Pages 63-87

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Page 63 (cont'd)

G. Ford - early G. Bush
roughly 1974 to 1989

S.A.C.
Strategic Air Command

neutron
a subatomic particle with no charge

gamma-refractive
referring to a certain index of refraction, i.e., a measure of how much the speed of light is slowed down under certain conditions

lithium-adonized
made more beautiful with lithium

Page 64

cold annular fusion
Cold fusion is a low-energy nuclear reaction. That it is annual means it is ring-shaped.

Tableaux
This is the French pluralization of "tableau," a striking scene.

homolosine-cartography
This is map-making based on an equal distribution of land, created by John Paul Goode (1862-1932), an American geographer. Goode did this to replace the Eurocentric Mercator projection.

optative
expressing a wish or choice

U.S.T.A.
United States Tennis Assocation

après-garde
French for "rear guard," it's the opposite of avant-garde.

Endnote 24

Page 64 (cont'd)

Macdonald Chair
possibly named for Dwight Macdonald (1906-1982), American writer, editor, and social critic

Royal Victoria College of McGill University
now an all women's residence at McGill University in Montreal

Reflective vs. Reflexive Systems
These are two systems of cognition, the former is associative, rapid in processing, and subconcious, while the latter is rule-based and thus slower.

Personnes à Qui On Doit Surveiller Attentivement
French: People Whom We Must Watch Closely

Throppinghamshire Provincial College, New Brunswick, Canada
There is no such college, though New Brunswick is a province of Canada.

recondite
dealing with complex subject matter

mordantly
in a caustic manner

feck
efficacy; force; value

Page 65

F.C.
Perhaps "formerly Canadian"

A.E.C.
Atomic Energy Commission

ARPA-NET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, development by the U.S. Dept. of Defense, was a forerunner of the Internet.

L'Islet County
a county of Québec at the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains

hyperfloration
overgrowth of flowers or plants

festschrift
In German, a Festschrift is a celebratory monograph dedicated to a person.

anticonfluential
against things coming together

chiaroscuro
distribution of light and shade in a photo or painting

annulation
the formation of rings

hypertrophied
grown exceeding large

Page 65

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

tacks
follows a zigzag course

Mile-High
the stadium in which the Denver Broncos play

100 meters over the 40
I.e., the 40-yard line on the football field. One hundred meters is slightly longer than the length of the field.

nongarish
not garish, i.e., not excessively ornate

Page 66

zither
a harp-like instrument, hand-held, associated with angels

water-drops
being dropped into water, presumably because the football team in Seattle is the Seahawks

Oiler
the former football team of Houston, now the Tennessee Titans

Brown
The Browns are the football team of Cleveland.

Page 66

organopsychedelic
a substance naturally producing a psychedelic effect

isoxazole-alkaloid
Isoxazole is explained here; an alkaloid is a naturally occurring, nitrogen-containing, plant-produced compound.

Page 67

methoxylated
Wikipedia redirects here or "methoxylation."

phenylkylamine
possibly a made-up substance

rock and bob Hasidically
A Hasid or Chasid is an Orthodox Jew who wears sidelogs, dark clothes, etc. The bobbing is a nod to what Hasidim do when praying or studying religious texts.

titrated
To titrate is "to ascertain the quantity of a given constituent by adding a liquid reagent of known strength and measuring the volume necessary to convert the constituent to another form" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

As used here, a doper expression meaning to try a bit of the drug to ascertain its effects before taking the whole thing (eg one hit of pot, half a tab of acid/LSD).

Page 67

Endnote 26

enkephalin
a type of painkiller

Page 67 (cont'd)

psychodysleptic
a drug that negative effects the take psychologically

in medias
Latin: in the middle of

oblique
neither perpendicular nor parallel

deliquesce
to become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air

68* · Kate Gompert in the Psych Ward

Page 68

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

Watteau

Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) was a French painter.

Yevtuschenko's Field Guide to Clinical States

This book does not exist. The famous famous person with the name Yevtuschenko (sic) is Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko (born 1933), Russian poet most famous for his composition Babi Yar, about the mass murder of 35,000 Jews by the Nazis at this location in Ukraine during World War II.

Page 69

hypocapnia

reduced carbon dioxide in the blood as a result of hyperventilation

emery board

a disposable nail file

Wellesley Hills

a section of the town of Wellesley, Mass., 15 miles west-southwest of Boston

Newton-Wellesley Hospital

a real hospital

Parnate

A brand name of tranylcypromine, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAO) antidepressant that is among the oldest class of antidepressants and that have a load of serious side effects. Usually used as a last resort.

dysphoria

feeling badly

diurnal

during the day

w/w/o

with and without

CO

carbon monoxide, often used from engine exhaust for suicide

hemotoxicity

poisonous blood level

Page 70

Librium

brand name of chlordiazepoxide, the oldest benzodiazepine and used for cocaine and alcohol withdrawal

Dretske

perhaps Fred Dretske (born 1932), a philosopher of the mind

Mydol

a misspelling of Midol

trepidation

hesitancy caused by fear

facial affect

emotions expressed on the face

Lithonate

a brand name of lithium

Page 71

plestor

another name for a pleximeter

plangent

loud and resounding

Page 72

Page 73

carpopedal

involving both the hands and feet

tetanic

pertaining to tetanus, a kind of lockjaw caused by contamination of a wound, usually

Page 74

Page 75

circumorals

muscles around the mouth

thigmotactic

having to do with thigmotaxis, i.e., the movement or an organism as a response to a mechanical stimulus

dentate

having teeth

synclinal

sloping downward from opposite directions, so as to meet at a single point, like this: \ /

Sinse

short for sin semilla, Spanish for "without seeds," it's a type of marijuana

duBois

fake etymology for "doobie," a term for a marijuana cigarette

Page 76

uremic

smelling like urine, because of a condition whereby waste products normally excreted in the urine are retained in the blood

Endnote 30

boric acid

also used as a detergent and a barrier against insects

Page 77

the T

local transit in the Boston metro area

Page 78

"That old cartridge, Nicholas and the big Indian..."

She's referring to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; "Nichols" is Jack Nicholson.

78 · Medical Attaché Update #3

Page 78

0145h.

It's been six hours and eighteen minutes since the medical attaché put the cartridge in his player.

Page 79

rictus

a gaping grimace

79 · Schtitt & Mario

Page 79

Nick Bolletieri

a real tennis coach

epaulets

military shoulder decorations on clothing

a philosopher instead of a king

Although Plato stresses, in Republic, that kings should be philosophers (and vice-versa), this is obviously rarely the case.

F.R.G.

Federal Republic of Germany, which is the technical name for Germany today, but referred to West Germany in the days of divided Germany (1945-1989)

leptosomatic

having a slender, frail build

pedagogical

having to do with teaching

Page 80

post-prandial

following a meal

calliopsis

another name for Plains correopsis

quincunx

the arrangement of five units in the pattern corresponding to the five-spot on dice (see right)

briers' yeasty musk

the yeasty smell arising from the brier patches

bradykinetic

describing abnormally slow movement

plosivity

referring to a plosive or linguistic stop, i.e., a sound in a language characterized by the stopping of the breath: examples include not only the phonemes /p/ and /b/, but /t/, /d/, etc.

Euclid

Euclid of Alexandria was a 4th century BC Greek mathematician and "father of geometry."

Page 81

tympana

Plural for the Latin tympanum, i.e., "drum," here it is a drum-shaped architectural design.

TE OCCIDERE POSSUNT SED TE EDERE NON POSSUNT NEFAS EST

The euphemistic translation aside, this literaly means (in Latin): They can kill you but they cannot eat you; it's a crime.

discursive

rambling in speech

wonk

A wonk is "a person who studies a subject or issue in an excessively assiduous and thorough manner" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

Page 82

simpatico

in agreement

Hopman

Endnote 34

Mandelbrotian

Referring to Benoît B. Mandelbrot (born 1924), French-American-Jewish mathematician.

post-Gödelian

coming after Kurt Gödel (1906-1978), Austrian-American mathematician and philosopher

Page 82 (cont'd)

either Henry ("Harry") Christian Hopman Harry or Nell Hopman

van der Meer

probably Simon van der Meer (born 1925), Dutch Nobel laureate in physics

fractal

A fractal is "a geometrical or physical structure having an irregular or fragmented shape at all scales of measurement between a greatest and smallest scale such that certain mathematical or physical properties of the structure, as the perimeter of a curve or the flow rate in a porous medium, behave as if the dimensions of the structure (fractal dimensions) are greater than the spatial dimensions" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

aleatory

of or pertaining to accidental causes

Lieber Gott nein

German: Dear God, no

Gymanasium

the equivalent of a U.S. college-prepatory high school

appetitive will

that part of the will that desires physical things

Page 83

palestra

an ancient Greek school of wrestling

experialist

like "imperialist," but rather than incorporating outside things into itself, an experialist entity exports things outside itself that are not wanted; in the case of O.N.A.N., toxic waste

Verstiegenheit

literally German for "eccentricity"

Platz

German: a public square

Page 84

pirouetting

whirling on the toes

Page 85

85 · Tiny Ewell in Detox

Page 85

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

D.T.

Used here as a verb, the acronym refers to delirium tremens.

Page 86

Page 87

skallycap

another name for a tam

87 · Medical Attaché Update #4

Page 87

Seventh Day Adventist

a Protestant denomination marked (in its name) by the fact that they observe their sabbath on Saturday, i.e., the "seventh day"

87* · Marathe & Steeply

Page 87

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment

payloaders

a type of construction equipment