We've Had E-Nough!

Recently I corresponded with two friends (Erin and Euge) whose names both begin with "E." I wanted to alert them to Mexico's draconian ban on our mutual initial letter, and sent a photo from a recent fact-finding mission as evidence (above). (Or would that be "vidnc"?)

Chillingly, Erin instantly replied with a photo of herself next to a similarly repulsive sign (below, country unknown).



Folks, it's not hard to pick on—in fact, dismiss—that fifth symbol of our standard orthographical toolkit. Pshaw, you think. I won't miss it, not at all. But in a day or two, as syntax grows hairy, and words slip invisibly away, you will invariably ask: Why did I think I could function without it?

(Umm...)

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Baseball fans and Wodehouse connoisseurs need to take this test, over at the Overlook Press's delightful blog (amiably maintained by Mr. John Mark Boling).

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Seeing that Dizzyhead Chrita had posted at length on Renée French's mysterious comic The Ticking, I decided to crack it open at last. I'm so glad—especially since the train got stuck for 15 minutes between 14th and 23rd. It's a hushed, haunting read. Each frame (there are only one or two per page) is a gentle but menacing web of pencilings. Read Chrita's Crisis for a sophisticated take (and for samples of the artwork)—this is beautiful stuff. Though the drawing styles are not at all alike, The Ticking calls to mind Chris Reynolds's eerily disorienting post-apocalyptic project The Dial.

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Great Philip K. Dick letter re Mickey Spillane (now the late Mickey Spillane), via Gothamist.