12/22/08

Thisness for Christmas

Did you mean: thinness

/this-nǝss/ n (from Latin "haecceity") 1: the quality of being one particular thing and not another. 2: the affective pull of an object (or - think about it! - a subject). 3: the buoyancy of identity; the notion of self rising above all other notions. 4: the heart of any self-administered reassurance, for those suddenly finding themselves in (or near) a Void. 5: certainly not whatness, or thatness, or thingness, or selfness, or being-in-the-world-ness, or immanence, transcendence, or any other such thing. 6: possibly handsomeness.

I find my thisness is most perfectly articulated through my cheekbones.

I was certain what I clung to was thisness; unfortunately for me, it turned out to be thatness, and I've been projecting outwards ever since.

To find the thisness in your whereness, one must only eliminate the thatness from your thereness.

Merry Christmas, Adam Benzan. Your thisness should be arriving by internet shortly. Look for it in your Emacs window, in your nearly-finished New York Times Sunday crossword, in your polished witticisms, in your pants, or in the crack between your bed and the wall. If thisness doesn't pop up in any of these highly fecund places, hold your own gaze in the mirror for 10-15 seconds, then wink at yourself - the shiver you'll send up your own spine will be you-know-what.

Yours ever,
Sarah Gibson