vision
“Vision was the last of the senses to evolve and is by far the most complex. Much more data are fed to the nervous systems through the eye and at a much greater rate than through touch or hearing. The information gathered by a blind man outdoors is limited to a circle with a radius of twenty to one hundred feet. With sight, he could see the stars.”
—Edward T. Hall, from The Hidden Dimension, 1966.
the flush of passion
“Taken by themselves, the reddening of the face in anger, the blush of embarrassment, the red spot between the eyes indicative of the slow burn . . . and the flush of passion are little more than curiosities. Combined with what we know of behavior in lower life forms, they can be seen as significant remnants of displaysbehavioral fossils, you might saywhich originally served the purpose of letting the other person know what was going on.”
—Edward T. Hall, from The Hidden Dimension, 1966.
the ripples of her purple dress
“The evening lights were being turned on, and at this hour Sabina felt like the city, as if all the lights were turned on at once causing a vast illumination. There were lights on her hair, in her eyes, on her nails, on the ripples of her purple dress now turning black.”
—Anais Nin, from A Spy in the House of Love, 1959.
dressed in red and silver
“Dressed in red and silver, she evoked the sounds and imagery of fire engines as they tore through the streets of New York, alarming the heart with the violent gong of catastrophe; all dressed in red and silver, the tearing red and silver cutting a pathway through the flesh.”
—Anais Nin, from A Spy in the House of Love, 1959.
the ruby slippers
“Q: The Ruby Slippers in The Wizard of Oz were originally what color (they were changed because red looked much better in the new creation of color film)
A: Silver.”
from Trivia of the Silver Screen by Lester Gordon, 1995.
this year, im a star
“This year, I’m a star, but what will I be next year A black hole?”
—Woody Allen, as quoted in Trivia of the Silver Screen by Lester Gordon, 1995.
red beans and ricely yours
“New Orleans natives hold red beans and rice closer to their hearts than any other of their many fabled dishesso much so that Louis Armstrong made his autograph Red beans and ricely yours.”
—Bill Neal, from Bill Neals Southern Cooking, 1989.
folding green
“Southerners may make resoutions for the New Year, but they know success (or lack of it) depends more on what is eaten on 1 January than on all the good intentions in the world. More black-eyed peas and collards are consumed on that day than any other time of the yearpart of an antique gastronomic insurance policy. Collards are for a steady suppy of folding green in the coming year; black-eyed peas for plenty of pocket change.”
—Bill Neal, from Bill Neals Southern Cooking, 1989.
he fired the blowtorch and approached the ice
“Farewell, cried Glaucus, absently. Farewell, my friends.
He fired the blowtorch and approached the ice.
Whereer he moved, the goddess shone before, he quoted, adding in a reverent whisper, Homer.”
—Colin Higgins, from Harold and Maude, 1971.
the colors are changing
“Look at the sky, said Harold, chewing thoughtfully. It’s so big.
And so blue.
Beyond the blue is the vast blackness of the cosmos.
Yes. But spreckled with uncountable stars. They’re shining right now. We just cant see them. I suppose thats just another instance of all thats going on that is beyond human perception.
. . . She turned and looked out at the setting sun. Theyre it goes, she said wistfully. Sinking over the horizon where were all going to go. The colors are changing and soon theyll be gone, leaving us with darknessand stars.”
—Colin Higgins, from Harold and Maude, the novel, not the movie, 1971.