Michael Gates's Blog, page 57
January 8, 2014
Photo of the Week
Think I need a new car? No, my 1968 "T Bird" looks as good as the day it was made. I raised this Phoenix from the ashes (after rescuing it from my late aunt's garage) with just a little oil and elbow grease.
Actually, I just made that up. This is a vehicle I photographed on the streets of our fair city a few weeks ago. Somebody has given it tender care. Click the pic for a time trip.
January 7, 2014
Word of the Day: frigorific
What's "the word I'm thinking of"? Today, it's...
frigorific [frig-uh-RIF-ik] (adjective)
Causing cold, chilling
"The reading public did not approve of it -- the thermometer of popular opinion was down at 32, under its frigorific influence, so that we were abundantly justified in stuffing no more of Mr. Twitch's sonnets down the regurgitating throats of the literary multitude."
--Anonymous, "Treason," in Blackwood's Magazine, Volume 10 (1821)
~~~
TWITO, page 57!
frigorific [frig-uh-RIF-ik] (adjective)
Causing cold, chilling
"The reading public did not approve of it -- the thermometer of popular opinion was down at 32, under its frigorific influence, so that we were abundantly justified in stuffing no more of Mr. Twitch's sonnets down the regurgitating throats of the literary multitude."
--Anonymous, "Treason," in Blackwood's Magazine, Volume 10 (1821)
~~~
TWITO, page 57!
January 6, 2014
Link Mania: whoopensocker!
This is kind of a whoopensocker....
9 Regional Words All Americans Should Adopt Immediately
Take a look, maybe while you're having a mug-up. Ever had a wapatuli?
9 Regional Words All Americans Should Adopt Immediately
Take a look, maybe while you're having a mug-up. Ever had a wapatuli?
January 5, 2014
Word of the Day: skyey
What's "the word I'm thinking of"? Today, it's...
skyey [SKY-ee] (adjective)
Of or from the skies; resembling the skies; lofty
"She built skyey castles in her mind, even as her sneakers trod the linoleum."
skyey [SKY-ee] (adjective)
Of or from the skies; resembling the skies; lofty
"She built skyey castles in her mind, even as her sneakers trod the linoleum."
January 2, 2014
Random Sequence
I began to notice something peculiar about the other drivers. Some were getting out of their cars and talking to each other as if they were friends. And most of them didn't look like rural upstaters but instead like hippies -- long-haired, tie-dyed, multi-generational hippies -- a class of people I thought had pretty much vanished decades ago. This was beginning to feel like a bizarre dream.
"What the hell is going on?" I thought. I rolled down the window, intending to ask one of the passing "freaks," a guy in sandals wearing a yellow T-shirt that said "Play Dead," if he knew what the holdup was. Before I could say anything, he flashed a grin and asked, "You going to the Dead concert?"
"Uhh, no," I said, feeling confused. The Dead? The Grateful Dead? Weren't they...dead?
"What the hell is going on?" I thought. I rolled down the window, intending to ask one of the passing "freaks," a guy in sandals wearing a yellow T-shirt that said "Play Dead," if he knew what the holdup was. Before I could say anything, he flashed a grin and asked, "You going to the Dead concert?"
"Uhh, no," I said, feeling confused. The Dead? The Grateful Dead? Weren't they...dead?
December 31, 2013
Happy New Year
"Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go."
--Brooks Atkinson
"Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true."
--Lord Tennyson
Day of existence: this initiates time and other drama. It's a new year they've given us, man and woman, and as for the part that occupies the quietude with it, well, you've lived now in other realms, a strategy which enjoys success, but with nasty qualms. Time was visited by them -- mystery solved after two years of periodic collisions, all divided, like a child who uses the persona of whatever cactus flower Mommy married. Thus far, because this part of the house could have been predicted, everything seems complete after years in the monkey life. The pencil remains by your feet, though, the temporary death of scribbling, and by these lights, calculation lengthens. This demands an attempt to make it father to the persona built around the people you think you are, in this or another place, in any order preferred. It remains to be seen how well all this fits in a very small compartment. But I'm over that uncertainty now! All that's required is an indication of the map of the labyrinth, a composition yet to come, though here.
--me
--Brooks Atkinson
"Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true."
--Lord Tennyson
Day of existence: this initiates time and other drama. It's a new year they've given us, man and woman, and as for the part that occupies the quietude with it, well, you've lived now in other realms, a strategy which enjoys success, but with nasty qualms. Time was visited by them -- mystery solved after two years of periodic collisions, all divided, like a child who uses the persona of whatever cactus flower Mommy married. Thus far, because this part of the house could have been predicted, everything seems complete after years in the monkey life. The pencil remains by your feet, though, the temporary death of scribbling, and by these lights, calculation lengthens. This demands an attempt to make it father to the persona built around the people you think you are, in this or another place, in any order preferred. It remains to be seen how well all this fits in a very small compartment. But I'm over that uncertainty now! All that's required is an indication of the map of the labyrinth, a composition yet to come, though here.
--me
December 30, 2013
The Word I'm Thinking of Is 'e-book'
Fire up your Kindles, logophiles! At long last, my book, The Word I'm Thinking Of, is available as a Kindle e-book.
What, you don't have a Kindle? You don't need the device; you can download the FREE Kindle reading app to your computer, tablet, or phone here.
And don't forget that there are also print and audiobook editions available.
It's all so, so...selcouth. And cromulent.
What, you don't have a Kindle? You don't need the device; you can download the FREE Kindle reading app to your computer, tablet, or phone here.
And don't forget that there are also print and audiobook editions available.
It's all so, so...selcouth. And cromulent.
December 29, 2013
Word of the Day: galactophagist
What's "the word I'm thinking of"? Today, it's...
galactophagist [ga-lact-o-FAY-jist] (noun)
A milk drinker
"Edwina was determined to raise a brilliant child. 'Here you are, my little galactophagist,' she said as she gave the baby his bottle."
~~~
TWITO, page 59!
galactophagist [ga-lact-o-FAY-jist] (noun)
A milk drinker
"Edwina was determined to raise a brilliant child. 'Here you are, my little galactophagist,' she said as she gave the baby his bottle."
~~~
TWITO, page 59!
December 26, 2013
Link Mania: Whiz-Bang!
Dickensian Soup: 11 Words from Charles Dickens (via Wordnik)
Some of these lummy words may flummox you, but they won't give you the creeps, as long as you adopt a devil-may-care attitude.
Some of these lummy words may flummox you, but they won't give you the creeps, as long as you adopt a devil-may-care attitude.
December 25, 2013
Much Ado about NOTHING
My Xmas Story
A small-town, teen-aged girl -- a religious fanatic -- becomes pregnant. (Possibly after being raped by a passing soldier -- that was the rumor, anyway.)
The townspeople are scandalized, and the traumatized girl and her boyfriend are advised to leave town.
They travel to another small town, and, short of money, are given shelter in a barn, where the baby is born.
The girl thinks, "There has to be a reason for all this!" and decides that God must have big plans for this kid.
And the rest is history, or anyway, His story.
~~~
Which story is more believable, this one or the jazzed-up one in the bible?
A small-town, teen-aged girl -- a religious fanatic -- becomes pregnant. (Possibly after being raped by a passing soldier -- that was the rumor, anyway.)
The townspeople are scandalized, and the traumatized girl and her boyfriend are advised to leave town.
They travel to another small town, and, short of money, are given shelter in a barn, where the baby is born.
The girl thinks, "There has to be a reason for all this!" and decides that God must have big plans for this kid.
And the rest is history, or anyway, His story.
~~~
Which story is more believable, this one or the jazzed-up one in the bible?
