Shira, Etc.
She would lie prone in the bracken
Five hundred. That’s the number of tissues I’ve used in the last week and a half. Lord, how does all this snot accumulate in one body?! You know it’s bad when, in the absence of tissue, you’re desperate enough to blow your nose on a pair of dirty socks. I can’t wait to go to the doctor on Monday and get some real help.
I’ve been reading like there’s no tomorrow lately (and have the library fines to prove it). I wish Clark District would extend their lending period to four weeks. Two weeks is just not a sufficient amount of time. I found eight GREAT books that I just HAVE to finish reading. But my time is up! (It’s been up for a week already…) And I’ve only finished four and half books. I would like to win a library card with a lifetime-fine-exemption feature. They should invent a card that you pay for and then not charge you fines when you have overdues, don’t you think? Maybe when I get rich I’ll become a biblophilic philanthropist and my generosity to libraries worldwide will earn me a sort of “get out of jail free” no-fines-to-pay-ever-library card. That’s my idea of heaven.
Fines or no, I’m still thankful that libraries exist: free education at your fingertips! Take a look at some of the great vocab I learned from D. H. Lawrence this week:
insentience – devoid of sensation.
cataclysm – violent catastrophe involving upheaval of the earth’s crust.
intelligentsia – the intellectual ellite of a society.
simulacrum – an image or representation, an unreal or vague semblance.
laconically
sere – dry and withered (like flowers).
lambency – flickering lightly on or over a surface; effortlessly light or brilliant.
blether – nonsensical talk.
bolshevism – a.k.a. Soviet Communism.
soporific – tending to cause sleep
insouciant -blithe unconcern.
I dare you to use these in conversation! What new words have you learned recently?
In other news, my trip to SF last weekend was great! I have a new favorite hotel: Hotel Pickwick. I don’t know why Expedia only gave it two stars, it deserves many more in my opinion!
Etymology
I have a miserable cold this week. I wonder about the etymology of “cold” (as an illness). I always seem to get them in the Spring or Summer, so the cold part doesn’t really make any sense…
Well, I just looked cold up in the etymology dictionary and discovered that the phrase cold (as in, to have a cold, to be sick) originated in 1537 and is based on the idea that the symptoms you have when you’re sick are the same symptoms you get when you go outside in cold weather–i.e., runny nose, hurting ears, dry skin, etc. Very interesting, no?!
Just Say No
After receiving several insinuating comments about my drinking habits, I would like to clear up what appears to be a common(ish) misconception: I am not overly reliant on the hard spirits. Although the photographs on Hotshots may suggest otherwise (every third page does seem to document some drinking binge or another), you will be happy to know that I have turned down an abundance of drinking invitations this week. In fact, I refused a total of seven invitations in the past four days! So as this pronounced reclusiveness clearly demonstrates, I am acutally a dogged hermit, and not an inebriated drunkard at all.
I would like to invite you doubting Thomasinas out there to investigate the non-liquor related activities that I’ve documented here on MoltenChocolate.com; exciting events such as planting a water garden, bowling, exploring different cultures, and taking exciting trips to ancient “burial” grounds.
I hope this clears up once and for all any misunderstandings…Thank you!
Toothy D’s
Crazy about parmesan? Cheese on Toothsome Delights this week!