diorama
John admired the pasticcio: a diorama of a squinch, dovetail, lune, and king post from Paris, begirded with a serrate band, and bearing a ventifact and markings resembling basilisk tracks.
- pasticcio: A work or style produced by borrowing fragments, ingredients, or motifs from various sources; a potpourri.
- diorama: 1. A three-dimensional miniature or life-size scene in which figures, stuffed wildlife, or other objects are arranged in a naturalistic setting against a painted background. 2. A scene reproduced on cloth transparencies with various lights shining through the cloths to produce changes in effect, intended for viewing at a distance through an aperture.
- squinch: A structure, such as a section of vaulting or corbeling, set diagonally across the interior angle between two walls to provide a transition from a square to a polygonal or more nearly circular base on which to construct a dome.
- dovetail: n. 1. A fan-shaped tenon that forms a tight interlocking joint when fitted into a corresponding mortise. 2. A joint formed by interlocking one or more such tenons and mortises. |tr. v. 1. To cut into or join by means of dovetails. 2. To connect or combine precisely or harmoniously. |intr. v. 1. To be joined together by means of dovetails. 2. To combine or interlock into a unified whole: The nurses' schedules dovetailed, so that one was always on duty.
- lune: A crescent-shaped portion of a plane or sphere bounded by two arcs of circles.
- king post: Architecture A supporting post extending vertically from a crossbeam to the apex of a triangular truss.
- begird: To encircle with or as if with a band.
- serrate: adj. 1. Having or forming a row of small sharp projections resembling the teeth of a saw: serrate teeth; a serrate talon. 2. Having a saw-toothed edge or margin notched with toothlike projections: serrate leaves. |tr. v. To make serrate or saw-toothed; jag the edge of.
- ventifact: A stone that has been shaped, polished, or faceted by wind-driven sand.
- basilisk: 1. A legendary serpent or dragon with lethal breath and glance. 2. Any of various tropical American lizards of the genus Basiliscus, characterized by a crest on the head, back, and tail and the ability to run on the hind legs.
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. --Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
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