Gryphon's Word of the Day, June 4, 2007

The word of the day1 for June 4, 2007 is “preposterous” — adjective : contrary to nature, reason, or common sense : absurd. 

The company I work for has got something against AOL. I used to be able to access my AOL account at lunchtime from my work computer. It was not easy; the company IT group created a little pop-up that reminded one that one can not download anything from the internet without dire repercussions. I didn’t want to down-load anything, just read my mail and write my word of the day, yet I had to click the pop-up every 20 seconds or so to continue what I was doing.

Now I can’t even log onto the web-based AOL to read the mail. This is another example of a hard-wired solution to a potential discipline problem. I suppose that I should be glad that I am still able to receive “foreign” e-mail at work. Closing down e-mail from “un-approved” sources will be the next thing. I just wish they could more easily stop the occasional spam letter that gets through without stopping notes from Cyb or my sister.

The quote2 for today is from H.L. (Henry Lewis)Mencken (1880–1956), U.S. journalist, critic. Heathen Days, ch. 3, p. 34, Knopf (1943):

     It was easy to recognize in him the anti-social animus of a born evangelist, but there
     was also something else—a kind of voluptuous delight in the shabby and
     preposterous, a perverted aestheticism like that of a latter-day movie or radio
     fan, a wild will to roll in and snuffle balderdash as a cat rolls in and snuffles catnip.

;^)  Jan 

Tags: preposterous

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

The word of the day1 for May 27, 2007 is "cumulus" — noun 1: heap, accumulation. 2: a dense puffy cloud form having a flat base and rounded outlines often piled up like a mountain.

Happy Memorial Day to you all. The sun has been skipping in and out among the clouds again today. The air is sultry, readying itself for full summer. The wind has switched around to the south again. The clouds are piling up in the west, getting ready to pour again. It's probably a good thing that we haven't stirred from the house except to get the paper.

I have to marvel at the European women who traveled across this country in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They wore long skirts with multiple petticoats. They were walking for the most part and cooking over open fires. Even with sun bonnets and masks, which would have held in the heat, they would not have been immune to the sun. Fashion is a killer. It wasn't just that era, but in the early 1970s when midi-skirts, boots and mutton-sleeved blouses were in fashion, the women of Puerto Rico were wearing the fashion in the streets and looking down their noses at us turistas in our short shorts and tank tops.

The quote for today is from Denise Levertov (b. 1923), Anglo–U.S. poet. “Clouds”:

     I watch the clouds as I see them
     in pomp advancing, pursuing
     the fallen sun.

;^)  Jan

Tags: cumulous

Gryhphon's Word of the Day, May 27, 2007

The word of the day for May 27, 2007 is "incommunicado" — adverb : without means of communication : in a situation or state not allowing communication <a prisoner held incommunicado> <remained incommunicado while working on her book>.

My sister's birthday is today. (She is mumble-five years old.) When I called to sing at her, she apologised to you all for not getting out the Word of the Day for me during my vacation. She had a good excuse though. The library where she works had electrical problems while I was gone. They did not know from day to day whether they would have light to work by, let alone computers for all the reasons that modern libraries need them.

Electricity has been a great boon to libraries—starting with extending the daylight, working hours and diminishing the risk of fire. However, as with any technology, the drawbacks become evident in catastrophic ways. When man went from clay tablets to paper as writing medium much of what was written was subsequently lost to fire, water and vermin. Now that we are putting our thoughts in electronic form and storing it on CD and DVD discs. Indestructible, you say: they'll last forever. But technology marches on. How many of you have used a 4 1/2 inch floppy disk lately? Could you retrieve computer information from a cassette tape deck? Have you ever used a keypunch machine to make out data cards? Yet those of us who have been using computers for more than fifteen years probably have used all of those and more. My advice is to save your data on as many different mediums as possible. That way someone will be able to decipher your stuff, much in the same way the Rosetta Stone was used to learn heiroglyphics.

The quote for today is from Barbra Streisand (1942 - ):

     A human being is only interesting if he's in contact with himself. I learned you have
     to trust yourself, be what you are, and do what you ought to do the way you should
     do it. You have got to discover you, what you do, and trust it..

;^)  Jan

Tags: incommunicado

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

The word of the day for May 26, 2007 is "fantasy" — noun 1 obsolete : hallucination. 2: fancy; especially : the free play of creative imagination. 3: a creation of the imaginative faculty whether expressed or merely conceived: as a: a fanciful design or invention b: a chimerical or fantastic notion c: fantasia d: imaginative fiction featuring especially strange settings and grotesque characters—called also fantasy fiction. 4: caprice. 5: the power or process of creating especially unrealistic or improbable mental images in response to psychological need <an object of fantasy>; also : a mental image or a series of mental images (as a daydream) so created <sexual fantasies of adolescence>. 6: a coin usually not intended for circulation as currency and often issued by a dubious authority (as a government-in-exile).

We watched Pan's Labyrinth this afternoon. One can see why it won the Best Foreign Language Oscar. The cinematography fits the story, and the excellent acting is so well directed. Although the story did not have the scope of Lord of the Rings, it certainly weaves a spell on the viewer.

When my story, "An Equitable Division," was published in Marion Zimmer Bradley's FANTASY Magazine (Spring 1996), I lent my copy to my dentist's receptionist to read while the dentist was inspecting my teeth. She was pleased with the story and told me that it reminded her of Tolkien's writing. Not that there is much resemblance at all: my story was a retelling of King Lear set into an alternate world. Of course, the receptionist had never read any fantasy but Lord of the Rings, so I thanked her for her kind words and didn't explain that it was specious and fulsome praise.

The quote for today is from Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988):

     To be matter of fact about the world is to blunder into fantasy — and dull fantasy at that, as the
     real world is strange and wonderful.

;^)  Jan

Tags: fantasy

Jan's Word of the Day, May 25, 2007

The word of the day1 for May 25, 2007 is "chronology" — noun 1 : the science that deals with measuring time by regular divisions and that assigns to events their proper dates. 2 : a chronological table, list, or account. 3 : an arrangement (as of events) in order of occurrence chronology of the trip>.

Several people have mentioned that they were unable to access the My Photos album that I sent out the other day. I have put the photos into Gryphondear’s Word of the Day, where they can be accessed without password (as those of you who do not receive the e-mail version already know). Unfortunately, AOL puts the photos into a random shuffle. There are no captions, continuity or chronology.

The AOL staff, like most of us, are working all the time to improve things. Sometimes this works really well, like opening free accounts for those who can't afford the premium service. Sometimes the changes are annoying like the photo album shuffle, which is apparently an attempt to break away from the mundane. Sometimes those making modifications seem to take the adage "the more things change, the more they stay the same" to heart and we get cosmetic adjustments that don't solve any problems at all—art for art's sake, possibly.

 

The quote2 for today is from James A. Garfield (1831 - 1881):

     History is philosophy teaching by example, and also warning; its two eyes are geography and chronology.

;^)  Jan

Tags: chronology

More Vacation Pictures

These are my "people pictures" from my vacation. Lloyd's cousin, our son and his girlfriend, my friends and Lloyd and I are all in this pile of photos.

;^) Jan

Tags: photos

Gryphon's Word of the Day, May 24, 2007

The word of the day1 for May 24, 2007 is “alternative” — adjective 1 : ALTERNATE. 2 : offering or expressing a choice <several alternative plans>. 3 : different from the usual or conventional: as a : existing or functioning outside the established cultural, social, or economic system <an alternative newspaper> <alternative lifestyles> b : of, relating to, or being rock music that is regarded as an alternative to conventional rock and is typically influenced by punk rock, hard rock, hip-hop, or folk music c : of or relating to alternative medicine <alternative therapies>.

I wonder where one can find out what sort of pollution is created in the manufacture of solar panels. What with oil prices higher than they ever were, people are once again willing to try alternative energy sources. However “alternative” is as subjective as any other term. If we just want to decrease our dependence on foreign oil, coal is a reasonable alternative. However, if we want to go to a renewable source, we need to look into hydrogen combustion and vegetable oils.

If we really want to do the earth and our progeny a favor, we will turn to less pollution generating power—wind, solar and water. The thing is that nearly anything we do to harness that power for a mechanized society causes hazards of some sort.  Wind generators disturb the migration of birds; hydroelectric plants disturb the migration of fish and create heat pollution. Batteries cannot be discarded just any old where because of the toxicity of their components. Solar panel construction must also be toxic because of the chemicals involved. We have to weigh the alternatives more carefully before we trade a bear for a wolf.

The quote2 for today is from Margaret Mead (1901–1978), U.S. anthropologist. Culture and Commitment, introduction (1970):

     The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he
     postulates. Not only does he picture us caught in a tremendous man-made or God-made trap from
     which there is no escape, but we must also listen to him day in, day out, describe how the trap is inexorably
     closing. To such prophecies the human race, as presently bred and educated and situated, is incapable
     of listening. So some dance and some immolate themselves as human torches; some take drugs and some
     artists spill their creativity in sets of randomly placed dots on a white ground.

;^)  Jan

Tags: alternative