Once again I find myself in the familiar position of feeling obliged to write a blog entry and having absolutely nothing of substance to write about. Usually I'm saved from this predicament by having a vaguely interesting photo of a something-or-other to distract readers from the complete and utter lack of content present in the post in question. Unfortunately my last batch of photos only really served to demonstrate the point that I really need to clean the lens of my camera, and this isn't a point which particularly needs to be demonstrated to the entire world. Strangely enough, on this occasion of taking these extremely dusty looking photos I was mistaken for a professional photographer, a misperception which I corrected by stating that no, I was not a photographer, merely someone who happens to own a camera. Immediately following this I was mistaken for someone whose name was Amanda, which I failed to correct that no, my name was not Amanda, I just happened to be wearing a name tag that said 'Amanda'. I guess none of the readers of this fascinating document actually know what my first name is, but at least now you all know it isn't Amanda.
I was reading an earlier entry I posted on this blog where I alluded to some sort of secret project I had in the works. I'd love to be able to update you on the status of this project, or at least tell you something about it... but unfortunately I can't remember what it actually was. I guess this is the price of being excessively cryptic.
The Devil's Dictionary is a brilliant source of cynicism and wit. No, it isn't an indoctrination tool for the Church of Satan (or that other cult that calls itself a church also starting with 'S' which we won't name here since it isn't worth getting sued over), it's a collection of definitions which were printed regularly in a weekly paper (the preface to the book isn't kind enough to give us the name of the paper) between 1881 and 1906, written by Ambrose Bierce, who later went to revolution torn Mexico and was never seen again. It is safe to assume that (a) unless he is immortal and (b) even better at playing hide-and-seek than Richey Edwards, that he is in fact dead by now.
Some examples:
MAD, adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech and action derived by the conformants from study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual. It is noteworthy that persons are pronounced mad by officials destitute of evidence that themselves are sane.
SAINT, n. A dead sinner revised and edited.
AMBITION, n. An overmastering desire to be vilified by enemies while living and made ridiculous by friends when dead.
POSITIVE, adj. Mistaken at the top of one's voice.
The Devil's Dictionary can be found online in its entirety here
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5 comments:
sounds quite amusing when was it published?
That Devil's Dictionary sounds a hoot! I'll check it out. I hope you one day finally remember what your secret project was...at least you remember that your name isn't Amanda. Or is it? & you've simply forgotten :)
Eeerie how accurate some of those definitions are. ;)
As far as I know the first collected edition of the Devil's Dictionary was published in 1911. I have the Wordsworth Reference Series edition, first published in 1996.
You know, it is just possible that the reason I was wearing a nametag in the first place may have had something to do with an inability to remember said name. I must do some more research into this! (although if I have to introduce myself to someone nice and clearly as 'Belinda' once more only to have them say 'Nice to meet you, Melinda' it is just possible that I will consider taking on Amanda permanently).
I love the Devil's Dictionary! I've used some of it in my art.
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