WHAT DOES ONE DO WHEN a beloved tool breaks down in mid-use? With a series of staccato clunks, Prosatio Silban’s rosewood grinding-pot ground to a loud halt. He shook it, slapped it, frowned at it, then set it on his…
Month: June 2022
Some people use the word ‘God’ the way white supremacists use the word ‘patriot.'”
— me
Prosatio Silban and the Sequential Narrative
SOME PEOPLE WILL GO TO any lengths for a good story. Prosatio Silban fetched down his scrapbook form the shelf in his sleeping berth, opened it to the middle, and whistled. Fourteen lovingly steamed and pasted labels, he thought with…
This is a Print Shop
Crossroads of civilization. Refuge of all the arts against the ravages of time. Armory of fearless truth against whispering rumor. Incessant trumpet of trade. From this place words may fly abroad not to perish as waves of sound, but fixed in time. Not corrupted by hurrying hand but verified in proof.
Friend, you stand on sacred ground: This is a print shop.”
— Beatrice Warde
Salute (A Prosatio Silban Amuse-Bouche)
“WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TOAST?” asked the friendly inebriate supporting himself on the bar at Pelvhi’s Chopping-House. “I have several,” replied Prosatio Silban with some delicacy, given the circumstance. “There is stone-rye with blackberry preserves, or sourdough with yak-butter, or…
The Talmud is tough because it assumes holistic knowledge of the whole Talmud, referencing texts and rulings that come much earlier or much later without stopping to really explain what the rabbis are talking about. The Talmud was not meant for beginners.”
— Dr. Sara Ronis
Prosatio Silban and the Ambitious Intern
ONE OF THE BEST WAYS to learn what you know is to teach it to someone else – and sometimes, to yourself. Prosatio Silban swore under his breath and pondered what to do next. His latest intern convinced him that…
It is necessary,” answered Don Quixote, “to know everything in the profession I follow.”
— Miguel de Cervantes
Prosatio Silban and the First Principle
IN EVERY PROFESSIONAL’S LIFE, THERE comes a point where they must choose between correctness and accommodation. Prosatio Silban heaved a deep sigh, one of many such that morning. The primary concern of every cook is to make the customers happy,…