I’ve been trying really hard to fall back in love with the English language, and this gargantuan compendium of racehorse lineages is really helping. There’s such a pleasing alchemy to the way the names evolve over the different generations, and then often end up with a thoroughbred whose moniker can be interpreted as having multiple meanings. It ain’t quite Jack Gilbert , but …
Tags: · horse names, horse racing, Jack Gilbert, language, poetry, writing
A thought I’m frequently comforted by is the realization that most of my fellow humans understand the absurdity of life. It’s a truism that shines through in the jokes people create when there’s nothing outwardly funny about their circumstances. Take, for example, the humorous anecdotes that Soviet citizens crafted under Stalin, a topic explored in this 1957 journal article . Comedy …
Tags: · comedy, jokes, Soviet Union, totalitarianism
