small joys
“[T]he children themselves repaid her griefs with small joys. These joys were so small that they could not be seen, like gold in the sand, and in her bad moments she saw only griefs, only sand; but there were also good moments, when she saw only joys, only gold.”
—Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, 1877, translated by Richar Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, 2000.
Meet Chan Yen
seeing her in black
“Kitty had seen Anna every day, was in love with her, and had imagined her inevitably in lilac. But now, seeing her in black, she felt that she had never understood all her loveliness. She saw her now in a completely new and, for her, unexpected way. Now she understood that Anna could not have been in lilac, that her loveliness consisted precisely in always standing out from what she wore, that what she wore was never seen on her. And the black dress with luxurious lace was not seen on her; it was just a frame, and only she was seen—simple, natural graceful, and at the same time gay and animated.”
—Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, 1877, translated by Richar Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, 2000.
like the sun
“He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.”
—Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, 1877, translated by Richar Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, 2000.
‘Not bad’
“‘Not bad,’ he said, peeling the sloshy oysters from their pearly shells with a little silver fork and swallowing them one after another.”
—Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, 1877, translated by Richar Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, 2000.
light and shade
“‘All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life are made up of light and shade.’”
—Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, 1877, translated by Richar Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, 2000.
‘X’
“While going through his mail, Kelly Anderson of Salt Lake City recently discovered the personalized license plate on his 1978 Jeep for seven years was being recalled by the state Division of Motor Vehicles.
Why? The license plate bears just one letter: “X.” The DMV says that violates a state rule against plates “with combinations of letters associated with illicit drugs.”
Tax Commission spokesman Charlie Roberts says the license was revoked because the letter X is commonly used as a street name for the illegal drug ecstasy.”
—Paul Rolly, Salt Lake City Tribune, 5/25/2007.
New Dotti Berry
Paul Dean’s New Dotti Berry, collage, 21″x21″, 2007. Brand new. I just framed it. If it looks familiar, and if the title seems familiar, that’s because this is a slight variation of the collage Dotti Berry, from last year. OK. You got me there.
Blue-plate special.
A dish of meat, potato, and vegetable served on a plate (usually blue) sectioned in three parts. This can also refer to the daily special.
—Diner Slang, www.americandinermuseum.org, 2007.
Paint it red.
Put ketchup on an item.
—Diner Slang, www.americandinermuseum.org, 2007.