Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Saturday, January 24, 2009

1000 Words

Near the end of graduate school, I started a project I've been working on very slowly over the years, I asked 50 friends to contribute 20 favorite words that would constitute the literary spine for a picture. I've finally begin getting images out of this mass of data, so I will post them here from time to time, but I thought it would be good to post the original list as a preface.

a, Abba, abecedarium, academic, accent, actants, address, adhere, adjective, adoring, adverb, adz, aerial, afloat, Africa, agents, agitator, alchemy, alligator, align, alizarin crimson, alkalization, Amen, amoebae, amphitheater, and, anima/animus, animation, annihilate, ant, anthrax, anticipation, antique, any, anyway, apocalyptic, appointments, aqua, architect, arson, art, as, asked, Assata, associate, astronomy, Astroturf, at, avant garde, awkward, ayer, back hoe, ballet, banal, barrel chested, basis, bastardized, bat, bayou, beauty, bed, bed sheets, beefy tee, behavior, believe, bella, Bellini, betray, bicycles, binder, bird, black, blissful, blond, blood pudding, bloom, blossom, blue, boil, boll-weevil, bologna, bolt, bonkers, books, boss, bottle, bounty, bow, Braille, brand, bratwurst, Brazil, breath, breathe, bridge, Brock, broke, bronze, Bronzino, Brooklyn, Brown, brushing, buck, buckle, bunny, butterfly, button, buttons, by, caduceus, cake, calculating, calibrate, California, callous, calming, camera, can't, cancellation, cappuccino, car, cardamom, cardigan, caricature, carpet, carriage, cartography, casket, cat, cataclysmic, catchword, catharsis, cavort, celebrate, celebration, celibate, cellar, centipede, cerulean, chain, chairs, charismatic, chartreuse, chiaroscuro, Chicago, Chile, chives, chocolate, chocolates, chrysanthemum, chum, chunk, church, ciao, circumlocution, circumstance, civility, clamp, classified, clause, clean, closure, cloud, clunker, cob, coda, coddle, coffee, collective, columbine, combination, comer, comida, commandment, commercial, comrade, comunitas, conjunction, connect, connected, consumed, context, conundrum, conversion, cooperation, copacetic, copper, corn, corny, corollary, corpse, corsage, cotton, count, counting, courage, cradle, crash, crazy, create, creative, creature, creepy, crime, critic, critical, crosshair, crossover, crud, crusty, crystal, crystallize, Cuba, cunning, curve, cut, dagger, damar, dark, daydream, Dear, death, deck, deferential, denouement, deploy, desirous, devilry, dextrose, dialectic, diet, dignity, dinner, dip, dirt, disappointment, disarticulate, disco, distance, disturb, do, dog, dogma, dominion, door, dormant, double mint, Douglas, down, dream, dream catcher, dreams, dregs, driving, dry-clean, dumpster, dunes, duty, dynamite, dynasty, dyslexia, dystopia, e-mail, eagle, ear, earth, earth, eep, eggs, egregious, elbow, electric, elegiac, elf, embarrasses, encompassing, end, endure, energize, energy, engender, entrance, entreat, entropy, eponymous, equilibrium, erp, esteem, Etruscan, Eucharist, every, excavator, exercise, exigent, exit, experiment, explorer, extension, extension, face, fad, fade, failure, fair-weather, Fairchild, faith, faithful, fall, false, family, fancy, fandango, farewell, fedora, feelers, feet, feet, fell, fellow, fesnoo, fester, festoon, fez, fibrillate, field, fill, finial, fish, Fish's Eddy, flaneur, flannel, flare, flattened, flea, flooey, floralist, flower, fluid, flush, fly, focus, foil, footnote, for, force, fork, forlorn, forsake, fortunate, forty-two, foul, fountain, fourteen, fragile, frame, free, fresco, fresh, Friend John, frizzy, from, frontal, frou-frou, fruit, full, fun, funny, fuss, futon, gabble, Gabrielle, game, gamut, garbage, garden, garrulous, gelato, gender, general, generous, geometer, geometrical, geometry, Gerard, gerund, gewgaw, giggle, giraffe, glance, glass, glassware, global, gnome, go, gob, God, gold, goober, good-bye, goose flesh, gorgeous, grandmother, goofy, grass, gray, green, grieve, grunt, gush, gym, ground, haiku, Halifax, hamper, hand, hangnail, happenstance, happy, hard, harmony, hash, haste, he, healing, hear, heart, heat, hellcat, here, heroic, herring, hero, high, hiking, hinge, heterotopia, hmmm, hold, home, hip, hoopty, hope, home, hotels, howitzer, Hoyne, hose, hunger, hydration, human being, I, ice, ideology, idiom, illuminate, immorality, impending, impish, impromptu, impossibility, in, incandescent, incubus, indeed, India, incense, infinitive, infinity, inflammability, inebriate, information, information, infrastructure, inflect, inside, insistent, insouciant, inoculate, intellectual, intense, intention, instant, interiority, interview, inundate, interdisciplinary, investigation, inversion, is, isosceles, it, iterative, Japanese, jet, joy, juice, just, kine, kitty, knock, knowledge, la Coeur, lackluster, lake, laser, last, lazy, lamp, lemonade, letting, lexicographic, leisure, light, lighthouse, lightly, life, lily, limitation, limned, like, lion, list, listen, linen, lofty, lollygag, long, loose, loosen, lots, love, low, love, Lucerne, ludicrous, machine, magazine, magenta, magic, Mama, mandate, manner, marble, marbles, manna, marsupial, masticate, materiality, Maria, mayonnaise, meaning, meddlesome, meeting, memoranda, memory, Memphis, merkin, Michigan, mimesis, mimetic, mersnoo, mire, mirror, misanthrope, mimic, moat, mode, moist, missing, moment, Mommy, money, monkey, moon, moon, moralist, moon, morning, mosquito, moth, moth, mourning, mouse, movement, mundane, murmur, music, music, murmur, my, musk, narcissus, navigate, nebulous, needle, nasty, Nero, nerve, new, neighborhood, next, nice, nicety, niggardly, nip, night, nine, ninety, night, no, nocturnal, nomad, non sequitur, nonsense, nodule, nonsense, north, noun, now, nozzle, obfuscate, obsolete, obstreperous, ocean, oeuvre, of, okay, oil, on, on-line, one, onomatopoeia, oof, open, one, optimistic, options, opium, orange, orphic, Otis, orifice, overslept, overwhelmed, oxymoron, overcome, painter, palfrey, papa, padded, paradigm, parents, paper, past, pastiche, path, participle, pedestrian, pelt, penultimate, paucity, perfunctory, phantom, pheasant, people, phoneme, piddle-paddle, pillows, philology, pine cones, pink, placement, plane, planning, play, placenta, plenty, Plus Ultra, polymath, pleasant, polymorphous set, Polynesia, porqué, posing, posthumous, postulate, practical, possibility, previous, princess, prism, present, problem, prosaic, psychedelic, psychic, public, puddle, puissant, quack, query, question, question mark, quid, quake, quip, quirt, quoin, quiet, rabbit, rabbit, quotidian, rain, rainy, raspberry, radiant, re-entry, reader, red, ratio, red-soldier, relation, relinquish, red, Renaissance, renovation, repetitive, reliquary, reverie, rhinoplasty, rhomb line, restless, ride, rifle, ring, river, rhyme, road, roar, rock, rocket, Roma, roots, rose, round, rooftop, run, runaway, sable, route, sadness, saint, salad, sad, salty, Samson, sandwich, saline, Saskatchewan, sate, Satiricon, sandwich, sausage, say, schism, sauce, science, scooter, scribble, school, sea, seal, season, scrofula, sedition, seek, seepy, seasonal, selfish, senescence, secret, seer, seventeen, sew, Sesquipedalian, sex, sexo, sfumato, shine, shiroi, shell, shoals, shod, shoe, shovel, sidelong, sight, shopping, silence, silly, simpatico, silence, sip, Situationist, skirt, since, sky, sleepy, sloth, slow, smarty-pants, slippery, snake, sneep, snide, smelly, snirk, snoop, snow, sniff, so, soaring, sock, sole, somersault, songs, soothe, solidarity, soul, sound, sound, sorrow, space, space, spank, soup, spectacular, sphinx, spider, spare, spirit, splendid, spring loaded, spinach, squib, squire, squirrel, springtime, stanza, stellar, stercoraceous, stand, stop, storm, strabismus, stone, strap, “strategery,” stream, strain, strength, strenuous, stress, streets, struggle, struggle, studio, struggle, stupendous, suffice, suit, stuff, sun, sun, sunshine, summons, surrogate, survey, sustainability, super, Swedish, sweep, svelte, sweetness, swim, swimming, sweet, sycamore, sycophant, syllable, swing, syringe, tack, tactile, sympathizer, take, tampon, tawdry, tailback, team, tea time, tell, teal, tender, tent, tenure, temporary, tested, Thanksgiving, that, the, thermos, think, this, thistle, third, threat, 3-D, threshold, threshold, thought, thumb, thumbprint, thump, tickle, tied-up, tiger, ticking, time, to, tile, toastale, tomato, tonal, tongue, to-do, tonic, too, topiary, tonic, topography, torment, torque, topobiology, tourist, Toussaint, townie, tour, traffic lights, trail, train, traffic, transcendence, transgress, transient, trajectory, travel, tree, tremor, tree, triumph, trope, trouser, trench, trustafarian, truth, tulip, true, twitch, two, 2-D, 2001, type, U-haul, unctuous, underwear, uh, unique, up, UNICEF, utensil, uterus, utopia, urban, vacillate, vase, vassal, uxoriousness, verge, verism, vernacular, Velcro, versus, vertigo, vestigial, verse, vintage, virtual, visionary, Vienna, visual, vowel, vista, walk, walking, walkman, waffle, waltz, warm, warning, Walter, warthog, was, wash, warrant, waste, water, watershed, wave, web, weekly, weep, waver, weird, well, well-mannered, weevil, whelp, which, whine, what, whisper, whisper, white, whippersnapper, white, why, wild, will, willow, wind, winsome, winter, wing, wonder, wood, wool, work, yashmak, yearlong, yellow, write, yes, yesterday, yellow ochre, you, you're, your, zebra, zephyr, zipper, zooks, Zorro.