word of the day

wisp

  
noun

1.

a handful or small bundle of straw, hay, or the like.

2.

any thin tuft, lock, mass, etc.: wisps of hair.

3.

a thin puff or streak, as of smoke; slender trace.

4.

a person or thing that is small, delicate, or barely discernible:a mere wisp of a lad; a wisp of a frown.

Her skull is browner than her hair.  White, wispy hair.  My daughter.  

a popcorn party

A Popcorn Party

Three golden heads

gathered for

a popcorn party.

On the back porch -

the warm

sun dusting gold.

*

One head wound

with curls:

rings of spunk and life.

One dome crowned

with wisps

so sweet: angelic.

One mind

grasps more

than both tender bairns.

Welcome to our popcorn party.

I hope there are many more.

pleasure vs. sorrow

I Walked a Mile with Pleasure

- Robert Browning Hamilton -

I walked a mile with pleasure;

She chatted all the way;

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,

And ne'er a word said she;

But oh! The things I learned from her,

When sorrow walked with me.

Let's choose to learn from Sorrow, shalt we?

"Downton" and our language

I'm probably the LAST one to jump on this bandwagon... but ...

I just finished watching "Downton Abbey", Season 1.

Loving it.

Notwithstanding the titillating storyline, I'm loving the language.

You see, I'm rather a nerd when it comes to words.  And I'm rather an old woman when it comes to watching movies/tv.  People mumble all too often rendering me unable to catch their meaning.  Especially when people speak in accents.  Thus, I use closed captioning QUITE OFTEN.  Like, any time it's available.

"Downton Abbey" is no exception.  In conjunction with allowing me access to the on-screen conversations, I'm blown away in awe at the vocabulary and exquisite beauty in which these people spoke a mere 100 years ago.  Being able to see it written out at the bottom of my screen makes much more of a lasting impression than straining my ear to hear every last bit.  And I find myself often pondering how I can employ a vocabulary more robust and vibrant than my dreary, every-day usage.  Am I convincing you??  :)

You see, in Shakespeare's day, he had a working vocabulary of 54,000 words.  54,000!!!  We, in America today, use 3,000 words.  THREE-thousand.  Lame-o.

I leave you with three admonitions:
1. Watch "Downton Abbey."  It's stupendous.
2. Watch this humorous video on the subject of languages.  Really, it's a hoot.
3. Use BIGGER/BETTER/BEAUTIFUL words today.

quotations

I love quotes.  I've always desired to start a quotation book - you know, one that is well-loved; with the binding held in place by strings; uneven, tattered pages... full of quotes from all my "extensive" reading.  J


I read a verse that seems perfect for above our television... or my computer (as I spend waaay more time on the 'puter than the tv).  I'd love to paint it (if I had the talent) or maybe cross-stitch??

"Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
   and give me life in your ways."

Psalm 119:37

Quite convicting and encouraging at the same time, wouldn't you agree?

-------------------------------

As Trav was working last night, I was too - panning pinterest.  It truly is such an addicting site.  Addicting - and genius, all the same!  

Very true.  Very, very true.

I had to call Trav over from studying when I read this.

We both snickered a good deal.

Ohhh... awkward moments are the best.

Especially when acknowledged.

 J

And, my absolute favorite.

This needs to be blown up...

and maybe grace the "above the mantel" part of my house.

Never mind I have no mantel.

Truth and freedom need be proclaimed.

J

word of the day

di·late

   [dahy-leyt, di-, dahy-leyt]verb, -lat·ed, -lat·ing.


–verb (used with object)

1.

to make wider or larger; cause to expand.

2.

Archaic . to describe or develop at length.

Praise the Lord!!  I'm dilated 3 cm!!  Had my 38-week check up and my OB says things are moving along just fine.  He wouldn't be surprised if she came any time now.  Okay, I know I'm just jinxing myself by posting this, and now she'll be 2 weeks late... but, I can't help myself.  I'm ecstatic.  Trav says this is the happiest he's heard me in 9 months.  :-)

Ummm... I'm ashamed to admit this, but I totally have always spelled/pronounced "dilate", di-A-late.  Now, I have seen my errors and will turn from my ways.  Di-late.  

In other news, this little lady of ours is MORE than ready to be a big sister.  She can't wait for the baby to "crawl out of Mama" (something like that...) and she also talks about rocking and feeding the baby many times during the day.  I'm ready to see her rise to the occasion.  I'm ready for these girls to become friends.  

And... in other news... just because I'm near to popping and these life situations call for a bit o' fun every now and then...

... I dyed my hair pink.  Just a couple "peek-a-boo" strips on either side.  Because, after all, I'm having a girl and I'm celebrating!!  I may be a mother of two, but I'm only 26 and plus, my mom says it looks "Wicked"! 
---------------
Post Script:  Trav came home and noticed it right away.  He smiled funny and made me turn around a couple times.  Then he said, "I like it!  It gives you even MORE sass!  All we need now is some leather jackets and we can hop on a Harley and get outta here!"  :-)  That's what I'm talking about... 

word of the day

or·ner·y

   [awr-nuh-ree]  

–adjective, -ner·i·er, -ner·i·est. Dialect .

1.

ugly and unpleasant in disposition or temper: No one can get along with my ornery cousin.

2.

stubborn: I can't do a thing with that ornery mule.

3.

low or vile.

4.

inferior or common; ordinary.

Well, after much debate and input, I was none the wiser in the pronunciation of this word, which is proving quite true to its definition.  Looking it up on dictionary.com (because, sadly, our own dictionary got water-logged in our last move.  I'm on the lookout for a raggedy, old Webster's at any thrift store...), I found the pronunciation to be a mix of both western and midwestern styles.  AWR-nuh-ree.  Yet, when I tried pushing that volume button next to the word and pronunciation , the lady says it the way I do (click the link up above to prove my point)!!  Woo-hoo!  

       ** I may not be very competitive when it comes to physical sports, but the areas of grammar, spelling, pronunciation, punctuation, and sentence structure are MY DOMAIN.  Sounding well-educated is such a pleasant thing.  Call me dorky, but I find such beauty and joy in mastering the English language.  I end my rant here, alas, as I am sounding rather circumlocutious. **

And, now, off to a blissful afternoon nap, as my ornery daughter has taxed all energy the night sleep provided and I find myself uncontrollably wilting.

word of the day

malapropism

Malapropism – \ˈma-lə-ˌprä-ˌpi-zəm\ – the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase, often to amusing effect.

I happened upon this word the other day from The Pioneer's Woman blog and claimed it immediately as my new favorite word.  Because it describes my Dearly Beloved and his ... well, his tendency to malaprop.  

I noticed it when we were dating.  The way he always said, "acrost" instead of "across."  Or "granite," instead of "granted."  And I noticed it in nearly every song's lyrics he would sing - distorted, jumbled.  And every so often, we'll be having a serious, intellectual conversation and out of his mouth will flow this smooth, cohesive sentence - yet with one nonsensical word stuck in there that addles my brain.  

For example, we were talking about one of his coworkers and he was frustrated about the way she managed a certain problem:

Trav: It just really bugs me!  Every time a problem occurs, she just doesn't make the two solutions discrete!

Me: *confused look*  Discrete?

Trav: Ya.  It's frustrating.

Me: Ummm... Do you know what discrete means?

Trav: Yes.....

Me: Ummm.... I think you mean "distinct."

Trav: Whatever.  Discrete.  Distinct.  Same thing.

And he does it so smoothly!  Doesn't even pause.  Just slides right out of his mouth and you're the one left feeling like a dummy, cuz you must have missed something in the conversation that would be the "missing piece" of the puzzle that you can't seem to solve.

With me, when I forget a word, it's like watching an episode of Laurel and Hardy try and figure out how to install a light bulb.  I stall.... I pause.... looking up at the sky.  What's that word??  The one that means "different," or "separate," or "unique"????  It starts with a "D"..... While everyone around me is trying to help my brain fart by shouting out every "D" word they know.... No, no, that's not it... And I end up having to call my sister, Betsy, who has never, ever forgotten any word or phrase in the entire universe and knows exactly what I'm thinking with little prompting.  "Distinct." She'll say without a second thought.  Yes!  That's it.  And ten minutes later I'm finishing my run-on sentence.

Soooo, when Travis asked me if I wanted to accompany him to the doctor's this afternoon, and I sat and weighed my options, then cleverly asked him in return, "Do you want me to go to the doctor's with you this afternoon?" and he replied, nonchalantly,

"Whether you stay or go is completely transparent to me,"

I'll admit, I did cock my head at first, wondering if I heard him correctly.  But then I remembered my new favorite word, smiled and remarked jovially, "Well, then, if it's completely transparent to you, I'll go."