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

Monachopsis

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

Heartmoor

a campfire with a kettle many small logs

Burn Upon Reentry

Cover image for the Burn Upon Reentry word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Gaudia Civis

a close-up of a gear

Pax Latrina

Cover image for the Pax Latrina word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Mal De Coucou

a blurry image of several men

Catoptric Tristesse

Cover image for the Catoptric Tristesse word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Covalent Bond

Cover image for the Covalent Bond word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Latigo

aerial view of a city at night

Anechosis

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

Hemeisis

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

Mimeomia

a person wearing an animal onesie garment

Ludiosis

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

Kinchy

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

Holiette

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

Kuebiko

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

Siso

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

Anaphasia

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

Typifice

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

Candling

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

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter

Nowlings

a pile of black and white puzzle pieces

Elsing

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

Backmasking

a woman's face with a double exposure

Aftergloom

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

Dead Reckoning

Cover image for the Dead Reckoning word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Ioia

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