of the door; farther down the avenue a small Greek temple had been completely enveloped by the huge hotel
Washburne was beginning to feel like a city guide.
He examined Lincoln’s face to see what his reaction might be, but there was none.
The carriage stopped at the main door. A uniformed Negro t helped the men out of the carriage. “Baggage, gentlemen?”
“By the next train,” said Lincoln.
“But, gentlemen—” Pinkerton spun the man to one side. “This way,” Pinkerton said, darting into the hotel.
“A very forceful individual,” Lincoln observed, with a smile.
Inside the lobby, a half-dozen black porters dozed on their feet while an assistant manager of uncommon whiteness—as if in deliberate hierarchical contrast to the staff—examined a heap of letters at his marble counter.
pg. 7
[[Leaf 10, Page 20]]
14:28:00 – 14:38:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
All those along the footpaths and side streets were instructed to sit down. From where I sat, there was an ocean of people as far as the eye could see.
smell of sandalwood and jasmine incense sat on the moist air
Later midday sun… Later that afternoon, as we sat at a roadside café near Kuta Square, a beautiful procession passed by, a Moslem dance ensemble, a Chinese dragon, a Balinese barong, gamelan players, baris dancers, Christians, and many more.
Drivers sit in groups on the edge of the pavement, staring at the road, waiting for the next job.
Joking amongst friends still continues, although the laughter is subdued.
pg. 17
17:23:00 – 17:43:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
The lobby was high-ceilinged and smelled of coal smoke. Huge dark armchairs were set haphazardly about the room, each with its shining spittoon to hand. Benches of horsehair lined the walls. A few forlorn guests stood surrounded by luggage, waiting to be taken away.
Pinkerton caught the assistant manager’s
[[Leaf 11, Page 21]]
attention by slamming his fist on the marble counter.
What had been the whitest faces turned pink with irritation; then even whiter than before when Pinkerton whispered in his ear.
The assistant manager hurried from behind his reception counter; shook Washburne’s hand and said in a voice that broke with tension, “Welcome to Willard’s Hotel, Mr. President.”
“This is the President,” said Washburne, indicating Lincoln.
“President-elect,” said Lincoln. “Let’s not tempt fate. There’s still ten days to go yet.”
“Your rooms, sir, aren’t ready.” The assistant manager addressed Lamon, who had taken Washburne’s place as Lincoln in his mind.
At that moment an aged white porter approached Washburne and, in a pronounced brogue, said, “Well, Mr. Washburne, sir, I see you’ve brought us a president.”
Seward sat alone at the end of a long table, puffing a cigar, eyes half-closed.
Back of him, waiters were placing chafing dishes on a huge buffet; otherwise, the vast room was empty.
pg. 8, quit while ahead
17:49:00 – 18:13:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
Hyrst, a Saxon word meaning a thicket or cluster of trees
[[Leaf 11, Page 22]]
journal entry 18:03: The less you know how you should react to something, the more valuable for personal growth.
had settled in the mining area along the Merrimack,” across from the mouth of Indian Creek near the remnants of an old Indian trail, not far from the town of Sullivan.
driven back to the lush banks of the Meramec
The property, consisting of some three hundred acres,lay in a huge bend of the Meramec River.
He related that his great-grand father from Scotland, who had landed in America in 1680, “owned ten acres and nine niggers.”
a very muscular man, not very large, but strong… probably weighed about 175 pounds
my mother once coming towards me with a little switch [?], but I do not think she meant to use it.
public affairs… belonged to the militia… first lieutenant, went on all parades, and in everything public evinced a public spirit.
stock raiser [?] [phrasing is different from the usual] and landowner
When George was born, the Hearsts… wealthiest family in Meramec Township [first time encountering this word as a post-positive or whatever no proper noun outside of video games where it stands alone as just “Township”], owning nineteen of the forty-one slaves in the area and having mining interests. [[wrapped in  in accordance to superscripted/side note reading “wrapped in ”]]
“a large, fleshy and rose-cheeked girl,”
[[Leaf 12, Page 23]]
pg. 31, quit while ahead natural conclusion
18:15:00 – 18:26:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
landing on the shores of a garden paradise, surrounded by waves and nodding pine trees.
When the plane doors were swung open, the warm heavy air, redolent with fragrant frangipani and the sweet smell of clove cigarettes [[one extra dangling asterisk here on the right of “cigarettes”; omitted it anyway]], embraced me like a long-lost friend.
soft hot tarmac
as sharp as slivers of gravel [excerpted from Parthayana, The Journeying of Partha]
The heat was overwhelming. [for For some reason, this feels somehow valid because “overwhelming heat” does not hit as hard, though “the overwhelm of the…” might still be unbeatable.]
bright sun beat on [“beat on” with sun as subject] our backs as we made our way towards the airport terminal.
pg. 18, conclusion
18:29:00 – 18:35:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
wrote carefully, her body contorting contorted around the small notebook in the curious fashion of the left-handed—
There is a cruelness coolness in a crow’s world that is hateful and then she scratched it out withe with her pencil, not wanting to eat up time by using the eraser.
pg. 10, too much, too fast
[[Leaf 12, Page 24]]
18:40:00 – 19:03:00 or 19:05 if including page where and [[sic]] ending status Lincoln by Gore Vidal
journal entry 19:01: deja vu in this — dam pitch-black darkness.
 At the sight of Lincoln, Seward sprang to his feet; he was not Washburne noted, much taller standing than seated.
Once red-haired, now white-haired, large-nosed, pale-eyed, long-time master of the state of the New York not to mention of the youthful Republic Party, as well as President-that-might-have-been had Lincoln’s managers not outmaneuvered his managers at the Chicago Convention, William H. Seward [gigantic frontload appositive impressive given praised by Harold Bloom, [[crossed-out unintelligible word here]] defying previous conceptions.]
Lincoln bowed like a jackknife—a droll, swift effect, though Washburne
delighted to be present at the first real meeting of the great rivals who had threatened to divide the six-year-old Republic Party between the free-the-slaves-at-any-cost abolitionists occasionally represented, if not exactly led, by Seward, and the more moderate no-extension-of-slavery Westerners represented by Lincoln, a successful railroad lawyer and political failure: one term in the House of Representatives twelve years ago [the continued use of alphabeticalized years and time instead of numbers]; one lost race for the Senate two years ago; and now the Presidency.
pg. 8, conclusion, “quit while ahead” somewhat
[[Leaf 13, Page 25]]
19:13:00 – 19:16:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
Rivers of sweat trickled through my hair, down my arms, my legs, and collected at the back of my knees.
Even the thick jungle of palm trees in the distance [[there was only two asterisks on the left side of “thick jungle of palm trees” but made it three anyway to make it work]] seemed to be melting
pg. 18, interrupted
20:27:00 – 20:42:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
two-storey arrivals building… school with its yellow walls and cement details.
sound of the plane’s engines charged our surroundings
As we walked towards the old frangipani trees that still edge the tarmac, the alluring scent of these moist white blossoms saturated the air.
still smell them today with that first breath of Bali [construction, phrasing, and meaning of “still… today” not yet as intentionally utilized]
Huge tufts of dark green leaves and a thousand small flowers hid [the use of “hid” as an interesting alternative to “embossom”] the gnarled silvery trunks that arched over us as we walked by [movement angle perspective inserted at end]
gentle patches
dappled shade [additional alternative, otherwise common] [[pushed to sub-list in accordance to comment during note-taking that read “push to sub-list”]]
relief from the intense sun [ [[I]] tend to avoid [[this construction, specifically “relief from”]]]
[[Leaf 13, Page 26]]
pg. 18, easier to switch things up to keep excitement
20:44:00 – 20:50:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
greeted with a hoot of laughter
breakfasting on the first Potomac shad of the year
Seward helped himself liberally to the shad’s roe.
munched an apple
teetotaller
stout and rosy
a terrifying laxative called blue mass
healthy enough… if too lean; and he was strong as the proverbial ox; could lift from the floor, with arm outstretched, a heavy ax at the shaft’s end.
pg. 9, big chew right after so stopped
20:54:00 – 21:00:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
cashmere shawls, leghorn bonnets
wolves… make away with our chicken geese and sheep
penning set me at penning up the ducks and chicken at night, and later on to put the sheep in the fold to keep them away [more examples of “away from” even if I have tended to omit the “away”] the wolves.
geese… raised principally for the feathers to make feather beds… wool from sheep for our clothes
pg. 31, interrupted because dinner time
21:11:00 – 21:30:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
Through the walls and door she could hear loud laughter and bottles knocking together and the
[[Leaf 14, Page 27]]
thud of something heavy hitting the floor
Leaning a little, she saw the two of them chasing each other down the hall like fools. [This whole scenario/scene is very oblique, the kind of ambition that could easily fail like the “pops and sheets” thing I did in Matthew]
clear, clean sound of bottles [[forgot to include “meeting” here right after this “bottles”]] [on top of “meeting” used for physical or inanimate objects, the use of “clear” and “clean” for sound at all in narrative writing, outside the music recording app Audacity]
like a game of homemade bowling was going up on up in the living room [not as abstract, but extended, reminiscent of my figure of speech in a draft of Peter the one I sent to Kuya Paulo]
shotgun style of the house
squeaking springs [very rare context and, thus, use [[for me]]]
iron bed
baritone laughter [pitch applied to laughter besides decreased volume or emotionally tinged partiality [[like “mutter”]]]
loud enough to rattle the glass in her bedroom window [even more specific sound effect through local spatiality rather than looming, rumbling effects]
and then the sound of more bottles, rolling and bumping into posts or frames or legs, which, of course, led to even louder laughter, her mother’s this time [continued here, attenuated with “led” clauses then sophisticated with “her mother’s this time. [[forgot to include closing quotation mark]]]
kicked off the covers [specific characterful
[[Leaf 14, Page 28]]
action]
pg. 10, co natural conclusion
21:36:00 – 21:51:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
said… in a low voice [the use of “low voice” or “in a X voice” in general since I have tended toward brevity but could benefit from variety in style and prose in both these small modifications and in overall larger units and structure]
Seward sneezed; then blew his nose loudly in a yellow silk handkerchief [a modern use of the long comma in contrast to the assumption I’ve conceded into obeying about it being wrong usage—semi colon]
plug-uglies were planning to waylay you
interrupted Lincoln with the a wave of an unlit cigar
nodded gravely [continued use of emotional stating adverbs against what I’ve been taught and practised in longer form.]
stretched his arms until his back made a cracking sound [delaying “back” by specifying more precisely the arms and its movement toward a back crack culmination ] and, even in that, the use of “make a creaking sound” instead of the more “bullet” “cracked” ] for additional delay]
blew cigarat cigar smoke at the ceiling [what would [[spelled with b]] be the directional idle micro-action alternative]
pg. 10, doneness
21:53:00 – 22:06:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
clammin clammy stifling [adjective order and those non-parallel together, maybe for interest]
[[Leaf 15, Page 29]]
Journal Entry 6:56 [[April 25]]: You need sterility to know dirt.
smelt mouldy and mildewy [have managed to avoid “mildewy” unintentionally all this time inst despite internalizing a lot of its “friends”]
wandered out to collect our bags [not-direction into direction?] into an ocean of clove tobacco, dark bodies and sweat [collect into an ocean (metaphor) of clove tobacco, dark bodies (kinda figure of speech), and sweat, which is incredibly interesting a phrase altogether]
dressed in neat polyester flares that swam around his skinny legs and a pale blue batik shirt patterned with Indonesian motifs
April 25, 2026
07:05:00 – 07:06:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
Despite his lack of education, George had a sense that he might be special.
pg. 32, interrupted to eat toasted bread, the packaged one
07:12:00 – 07:17:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
Lincoln’s voice was even. [have not used this despite the commonness of this use case, surprisingly.]
Lincoln smiled [the use of one-word action beats in that form of “subject-verb” as mirrored 5 pages ago on pg. 5 with “Lincoln laughed” preceding the dialogue that [[latter]] time]
said Seward, trying a different tack
pg. 10, interrupted for breakfast
07:31:00 – 07:49:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
Back on her bed, she rearranged her pillows and picked up her notebook. Sucking on the
[[Leaf 15, Page 30]]
last-knight last-night observation 8:08 [[written at this time, but observation and phrase recalled, paraphrased, and expanded from last-night]]: spires of sparkling glitters on water, frozen cauliflower like dark clouds a dozen meters away in that form of tree foliage while down in a tent and peering through the zippered ret [[wonder why I mistakenly wrote this?]] circular [[something crossed-out that reads like “met” here]] door
end of her pencil, she shut her eyes and thought of the crow she’d seen. High up. Cold. Hateful. She searched for those words again. Rummaged for verb and noun and adjective the way same way she used [[stray dangling asterisk to the left of this “used” with no closing asterisk in sight]] to search for silver buttons in the bottom of Luvenia’s button tin. Seeing it finally, picking up the thread one more time, she bent again, and wrote:
From pirate porch of patient pine
a crow can watch gray meanness plait
long finger shadows
Cruel shades of curving. Crouching speck
of painful shade moving forlorn
in gold-brown grass
And laughing—
Her thrown-open door hit the wall with a bang, and then closed halfway, carried by its momentum into the lean of the room.
who always entered the same way—quick and loud and with an expression on her face that faded into slight disappointment the second she found Valuable writing or reading or drawing. As if she expected to find her daughter doing what she herself would be doing behind a closed door.
Light from the kitchen shifted half-way [[sic]] “”into”” Valuable’s bedroom, shining [“shining” as to include [[something crossed out here]] specified hit after movement] on the lower half of things.
pg. 11, done and want to switch after natural more than natural, pay-off [[sic]] conclusion
07:51:00 – 07:59:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
[[Leaf 16, Page 31]]
A layer of sweet coconut oil kept his thick black hair in place so it framed his smooth round caramel-coloured face.
A single frangipani blossom was tucked behind his ear.
piled into the sparkling white Holden, our bodies gleaming with sweat.
drive from the airport to Ubud took us along busy bumpy narrow streets lined with the tallest trees* I’d ever seen, which formed [this classic ending “which formed”] a distant [[looks like three asterisks to the left of this “distant”]] canopy overhead*. [use of “distant” with “overhead” when I’m accustomed far from my location itself rather than vertical height and ‘distance’]
pg. 19, interrupted to drink banana shake with avocado
08:20:00 – 08:26:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
“As yet.” … The last monosyllable had its effect on both Seward and Washburne. [Very strange construction]
war-to-the-knife fellow
once when I was out on the circuit in Illinois.
Over the years, Washburne had heard Lincoln tell this particular story a dozen times; and the wording never varied [long comma 2]
pg. 10, nose-blowing interruption, and just ate lots of vegetables of green and orange with lean pork, so body is doing its gas waves and thrusts inside, not achy though
08:31:00 – 08:36:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
a master of the long, cumuletive [[sic; mistake by characteristically crude handwriting and not by misspelling]], funny story;
a maand many times Washburne had sat at the stove of some backwoods Illinois tavern
when the lawyers on circuit would compete story-telling and it was always Lincoln who won.
09:14:00 – 09:35:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
[[Leaf 16, Page 32]]
journal entry/last-night observation 8:14: ultra-complexity from hyper-realism, hyper-physicality, hyper-sensoriness, hyper-groundedness, hyper-naturalism resulted in classic Roblox’s fun in blocks.
Once he had got a group to laugh at the first detail, he would then add, relentlessly, more and more wilder and wilder details until men choked with laughter as the easy tone or voice continued, with all due gravity, to make them positively drunk with laughter. [the kind of sentence I’d get banned at the stake for]
equally impressive as a speaker on those occasions when he was carefully prepared. But then, except as a humorist, he had no naturally very easy way with an audience. He needed a well-prepared brief. Washburne hoped that the grip-sack on the chair next to Lincoln contained such a brief.
the outgoing president… “A harmless old thing,”
don’t think… can be held responsible.”
gave us plenty of warning… And he was… And they did.”
key to this particular tough look.”
so-called Peace Conference has been in session for two weeks now with old President Tyler—the last of the Virginians—presiding.”
“What is the mood?”
“Life that of most peace congresses—very warlike.” [powerful dialogic emphatic clipped em dash use here]
studied Lincoln closely for some sign of intent. The face gave nothing away. [second intent-looking used to characterize.]
cotton republics—and their problem of slavery.”
[[Leaf 17, Page 33]]
Lincoln smiled, somewhat weakly, thought Washburne
attacked a plate of fried oysters,
a delicacy unknown in the his early days, and all the more to be enjoyed savored at Washington City.
pg. 11, heat too much on [[top of]] closed trunk of car
09:39:00 – 09:50:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
had to crane my neck to see a patch of sky
Gracious Balinese people dressed in faded sarongs sauntered alongside, at arm’s length [[there’s two asterisks to the left of this “at” probably to close “at arm’s length” since it was new to me as a form of preposition and measured distance, probably to encompass the following “from the car window” as well to capture the full essence of it]] from the car window.
Part of me wanted to touch them as we drove slowly by, just to make sure they were real.
We passed mud-brick grass-roofed cottages half-hidden behind ancient-looking stone gates, rows of gnarled frangipani trees studded with red hibiscus hedges, robust roosters [never seen robust used for animals perhaps outside of how much they can produce in terms of dairy] and barking dogs.
pg. 19, need to stop as we are about to leave to Starbucks
11:00:00 – 11:27:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
Bed. Low drawers of the chest. The bottom part of the stool.
Light halfway between in and out.
A door, halfway between open and closed.
And a woman half-dressed, inserted near the center of both.
[[Leaf 17, Page 34]]
a thrown-open door exposing a half-state woman Valuable could not imagine.
straightening, she did her notebook under her legs and folded her arms across her stomach while she glared at her mother.
first daughterly evaluation
existed in a “halfway state.” Somewhere between here and there. Somewhere left of “center” and south of “whole.” … newly dead
newly dead, her red grave mound barely tamped, and without her grandmother around to check her math, Valuable had given the woman a chance to pull her parts together for a year or two and then she’d quit, discovering that her math, even as a seven-year-old, had been correct, after all. [this entire sequence and the above is effectively [[as in “virtually,” not the other meaning, which would be “producing a desired effect”]] grotesque].
a red half-slip and bra…
hair was halfway between up and down.
Some swept up in a sloppy knot while the remainder trailed down her back.
Halfway between drunk and sober, she leaned against the doorframe for support with her arms hidden behind her, as if half her appendages were missing
Slow and easy, with half the toes on one  bare foot she kicked at the door, which was steady-creeping forward toward its latch because of the way things stood.
even her voice was half woman half child.
[[Leaf 18, Page 35]]
Men like it. Valuable had heard this latest one saying he’d give her a dollar five-dollar just to say certain things while they caroled in the room that that used to belong to Luvenia.
sound a bottle makes when it hits the floor and spills—that clunk and rush—came up the hall and Enid yelled out, Reilly, you make a mess, you clean it up!” [Besides the dialogue clause and its interesting idiomatic construction, the inventive use with the whole clause with em dash and the new sound effects]
She kicked at the door again and whispered, “He’s such a clumsy fool—” while she walked toward her daughter, not as drunk as Valuable had thought, but still stumbly. [this em dash use is astounding, and the clauses continue to surprise me, especially with that terminating “still stumbly.”]
pg. 12, need to switch for variety, got lots done
11:30:00 – 11:46:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
In a persistent way he learned to teach himself what he had not been taught in school and developed a capacity to listen and observe.
stagerobbed
I have travelled from the head of the river Fraser river all over Montana and Idaho
the only way I can account for it is destiny
such an accurate nose for minerals that the local Indians called him “Boy-That-Earth-Talked-To.”
passed a grade school course of the Franklin County Mining School
[[Leaf 18, Page 36]]
never was happier than when prospecting or trading and buying lands [lmao]
often tramped barefoot through the back hills, his pantaloons rolled up to his knees, a stick or wand [?] in his hand, chasing hogs from their muddy baths on hot summer days, and cooling his blistered feet [cool] in the depths of the hog wallow.
hoped to stumble upon a rich vein [more clauses I’d never find myself using.]
discovering the Virginia lead mine [lead or lead, been wondering for a while now], the biggest [lead? leading? lead? rock?] lead? original?] in the state…. not much have such luck in the Missouri hills.
a poor parson
pg. 34, variety switch and pressure remove and break
12:07:00 – 12:26:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
Sitting down on the side of the single bed she bent forward and said, “Whew!” Elbows to knees, she appeared to be studying the grain pattern of the pine floor. Or her red toenails. Or something interesting down along the low edge of the bed.
Reclaiming hair that had fallen from its knot, she swept it back away from her face and fumbled for her tit.
Black bobby pins were clipped to her red bra like fork tines.
For as long as Valuable had known her—seven years now—Enid had worn them there, and until
[[Leaf 19, Page 37]]
growing small breasts and needing a brassiere of her own, Valuable thought all bras came that way, with their own supply of ten to fifteen bobby pins attached to the upper s upper side of a cup.
pg. 13, bloated in duration due to ongoing conversation with Dad at Starbucks, also due to cumbersome fullness of massive gold mine [[as in wealth from which to draw active notes]] here.
12:29:00 – 12:41:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
Giant shocking-pink [new color shade like in *Mother of Pearl with its many browns like Tea] bougainvilleas climbing over old mango trees laden with green fruit [more complex clauses with “laden” here this time], enormous ferns bathed in sunlight under fringed [this author loves this construction [[specifically “fringed,” especially with “palm trees”]]] palm trees, and small roadside food stalls drifted past [I need to use these roadside stalls, they’re a missing piece!].
tiny visible patch of cloudy sky was framed by a riot of pink, red and green [despite the strange construction here and there, the yield of inventive sensory constructions like here with “riot” is genuinely productive]
in between the tropical growth we glimpsed stretches of bright green rice fields, massive banyan trees, moss-covered shrines, black and white checkedumbrellas and piles of small*sun-bleached offerings.
Men and women washed in the shaded deep gutters that lined the streets [huh???], oblivious to passers-by.
pg. 19, faster, more variety!!!
[[Leaf 19, Page 38]]
12:43:00 – 12:55:00 Lincoln by Gore VIdal
you dream of empire for a government which has just lost half its military stations to home-grown rebels.
a gracious arabesque with his cigar
let the mosquitoes occupy those infernal [?] forts
“A border-state.”
“A slave border-state.”
“When I was governor of New York”—Seward was dreamy—”I used… [I’ve only seen this en dash use supported on editor articles on the internet.] Plus the genuine adoration shown by the author toward em dashes instead of clipped, fragmented dialogue [[specifically those series of short period-ended statements]].]
pushing putting down his second apple core [the use of finished result words in this case which I completely missed with food instead of the boring old “he ate X” or “he munched X” with modification of the verb since hyper-specificity triumphs over verb variety as compensation given limitedness [[empty space]] less direct connection [[half of this paragraph around the middle was erased due to a drop of water from my coffee drink and rubbing with the hand, but empty space can be translated to “of” and you would see the point I know I was intending to make before the erasure]]]
pg. 12, pensil pencil switch has been challenging
13:02:00 – 13:25:00 or 13:26:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
twenty-eight-year-old black slave, Allen
fertile Meramec River bottoms… rich Meramec River bottom land… early… he appreciated the value of land.
[[Leaf 20, Page 39]]
a mine- and large landowner in the area [weird hyphen construction here, looks stranded]
a busy commercial operation with a public house, blacksmith shop, garden, and other activities on forty acres at a trading crossroads [genuinely useful contextualized nonfiction resource for worldbuilding and realism and grounded economy, local business and trade, and logistics]
driving pork to the miners
smelting works owned by Frenchmen… used to mine
drove the hogs there
big merchants there that had every sort of nice French things
For a long time the miners would not wash anything but out but would let us little fellows pick away into the big banks of dirt and we would often thus make o from four to six bits [?] a day.
We would dig down and get little bits of lead.
ore was galena and limestone and a sort of clay.
a great deal of little nuggets and these would pan out about 70 to 80 per cent [just realized “percent” as in “percentage” came from “cent” and “per” themselves] galena
There was little to keep George in Missouri, scratching* out a living in the valley. [strange construction is it dangling?]
pg. 36, a break from pencil and ending at the end of a page, in the book, not here in the notebook feels so satisfying. ] Actually ended at both at the same time lol.
[[Leaf 20, Page 40]]
13:27:00 forgot to include end time, but probably 13:42 or 43 or so based on following entry’s initial 13:44 start time, Lincoln by Gore Vidal
canvassing
yellow pantaloons
prairie statesmen
splitter of rails
‘Tippecanoe’ Harrison
“Seward’s sly, Jesuit smile.”
out-and-out abolitionists
Albany Plan
chief henchman [this use for a statesman]
unConstitutionally [the unique capitalization construction here]
Seward would be premier to Lincoln’s powerless monarch.
slid his arm companionably through Washburne’s
the door was doors were thrown open for the first breakfasters of the day—a horde of pale children, who shouted and wept as their grim-faced mothers herded them with pleas and cuffs to the buffet table.
pg. 14 need to walk, have my head tilt to level, and stretch, time slightly increased due to the last time being unended and assumed with a standard deviation from this note block’s starting line by minus 2, so that’d be 13:25 or 13:26, maybe wrong use of that standard derivation thing.
13:46:00 – 13:53:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
moved to phone
What I wrote on the phone:
Enid picked one off while holding her hair back with one hand, and using fingers and teeth, pinned up her hair [complex micro-action movements in combination, a lesson]
Three moves. Fingers. Teeth. Fingers. Done.
Watching her, Valuable couldn’t help but wonder which came first—the boob or the bobby?
Where had those black pins been stored before Enid had grown tits that needed support [kinda getting weirded out here but atp its kinda funny and the prose is good]?
Pinned and neat, Enid went side-down [???] on her daughter’s bed, trapping her daughter’s stretched-out legs under her. [WTF]
pg. 13, bro, it’s getting too weird
13:57:00 – 14:13:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
[[Leaf 21, Page 41]]
moving kaleidoscope of life and color [bruh, this construction has gone repetitive because of its overuse by AI, LLMs]
besotted
the slope above the Tjampuhan river [no capitalizing?]
cosy network of rustic [[stray dangling asterisk to the left of this “rustic”]] grass-roofed[favorite construction of author] bungalows wide with wide cool verandahs
Tjampuhan means ‘meeting place’ [okay, the British “cosy” and quotation marks are getting old!]
which wind lazily through [seeing present tense “wind” makes me wonder if “wind as in “wound” [[twist, turn]] came from “wind” as in “air” itself]
summoned by the call of the kul-kul, the traditional wooden gong with the male-like appendage [da hell?!]
gathered in the open-air restaurant overlooking a sprawling garden of brilliant flowers, flamboyan trees and ginger plants. [should use “overlooking” more for anything structural]
scent of coconut candles infused the air and provided a gentle light as we mingled with the guests. [need to use light, smell, as sound, and sensory agents like this with “as” human constructions like crowd-work “mingle”]
Balinese bamboo music drifted around us and tinkled down to the river.
a temple procession of the senses [continued creative sensory work]
pg. 21, natural conclusion
14:15:00 – 14:33:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
David Herold… bought a copy of the paper [*Evening
[[Leaf 21, Page 42]]
Star*] from the ancient Negro who had been selling newspapers… for all of David’s nineteen years.
“He here!” said the old man, giggling. “He snuck in like a chicken thief.”
overnight cars
a narrow, lead-coloured lead-colored, four-story brick house with a yard to one side, containing a wooden shack and a number of dispirited chickens.
An outside staircase connected the second floor with the street, permanently shadowing the ground floor.
From the second floor a pair of firm hands were pounding music out of a piano not entirely in tune.
The head of an eighteen-year-old girl appeared at the upstairs window. [this “the head of an” construction I would avoid like the plague, but here considering]
hurried up the brick steps [need to use “steps” as in these “stair-adjacent” ones more and also modify them with adjectives more]
crossed the flowered Brussels carpet [“cross” with “carpet,” and country or whatever with “carpet” and the like, and just “carpet” in general]
huge cracked leather shoes
the actual picture that she was imitating in the window of Jarman’s music store on O street [letter for street names or whatever this is], from an advertisement for Chickering’s pianoforte.
pg. 15, rest pencil-worn hand
14:45:00 – 15:05:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
[[Leaf 22, Page 43]]
reached for the long strand hanging over Valuable’s ear.
Her hand was smoothing the bed, working its way toward the hidden notebook. She pulled at its corner.
Valuable jerked it free and put it in her lap, hugging her knees. She kept the pencil clutched in her left hand, sharp end out as warning.
She was leaning against the wall wrapping a piece of her hair around her ear.
made herself sit still and stare at her mother’s thin eyebrows. **Crows. Why, they look just like far away, flying crows. [this comma is weirding me out]
a truckload of pity
closed around her throat [one of my first and most enjoyed constructions, completely counter intuitive to me before [[in terms of having learned it during my time studying micro-actions as a first course treatment of my writing]]]
blue streak
a thick river of things halfway done between us
rubbed a casual palm around her knee
Applied invisible lotion across the cusp of a bone.
searching for leverage inside a sphere
—*Inside this thick river she drowns me with her casualness… [what is this construction called? feel I’ve seen it before [[here referring to the starting em dash]]]
pg. 14, a whole fiasco coming next in the book, the biggest treasure trove
15:07:00 – 15:25:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
[[Leaf 22, Page 44]]
putting it in her poised and posed hand
toughs [as a noun]
sneak through Baltimore
back parlor
No longer visible to the world, he was no longer part of it.
Now that Mr. Surrat was ill—dying, to give it the right word—Mrs. Surrat herself presided over the great wagon that brought the farm’s produce to the Center Market, while Annie attended a Catholic seminary.
staid neighboring Virginia
anomalous ten-mile-square parallelogram [the use of this kind of word in any practical capacity] carved out of Maryland and bounded by the Pontomac [[sic]] River and Virginia
slumped on his spine
the black cloth of his trousers, he noticed glumly, was so shiny that [[two stray, dangling asterisks to the left of this “that”]] the dark dull February light [use of “dull” with “light” rather than something like muted or faded or dim, though the former two I never really used either] was reflected in its dark folds.
broken shoes were smelly to others [slightly indirect, wouldn’t have found this out on my out [[sic; should’ve been “own”]], well, most words, things, for that matter]
pg. 16, get me out of here! I mean variety in active notes, not here in Starbucks, neck is doing the neck thing!
15:33:00 – 15:57:00 or 15:56 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
overland trek
panned with pick, shovel, and sluice
[[Leaf 23, Page 45]]
rich in gold-bearing quartz
quartz mills
placer mining… vein mining
alternated between mining and merchandising
times had so changed that we soon found there was no success in merchandising and we discontinued [in May 1852]
invested in and managed a Nevada City theater and lecture hall above a store
Chinese wash house
putting wet blankets on the gable… and keeping them wet [fore fire]
size of claims… if a man had a hundred acres, or five hundred acres, and another man went there and found mineral on it, the role was that he had a right to a certain claim there t and to work it, and that the price was regulated by certain conditions. [30 miles square the location where this was effective, paraphrasing from text]…If a digging were shallow and rich, they would cut you down to 14 feet square… probably some five or six thousand people in that section and out of them a great many went to California, and there scattered here and there and everywhere,
so there were enough of them to make their mark and improve the regulations in California where there were [a mouthful, kinda] no laws. [I wonder if California is like this rich people place because of golden mining.]
When a claim was dug you must do so with work every year, and make a statement to that effect.
found a rich gulch
40 men… swallow it up… not take my claim away
[[Leaf 23, Page 46]]
pg. 40, variety
15:59:00 – 16:06:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
I am a bitch of a bard, she wrote in her head, bold, brave,brimming with benevolences unless… unless… unless… bothered by (some “b” word, some word like “buffoon”)…
Valuable stared at her mother’s tits.
— bothered by bobby pins on a brassiere.
Bingo.
The force of it pushed Enid away from the wall.
She screwed up her mouth in one corner and Valuable saw her lipstick was smeared.
pg. 14, still too much, eat this part of book in chunks, hesitant ]
16:13:00 – 16:22:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
patterned tea-coloured sarongs, each adorned with a single brilliant red hibiscus flower
Frogs’ legs, spicy pink fried rice, green leaves tossed in peanut sauce, a variety of satay, fruits poached in palm sugar and other unknown dishes
strolled past hundreds of busy ducks quacking in the rice fields, tended by sturdy, bare-chested farmers dressed in cotton sarongs tied between the legs like a baby’s nappy.
wandered up the hill [so simple, yet so underused by me]
young women scrubbing clothes on the smooth gray grey rocks that line the water’s edge [underused]
pg. 21, hand is not doing it anymore
[[Leaf 24, Page 47]]
16:24:00 – 16:50:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
phone
what I wrote on the phone:
hid his feet under the rocker…seldom bathed between Christmas and Easter
a not unpleasant [bro, double negatives] odor of moist earth mixed with tobacco smoke
prescription clerk
furniture shop
the tray untouched
put down the tray on a round table covered with green velvet where, in frames, the family pictures were ranged around a crucifix and a rosary.
a Southern city spang in the middle of the Confederacy.”
picked up the rosary; idly, she fingered beads.
the Bleeding Heart of Jesus that hung over the fireplace
some Northern soldier-boys at the depot
piled up so many saddles, you couldn’t get to the cars, through the mess
seceshers
dry regular cough of the dying man in the back parlor
Executive Mansion, known to those few Americans who were not addicted to the prevailing Latinate English of the nation’s orators as the President’s House or just plain White House.
two soberly dressed statesmen
iced-over, deep-rutted driveway to the main portico, from whose columns the paint was peeling; the glass of the front windows was streaked with dust.
looked about [use of this about in American English?]
Words are hostages to fortune.
short elderly Irish usher
doorkeeper
smiled, revealing few teeth, dark gums
mustry [[sic]] entrance hall and into the Red Room, just off the foot of the great staircase.
Red Room, which was true to its name but shabby withal
touched a red damask curtain from which pieces had been hacked
hurried—or flurried, thought Seward—into the room.
a tall man, with white hair and a twisted neck, which meant that his left cheek seemed always about to rest on his left shoulder.
One eye had a squint, which made the old man look as if he were winking slyly at you, as if his words were not to be taken seriously.
pg. 20, bruh using phone seriously toodle-oo!
17:00:00 – 17:23:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
scribbling them down with a blunt pencil in one of the leather notebooks that he carried
picayune
mines… loaded with silver
cold beef jerky and cheap whiskey in dirty mining towns
he had struck pay dirt
black sulphurit of silver and… the gold was in that… breaking this up and throwing the rich silver away
sat on a log and played in the dust for 20 minutes
he would build a furnace and smelt it for $450 a ton.
silver, it looked so much like lead… no had not been refined
paying 25 cent a pound to get it over
we cleared out of that $76,000, and besides that we sold slags for several thousand more… $80,000.
Wheat was then 50 cents a pound
mule for… $400… let him browse around in the sage-brush
When the Indian war broke out I sold the mules, stayed until June and then started home, the snow was not off even then.
I went to San Francisco, left my traps there, and sold my mules
[[Leaf 24, Page 48]]
By the way, the Indians killed 65 out of a hundred at the two fights at Pyramid lake and another place.
This Indian war was playing the very Dickens with  us. It cost us a good deal and I had to sell some of my ground, but when I got back we started the mill again, and so I went on there mostly up to 1866.
the blasting of the mountains resumed at a feverish pace.
pg. 43, next!
17:43:00 – 18:02:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
Tropical Vines suspended over the cool water
Women effortlessly transported rocks the size of wheelbarrows on their heads, carrying them from the river bed to the road.
hold a pose and smile under a thirty-kilo weight of stone
delicate dreamy girls wearing brilliant pink, green purple and gold-patterned [is hyphen with purple assumed?] costumes and crowns of white frangipani flowers.
danced with curved fingers, flashing eyes and movements reminiscent of swaying palm trees
practise the sliding eye movements
balmy fragrant evening air and the pulsating sounds of creeks crickets
pervading beauty
wake up in a grass-roofed [bruh] bungalow to see the mist drifting across the Tjampuhan valley early in the
[[Leaf 25, Page 49]]
morning, behold the small bowl of pink and red hibiscus lovingly placed on our table before each breakfast, listen to birds chirping all day and smell the sweet scent of Bali.
pg. 23, Messenger message! Plus year keep things random and exciting and surprising! Slightly bloated/inflated [[referring to the time length of entry]] because when I went to tray return desk table station thing to throw the pencil sharpener trash as well as sharpen
18:28:00 – 19:01:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
seceders?”… “rebels”
Buchanan indicated four large doors to the left and two doors to the right.
led them down the dusty hall, whose only illumination came from a single large window at the living-quarters end.
Midway to the offices, th President showed them a sitting room, which followed the shape of the oval blue room below [funny that “oval” starts with an O]
room was bleakly furnished, with horsehair sofas and empty bookcases
A number of paintings hung on the walls,; but they were so darkened by time and dirt that it was hard to tell who or what they were of [misunderstood for a second and thought it said “who” as in who was it made of [[in a cannibalistic sort of way]]]
“This is our only *private parlor. Even so, the people barge in on you.
led them down the corridor to a wooden railing with a gate… he said, unlatching the gate.
Back of the railing was an empty desk and behind the desk, there was a waiting room lined with benches that
[[Leaf 25, Page 50]]
always put Seward in mind of a small-town railway depot.
Then here on the left the secretary’s office, which is quite as large as mine, with a small room just off it, which is where Harriet [cool name!], my niece, keeps the linen.
Cabinet Room… half-dozen men who were seated at the green-blaize–covered [[sic]] [reminded of Green Satin poem and made me wonder where “satin” has gone in modern/recent language, also hey en dash being used this way, I miss you!] table
a large, bald-headed asthmatic man with steel-rimmed spectacles and an unpleasant sneer
stood very straight, his large paunch quivering slightly
Buchanan had now drawn Lincoln over to the window with its view of the southern part of the President’s estate, bounded [need to use this word more given how useful I’ve seen [[sic]], probably particularly in this book] at the far end by the old canal, now an open sewer, and the Potomac River beyond.
In the summer, sir, the smell from that canal is absolutely unbearable,”
a little stone cottage at out at the Soldiers’ Home
I spend the summers there and I suggest that you use it, too, if you don’t want the fever.”
staring at a pile of white marble blocks, at whose [is that “whose” with an object, I smell?] center the base of an obelisk rose.
Fact, he cut me dead.”
pg. 22, hand [[referring to tired hand]], end of notebook [[referring to end of the page on the notebook where I take the active notes]] cause [[attributing cause of stopping an entry]], bend [[might be spelled “bend” but actually intended to spell “tend”]] toward
[[Leaf 26, Page 51]]
bottom likely
19:05:00 – 19:28:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
phone
what I wrote on phone:
old shopkeeping partner
advertising flyer
persuaded enough backers
steam whistle
first rise and fall of the twenty-four huge stamps in Paul’s mill, the Washoe Gold and Silver Mining Company [mill being company?]
lean years
Virginia City, whose population reached ten thousand in only a few months by the winter of 1860.
numbered more saloons than any other business, plenty of hotels that rented girls as well as rooms, and the Territorial Enterprise, a newspaper for miners, whose most popular writer was Mark Twain, a drinking pal of George’s.
an assemblage of two-hundred thousand young men—not simpering, dainty, kid-gloved weaklings, but stalwart, muscular dauntless young braves, brimful of push and energy, and royally endowed with every attribute that goes to make up a peerless and magnificent manhood—the very pick and choice of the world’s most glorious ones. [excerpted from Mark Twain’s Roughing It (1872)]
Fortunes were made and lost at gambling tables, claims were jumped at gunpoint, and life was tough and lawless in Virginia City.
While… heating up two thousand miles to the east, millionaires were made overnight in Washoe.
George himself had to hold on to his claims by force.
built forts in the area, one of which crossed the line into George Hearst’s Ophir holdings
hired a Kentuckian… a known gunfighter, to run Terry off his property—which he did, convincing Terry that Hearst meant business
overland trek of six months
pg. 45, stop
19:32:00 – 19:44:00 Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
waxy Blue Band margarine
lofty grass-roofed [lol] restaurant
sipped on Cointreau with [[my initial transcription interpretation of this “Cointreau with” without reading the book was “Cointrequnith”]] lashings of ice
glorious royal-blue-feathered pet peacock
smoke from their clove cigarettes framed them in a cosy mist
adorned with a heavy gold ring set with an unfamiliar creamy stone
slowly edged the ring off his elegant finger and placed it in the palm of my hand
po pg. 26, mostly written with left hand to give right hand a break
19:52:00 – 20:22:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
small brick War Department was surrounded by thirty loud geese
Together the two men crossed the frozen mud field [more frozen mud, yey!] that was Seventeenth Street, where stood a large building with no guards at all, not even geese.
Lincoln’s response was sharp. [why would a Harold Bloom–endorsed book have this deconstruction dialogic construction, which I’ve been taught is a [[crossed-out unfinished one letter that looks like “h” here]] grave error, like
[[Leaf 26, Page 52]]
terrible!]
bejoweled, red face was huge and mottled; a spider’s web of tiny purple lines had netted the nose.
an elaborate uniform of his own design, gleaming with gold braid and massive epaulets
Like a glittering mountain he stood now before a painting of himself as the hero of the War of 1812.
As Lincoln entered the room, the general waddled forward; they shook hands beneath a painting of Scott conquering Mexico in 1847.
Scott eased himself into a throne that had been designed for a very fat man to get in and out of with e relative ease.
as the old man said the name, the red face darkened [this too!? I’m finding a lot of “banned” constructions used here!]
ferule [?]
a m motioned to an aide, who set up a map of the Union on an easel.
Scott then picked up a ferule that lay beside his throne and pointed to the various military establishments throughout the South.
sat on the edge of his chair
now this sallow-faced man, sprawled in an armchair, knees working their way to his chin
cut the old man short
sat bolt upright.
gestured with his ferule [this feels almost
[[Leaf 27, Page 53]]
childish lol]
Scott paused for some response from Lincoln but there was none beyond attentiveness. [this again? lol]
Scott continued without, as it were, the looked-for sign.
Scott, signless [?] again, proceeded to divide the South with his stick [changing “ferule”(?) to “stick [[sic]] makes this even more clearly playful, if not childish, lol!]
Scott paused. Lincoln slowly straightened up.
pg. 26, yahoo going home in a while after Dad shops at mall supermarket.
20:27:00 – 20:40:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
[ok, this is fucked up!] She reached out as if to touch her and the hand fell short [is this also that adjective thing, a s result thing, a separate idiom, or both?] and landed on Valuable’s thigh [[crossed-out line here, might be bracket, replaced with comma]], curiously warm. [eek! ew! wtf!]
Valuable pushed it aside with her pencil’s eraser [this is too hyperphysical for such an eeky scenario!!!]
Her hair was falling again and she was slouched over, crimping her flawless white stomach
clutched her pencil [honestly, a lot of these are new not by words in a vacuum, but by combination and unique, hyperspecific, modifying context]
Everything here is a day, she thought.
The day the dresser had been lowered from the attic.
The day the chair had been reupholstered in rose damask.
[[Leaf 27, Page 54]]
The day the chifforobe had been taken apart and polished with “paste wax” until it gleamed like gold
pg. 15, bruh give me a break, this book contains so much cool phrases that I hav really have to stop early just to get away, not because of the fuckuppery in this case, though it is such in practically all cases and the only reason I stop is that I get invested in that kind of shit.
20:45:00 – 21:03:00 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
reduce 4 tons per day by the Veitch process
uttering “alleged seditious language”
mosquito-ridden jungle
seven made-to-order silk dresses, one for each of the day of the week, in different colors and in Phoebe’s size, were delivered to her
gazed When the ship carrying the Hearsts sailed t through the Golden Gate, Phoebe gazed at the few lights twinkling from San Francisco’s hills rising to the right… the Bay.
golden hills inland
sending truckloads of her hand-me-downs, jewelry, and shoes
wide open town Lincoln was President, Victoria was Queen of England [could be useful construction for when shared C universe with Matthew and Mark, etc.]
wide open town
waterfront along the waterfront
gingerbread houses rising on the hills above the Bay—Nob, Russian, Telegraph, Rincon
[[Leaf 28, Page 55]]
pg. 53, going back to —
April 26, 2026
6:10:00 – 6:47:00 Lincoln by Gore Vidal
The weak sun had now vanished behind what looked to be snow clouds
corner of Pennsylvania, as usual crowded at this time of day.
Carriages and cabs cluttered by while the horse carriages rattled on their tracks, bells sounding
said Lincoln, watching the traffic
“No war—so far.”
stepping up on the brick sidewalk that led past [“led” with “past,” new to me] the iron fence of the White House, where he would soon be quartered—caged, was more like it, thought Seward. [this consistent use of Seward’s corrections or modifications or interpretations signalled by em dashes [[forgot to put closing bracket here]]
The sidewalk in front of Willard’s Hotel seemed to hum and throb
and John Hay felt as if he were still on the cars, as he made his way through the crowd of people—mostly colored, he noticed [I see the correction thing occupied only be Seward is still a habit with other characters, though adding rather [[than]] corrective]—who were on hand to get a look at Mr. Lincoln, who was not visible; unlike
unlike Mrs. Lincoln, who was, as well
[[Leaf 28, Page 56]]
as the three Lincoln sons, the six lady relations of Mrs. Lincoln’s [the possessive here is strange to me], the two John Geog George Nicolay (born twenty-nine-years ago in Bavaria; moved to Illinois as a child; grew up to edit a Pittsfield newspaper)[I knew this parentheses construction worked! I limited it to my journaling. But seeing here proved and even made a list with more than semi colon on topis rejuvenating, vindicating, and expanding, making me feel free and be freer in narrative fiction writing. Oh please let me. I’m so excited!] and John Hay himself, aged twenty-two, a graduate of Brown who had been admitted to the Illinois bar exactly two weeks ago, thanks, in parts, to the fact that his uncle was Springfield’s leading lawyer and an old associate of lincoln; thanks, again in part, to the fact that his uncle was S Hay had gone to school with Nicolay, Lincoln’s secretary during the campaign for the presidency. [Thank god for this very revealing sentence in terms of craft, though had to queue my whole comment reaction over the course of glacially transcribing it, letter by letter, word by word, line by line!]
brilliant, hard-drinking William Herndon [this whole “this guy is this guy in this ongoing, active present-narrative kinetic crowd, and here’s his whole relevance to Lincoln, brother-man. Might start practicing this since was taught against it and in favor of total presence with day skips next day skips, which is powerful in its own right either way.]
Small, wiry, handsome [consistent use of this, perhaps some in one of the other three books I’ve currently working
[[Leaf 29, Page 57]]
with besides this current one I’m taking notes of; also would never use this ever on a person of this stature, this list of descriptors, to a lot of degree “small”, but definitvely “wiry” and to insane degree “handsome,” both of the latter two of which are absent in my current ongoing novel that’s around 13,000 words or so or more.]
pg. 28, let’s re keep it on a breezy pace, morning is cool and breeze—the latter not true actually, making the expanse of dam and its distant towering walls of green feel “vast-less”
6:53:00 – 7:08:00 Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
Over the dresser, high up on bearded board, were her pictures of horses
Some sketched on days it rained
Others cut from magazines on days it was too cold to go outside.
Equine-themed days thumbtacked and prancing around her mirror
To the left, draped over a small wooden rod, was the quilt she had begun the summer Luvenia died. [at this point, I don’t even know, haha—]
Twelve squares in red and white and blue.
A fledgling version of Prize winner.
Luvenia had had her copy the pattern on those days her chest hurt and her legs swelled up and she couldn’t walk [don’t know what this past perfect “had had” is for, but maybe for “super long ago” or dramatic effect]
With her feet propped up on three plaid pillows
[[Leaf 29, Page 58]]
she had called out instructions while Valuable cut out the flag-colored cloth, making a solemn promise to show Valuable how to slip-stitch the hem when the day came for finishing.
pg. 15, eh. I’ll wait for food, almost done I think: adobo breakfast cooked by Mom
14:29:00 – 18:13:00 or 18:12 The Hearsts by Judith Robinson
Five major fires had virtually destroyed the city between 1850 and 1851, and the fire department held great political power in the city.
It was, in fact, a town in which traditional rules of democratic government were waived in favor of raw gold- and silver-laden power grabs.
It was a vulnerable city in which political control was directly related to the speed with which needs could be met—fighting fires, paving streets, constructing fire-proof buildings, controlling “undesirable” social and criminal elements
Vigilante groups governed the city
San Francisco thirteen… a Mexican village thirteen years before the Hearsts arrived.
But by 1862 it boasted the largest building west of the Mississippi, the Montgomery Block, built in 1853.
Montgomery Street had become a thriving “Wall Street West” with the newly formed (1862) Stock and Exchange Board.
Gas lamps lit the stone, plank, or mud streets,
[[Leaf 30, Page 59]]
pretentious buildings of granite from the Sierra Nevada rose in the commercial district, sand blew unmercifully from the dunes west of the hills during windy summers (Golden Gate Park had not yet been built to hold down the dunes), and rain turned the streets into mud wallows in winter.
But the city had taken on a look of permanency.
It had survived a bank panic and depression in 1855, and by 1862 silver speculation on the Comstock Lode was booming along Montgomery Street.
a city with a polyglot population: Americans, Spaniards, French, Italians, Germans, Austrians, Chinese, British, Irish, Australians, a few blacks, and American Indians—all reflecting large waves of migration caused by economic depressions, revolutions, or famine in other parts of the world.
California Indians… murdered
Chinese immigrants… a “problem” in the port town
1862… reported… thirty thousand men and five thousand women… actual population… close to one hundred thousand.
twelve daily newspapers
a number of theaters in several languages
at least two literary magazines (Golden (Golden Era, 1852–98, and Hesperian, 1858–63—founded by women)
hotels, cafés, saloons, boarding houses, dance halls, whorehouses, and restaurants.
More coffees, tea, champagne, and cigars
[[Leaf 30, Page 60]]
were consumed in San Francisco in those days than in Boston, an and the ladies’ degrees [[sic; should’ve been “dresses”, wrote the wrong word even if my mind was on the right word, strange]] were fashionable.
at least forty bookstores, a thriving activity in trading of used books, and several libraries and book publishers.
We bore around the point towards the old anchoring-ground of the hide ships, and the there, covering the sand hills and the valleys, stretching from the water’s edge to the base of the great hills, and from the old Presidio to the mission, flickering all over with the lamps of its streets and houses, lay a city of one hundred thousand inhabitants. [excerprted from Two Years before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana.]
no backwater town
its exotic hustle and bustle
stepped ashore and made her way down a long wharf, clutching her husband’s arm
a city seized by silver fever
silver boom… spring of 1860
[/ The news of silver was]/ borne on the wings of the wind from the Sierra Nevada, wafted through every street, lanet, and alley./././ whirling around the drinking saloons, eddying over the counters of the banking offices, scattering up the dust among the Front Street merchants, arousing the slumbering inmates of the Custom-House./././ Nobody had any money, yet everybody was a millionaire in silver claims. Nobody had any credit, yet everybody bought thousands of feet of glittering ore./././ All was silver underground, and deeds and mortgages on top, silver, silver everywhere, but scarce a dollar
[[Leaf 31, Page 61]]
in coin. [excerpted from a work by [[crossed-out letter looks like “P” here]] J. Ross Browne (1821–75)]
San Francisco was a month from New York by passenger ship and four to six months by cargo ship.
It had begun to develop its own industries—banks, a mill to make cloth from California wool, sugar refineries, foundries, a silkworm farm, watch factory, carriage factory, rolling stock factory, and a furniture factory.
winter of 1862… the eve of construction of a transcontinental railroad that four Sacramento storekeepers (Leland Stanford, Charles Cracker, Mark Hopkins, and Collis P. Huntington) and a visionary engineer (Theodore Judah) had pursued to reality despite opposition from steamship and stagecoach companies
Congress approved the Pacific Railroad Act in 1862, giving the “Big Four” large federal subsidies, huge land grants, and federal loans at 6 percent for thirty-year bonds.
In January 1863, the road bed started up the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada from Sacramento. Phoebe would travel that road bed many times.
The harbor on the nation’s western edge was filled with clipper ships and other vessels, many of them abandoned by gold-seekers and used as foundations for wharves and buildings in the booming town.
walked along the busy bustling wharf into the noisy city—the biggest port and the only city west of St. Louis.
arrived in California in a plain brown dress with straight brown hair… adorned in lace, pearls, and curls.
a beautiful nineteen-year-old girl with deep humid eyes, black hair, and the exquisite features of a Burnes-Jones painting.
[[Leaf 31, Page 62]]
It was an interesting face, gentle, serene and lovely, but even then, at the age of nineteen, there was amazing strength and straight-eyed thinking at in the picture. [excerpt [[uncredited]]]
She did, indeed, have a determined look on in her wide eyes.
ornate Lick House… the grandest hotel in town with 204 rooms, although it was only three stories high (there were no elevators). And it boasted a new attraction in San Francisco—a bridal suite—which
the hotel was covered in trompe l’oeil—its exterior and interior walls were painted to simulate various kinds of marble or fancy wood [[there’s a period here in the notebook when there shouldn’t; might have not bothered to scratch it off]]—the three-room bridal suite was a Victorian sensation unmatched in San Francisco.
Its parlor featured carved rosewood furniture, wall-to-wall carpeting to match the brocoded upholstery and curtains, a white marble mantel, gilt rococo mirrors, and two crystal chandeliers decorated with cupids.
The big beds were covered with white linen and had soft and downy mattresses.
apartment-hotel
dressmakers
the shock of the transplant far from home to entirely new surrounds
not overly oveconcerned about William Randolph’s religious persuasion, instruction, or ticket to heaven.
Irish Catholic governess… wet nurse
carried his great, gangling frame
preferred listening to talking and was taciturn in
[[Leaf 32, Page 63]]
company, his mind often seeming far away.
sit at a long dining table crumbling bread with his long fingers, thinking of faraway places and fortunes
Robert Turner, the Hearsts’ butler for thirty-five years, would brush away George’s crumbs and bring him a fresh piece of bread, and George would continue crumbling, unconscious that his supply had been refurbished
He favored pork spareribs and hominy and string beans with two strips of bacon.
His appearance has been described as—
./././ tall, erect, rugged, with a broad brow, a well-formed high head, a striking aquiline nose and a long, graying pioneer’s beard. He was slow-moving. He always wore a slouch hat down over his eyes, and on his feet were high-topped boots. He usually wore a cutaway coat, and occasionally, with great reluctance, he appeared in a frock coat. [excerpt]
“in his stocking feet, carefully carrying his boots in his right hand while his left hand supported the regulation crooked cane. He looked neither to the right nor to the left, but glided through the apartment like a ghost, to the intense amusement of guests the guests.
‘inveterate tobacco chewer,” became animated “in congenial company, he scatters the extract of the weed somewhat promiscuously over his shirt front.
When he let himself into the bright and elegant gathering, he stood somewhat dazed as a hush fell on the party. Phoebe rushed over to hustle him out of sight and begged him to change into a fresh shirt.
[[Leaf 32, Page 64]]
“Thrusting his hands in his breeches pockets [no possessive]—a habit of his—and drawing himself erect, he said in a voice loud enough for the company to hear: ‘This is my rance, and if these here folks don’t like my shirt they can go home, it’s time for folks to be in bed, anyhow, and I’m gwine thar,’ and he steadied himself up the stairs to his apartment [this colon dialogue combined with whole independent sentence is novel to me.]
She had running charge accounts at the best stores, servants, a comfortable home, a small child,
water stock
Travel was tedious (there were no railroads yet running from San Francisco to the Sierras and East), and he stayed for months at a time in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and later South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico, and Mexico. Political activities would keep him in Sacramento, the capital, for long periods.
In all the letters, his handwriting wasis crude, the spelling phonetic, the punctuation nonexistent. His penmanship is erratic, growing sloppier and running off the page toward the ends of letters, possibly as candles burned down and whiskey bottles emptied in his tent or cabin somewhere in the mountains. His letter paper was whatever happened to be at hand—plain, lined pad paper or stationery picked up from hotels or businesses.
Between visits to mines and saloons during long stays at Virginia City, George no doubt read the Golden Era, a gold rush literary journal that catered to miners, and the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, which entertained
[[Leaf 33, Page 65]]
the Comstock Lode crowd under the pseudonym bylines of Mark Twain and Dan De Quille. Their aim was “to keep the universe thoroughly posted concerning murders and street fights, and balls and theaters, and packtrains, and churches, and lectures, and highway robberies, and Bible Sosocieties…and the thousand other things which it is in the province of local reporters to keep track of and magnify into undue importance for the readers of a daily newspaper.”
Exposure to those literary efforts did not improve George’s ability to write legibly.
the “Union League” have already arrayed their batteries against it
$400 million in ore
Stock was traded on silver speculations
The San Francisco Stock and Exchange Board, whose forty members were informally called “the Den of Forty th Thieves,” and the San Francisco and Pacific Boards of Brokers rang daily with names of the silver mines—Ophin, Yellow Jacket, Kentuyck, Crown Point, Chollar-Potosi, Savage—and “feet” of Comstock claims were traded to the gambling populace.
Silver stock was used foras payment for bills; grocery clerks became millionaires overnight or lost their entire savings.
William C. Ralston, a former steamboat clerk turned banker, who cornered the market on Comstock accounts and bankrolled some of the San Francisco’s early buildings, derisively referred to the Comstock Lode as “a hole in the ground with silver and gold in it.” George Hearst had opened the hole, and he and Phoebe were raking the profits in.
[[Leaf 33, Page 66]]
Hearst avoided being swindled in the great stock manipulation craze that had resulted from the Comstock.
He scribbled notes and addresses, figures and dimensions and rough maps in his leather notecases, the names of people on the left and the numbers of feet of their shares on their the right; he even wrote bets (“Geoff Beach, 312 Front St., San Francisco, [/Asbury]/ Harbending bets Roberts 100 that [/he?]/ sells for 9, Shoshone County, Idaho Territory, July ’64”).
He listed his supplies:
1 canteen
1 hammer
4 lbs. tobacco
Meat
1 blanket, 13–20
pick and shovel
1 gold pan
1 paper tax
Dry Beef
He made notes to himself [“Take affidavit from Joe Hall”] and took orders for goods from the city:
Mrs. D. H. Hall, Eureka, Nevada.
1 small suit for winter for a girl, 6 years old
1 winter hat for same
1 ladies hat.
Going down the Backbone grade at night, our lead horses fell and brought the swing team down, all foru were under the wheel. Horses in a [tu [/turmoil?]/, kicking right messily, the passengers were out of the Stage quick and caught
[[Leaf 34, Page 67]]
the horses, setting all right in a few minutes. No damage, a little scare and some benefit, as the little episode furnished a st [/stop?]/ to the fast driving the balance of the route.
His old mill at Steamboat has been burnt since he left.
incorporation papers… for all the claims as yet are unincorporated.
stopping the imbibing of all Spurs Spiritous beverages, and going it alone on lemonade
Santiage shaft is done 35 feet, the rock getting softer and like the hanging wall of the Santiago mine… also thickly stained with colors incidental to that mine.
cut the ledge in two places and find first rate ore on the surface…. send a little of it down to you.
think your good fortune must yet be in the ascendancy
preparing the incorporation papers and will send them down in a few days.
The travel is so great now, seats home to be engaged 4 or 5 days ahead.
Gold Cañon./././ was now one continuous line of sawmills, quartz-mills, tunnels, dumps, sluices, water-wheels, frame shanties, and adobes././././ The main thoroughfare, cleaving to the old emigrant road, was flanked on both sides by brick-brick stores with iron shutters, hotels, express offices, saloons, restaurants, and groggeries.
The very walls of the Cañon were riddled and honeycombed with shafts, tunnels, and dumps [[the “p” here in this “dumps” looks very much like a “b”]]././././
[[Leaf 34, Page 68]]
Throught Through this main artery rushed a strident current of sound—mingling of horses horse, mule, and ox, hissing of steam, clatter of machinery, and the whine of bullets. While above all soared the shouts of bull-whackers, mule-skinners, and the angry shriek of the Washoe zephyr—an uproar continuous in volume././././ Over mountain and vale, cañon and ravine, mine and mill, night and day, hung dense clouds of swirling smoke and alkali—from which continually sifted powdered dust././././ Everything you touched gritted with it.
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By 1863, the business part of “C” Street presented the distinguishing features of a great metropolis—an old, black, iron-faced city, doored and shuttered by great sheets of painted iron. Streets were lighted by gas jets on iron standards. The principal stores, saloons and hotels were ablaze with illumination [funny-ass word]. Large and substantial brick houses, four and six stories high, lined the thorought main thoroughfares. Everyone of them disported a wide balcony, surrounded by black-painted iron balustrades, providing the walks beneath with a continuous, dark, irregular arcade, providing the second-stories with a gallery upon which French windows opened and iron stands filled with geraniums stood
sometimes the little wife was [[sic; should’ve been “would”]] pack a bag and go along on horseback, up the steepest trail, riding over the wildest mountains, happy all the way, interested, eager, never tired, never out of spirits. She loved the supper of bacon and pancakes, cooked on the prospector’s fire in his lonely cabin, or, better still, better still [the use of “still” instead of “yet”], smoking hot from a campfire in the deep woods on the edge of some terrifying gulch
[[Leaf 35, Page 69]]
[this word, need to use it].
leathery, tanned cheeks and whose eyes held the far-seeing look that penetrates rocks and earth.
pg. 68, going home from —