What's "Gnomonic" mean in this sense? I know the word "gnomon" from Nick Harkaway's book, which is one of my most strongly recommended modern novels, but even looking up the word and getting the gist of gnomonic projectiond I'm not quite clear what it means here.
Also, this sounds like a place my wife and I would love. I have a remorseless fondness for architectural kitsch and synthetic environments. I try not too be too ironic, "Actually in their inauthenticy they are more authentic" but since all human-made spaces are virtual reality, it helps when there's a clear narrative and unmasked intent. I mean you're literally from DC, which is the same bullshit Greek revivalism to project power rather than magic. Classier because it's literally more upper class, tasteful because it houses the taste-makers.
I love this. It's so funny. A supposedly fun thing the author will probably somehow end up doing again. A wedding… A family reunion... A weird desire to return as a hardened veteran…
My favorite tiny detail is the diver cleaning the tank. I’m always bewildered in these places, so I focus on those workers. I respect them so much. They use the place as the place uses us: to make a clean wet buck. I always imagine they leave their shift but still live in paradise, so they go to their special cove and dive again. They are complete divers. They do nothing else, except once every five years when they go on vacation and end up sitting at a Dunkin Donuts in Penn Station, marveling at the subway conductors. “This train headed to Nassau Avenue.”
I don't really understand why, when the culture wants to evoke "Atlantis," it always seems to go for an ancient-Greece aesthetic; yes it was some Greek who first wrote about the concept but that doesn't mean we need to take our style cues from the Parthenon? That's one thing I think Disney's 2001 film got right—that movie's Atlantis is kind of a mix between the Olmecs, pole dancing, and the speeder bikes from Return of the Jedi.
What's "Gnomonic" mean in this sense? I know the word "gnomon" from Nick Harkaway's book, which is one of my most strongly recommended modern novels, but even looking up the word and getting the gist of gnomonic projectiond I'm not quite clear what it means here.
Also, this sounds like a place my wife and I would love. I have a remorseless fondness for architectural kitsch and synthetic environments. I try not too be too ironic, "Actually in their inauthenticy they are more authentic" but since all human-made spaces are virtual reality, it helps when there's a clear narrative and unmasked intent. I mean you're literally from DC, which is the same bullshit Greek revivalism to project power rather than magic. Classier because it's literally more upper class, tasteful because it houses the taste-makers.
I love this. It's so funny. A supposedly fun thing the author will probably somehow end up doing again. A wedding… A family reunion... A weird desire to return as a hardened veteran…
My favorite tiny detail is the diver cleaning the tank. I’m always bewildered in these places, so I focus on those workers. I respect them so much. They use the place as the place uses us: to make a clean wet buck. I always imagine they leave their shift but still live in paradise, so they go to their special cove and dive again. They are complete divers. They do nothing else, except once every five years when they go on vacation and end up sitting at a Dunkin Donuts in Penn Station, marveling at the subway conductors. “This train headed to Nassau Avenue.”
One day, when your son's older and reads your writing, he'll appreciate your sacrifice. I do recall a good aquarium.
Hah! Portis!
I don't really understand why, when the culture wants to evoke "Atlantis," it always seems to go for an ancient-Greece aesthetic; yes it was some Greek who first wrote about the concept but that doesn't mean we need to take our style cues from the Parthenon? That's one thing I think Disney's 2001 film got right—that movie's Atlantis is kind of a mix between the Olmecs, pole dancing, and the speeder bikes from Return of the Jedi.