Genius

Awesome person of the week:

Christian Bök

Kim Johnson gave a Brown Bag Lecture last Thursday entitled "The Anatomy of Language." It was really great. I love it when people are passionate about language. I am inspired to go buy a gigantic dictionary, and to look up every word I use, and to try and fit "chartreuse" into more of my conversations.

She read to us from Christian Bök's book, Eunoia, and it was one of the coolest things I've ever heard. He wrote five chapters, each dedicated to one vowel, and in each he used nothing but univocal words. It's nothing short of amazing. Kim pointed out that each of the vowels seem to have a corresponding feel to them; the A chapter is very social, the E chapter very elegant, usw.

An excerpt from the A chapter:

Awkward grammar appals a craftsman. A Dada bard as daft as Tzara damns stagnant art and scrawls an alpha (a slapdash arc and a backward zag) that mars all stanzas and jams all ballads (what a scandal).

Brilliant people make me so happy.

Now conference!