Coda to “One always has to spoil a picture a little bit”
Letter No. 140: Includes further thoughts on No. 139, bits that were cut from the last one but still seem relevant, and other potential mistakes.
”One always has to spoil a picture a little bit”
Letter No. 139: Includes the color of black holes, shameless name-dropping (Delacroix, Burke, Schlegel), and much perfect discussion of imperfection. Plus elephants.
Book report for March 2026
Letter No. 138: Includes weird biology, self-parody, and lobsters in pain.
Commonplace Book, pg. 3 — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Letter No. 137: Includes going at a Bible with scissors, much sobriety, and a burst of passion at the end.
Tracy Kidder
Letter No. 136: Remembering one of the best.
Book report for February 2026
Letter No. 135: Includes math—or, in King’s English, maths—and mention of Ægypt, which you will not find on a map.
Lamb’s head and pluck—it’s what’s for dinner
Letter No. 134: Includes a dog’s breakfast of feet, tongues, lights, dry oysters, and fummerfavory.
Book report for January 2026
Letter No. 133: Includes mention of a book discussed here last month, books not written, and some Zen, because we all could use a little Zen.
Words for my bleeding country, better than anything I might have penned
Letter No. 132: Needs no cutesy clever preface.
This idea will self-destruct in 30 milliseconds; you will remember nothing
Letter No. 131: Includes memes, antimemes, and I forget what else.
