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

Pâro

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

Hemeisis

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

Kinchy

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

Momophobia

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

Anecdoche

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

Holiette

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

Fygophobia

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

Poggled

a person studying a book with a magnifying glass

Wenbane

a person standing on a ledge looking at a city skyline

Monachopsis

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

Mal De Coucou

a blurry image of several men

Innity

a neatly made bed with diffused light glowing

Lockheartedness

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

Ledsome

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

Kenaway

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

Latigo

aerial view of a city at night

Scrough

a person working on the sidewalk

Siso

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

Aftersome

rows of opaque and clear marbles

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Pax Latrina

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

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

The Kinder Surprise

Cover image for the The Kinder Surprise word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Wytai

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

Rivener

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

Merrenness

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

Poggled

a person studying a book with a magnifying glass