Gryphon's Word of the Day, March 31, 2007

The word of the day for March 31, 2007 is “guttering” — transitive verb 1 : to cut or wear gutters in. 2 : to provide with a gutter. intransitive verb 1 a : to flow in rivulets b of a candle : to melt away through a channel out of the side of the cup hollowed out by the burning wick. 2 : to incline downward in a draft <the candle flame guttering>. noun 1 : material for a trough along the eaves to catch and carry off rainwater. b : a low area (as at the edge of a street) to carry off surface water (as to a sewer) c : a trough or groove to catch and direct something <the gutters of a bowling alley>.

 

Lloyd was using a detached high-pressure hose nozzle to open a drain path through the maple blossoms that the rain brought down. Water was spilling over the edge of the gutter directly over the front steps. Anyway, he tip-toed on the edge of the porch, using the corner post as support. Then, just as the downspout opened up, he lost his grip on the nozzle. (Don't be alarmed, folks, just the nozzle.)

 

So yesterday, between the rain spats, he had to climb a ladder to rescue his nozzle from the downspout. I’m somewhat glad he didn’t wait for me to spot for him. Watching the first operation was scary enough. He didn’t tell me that he had also taken one of the toilet plungers up the ladder to ensure the spout was clear.

 

The quote for today is from Richard Matheson (b. 1926), U.S. screenwriter, and Roger Corman. Roderick Usher (Vincent Price), The House of Usher, staring at a candle as he discusses the madness in his family (1960):

 

Two pale drops of fire. Guttering on the vast consuming darkness. My sister and myself. Shortly they will burn no more.

 

;^)  Jan

Tags: guttering

Gryphon's Word of the Day, March 30, 2007

The word of the day1 for March 30, 2007 is “auditory” — noun 1 archaic : AUDIENCE. 2 archaic : AUDITORIUM. 

Rae sent me a quip: “The trouble with life is there's no background music.” This reminded me of my favorite cartoon episode of Danger Mouse. It seems that Wolfgang Amadeus Schwartz stole the background music so everyone would have to listen to his. (Example: Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” segueing into ”It’s Now or Never.”) So Danger Mouse and his sidekick, Penfold the Hamster, received a tape from THE VAULT, allowing them to have music as they find and defeat Schwartz. At one point they skated through a forest to “Skater’s Waltz.” They escaped from the bad guy’s prison by playing the “1812 Overature.” Good stuff like that. 

Lloyd’s cell phone has Debussy’s “Claire de Lune” as the ring tone, but I always thought it would be nice to have the “Empire March” from Star Wars for him to play for his theme song. (No Cyb, you can’t have that as the processional for the wedding.) I don’t know what I would want played for my entrances—certainly not the songs that get stuck in my head for days on end. Oh, wait, maybe that is Life’s background music. If so I want a change of disk jockey. 

The quote2 for today is from Tom Brown (1663-1704).Laconics: 

     In the reign of Charles II. a certain worthy divine at Whitehall thus addressed himself
     to the auditory at the conclusion of his sermon: “In short, if you don’t live up to the
     precepts of the Gospel, but abandon yourselves to your irregular appetites, you must
     expect to receive your reward in a certain place which ’t is not good manners t
     mention here.” 

;^)  Jan

Tags: auditory

Jan's Word of the Day, March 29, 2007

The word of the day for March 29, 2007 is“diachronic” — adjective : of, relating to, or dealing with phenomena (as of language or culture) as they occur or change over a period of time.

I do love historical romances, especially those set in Regency England. The latest one I have read—Miss Marcie’s Mischief, by Lindsay Randall (Zebra Books, 1995)—is fairly poor in the research department. For one thing, the hero, going incognito as “Cole Coachman,” is referred to more than once as “nè Marquess of Sherringham.” That’s not so bad, he might have been born posthumously, therefore entitled to the name from birth. However, the author lovingly describes his two older brothers, whose successive deaths lead to his “ascension” to the title.

This is not the worst example of research poverty I have seen. I always liked the one pointed out by my sister involving a woman trekking from Wales to Scotland in the 1100’s by herself, eating “wild potatoes” as she went. Wild onions I can accept. Potatoes didn’t show up in Britain until after Columbus made his famous voyage nearly 400 years later. Not only that but my sister reminded me that potatoes do not grow wild anywhere. Which is probably a good thing, because feral potatoes in Europe would have been something like kudzu, only tastier.

The quote for today is from Oscar Wilde(1854–1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. Gilbert, in “The Critic as Artist,” pt. 1, Intentions (1891):

     Whatever, in fact, is modern in our life we owe to the Greeks. Whatever
     is an anachronism is due to mediaevalism.

;^)  Jan

Tags: diachronic

Gryphon's Word of the Day, March 28, 2007

The word of the day for March 28, 2007 is “gustnado” — noun ; a meteorological phenomenon that combines features of a dust devil and a tornado, being a vortex several hundred feet high that develops on the leading edge of a thunderstorm. (From the MSN Encarta Dictionary)

My co-workers are discussing golf. This is a “first liar never has a chance” form of recreation. Since our city is known for the strength and duration of the wind, many of the stories relate to the “greatest golf shot against the wind.” Personally, I’m with the comedian calling himself Honest John. On the subject of Tiger Wood’s impact on society because of his golfing prowess, HJ said, “Who cares? It’s freakin’ golf. Without the ball and club it’s just walking.”

Nevertheless, there’s something endearing about those who will wear plaid plus-fours and argyle socks while engaging in their chosen activity. Endearing does not come to mind when the same persons attempt their activities in gale force winds, snow deeper than the diameter of the ball or rain with accompanying lighting. I will allow you to choose your own epithet for such persons.

The quote for today is from Clara Barton (1821–1912), U.S. Civil War nurse and founder of the American Red Cross, in a letter dated March 7, 1888, written to orator Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899), urging him to speak on behalf of the residents of Mount Vernon, Illinois, whose town had been ravaged by a tornado the month before. As quoted in Angel of the Battlefield, ch. 13, by Ishbel Ross (1956).:

     Long ago I added to the true old adage of “What is everybody’s
     business is nobody’s business,” another clause which, I think, more
     than any other principle has served to influence my actions in life. That
     is, “What is nobody’s business is my business.”

:^) Jan

Tags: gustnado

Gryphon's Word of the Day, March 27, 2007

The word of the day1 for March 27, 2007 is “synapse” — noun : the point at which a nervous impulse passes from one neuron to another.

 

Hopefully, I never laughed at old people portrayed as absent-minded. Between the scientific explanation that the hormones that keep the synapses synapping diminish as we grow older, and the more comprehensible explanation that the brain is a finite space that at some point must lose old information to make way for new, there’s plenty of explanation for lost keys, lost memories, lost skills.

 

Jeanie complains that her synapses are not as synappy as they once were. After yesterday’s uproar about the missing suspenders, and my own lapses into incoherency in the face of reason, I think we’re all in trouble. My husband often accuses me of remembering everything. This may be true, but sometimes it takes a while to dredge the memory out of the archives. As long as I can remember more than he does, I figure I’m all right.

 

The quote2 for today is from John Searle (b. 1932), U.S. philosopher. “Is the Brain’s Mind a Computer Program?” Scientific American (January 1990):

One can imagine a computer simulation of the action of peptides in the hypothalamus that is accurate down to the last synapse. But equally one can imagine a computer simulation of the oxidation of hydrocarbons in a car engine or the action of digestive processes in a stomach when it is digesting pizza. And the simulation is no more the real thing in the case of the brain than it is in the case of the car or the stomach. Barring miracles, you could not run your car by doing a computer simulation of the oxidation of gasoline, and you could not digest pizza by running the program that simulates such digestion. It seems obvious that a simulation of cognition will similarly not produce the effects of the neurobiology of cognition.

;^)  Jan

Tags: synapse

Gryphon's Word of the Day, March 26, 2007

The word of the day1 for March 26, 2007 is “serendipity” — noun : the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for; also : an instance of this.

 

Lloyd asked me to look for his cane in my car. The last time I remember seeing it was on our way home on Saturday. He had folded it and put it on the back seat of the car. I looked this morning and couldn’t find it, which means it has slid up under the seat, or he removed it to his car or in the house.

 

Meanwhile, he asked me to look for the tan suspenders he had taken off his pants last night. Normally, he lays them on the bed table, but they weren’t there. He found two other sets of suspenders: one the wrong color, the other in need of repair. He decided to wear the black ones. However, by the time I was ready to walk out the door, he had found the tan ones on the shelf beside the dresser. I didn’t even snicker. I’ve found myself putting the milk in the freezer and the ice cream in the refrigerator too many times not to sympathize.

 

The quote2 for today is from Jay W Lorsch, professor, Harvard Business School, quoted in “For a Company Chief, When There’s a Whim There’s Often a Way” Wall Street Journal 1 Oct 84:

I think a lot more decisions are made on serendipity than people think. Things come across their radar screens and they jump at them.

;^)  Jan

Tags: serendipity

Open Letter to the Flint Hills Tourism Coalition

Sirs:

How nice to get your note. I'll be glad to put a link to your site in my blog. I don't have a whole lot of skill at this, so right now it's just a bit of text with the link inserted. Maybe when I get better at it I'll put in a picture of Wiley Coyote (a tree on the east side of the Turnpike at the 100 mile mark that used to look like WC hunched over a bomb-shaped bush--alas, fire and ice have taken away all likeness to the cartoon character). Maybe a view of cattle around the lookout on K-177 would be more comprehensible.

:^) Jan

Tags: shameless plug, Flint Hills Tourism Coalition