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.

Desanté

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

Fitching

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

Apolytus

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

The Whipgraft Delusion

Cover image for the The Whipgraft Delusion word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Keep

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

Loss Of Backing

Cover image for the Loss Of Backing word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Altschmerz

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

Maugry

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The Standard Blues

Cover image for the The Standard Blues word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Flichtish

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

The Wends

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Insoucism

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Aesthosis

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Emodox

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Solysium

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Indosentia

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Vaucasy

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

Typifice

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O’Erpine

a person looking at a grave

Dolorblindness

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

Zverism

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

Austice

a leaf imprint in the mud

Kadot

a person looking at an abstract spiral

On Tenderhooks

Cover image for the On Tenderhooks word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Nighthawk

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

Covalent Bond

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

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter