XAM, PARAGRAPH, May 22, 1998, Houston, Texas

Day One: Letter

The letter for today is "x."

Day One (continued): Syllable

The syllable for today is "am."

PARAGRAPH

Context: Sound (Setting)

: "Xam"

The “letter for today” are 26 with unmarked umlauts and accents, the Minnesota diphthongs we mock while mocking ourselves for talking Texas. Fringe. The letter for today was “f.” Freezing, friggin' frigid temperatures. Mittens, hat. Long “a,” sideways: “a”-squat. The letter for yesterday was “s,”often mistaken for “f” on the telephone, out of context: “f” as in “Frank” because one would not say “srank”; “s” as in “Sam” because there is no such thing as “fam.” We took the fam to the zoo. We forgot to eat this morning, so we were all fam. Frank Sinatra was the most fam of all the lounge singers (in a big way). One would not say, “We took the Sam to the zoo,” or, “We forgot to eat this morning, so we were all Sam.” One would not say, “Frank Sinatra was the most Sam of all the lounge singers (in a big way).”