Michael Gates's Blog, page 24

Link Mania: Jam or Jelly?

Joanna Newsom Vocabulary List: A Guide to All Her $10 Words
My kind of singer/songwriter/harpsichordist.

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12 Exceptionally Long or Extremely Special Words
If you've been searching for a word that means "a fricassee comprised of rotted dogfish head, wrasse, wood pigeon, and the roasted head of a dabchick, among other culinary morsels", you'll find it here.

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The Weird Words You Learn From Video Games
Have you ever added crenels to a previously unbroken parapet?

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18 awesome ways to say awesome
Jam or jelly?

FREE Kindles

Got a Kindle (or the FREE Kindle app on your phone/computer)? Two of my 4-star books on Amazon will be available as FREE Kindle downloads starting Wednesday, November 4, and extending through Sunday, November 8. Tell your friends -- especially if they are logophiles or would like to read a short story about "oddness in the Adirondacks".

The Word I'm Thinking Of

The Iron Box

Photo of the Week: Mummy (by me)

Photo by me; mummy by artist Norman Kirby. Click the pic for an even scarier view.

Story Cubes 10: Parachute

Trevor stood on the bridge, staring down at the rapid water, and tempted, for the hundredth time it seemed, to jump. A beetle was crawling along the edge, and he kicked it over with his boot. He smiled as it tumbled down, but then his face went blank. "I'm a chicken," he thought. "I'd wish for a parachute the second I stepped off." The gurgling of the water reminded him of the ridiculous little fountain in the backyard of his house -- his former house, the one that caught fire, consuming his dog, his cat, and him photographs. His life's work. All that was left was ashes and that damn, mocking fountain. "Where's my rainbow?" he whispered, thinking of the picture on the saccharine Hallmark card his ex-wife had sent him. At least he still had his Nikon. He aimed the camera at his feet, with the toes of his boots peeking over the edge at the current below. "Decision," he said to himself. "A nice, ambiguous title."

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(The bold-faced words are interpreted from the images on Rory's Story Cubes)

Random Sequence: frampold

"Now, when the credit of our town lay on it,
Now to be frampold, now to piss o'th' nettle!
Go thy ways, I'll remember thee; I'll fit thee."
--William Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Act III, Scene 5, line 58

frampold (adjective) = peevish, moody, disagreeable, vexatious, quarrelsome

Having a bad day? Heave a heavy sigh and say, "I'm feeling frampold today." Then enjoy the puzzled faces.

Fish Food for Thought

Word of the Day: sylvestral

What's the word I'm thinking of? Today, it's...

sylvestral [SILL-vess-truhl] (adjective) [TWITO, page 144]

Pertaining to trees

"Xavier, lost in a thicket, was nevertheless awed by the sylvestral beauty of the canopy overhead."


(photo by me)

Link Mania: Unsmedish!

Halloween is coming. Let's all try to work "horripilation" into conversation.

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25 of the Happiest Words in English
What, not "ataraxia" (peace of mind), TWITO, page 14?

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Big, Beautiful Words You Need To Start Using Immediately
Surely YOU don't have hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.

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8 Shakespearean Terms We Still Haven't Cracked
When he couldn't think of the right word, he made one up? That's unsmedish!

Photo of the Week: Hercules Chained (by me)

This thing is strong! Maybe that's why it's called Hercules.

Story Cubes 9: Peculiar Magnet (fiction)

It was beautiful day on planet Earth, and more specifically along the lakeside path in Bayville. But amid the blooming dahlias and honeybees and rainbows, a question occurred to Sylvia. How much of a shake of the dice was it to agree to meet Boris here? His impassive face and taciturn manner didn't square with the pleading text he'd sent her, insisting she join him at the lake because he had something important to ask. "So, what is it?" she murmured. She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but the suspense was a nagging itch.

For a long time she'd felt drawn to Boris, a Russian-accented nobody and yet a peculiar magnet, attractive yet distant, a young man always seeming to be mired in morose Eurasian thoughts. Maybe he was finally ready to crack open? She pictured a dialog balloon over his head that needed to be filled. "What is it?" she repeated, louder this time, allowing insistence to color her tone.

He exhaled a leaden sigh, and stared across the lake, then cleared his throat. "Can I borrow a hundred bucks?"

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(The bold-faced words are interpreted from the images on Rory's Story Cubes)