The Phantom Tollbooth

Suddenly, I was reminded of a movie I used to watch, as a kid, called the Phantom Tollbooth. I'm told it's also a book...anyway, fortunately for me, youtube exists so I could remember the many details of this movie I so loved. As I was viewing, I came across this most fantastic-ly applicable section regarding one of the "Demons of Ignorance," the "Terrible Trivium."



This is so so representative of my life as a PhD student that I followed up on the demons of ignorance. Here they are, according to wikipedia:

The Demons of Ignorance

* The Terrible Trivium, a humanoid demon whose face lacks features and who seduces passers-by with mindlessly easy but pointless tasks that take an incredibly long time to accomplish.
* The Demon of Insincerity, a rabbit/kangaroo like demon. Its only purpose is to mislead anything or anybody that comes nearby.
* The Gelatinous Giant, a giant hidden in the mountains of Ignorance.Shaped like a large mountain. Extremely cowardly and especially afraid of ideas.
* The Triple Demons of Compromise, a demonic team of three negotiators; one is short and fat, one is tall and thin, and the third looks "exactly like the other two". They can never truly go anywhere because, rather than reach agreements, they constantly compromise.
* The Horrible Hopping Hindsight, a demon which has its eyes on its rear end. It never sees where it is going, only where it has been, and always thinks that each movement could have been better.
* The Everpresent Wordsnatcher, a monstrous filthy bird who deliberately misinterprets whatever a person says. He has ambitions of being a demon, but is said to be only a nuisance, and is suggested to have previously met the Humbug.
* The Senses Taker, a demon who distracts passers-by by supplying them with illusions of things they would rather be perceiving. His name may be a play on "census taker".
* The Overbearing Know-it-All, a spherical demon with spindly legs. He constantly talks, offering his own incorrect opinions to anyone nearby, and all are in danger of being crushed under him. He is often accompanied by the Gross Exaggeration.
* The Gross Exaggeration, an especially ugly demon, "whose rows of wicked teeth were made only to mangle the truth". A frequent companion of the Know-It-All.
* The Threadbare Excuse, a humanoid demon that clings to anyone who will give him a ride. He is always heard murmuring weak reasons for not doing things, and also has a vice-like grip on anyone who holds him.
* The Gorgons of Hate and Malice, two disgusting slug-like demons that leave oozing trails behind them.
* The ugly Dilemma, a horned demon whose name implies his purpose. He is said to blow clouds of steam from his nostrils.

I need to get this book...I find it sympathetic to my life so far.