Pages 698-716
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Contents
- 1 November 14th, YDAU - Ruth van Cleve & Kate Gompert go for a walk
- 2 Troeltsch Gets Ready for Prime Time
- 3 Pemulis's hiding spot
- 4 Lyle meditates
- 5 Mario and Schtitt go to get confections
- 6 The Moms Makes a Phone Call
- 7 More With Hal Watching Himself's Movies/Segue to Addiction
- 7.1 Page 701
- 7.2 Page 702
- 7.3 Page 703
- 7.4 Endnote 288
- 7.5 Page 703 (cont'd)
- 7.6 Page 704
- 7.7 Page 705
- 7.8 Endnote 290
- 7.9 Page 705 (cont'd)
- 7.10 Page 706
- 7.11 Page 707
- 7.12 Endnote 291
- 7.13 Page 707 (cont'd)
- 7.14 Endnote 292
- 7.15 Endnote 292a
- 7.16 Page 707 (cont'd)
- 7.17 Page 708
- 7.18 Page 709
- 7.19 Endnote 294
- 7.20 Page 710
- 7.21 Page 711
- 8 Blood Sister Synopsis Continued
- 9 Kate & Ruth Continued
November 14th, YDAU - Ruth van Cleve & Kate Gompert go for a walk
Page 698
Page 699
Endnote 285
catachresis
misuse of words, as in a mixed metaphor
Page 699 (cont'd)
Norfolk County
a county of Massachusetts bordering Rhode Island to the southwest
'...operating a pharmaceutical company without a license.'
i.e., he was running a meth lab
Page 700
Troeltsch Gets Ready for Prime Time
Page 700
screwed
i.e., left the room
Pemulis's hiding spot
Page 700
drop-ceiling
a ceiling where, instead of meeting sheetrock at the top of the walls, you reach a series of tiles (often fiberglass-filled) that are hung a few inches below the actual ceiling, sometimes for aesthetic reasons, sometimes to facilitate lighting, etc.
Lyle meditates
Page 700
hovers
hangs in air
Mario and Schtitt go to get confections
Page 701
sidecar
a passenger car for a motorcycle, usually to the right side of the cycle driver
The Moms Makes a Phone Call
Page 701
stern
i.e., the back end
More With Hal Watching Himself's Movies/Segue to Addiction
Page 701
wimple
a cloth that goes over the head, frames the face, and is tucked under the chin, worn by nuns
in violent medias res
In medias res is Latin for "in the middle of the thing, meaning, like many epic poems, the work begins in the middle of the story (e.g., the Iliad begins nine years into a ten-year war).
recumbency
here used to mean someone lying down (i.e., Hal)
rheostat
another name for a "variable resistor," which is something that alters the value of a circuit without interrupting it--in this case, this is in reference to a light switch with a dial, which allows for dimming the lights
50-point
THIS BIG compared to the usual 12pt font.
Page 702
emetics
drugs designed to make one vomit
descants
A descant is an ornamental melody or counterpoint sung or played above a theme.
banks
makes something (here, the spoon) glance off a surfaces (or more than one; here, the insides of her cheeks)
Page 703
hanuman
a monkey held sacred in India
scuttly
scampering
Endnote 288
The Continent's Best Yogurt
It actually stands for "The Country's Best Yogurt," but given the formation of O.N.A.N., the change seems fitting if not necessary.
Page 703 (cont'd)
cognoscenti
people having superior knowledge
wont
accustomed
Page 704
Langesque
in the style of Fritz Lang
tremulous
fearful and shaking
osteoporotic
suffering from osteoporosis, a bone disease that can cause pain, decreased height, and skeletal deformity (e.g., curvature of the spine, as suggested by Hal's imagining)
Indian-style
in the lotus position of yoga
Page 705
Hawg
a Harley-Davidson motorcycle
novenas
In Roman Catholicism, a novena is a devotion or set of prayers said over nine days.
crank cocaine
Methamphetamine and cocaine (the use of ether and baking soda implies freebase cocaine and crack cocaine, respectively; both of these freebase products are water insoluble and therefore cannot be introduced to the bloodstream via injection or snorting).
stelliform
star-shaped
coiffure
hairdo
Endnote 290
stock
commonplace
Page 705 (cont'd)
sacristy
an anteroom or outbuilding of a church, used to store vestments, serving implements for communion, etc.
matins and vespers
two of the nine prayer services a day in Catholic abbeys and monasteries; essentially, the daybreak and twilight services, respectively
severe and somewhat lesbianic haircut
a "butch" cut (see right)
Trappists
members of the Order of Cistercians of Strict Observance, who do not, by the way, all take vows of silence
montage
a film sequence in which a period of time is quickly covered with short (a few seconds) scenes, usually underscored with music
Page 706
lantern jaw
a mandible that protrudes beyond the maxilla, or one that is long and thin
Promethean
suggestive of Prometheus, probably in the sense of bold and defiant
'Getting to Know You'
a song from the 1951 musical The King and I, by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics)
saccharine
sickeningly sweet
entrepreneurism
usually entrepreneurship
Wild Turkey
a popular bourbon whiskey
Lorimar's Dynasty
Lorimar was a production company and Dynasty a prime-time soap opera that aired in the 1980s.
shibboleths
A shibboleth is any language usage indicative of one's social or regional origin, or more broadly, any practice that identifies members of a group. (See Judges 12:4-6 and the Wikipedia entry.)
Page 707
Endnote 291
aperture
a small opening
Page 707 (cont'd)
catexic
this is likely a misspelling of "cathexic," which means "emotionally charged."
Endnote 292
Endnote 292a
covalence-hungry isotopes
Isotopes of certain atoms combine with others to form covalent bonds.
gnomes
aphorisms
Waterloo
a city in Belgium where Napoleon suffered his final defeat — the term has come to mean "final defeat"
Page 707 (cont'd)
sloe
likely refers to a type of North American plum tree, which can produce dark purple, yellow, or red fruit, depending on the sub-type of tree
tannin
any of several vegetable compounds tending to have a reddish-brown color, widely used in leather- and winemaking
Page 708
Raytheon
a major American defense contractor
float
i.e., the money keeping them afloat (figuratively)
rye
whiskey made from rye grain
Page 709
Ford Mystique
See one here.
pluck
resourceful daring in the face of great difficulty
Endnote 294
apostrophe
direct address of an absent person, in rhetoric
Page 710
autodidactic
self-taught
Logan
the major airport of Boston
Page 711
Blood Sister Synopsis Continued
Page 711
novitiate
a novice of a religious order
recidivism
the state of falling back into a life of crime
de-mufflering
removing the muffler from her motorcycle, thus making it extra loud
Harley Hawg
a repetition in terms
jiggers
measures of 1.5 ounces; in Utah, a shot is also defined as 1.5 ounces, although a shot glass may have a capacity of 2 ounces
Endnote 296
ferric oxide
i.e., iron oxide, or rust
F/X
a show business term for special effects
Page 711 (cont'd)
inimical
adverse in tendency or effect
accretes
increases
censer
a device for burning incense, especially in religious services
mace
a medieval weapon, basically consisting of a stick with a ball covered with spikes at the end
verger
a church official, such as a caretaker
Page 712
Marseillese
more properly Marseillaise, i.e., from Marseilles, France
octogenarian
in one's eighties
Confiteor
a penitent prayer said by Roman Catholics
Endnote 297
cowled
hooded
Page 712 (cont'd)
Kabuki
a form of Japanese theater
habitements
a neologism, probably just referring to the habits the nuns wear
Page 713
Champlain-era
of the era of Samuel de Champlain
Huron
the more common name for the Wyandot Indians
mahogany Christian object
i.e., the aforementioned crucifix
lapsarian
Pertaining generally to the Fall of Man from innocence (into sexual awareness) and specifically to Adam and Eve's lapse from God's favor after disobediently partaking from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:8 through 3:24); see the usages below on page 713 of lapse and pre-saved.
obeisance
a bow, curtsy, salaam, or similar gesture or movement of the body symbolizing obedience and possibly also devotion
nave
the part of the church with the pews on either side, facing the altar but not on the altar
tympanum
the recess between the top of the door and the arch above it
"...with a sword and a plowshare..."
A plowshare is the blade of a plow; the reference is from Isaiah 2:4; they are symbols of war and peace, respectively. The syringe and soup-ladle mentioned in the carving could be symbols of similarly opposed addiction (or poison, but probably not medicine) and sustenance.
'CONTRARIA SUNT COMPLEMENTA'
Latin: Opposites are complementary. The motto appears on the coat of arms of Niels Henrik David Bohr (1885-1962), the 1922 Nobelist in physics; the coat of arms (see right) also incorporates the taijitu (yin-yang symbol), which perfectly illustrates the concept. At this blogpost, the motto continues, "...and wholeness leads to clarity." See also this interesting discussion of the good-evil dichotomy in the paragraph on Composition in the Wikipedia entry on the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as well as the note on lapsarian above.
Page 714
Smothergill
i.e., Phillip T. Smothergill, the former E.T.A. who starred in Himself's movies and whose name Hal couldn't remember
Kate & Ruth Continued
Page 714
gargoyle
a small statue of a monster used to adorn churches and other buildings to ward off evil
Page 715
deft
dexterous or nimble
mafun ho
i.e., mother-fucking whore
Page 716