Edwin Black & Bill Davis

pages: 62-87

incessantly

Continually; without interruption or relief. My problem hasn’t just been with gambling. Or gaming. Or incessantly scrolling down and refreshing my social media pages. Or the endless search to find good new music. It’s all of it (62-63).

paradox

A statement that seems to say two opposing or contradictory things but that reveals a deeper truth; a situation that is made up of two things that may seem incompatible but that are present nevertheless. I think of the irresistible force paradox. How there cannot be both an irresistible force and an immovable object in existence at once (65).

talisman

A magical object or charm that brings good fortune or wards off evil influences. Bezoars have all kinds of uses in The Picatrix, one of which is to make talismans that aid in certain kinds of magic (65).

laxative

A medicine that relieves constipation; a food or medicine that makes it easier for a person to expel waste from the bowels. When I scrolled down to an arbitrary place in the document, the word laxative caught my eye, and I read the following passage

discord

A lack of agreement or harmony between people that causes them to quarrel. Also, when the moon is at this position, a talisman can be made to create discord and animosity between spouses (65).

constipation

The condition of being unable to have a bowel movement; the condition of being unable to expel feces from the bowels. So I hoard food and stay in my room, read about what I can do about this possible new phase of constipation, what I just found out on a constipation forum thread might be obstipation, which is severe, or complete, constipation. The end (66).

catchall

Something that holds or includes a wide variety of things. I’ve always hated when she says “Native American Indian,” this weird politically correct catchall you only hear from white people who’ve never known a real Native person (69).

emcee

A master of ceremonies; a person who acts as a host for a program or event. I’m coming out to Oakland in a couple months, for the Big Oakland Powwow. I’m the powwow emcee (70).

blood quantum policy

Federal and tribal laws that use the fractions of a person’s ancestry as the basis for determining their cultural identity and/or tribal membership. I wrote my thesis on the inevitable influence of blood quantum policies on modern Native identity, and the literature written by mixed-blood Native authors that influenced identity in Native cultures (71-72).

double bind

The dilemma that results when one receives two mutually conflicting messages about the best way to proceed; a predicament in which a person or group receives contradictory messages that prevent them from seeing a clear path forward. The problem with Indigenous art in general is that it’s stuck in the past. The catch, or the double bind, about the whole thing is this