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☽ YDAU - Gately's struggle to understand a Higher Power

Page 442

Braintree
a town in Massachusetts about 13 miles south-southeast of Boston

Page 443

opine
to state one's opinion

easement
An easement is a right to use part of someone else's land for a limited purpose, often a right to cross it on a defined pathway. Thus the Higher Power as a cheese-easement refers to Gately's analogy to a lab rat who's learned one route through a maze to the cheese.

rote
NOAD: mechanical or habitual repetition of something to be learned

thoroughgoingly
neologism: absolutely

Page 444

Probie
probation officer

10-cm.
a little under 4 inches

Our Father
the Lord's Prayer

hawgs
"Hog" is a slang term for a Harley-Davidson

mantis
the praying mantis

Page 445

SOP
standard operating procedure

spats
a covering for the uppers of shoes

Quincy Market
a shopping area in downtown Boston. Like the nearby suburb, Quincy is pronounced "Quinzy."

affable
showing warmth and friendliness

Rte. 3
highway running southeast from Boston along the South Shore toward Cape Cod

Hennessey
a misspelling of Hennessy, a brand of cognac

Page 446

sampler
a piece of cloth embroidered with stitches, sometimes incorporating platitudes

Estonian
the native population of Estonia

wrought-iron
iron in nearly carbon-free form, making it readily forged

M.P.
military policeman

brig
prison on a Navy ship

Page 447

fluted
marked or having grooves

Bulat
actually a common Kazakh first name

Yirrell Beach bridge in Point Shirley
these are references to Winthrop, a coastal town just northeast of Boston and separated from Logan Airport by a narrow inlet of Boston Harbor. Of interest is that Sylvia Plath's family lived for a time in the Point Shirley section of Winthrop and in 1960 she wrote a poem titled "Point Shirley."

Page 448

filial
pertaining to a son or daughter

Nimitz
Chester William Nimitz (1885-1966) was a U.S. admiral and commander of Naval forces in the Pacific during WWII.

cognomen
distinguishing nickname

in the bag
intoxicated

afghan
a type of blanket

Page 449

Endnote 179

chivalric
considerate and courteous to women

Page 449 (cont'd)

Sir Osis of Thuliver
i.e., cirrhosis of the liver

vessels
He means "vassals."

Very late October, YDAU - Madame Psychosis's unannounced sabbatical

Page 449

shale
the most common sedimentary rock, NOAD: soft finely stratified sedimentary rock that formed from consolidated mud or clay and can be split easily into fragile plates

Page 450

alto
having a lower pitched female voice

Horkheimer and Adorno
Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) was a German philosopher and sociologist, a founder and guiding thinker of the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno (1903-1969) was a German sociologist and fellow member of the Frankfurt School.

Partridge Family
the band featured on the television series of the same name

narcotized
drugged

timbre
tone of voice

Endnote 180

Rectus Bulbi
short name for the superior rectus muscle

tripartite
divided into three parts

Page 450 (cont'd)

sarcophagally
neologism: in a way suggesting a coffin

November 9th, YDAU - Morning Drills

Page 450

Page 451

permutations
arrangements of the same items in different sequences

"...the thing it's not entirely impossible he may have fathered..."
This is to say that C.T. may have been Mario's father and not James O. Incandenza. Given that C.T. and Avril are blood relatives, this would explain Mario's profound birth defects.

bradypnea-afflicted
afflicted with an abnormally slow breathing rate

anodized
coated (a metal, especially aluminium) with a protective oxide layer by an electrolytic process in which the metal forms the anode.

perk
i.e., perquisite, a special benefit

Page 452

alfresco
outside

alpaca
wool taken from an animal closely related to the camel and llama

Kaopectate
brand name of parapectolin. A pink, clay-like antidiarrheal; believed to work by adsorbing the bacteria or germ that may be causing the diarrhea.

canted
put in an oblique position

reveille
the trumpet call played in the morning to awaken sleeping soldiers (réveiller is the French verb for to awaken)

corona
crown or halo

Page 453

muzzle
the barrel of a gun

capacious
spacious, i.e., too big for Hal

Erythema
does not appear to be an actual suburb of Tucson. The word means redness of the skin as the result of various causes, including infection and sunburn.

rejoinder
sharp, witty response

bratwursts
This is a small German sausage composed of pork and beef; the name is German for "chopped meat sausage."

VAPS
an air traffic control acronym for visual approaches, but in this context more likely Vector/Angle/Pace/Spin

Page 454

revenant
one who returns after death or a long absence

Puker
a punitive run designed to make one vomit

American Twist
another name for a kick serve

2 m.
over 6'6" tall

Page 455

low 10's C
10º C is equal to 50º Fahrenheit.

claret-colored
dark purplish red

nacreous
like mother of pearl

baroque
of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of artistic expression prevalent especially in the 17th century that is marked generally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, and tension (Source: Merriam-Webster)

Page 456

picric
Picric acid, 2,4,6 trinitrophenol, is an explosive, so the word "picric" w/r/t clouds probably implies an explosive (or about to explode) quality. It is also a toxic yellow, two attributes to which DFW was probably also tipping his hat here.

Parade Rest
a relaxed military stance with the feet shoulder's width apart and hands clasped behind the back

pro forma
as a routine, formality

Page 457

fungoes
In baseball a fungo is a pop fly deliberately hit to train players in fielding. Presumably here, in tennis, these balls are hit in a deliberate place in a deliberate manner to exercise a particular skill.

quarter
here meaning "mercy"

Page 458

forvart
"forward", said with a German accent

Page 459

23.8 meters, 8 I think .2 meters
approximately 78 feet by 27 feet, the dimensions of a singles tennis court

Page 460

Gymnasium Kaiserlautern
The Web site is here. Kaiserlautern means something like "Emperor acclamation" in German and is a city in southwest Germany.

Raggedy Andy
a popular doll seen here

z coordinate
the third axis in a 3 dimensional system; 2 dimensional systems have only x and y coordinates

Gaugin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was a French artist who moved to Tahiti in mid-life.

Page 461

morendo
a musical term meaning "a gradual decrescendo at the end of a strain or cadence" (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary), from the Italian for "dying"

More on Gately at Ennet House

Page 461

1964 Ford Aventura
There is no such car, and the Mustang itself was not introduced until a few months before the 1965 model year (although the earliest ones were sometimes designated 1964 1/2).

Purity Supreme Market
A New England supermarket chain that ceased operations in 1997 after being bought by a competitor.

Page 462

Year of the Whisper-Quiet Maytag Dishmaster

DUI
Driving Under the Influence

D&Ds
Drunk and Disorderly conduct

Possession With Intent
i.e., with intent to distribute

D.S.A.S.
Division of Substance Abuse Services

constabulary
a body of peace officers

Page 463

Murder-2
second-degree murder, or murder without premeditation

pace
NOAD: (preposition) with due respect to (someone or their opinion), used to express polite disagreement or contradiction

The New Oxford American Dictionary (Kindle Locations 380155-380157). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.

Deer Island
an island in Boston Harbor, and until 1991 the site of the Suffolk County House of Correction

hinked
According to the OED, hink as a verb means "to halt" or "to falter." The implication here is that 90 days in jail isn't much to Gately since he'd already served 17 months in another sentence.

Page 464

Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad

Page 465

women's leg-shaver thing
i.e., Epi-Lady

Pamela Hoffman-Jeep
Is her name evocative of Nora Dodson-Truck, a character in Gravity's Rainbow?

misprision
contempt against the government or courts; however, it can also mean, in a non-legal sense, misunderstanding, which may be the meaning here (for example, Gately confusing "epilepsy" with "Epi-Lady")

Cape
i.e., Cape Cod

Page 466

J.C.
Jesus Christ

pap
something lacking true value or substance

Page 467

spleen
ill tempter or spite

Page 468

Korean-War-vintage
The Korean War (1950–53) was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and People's Republic of China, with air support from the Soviet Union.

Nixon administration
January 1969 to August 1974

Page 469

188 cm. and 128 kg.
Gately is a hair over 6'2" and weights over 282 lbs.

spirochete-shaped
spiraled like bacteria from the phylum spirochetes

flask-alkie
i.e., an alcoholic who carries a hip flask containing a small amount (8-12 oz.) of liquor

Ashland KY
a city on the Ohio River about 120 miles south of Columbus, Ohio