Michael Gates's Blog, page 47
July 2, 2014
Quote of the Day: Dreams
"Dreams are shores where the ocean of spirit meets the land of matter. Dreams are beaches where the yet-to-be, the once were, the will-never-be may walk awhile with the still are."
--David Mitchell, Number9Dream
July 1, 2014
Photo of the Week: Storefornt Buddha (by me)
What's that coming out of his head? (Click the pic for a closer look and some instant enlightenment.)
June 30, 2014
Random Sequence: Time Traveling Brussels Sprout?
Book description of the day:
"It is the year 2060 and oh no! The world is going to end again! In 1977 Elvis Presley faked his own death and set off on a journey into the future with his best friend Barry the Time Traveling Brussels Sprout. Mr Presley's mission: seek out and destroy The Antichrist .... Meanwhile in 2060 Rex Mundi seems happy enough. He is married to Jesus Christ's twin sister Christeen, has a talking hippy dog named Fido and a very nice house in the country. If it wasn’t for that great big spaceship that someone has parked on his lawn, Rex would have very little to complain about. And so begins They Came and Ate Us...."
In my job, I read -- and edit -- stuff like this quite frequently.
"It is the year 2060 and oh no! The world is going to end again! In 1977 Elvis Presley faked his own death and set off on a journey into the future with his best friend Barry the Time Traveling Brussels Sprout. Mr Presley's mission: seek out and destroy The Antichrist .... Meanwhile in 2060 Rex Mundi seems happy enough. He is married to Jesus Christ's twin sister Christeen, has a talking hippy dog named Fido and a very nice house in the country. If it wasn’t for that great big spaceship that someone has parked on his lawn, Rex would have very little to complain about. And so begins They Came and Ate Us...."
In my job, I read -- and edit -- stuff like this quite frequently.
June 29, 2014
Word of the Day: mesonoxian
"Mesonoxian" (adjective) is a word from my book, The Word I'm Thinking Of: A Devilish Dictionary of Difficult Words. TWITO is not a comic book; I'm just having some fun with stripcreator.com. The dialog, however, is from the book.
June 28, 2014
June 26, 2014
June 25, 2014
Random Sequence: Unconventional Couriers
Book description of the day:
"There's a pandemic. People are turning into clowns. Society isn't interested in finding a cure or treating the infected as humans. But when unconventional couriers begin to harass the contaminated, and clowns start disappearing, a band of transformed coworkers set out to find answers."
In my job, I read -- and edit -- stuff like this quite frequently.
"Nobody told me there'd be days like this."
--John Lennon
"There's a pandemic. People are turning into clowns. Society isn't interested in finding a cure or treating the infected as humans. But when unconventional couriers begin to harass the contaminated, and clowns start disappearing, a band of transformed coworkers set out to find answers."
In my job, I read -- and edit -- stuff like this quite frequently.
"Nobody told me there'd be days like this."
--John Lennon
June 24, 2014
The T&T List
Svante Paabo
alewife herrings
botnets
Social Sweepster
Donogoo
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Haut Marais
Vinod Khosla
Withings
Sundar Pichai
the B-mode pattern
Wankhede Stadium
Venetian Ceruse
June 23, 2014
Random Sequence: Feeling 'Peevish'
"It was the evil spirit, discontent, brooding there, and flinging the shadow of its sombre wing over all that darkened the whole moral atmosphere, and transformed the sunlight into gloom. It was discontent that added line after line to the faded, fretful face of Maria Denning, and rendering her a peevish, fault-finding wife, and an unhappy mother."
--from "The Contented Mind", by Mary W. Janvrin, in Godey's Lady's Book and Magazine, April 1864
(I found a bound copy of Godey's in my basement and have been flipping through the dusty pages.)
Synonyms for "peevish" are "petulant", "irritable", "snappish", and "cross". It's not an adjective much used these days, perhaps because it sounds -- or looks -- like it has something to do with "pee". I like the acidic sound of it, though -- it sounds like what it means.
--from "The Contented Mind", by Mary W. Janvrin, in Godey's Lady's Book and Magazine, April 1864
(I found a bound copy of Godey's in my basement and have been flipping through the dusty pages.)
Synonyms for "peevish" are "petulant", "irritable", "snappish", and "cross". It's not an adjective much used these days, perhaps because it sounds -- or looks -- like it has something to do with "pee". I like the acidic sound of it, though -- it sounds like what it means.
June 18, 2014
Link Mania: Is Your Witenagemot Pyknic?
The 20 least known words in English
Including "pyknic" (TWITO, page 118) and "witenagemot" (TWITO, page 162). Other than those, I don't know any of these... yet. Do you?
~~~
10 Fabulous German Words With No English Equivalent
Including "weltschmerz" (TWITO, page 161).
~~~
30 Funny Words With Almost Serious Meanings
Including "bumbershoot" (TWITO, page 24), "taradiddle" (TWITO, page 145), "tatterdemalion" (TWITO, page 146), "gobemouche" (TWITO, page 61), and "mumpsimus" (TWITO, page 92).
~~~
A book by any other name
Two of the other names listed here are "diegesis" (TWITO, page 41) and "incunabulum" (TWITO, page 72).
Including "pyknic" (TWITO, page 118) and "witenagemot" (TWITO, page 162). Other than those, I don't know any of these... yet. Do you?
~~~
10 Fabulous German Words With No English Equivalent
Including "weltschmerz" (TWITO, page 161).
~~~
30 Funny Words With Almost Serious Meanings
Including "bumbershoot" (TWITO, page 24), "taradiddle" (TWITO, page 145), "tatterdemalion" (TWITO, page 146), "gobemouche" (TWITO, page 61), and "mumpsimus" (TWITO, page 92).
~~~
A book by any other name
Two of the other names listed here are "diegesis" (TWITO, page 41) and "incunabulum" (TWITO, page 72).
