Already the bugs were in it. In the hot summer of 1885, while Mr. Edison rested at home in Woodside Villa, New York, taking perhaps the only self-prescribed vacation of his life, as he was still somewhat debilitated after the death of his first wife, they came buzzing all over the house — for bugs, like viruses, must be quick, and take advantage of any passing weakness to get their start. — On 16 July, he wrote in his diary, “…I learned the girls how to make shadow pictures by use of crumpled paper — We then tried some experiments on mind reading which were not very successful, think mind reading contrary to common sense…” — But the bugs buzzed in the parlor, trying to read his mind.
William T. Vollmann, You Bright and Risen Angels
Fang tour continues in Olympia tonight, where I even happened to stumble upon a couple Vollmanns, including this early edition of The Ice-Shirt from before the switch to print-on-demand:
Eyesore of a flyer below:
Leave a Reply