phlegmathon

September 28, 2005 | Leave a Comment

the river phlegethon was one of the five rivers of the underworld, and it was made of fire.

the word phlegm comes from the same root. it means heat or fire, or the “morbid humour” (disease-causing fluid) caused by heat, presumably fever.

i like the word humour when used like fluid, because it’s part of one of my favorite-sounding phrases ever: vitreous humour, which is the goopy stuff inside your eyeball.

are you laura?

September 13, 2005 | Leave a Comment

caroline: but just now someone imed me asking, “are you laura from yesterday?”
caroline: and i was like. nope.
ramona: hmm. weird.
ramona: you should have said yes and that you waited all afternoon at the zoo but they never showed and so you were going to kill yourself.
caroline: hahaha!
caroline: you are so right.

MEAT

September 11, 2005 | Leave a Comment

hahaha tom waits played the lunatic in bram stoker’s dracula. it is strangely appropriate. i remember seeing a picture of him in an ad or an interview or something where he just had “MEAT” scrawled on his hand in ballpoint pen.

the word artillery comes from “arteller,” which originally meant someone who made bows (a bowyer).