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?!
Danger: Tinted Windows
The funnniest thing happened to me as I was leaving work this morning (at 5:30 AM). Part of my pilgrimage from restaurant to shuttle bus involves walking down this long fancy hall. (I say fancy because there are ancient-Italian-looking gas light fixtures, marble columns, famous works of art, classical mood music and security guards–it has a fancy aura about it). Anyways, one side of this long hallway is lined with tinted windows. I realized this morning that I have never really looked out these windows. (I’m convinced these windows are here to enforce the Las Vegas Time Zone; read: there is no time/it doesn’t matter what time it is, so you should continue to party and commit sinful acts indefinitely). Feeling curious, I decided to take a peek.
I walked over, chugging down water in a vain attempt to rehydrate after eight hours in the bakeshop, and CRASHED right into the window. Like, seriously crashed. Maybe it was all the flour on my eyelashes that distorted my vision, or the powdered sugar clogging my sinuses that clouded my depth perception…all I know is I snorted about a liter of water up my nose, and got thoroughly wet.
I’m sure the security guards were just waiting for me to turn the corner so they could whoop it up. (Although, I was pretty suave and waited until I got into the elevator before laughing hysterically, so maybe they didn’t notice… ). Ahem.
We have the most beautiful sunrises here in Las Vegas. The one this morning was absolutely gorgeous. I ran the quarter mile to the golf course (on the other side of our complex), and even hurdled the super swank pool to try and get a photo in time, but alas. I think you just have to see them in person. (I guess that means you all have to come visit!!! Hint, hint!)
Mini-golf
Cindy and I went to play mini-golf a few nights ago! Woohoo. We realize that it is a totally high school thing to do, but we were both pretty sick of all the adult things to do around here, so we decided to mix it up. It was a great time too! The place we went to had a special deal, so we got to play three rounds of golf, zoom around on the go-carts, take a spin on the bumper boats, and hit some balls in the batting cages! It was quite the adventure.