Gold foil illustration of stars

Faces in a Crowd

Catching Glimpses of Humanity from a Distance
a crowd of people looking to the left

We all have our little solipsistic delusions, ghastly intuitions of utter singularity: that we are the only one in the house who ever fills the ice-cube tray, who unloads the clean dishwasher, who occasionally pees in the shower, whose eyelid twitches on first dates; that only we take casualness terribly seriously; that only we fashion supplication into courtesy; that only we hear the whiny pathos in a dog’s yawn, the timeless sigh in the opening of the hermetically-sealed jar, the splattered laugh in the frying egg, the minor-D lament in the vacuum’s scream; that only we feel the panic at sunset the rookie kindergartner feels at his mother’s retreat. That only we love the only- we. That only we need the only-we. Solipsism binds us together.... That we feel lonely in a crowd; stop not to dwell on what’s brought the crowd into being. That we are, always, faces in a crowd.

David Foster Wallace – Girl with Curious Hair

Momophobia

Cover image for the Momophobia word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Anthrodynia

Cover image for the Anthrodynia word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Amuse-Douche

Cover image for the Amuse-Douche word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Innity

a neatly made bed with diffused light glowing

Routwash

Cover image for the Routwash word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Ledsome

Cover image for the Ledsome word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Wytai

Cover image for the Wytai word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Eigenschauung

Eigen-schauung

Cover image for the Eigenschauung word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Poggled

a person studying a book with a magnifying glass

Hailbound

Cover image for the Hailbound word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Fygophobia

Cover image for the Fygophobia word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Lockheartedness

Cover image for the Lockheartedness word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Nyctous

a person walking in the middle of a street

Wenbane

a person standing on a ledge looking at a city skyline

Nullness

Cover image for the Nullness word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Pâro

Cover image for the Pâro word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Allope

Cover image for the Allope word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Adronitis

Cover image for the Adronitis word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Tornomov

a cloudy sky and landscape

Heartspur

Cover image for the Heartspur word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Fitching

Cover image for the Fitching word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Poggled

a person studying a book with a magnifying glass

Heartworm

Cover image for the Heartworm word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Looseleft

Cover image for the Looseleft word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Fitzcarraldo

Cover image for the Fitzcarraldo word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Offtides

close-up of a chromed metal object