Quote of the day:

"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others, at whatever cost."

- Arthur Ashe

Word of the Day

This is definitely a new one on me.

gimcrack \JIM-krak\ noun:
A showy but useless or worthless object; a gewgaw.

adjective:
Tastelessly showy; cheap; gaudy.

Yet the set is more than a collection of pretty gimcracks.
--Frank Rich, Hot Seat

In those cities most self-conscious about their claim to be part of English history, like Oxford or Bath, the shops where you could have bought a dozen nails, home-made cakes or had a suit run up, have shut down and been replaced with places selling teddy bears, T-shirts and gimcrack souvenirs.
--Jeremy Paxman, The English: A Portrait of a People

Unctuous
adj.

1. Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness:
“the unctuous, complacent court composer who is consumed with envy and self-loathing”

2. Having the quality or characteristics of oil or ointment; slippery.

3. Containing or composed of oil or fat.

4. Abundant in organic materials; soft and rich: unctuous soil.


[Middle English, from Old French unctueus, from Medieval Latin nctusus, from Latin nctum, ointment, from neuter past participle of unguere, to anoint.]
unctu·ous·ly (adv)
unctu·ous·ness or unctu·osi·ty (n)

Synonyms: unctuous, fulsome, oily, oleaginous, smarmy

(These adjectives mean insincerely, self-servingly, or smugly agreeable or earnest: an unctuous toady; gave the dictator a fulsome introduction; oily praise; oleaginous hypocrisy; smarmy self-importance)

Well, the release date for Smashmouth's new CD has just been bumped back again. Bummer. I was planning on getting it for Christmas, but now it won't be out until January or February. Guess now it'll have to be for my birthday.

Hey, it really is a word!
But I do not think it means what you think it means.

nub·bin (nub' in)
n.

1. A small stunted ear of corn.
2. A small stunted or projecting part.

The King James translation of the Bible was completed in 1610...when William Shakespeare was 46 years old. If you go to the 46th Psalm and count ahead 46 words, you will find the word "shake." Now if go to the end of the Psalm and count back 46 words, you will find the word "spear." Could it be that Shakespeare had a hand in editing? Or maybe an admirer of his was one of the translators? Many believe it may even be a divine nod at the great dramatist.

Quotation for Thursday, September 08, 2005:

"... Jill said, 'I bet we sleep well tonight,' for it had been a full day. Which just shows how little anyone knows what is going to happen to them next."

The Silver Chair

Swimming

I love swimming.

I love the cool rush when first diving in. I love how swimming under water feels like flying and floating in space at the same time. I love the velvety-silky feel of the water through my fingers. I love the sun sparkling on the water and reflected on the leaves of the trees. I love swimming at night and watching the stars and fireflies twinkling above. I love the delicious feeling of floating.

Because of all this, I also love having a pool. Unlike some households where the pool is "for the kids," I use it more than all three of my kids combined (a fact I truly don't understand...I'm disappointed for them that they don't get out of it what I do). It's not uncommon to hear of empty nesters getting rid of a pool because the kids are gone (another thing I don't understand...and I feel sorry for what they've missed). I even get comments from people assuming that the only reason I would like my pool is for sunning. This is silly of course...people can "sun" themselves anywhere. A pool is for swimming.

Sadly, this is the time of year when I'm facing the end of my swimming season. In fact, many pools will be closing this week. I plan to stretch it out two more weeks if at all possible. After all, I have to wait seven and a half months before it'll be open again!

Quotation for Monday, September 05, 2005:

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.
If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless -- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable...
The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of and perturbations of love is Hell."

The Four Loves (C.S. Lewis)

Word of the Day for Tuesday August 30, 2005

evanescent \ev-uh-NES-uhnt\, adjective:

Liable to vanish or pass away like vapor; fleeting.

"The Pen which gives. . . permanence to the evanescent thought of a moment. "
--Horace Smith, Tin Trumpet

"Every tornado is a little different, and they are all capricious, evanescent and hard to get a fix on. "
--"Oklahoma Tornado Offers Hints of How a Killer Storm Is Born," New York Times, May 11, 1999

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Three men trying to steal fuel from a New Zealand farm Monday ended up setting fire to their own car.

Police said the trio had siphoned diesel into a petrol-driven vehicle. When their car would not start, they examined the fuel pipe using a cigarette lighter.

One click, a boom and the car burst into flames.

"It wasn't a major whodunnit," senior sergeant Ross Gilbert told Reuters, from the small North Island town of Waipukurau, about 140 miles northeast of Wellington.

"Fortunately for them, there is no criminal charge for stupidity."

The men, aged 18 to 19, escaped injury but were charged with theft.

Word of the Day - courtesy of Jared

ex·trap·o·late
v. ex·trap·o·lat·ed, ex·trap·o·lat·ing, ex·trap·o·lates
v. tr.

1. To infer or estimate by extending or projecting known information.

2. In mathematics - To estimate (a value of a variable outside a known range) from values within a known range by assuming that the estimated value follows logically from the known values.

Fargo

I just watched one of my favorite movies: Fargo
Now, one important thing to note...I saw the TV version of the movie. In fact, that's the only version I've ever seen. As I understand it, the uncut version has pretty nasty language. I've seen this movie 5 times (all on TV) and I've never wished for more swearing or thought it would be better if it would just show more blood. That's why I've never bothered to buy this one. I just wait to catch it on TV. I like it that way.

The best part of the movie is Marge's monologue (to the killer in the back of the police car),

"There's more to life than a little money, ya know. Don'tcha know that?
And here ya are. And it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it."

Stars

Can't wait to get Switchfoot's new album "Nothing is Sound" - coming out in September. This is part of what the band has to say about it:

"I believe I've heard about a man who was exploited to sell everything from indulgences to the wars of men. And yet he offered only one bitter pill that was not easily marketed. Maybe that's what this record hopes to be: a simple bitter pill of truth that steps outside of our hamster wheel and looks up at the stars and beyond."

Maybe you've heard "Stars", the new release, on the radio. This is my new favorite song! I love both the music and the lyrics:

Maybe I've been the problem
Maybe I'm the one to blame
But even when I turn it off and blame myself
The outcome feels the same

I've been thinking maybe I've been partly cloudy
Maybe I'm the chance of rain
And maybe I'm overcast
And maybe all my luck's washed down the drain

I've been thinking 'bout everyone,
Everyone, you look so lonely...

But when I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars, I see someone else
When I look at the stars
The stars, I feel like myself

Stars looking at a planet
Watching entropy and pain
And maybe to start to wonder
How the chaos in our lives could pass as sane

I've been thinking 'bout the meaning of resistance
Of a hope beyond my own
And suddenly the infinite and penitent
Begin to look like home

I've been thinking about everyone
Everyone, you look so empty...

But when I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars, I see someone else
When I look at the stars
The stars, I feel like myself.

When I look at the stars
The stars, I see someone...

An Affair to Remember

I was surfing for something to watch on TV tonight and ran across one of my favorite movies, with a half hour to go. Mind you, I do own this movie (the letter box version...which is SO much better) but I had to watch it to the end anyway. I usually allow myself to watch "An Affair to Remember" once a year, but I haven't seen it in over a year and a half. Of course I cried at the end. Can't seem to avoid it. The tears start as soon as Nickie puts his hat and coat back down and looks around for the painting, then it intensifies when he see the painting and closes his eyes in realization (sigh...love that part). Then I just lose it through the last five minutes till the end. But this is a good cry...a heart-warming, renews-your-faith-in-mankind cry. I'll wait a couple of months, then I need to watch the whole thing - in letter box, of course.

Time flies

I was out for a walk the other day and saw a yard strewn with toys for younger kids, and I suddenly got a flashback to another time in my life that really doesn't seem that long ago.

I remember a time when I had the sweetest, most perfect baby girl...an adorable little girl in pigtails, with a laugh like a dolphin...and a charming, lively little boy with a buzz cut who was into dinosaurs and action figures. I remember rocking babies to sleep, walks with the stroller, puppet shows in the living room, picnics in the family room watching "All That" and reading stories at bedtime.

I happen to think the children are, for the most part, still cute and charming...just different now. Especially the older ones. (sigh)

xen·o·phobe
n.
A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.

xeno·phobi·a n.
xeno·phobic adj.

Quotation for Monday, July 25, 2005:

"Humans are amphibians - half spirit and half animal...As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time."

The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis)

Mackinac Island

tar·ra·did·dle (also tar·a·did·dle)
n.
1. A petty falsehood; a fib.
2. Silly pretentious speech or writing; twaddle.

twad·dle
n.
Foolish, trivial, or idle talk or chatter.

intr.v. (twad·dled, twad·dling, twad·dles)
To talk foolishly; prate.

prate
v. (prat·ed, prat·ing, prates)
To talk idly and at length; chatter.

Never heard these words before. Probably because I never do any of it! :)