The Standard Blues

The Standard Blues

n.
the dispiriting awareness that the twists and turns of your life feel new and profound but are not unique—marked by the same coming-of-age struggles as millions of others, the same career setbacks, the same family strife, the same learning curve of parenting—which makes even your toughest challenges feel harmless and predictable, just another remake of the same old story.

A riff on blues standards, the catalog of the most popular songs in the blues genre, which is itself famous for chord progressions that cycle through variations on a theme.

Ioia

Leidenfreude

Addleworth

Vicarous

Deep Gut

Apolytus

Proluctance

Hiddled

The Wends

Viadne

Fool’s Guilt

Nementia

Liberosis

Punt Kick

The Meantime

Aesthosis

Manusia

Mcfeely

Fata Organa

Angosis

a table full of food

Tillid

Daguerreologue

Daguer-reologue

a man sitting in blurred silhouette at a desk

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

Offtides

close-up of a chromed metal object

Querinous

Ellipsism

a hand clawing at a wall

Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books