29 Apr 2009
I Think I Have Low Blood Sugar Today.
A few weeks ago I was reading “Procrustes and the Culture Wars,” an essay from the excellent At Large and At Small by Anne Fadiman. I thought I was fairly decent when it came to Greek mythology, but I’m pretty sure I never heard about Procrustes before. (Surely I would’ve at least remembered that awesome name.) Apparently he would snatch passing travelers and put them on a bed. If they were too tall for it, he’d saw off their limbs. Too short, he’d stretch them. Seriously. I would’ve remembered this.
Anyway, I read this, then the next day this was a word over on Word Journal.
All of this is to say that the more you learn, the bigger the world is. Or something. Anyway, Fadiman refers to this poem in her essay, which is actually not about Procrustes at all.
(Isn’t this enlightening? This blog post pretends to be about something, but is actually about nothing at all.)
April 29th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Thank you. Seriously. Thank you.
April 29th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I must have low blood sugar too since I read the word “Procrustes” as prostitute twice and didn’t see anything wrong with it. Of course, I have students talking about whether you can have sex safely while pregnant or get pregnant if you have sex standing up.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Thank you for the Mallet! It makes me think of Lee Hall and fresh notebook paper and Restoration & Swift.
I am sad about the ending of NPM.
May 1st, 2009 at 6:52 pm
This word is heavenly. Thank you. I’m going to find ways to use it, and daily.