Friday, September 29, 2006

Some famous dead white people paired with verbs that more or less rhyme with their names:

Jesus sneezes
Marx sparks
Borges delays
Austen frosting
Sarte farts
Dickens quickens
Trilling thrilling
Van Doren boring
Barthes smarts
West bests
Swift lifts
Twain reigns
Kant rants
Merton flirting
Thomas promises

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Some arrangments of objects that emit or refuse to emit light:

A light, mounted on a mirrored surface.
A light, enclosed in a light-tight mirrored box.
A light, reflected by a series of mirrors, of number such that no light is reflected by the final mirror.
A light, placed on one side of a stack of glass sheets, of number such that no light is emitted from the other side of the stack.
A lamp, actuated by a touch-switch circuit, encased in a light-tight metal box.
A lit lamp, encased in transparent resin.
A lit lamp, emitting heat, encased in a ventilated structure.
A lit LED, attached to the pendulum arm of an operating metronome.
A lit room, the brightness of which is in inverse proportion to the volume of sound within it.
A brightly lit room, occupied by a blindfolded person for twenty-four hours.
A storefront, with people silhouetted in its windows, performing simple activities appropriate to the space.
Tubular fluorescent light fixtures, attached end to end to form platonic solids.
Circular fluorescent light fixtures, attached edge to edge to form platonic solids.
A CRT, placed in a dark space, displaying the black and white image of an incandescent bulb.
A CRT, placed in a dark space, displaying the black and white image of a candle.
A CRT, placed in a dark space, displaying the black and white image of a gas lantern.
A CRT, placed in a dark space, displaying the black and white image of a fluorescent tube or bulb.
Two lamps, one on, one off, embedded in concrete such that no visible light is emitted from either lamp.
Two lamps, one on, one off, embedded in plaster such that no visible light is emitted from either lamp.
Two lamps, one on, one off, embedded in a block of ice.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with ice.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with water.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with milk.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with sand.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with salt.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with earth.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with ashes.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with sawdust.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with crushed glass.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with antifreeze.
A lit lamp, immersed in a bucket filled with used motor oil.
A mechanism in a darkened room, which periodically combines lightning bug chemicals in a jar.
A mechanism in a darkened room, which periodically crushes WintOgreen lifesavers.
Fluorescent or neon tubes, arranged as bars over a window.
Fluorescent or neon tubes, arranged as rungs on a ladder.
Fluorescent or neon tubes, arranged as legs on a table.
Fluorescent or neon tubes, arranged as legs on a stool.
Fluorescent or neon tubes, stacked like logs to form a house-object.
A fluorescent tube lit by enclosure in a microwave oven that operates intermittently.
A light bulb enclosed in a hollowed-out book, lit for a duration necessary to destroy the bulb or the book.
A lamp wrapped in bandages, the illumination of which is regulated by a thermostat.
A pile of lamps, sprayed in situ with aluminum paint.
A pair of lamps, with a switch arranged such that turning one lamp on will turn the other off.
A lamp, controlled by a chain of unmarked switches, such that each switch must be on for the lamp to light.
A pair of turn-signals, drifting in and out of sync.
A strobe light, flashing out of time with accompanying sound.
A strobe light, illuminating a whirling drum on which are inscribed significant words.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Some lists that I'm working on for future posts:

Some little known authors who share surnames with well-known authors
The molecular formulae of some soft substances
Some single-sentence descriptions of well-known works of art
Some substances banned from US mail, and some items to which this might apply
Some locations where a person might expect to encounter an android
Some substances which increase disorder in the world
Some physical quantities, expressed in archaic units
Some objects of arbitrary shapes
Some common tautological situations

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Some objects meant to be touched:

Knobs
Buttons
Keys
Switches
Levers
Dials
Fobs
Latches
Handles
Wheels
Triggers
Caps
Lids
Catches
Clips
Studs
Zippers
Covers
Pommels
Buckles
Releases
Cranks
Cords
Chains
Strings
Hooks
Plungers
Rings
Pins
Grips
Bars
Rungs
Snaps
Hilts
Straps
Toggles
Pegs
Tabs
Stops
Taps
Rests
Reins
Hafts
Plugs

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Some orders of magnitude, as they apply to my place in the world:

The height of my body ~102 inches
The width of my body ~ 101 inches
The depth of my body ~ 101 inches

The height, width and depth of my house ~ 102 inches
The width and depth of the lot my house sits on ~ 103 inches

The space between framing members in my house (studs, joists, rafters) ~ 101 inches
The wall thickness of my house ~ 100 inches
The standard of precision used to frame my house ~ 10-1 inches
The standard of precision in the finish carpentry in my house ~ 10-2 inches

The length of my block ~ 104 inches
The diameter of my town ~ 105 inches
The dimensions of my county ~ 106 inches
The dimensions of my state ~ 107 inches
The dimensions of my nation ~ 108 inches
The circumference of the earth ~ 109 inches

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Some more compound words ending in -light:

Foot
Sky
Porch
Hall
Flood
High
Spot
Fog

Monday, September 18, 2006

Some prepositional phrases beginning with "bubble":

Bubble up
Bubble down
Bubble in
Bubble out
Bubble on
Bubble off
Bubble before
Bubble during
Bubble after
Bubble above
Bubble below
Bubble with
Bubble within
Bubble without
Bubble like
Bubble unlike
Bubble under
Bubble over
Bubble atop
Bubble inside
Bubble outside
Bubble behind
Bubble beneath
Bubble by
Bubble of
Bubble for
Bubble round
Bubble about
Bubble toward
Bubble across
Bubble astride
Bubble near
Bubble nearest
Bubble past
Bubble beside
Bubble around
Bubble nearby
Bubble along
Bubble through
Bubble except
Bubble against
Bubble despite
Bubble besides
Bubble beyond
Bubble absent
Bubble between
Bubble betwixt
Bubble following
Bubble since
Bubble until
Bubble amid
Bubble aboard
Bubble among
Bubble from
Bubble to
Bubble at
Bubble as
Bubble mid
Bubble till
Bubble into
Bubble onto
Bubble unto
Bubble upon
Bubble throughout
Bubble notwithstanding
Bubble opposite
Bubble amongst
Bubble alongside
Bubble underneath
Bubble amidst
Bubble towards
Bubble via
Bubble re
Bubble minus

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Some compound words ending with -light:

Search
Stop
Star
Lime
Strobe
Flash
Night
Pen
Candle
Torch
Sun
Moon
Day
Twi
Half
Lamp
Gas
Fire
Head
Tail
Dash
Street
Match

Friday, September 15, 2006

Some common single syllable concrete polysemic nouns:

Air
Arch
Arm
Back
Ball
Band
Bank
Bar
Base
Beam
Bed
Bee
Bell
Belt
Bit
Blank
Block
Board
Boot
Bolt
Bow
Box
Branch
Brush
Can
Case
Chip
Crank
Crib
Crop
Cross
Crown
Dog
Drum
Ear
Eye
Face
Field
File
Foot
Gear
Grain
Ground
Hand
Head
Heart
Heel
Horn
Jack
Jar
Jig
Key
Knot
Land
Lap
Leaf
Leg
Light
Line
Link
List
Lock
Mark
Mold
Mouth
Nail
Neck
Net
Nose
Nut
Pack
Pad
Page
Palm
Pan
Pen
Perch
Pike
Pipe
Pit
Plane
Plant
Plate
Point
Pole
Pool
Port
Post
Pot
Pump
Rack
Rail
Rib
Ring
Root
Sack
Salt
Sash
Saw
Scab
Scale
School
Screw
Seal
Shaft
Sheet
Shell
Shoe
Sign
Sling
Sole
Sound
Soup
Spark
Spike
Spring
Staff
Stall
Stick
Stock
Switch
Tack
Tail
Toe
Tongue
Tooth
Trace
Trap
Type
Vein
Well
Wing
Yard