Dispiriting things – A dog howling in the middle of the day. The sight in spring of a trap for catching winter fish. Robes in the plum-pink combination, when it’s now the third or fourth month. An ox keeper whose ox has died.
—The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, translated by Meredith McKinney1
the seemingly universal deference to “old” money
the phrase “an instant classic”
my pancreas
middlebrow writers who fear and loathe being “middlebrow”
the term “overrated”
two proper names crossing in an otherwise solved crossword
losing one’s “streak” in a game not through honorable defeat but forgetfulness
myself
others
the phrase “a poor person’s idea of a rich person”
& all variants thereof
a headache at three in the afternoon
people who like things one likes, but incorrectly
people who dislike things one dislikes, but incorrectly
these words that begin “gl”—“glee” “gloat” “glib” “glug” “glop”—all vexatious
“slop”—not fond of that one either
disagre…