Footnotes to a Conversation, March 24, 2025
“Snatching the eternal out of the desperately fleeting is the great magic trick of human existence.” – Tennessee Williams
Van Gogh’s Guardian Angel
Joseph Roulin, a postal worker in Arles, “became a guiding light and father figure to the lonely painter – on account of Roulin's generous beard and apparent wisdom, Van Gogh nicknamed him Socrates.” Roulin looked after Van Gogh when he mutilated his ear, made sure he received care in a psychiatric hospital, visited him while he was there, and sent updates to Vincent’s brother, Theo. [BBC]
Lost History
Nova Scotia's Edith MacDonald-Brown is believed to be Canada’s first black woman painter. Born in Africville, her surviving paintings date from her teen years. She stopped painting when she got married, a common occurrence for women artists at that time. “As an artist, she was brilliant … It was a level of brilliance at such an early age, and one can only imagine if she had had the opportunity to paint professionally, how far [she'd have gone]: These were essentially student works. You can imagine, if she, with that level of mastery, had gone on to a career in art, how far she would have gone." [CBC]
Wow, Eh!
Study people’s conversation and you’ll discover that every seventh word isn’t a word at all. It’s an interjection, such as um, huh, or wow. They may be small, but linguists are discovering they play a central role in communication. Huh? indicates a need for additional information, while mm-hmm encourages the speaker to continue talking, while wow! will encourage the speaker to go into greater detail. “Using interjections properly is a key part of sounding fluent in speaking a second language … but language teachers often ignore them … Artificial intelligence, too, can struggle to use interjections well … making them the best way to distinguish between a computer and a real human.” [Knowable]
Hot Stuff
“If it’s an edible plant that burns your tongue, somebody has probably called it pepper.” When someone mentions pepper, I’m inclined to think of black pepper or chili pepper, but there are so many other varieties. There’s long pepper (complex and zingy), cubeb pepper (think black pepper combined with allspice), white pepper (widely used in China), red and green Sichuan peppers, alder pepper, and so many more. [Atlas Obscura]
Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.
If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West, an online publication encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada, and Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces.