Founding documents #7: The glassy taste of clichés

[Definitions]

Janice Lee
Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 10:32 AM
To: eric lindley
Cc: Joe Milazzo , “[out of nothing]” <[email protected]>
let’s do it!

On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 8:31 AM, eric lindley wrote:
Yes! I like the idea of us each generating definitions-perhaps OED style, where we can play with the origin, etc, and then each of our definitions is entered under a different meaning for the word? As if each word had three ways in which it came to be, with wildly different trajectory….

On Jul 27, 2011 11:18 AM, “Joe Milazzo” wrote:
> I’m ready to send definitions whenever!
>
> JM
>
> On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 10:01 AM, Janice Lee wrote:
>
>> so what do we need to do specifically to finish this prompt?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 9:19 AM, Janice Lee wrote:
>>
>>> yes! “In the mirror, a sleep, a spectral nothing” !
>>>
>>> and yes, like the generating definition type prompt or whatever. I totally
>>> think we could do a whole issue around rhyme, and then maybe I’ll want to
>>> write a limerick 🙂
>>>
>>> j
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 7:02 AM, Joe Milazzo wrote:
>>>
>>>> I’d be dead chuffed with “In the mirror, a sleep, a spectral nothing”.
>>>>
>>>> I love all of these ideas, and they’re all appropriate for expression in
>>>> an aesthetics statement. How do we want to approach assembling one?
>>>>
>>>> A thought: we each generate a definition for each key term in the theme
>>>> (mirror, sleep, spectral, nothing) and then figure out a way to merge /
>>>> combine them into some master “dictionary entry”.
>>>>
>>>> Alternately, we could each write a “mirror image” (interpret as you wish)
>>>> of the theme statement.
>>>>
>>>> I still like the idea of collaborating of something that includes
>>>> rhyme… but maybe that’s something to save for a later issue. I.e., make
>>>> rhyming the main focus of the theme?
>>>>
>>>> Off to study the Book of Lamentations,
>>>>
>>>> UJM
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 12:45 AM, eric lindley wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tjoqhx_dwk (is
>>>>> still kinda scary, btw)
>>>>>
>>>>> what do you think about: “In the mirror, a sleep, a spectral nothing”
>>>>> ? I do love the idea of eidola, too…
>>>>>
>>>>> brainstorm:
>>>>>
>>>>> dreams: little death. suspension of self. the birth of an alternate
>>>>> self.
>>>>> ghosts: obsessive creatures that linger. phantoms. traces.
>>>>> mourning: desire for a thing that will never be. aspirations for the
>>>>> past. nostalgia. the pain of loss, of absence.
>>>>>
>>>>> tie together: in dreams we are able to mourn ourselves. our writing
>>>>> mourns us when we are gone. it mourns us now.
>>>>>
>>>>> writing as spectral trace of the instant of self that made it. a
>>>>> dream—something that never happened….
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> writing as a symbolic construct with value as a statement that is
>>>>> logically immutable. the way that the number 3 transcends human existance
>>>>> (if you believe that), so writing transcends our being, and is both deity
>>>>> and ghost—a grim, eternal witness to the brief span of human life.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mirror—your reflection as a past self: you are viewing a dead thing,
>>>>> something that no longer exists. it makes a ghost of you. You are a ghost
>>>>> to your past self looking back at you. You are a dream of yourself. You are
>>>>> dreaming of yourself.
>>>>>
>>>>> Writing as mirror: it makes a ghost of you.*
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> *incedentally, the new slogan for WRITING, as chosen by Laughing Samurai
>>>>> branding consultant firm.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, Jul 23, 2011 at 12:46 PM, Janice Lee wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I’m down for whatevers. but yea, “in the mirror, a spectral nothing”
>>>>>> has a nice ring to it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Sat, Jul 23, 2011 at 9:44 AM, Joe Milazzo wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I really like this one:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> in the mirror, a spectral nothing
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> or maybe
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> in the mirror, a spectral void
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Eidolon is very Lovecraftian, isn’t it?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Maybe we do another exquisite corpse, but, picking up on something
>>>>>>> Eric mentioned, aim for explicit rhyme (not necessarily end rhyme) around
>>>>>>> these ideas?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> UJM
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Sat, Jul 23, 2011 at 11:27 AM, Janice Lee wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> in the mirror, a spectral nothing
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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