Had a great time at the Frye Thursday night at the book release party for the Rebecca Brown and Mary Jane Knecht edited Looking Together: Writers on Art. It's a wonderful collection, with writings from Jonathan Raban, Melinda Mueller, Christine Deavel and others, and art from Willie Coles, Henry Darger, Gabriel von Max, and others. I am very honored to have been included. And I love how my Willie Coles-inspired "High Heeled Shoes" poem turned out, paired with the image of his amazing "Sole Protector."


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From A Word a Day: dermatoglyphics

PRONUNCIATION:
(duhr-mat-uh-GLIF-iks, -muh-tuh-)

MEANING:
noun:
1. The ridge patterns of skin on the inner surface of the hands and feet.
2. The scientific study of these skin patterns.

ETYMOLOGY:
The term was coined in 1926 by Dr Harold Cummins (1893-1976), from Greek dermato- (skin) + glyphein (to carve). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gleubh- (to tear apart) that is also the source of cleve, glyph, clever, and clove (garlic). And that's also where we get cleavage, cleft palate, and cloven hooves.

USAGE:
"What makes dermatoglyphics important as markers for disease and traits is the fact that they develop at specific times in the foetus. Fingerprints, for example, begin to form at around the 13th week and are completed around week 18 - the same time that critical growth in the brain is taking place."
Roger Dobson; Scientists Say Palm-reading is True Guide to Intelligence; The Sunday Times (London, UK); Dec 9, 2001

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