Powerful Words

There's a great power in words, if you don't hitch too many of them together. - Josh Billings

Words are powerful. I noticed recently that when certain words come out of unexpected mouths, I sit up and take more notice. In coming across this new-to-me blog, I've remembered how healing words can be. And I noticed how knowing certain jargonal words might help someone feel control in a situation that is really not theirs to control.

I'm fascinated by words and their meanings and et·y·mol·o·gies. It started with foreign languages and has evolved to include the evolution of English, street slang, proverbs, catch phrases and mottos. Despite this, I'm not always precise in my use of words and language and in fact, sometimes, on purpose, play with words, such as jargonal, above. Nowadays, after reading this post by Erin McKean, my favorite lexicographer, I almost want people to tell me 'that's not a word,' so I can smile and say 'oh.'

The inspiration for this entry is the strange and unexpected utterance of medical terminology from a non-medical source. E and I have talked a bit lately about how people suffering or believing they suffer from some symptom, syndrome, condition or disease may actually know more about said symptom, syndrome, condition or disease than their medical personnel, because they research it unendingly on the Internet. Now, I think this can be valuable to get some background, read some explanations and learn about options that may not be common knowledge in your own community, but sometimes I think all that's happening is they are learning the words, but not all the connected ideas and experiences that accompany them.

Just using the words might provide some feeling of control in an insane world, but does it really foster understanding or closeness? Or does it simply provide family, friends and loved ones a distancing medical language to use instead of sharing their fears and sadness? In theory, I would much rather tell a patient that they have Stage 5 something or other than to use the words, 'you're dying,' but I think the honesty, commitment and caring in the second are much more powerful than the first. [I do recognize the power of suggestion, especially in words spoken by The Medical Profession and I don't know yet how to balance that with allowing an individual to die with dignity.]

I remember my own experience online when I was sick. Everything I read and even people in the online support group I found told me that I shouldn't/wouldn't/couldn't live beyond 5 years. What did they know?

Not me.

I'm a Fan

Whenever I would catch one of those programs on television where "Number One Fans" get to meet their idols, I would have this spasm of anxiety ripple through my body. I'm nobody's number one fan. Not only that, I'm only a half-assed number two million fan. I don't know people's names, I don't remember the artist of the latest tune I'm whistling and I couldn't tell you my favorite actor, actress, director, animator, painter, singer or general performance artist. I'm terrified of running into even moderately famous people (despite my odd habit of relating myself in degrees of separation to stars all the time - it's simply confirmation of six degrees). But I do now have a favorite lexicographer.

Strange word, strange experience. I think it's partly my own love of words that makes me fascinated by a person who does dictionaries for a living, but then you throw in her interesting hobbies and the healthy geographic distance between us (it could be a problem if she lived closer - ask me what happened when I bumped into Danny Glover at a juice bar - the memory of it still makes me shudder, thinking 'I'm getting too old for this...) and against all odds and my better judgement, I've become a Fan. It started with a quirky TED presentation that I found under the category FUNNIEST. While I was literally laughing out loud, I wondered at the audience's lack of laughter and admired her costume. Now I know that she likely made that dress herself!

So, how do I know that I'm a Fan and not just an interested party? I'm reading about sewing, nearly every day. I've been resistant to sewing for years. My mom tried to teach me and we wasted tons of cash on fabric and patterns - I would keep trying, but the pattern was out of style before I would even get the fabric cut. My home economics sewing project was a pair of jersey shorts made of two separate colors - one for each leg - and no pockets. Sure, I was done before everyone else, but the pattern was probably meant for a kindergartner! E bought me a sewing machine that I've now lugged through half a dozen moves without ever tuning up and now, based on reading this blog, I'm fantasizing about my office at the new house being 1/2 home office and 1/2 crafting space, so I can leave my sewing machine set up! Leave it set up? It's never been set up?!

I do enjoy the writing and the peek into another world, though. And I even know her name. :)

New Acronyms or New Uses of Old Acronyms

Once upon a time when I was online dating, I wrote some kind of scathing review of men who online date and asked the men to reply with their thoughts. It was a scream reading their responses. However, there was one who laid both E and I out on the floor collapsed in hysterics. My message referred to PMS as Passive Man Syndrome, and he countered that the real men weren't messing about online because they had STD - Shit To Do. It's an acronym that E and I still use in this way. And still find hilarious.

Last night (and here I give credit where it is due), she came up with another one:

OPB - Other People's Bullshit

Yeah, you down with OPB? Not me, I can too much STD.

I ♥ Merriam Webster

I love my dictionary. It's a large hard bound red Webster's that I inherited from a friend of mine when she moved away. She's since moved back, but I've grown too attached to give her book back. I suppose I would if she asked, but I'm grateful that she hasn't asked. I also love going to the online dictionary which not only provides me a definition, context and history, but pronounces the word for me. That's a great gift. This week I looked up a lot of words at work, because we started working with a new bakery:

Eclair: a usually chocolate-frosted oblong pastry filled with whipped cream or custard
Charlotte: a dessert consisting of a filling (as of fruit, whipped cream, or custard) layered with or placed in a mold lined with strips of bread, ladyfingers, or biscuits
Petit Four: a small cake cut from pound or sponge cake and frosted
Napoleon: an oblong pastry with a filling of cream, custard, or jelly

I also wanted to know how to pronounce maitre d' (headwaiter) for some reason, so it's a French language lesson!

All this word looking up is fun. If you enjoy words like I do, you might also enjoy this talk which is part of the TED Talks series. I can't rave enough about the TED talks - this is what the Internet should be about - ideas worth sharing and sharing them freely to enhance the possibilities. If I aspire to any lofty goal, it's that someday I have an idea worth sharing.

Words of Contempt

Reading Blink which describes the theory of "thin-slices" or how we utilize and gather relevant information quickly to come to rapid, seemingly instinctive, conclusions. Basically, we often make decisions in the blink of an eye and then continue gathering information to try to justify that position. It's fascinating and starts out with information about relationships which is timely and of great interest. Having done some video research myself, I enjoyed reading about how the researcher watched and coded interactions between couples second by second for different emotional cues. The number one indicator for a relationship breaking up was contempt, often shown by rolling of the eyes, and this occurred as often in men as in women.

They described contempt as closely related to disgust, though Webster (below) uses the synonym disdain. I think this is also related to condescension (also below). In my own life, I'm so sensitive to people seeming to condescend or patronize me that I often jump to conclusions and assume everything they say is meant in that way. This is also described in the book - the pattern of how things are received, which can be general to all people or specific to a single person and is another independent predictor for the success of a relationship. I wonder if these things can be changed? I shall read on.

Contempt:
1 a: the act of despising : the state of mind of one who despises : disdain b: lack of respect or reverence for something2: the state of being despised3: willful disobedience to or open disrespect of a court, judge, or legislative body

Condescend:
1 a: to descend to a less formal or dignified level : unbend b: to waive the privileges of rank2: to assume an air of superiority


Patronize:
2 : to adopt an air of condescension toward : treat haughtily or coolly

Internal Exploration

My friend enjoys UE: urban exploration as photography subjects. He has also expressed an interest in rural exploration, mostly abandoned farm equipment and buildings. I wonder if I can interest him in some internal exploration?

I don't know why I like that terminology but I do. Somehow the words - internal exploration - sound like an adventure. I guess Body Worlds 3 (which I have extremely mixed feelings about) could be one form of internal exploration, whereas therapy and personal growth work could be another.

I found a list of the top 10 things one can do to improve one's life and the top item was something about stop paying so much attention to how you feel. I really jived with that in some ways. My community consists of a lot of people who are really in touch with their feelings and sometimes it gets a little crazy. Like when a friend asked me how I was dealing emotionally with moving in the middle of carrying furniture outside. Or when another friend wept daily for two weeks for no aparent reason and spent hours ruminating on it. I do think sometimes that would help people have a better time.

But what about those people who don't really get in touch with their feelings at all? I guess the answer is the same as usual: moderation.

My Life in Shambles

What is a shamble anyway?

Turns out, it really is shambles and shamble is something totally different. Shambles refers to:
1 : a meat market
2: slaughterhouse
3 a: a place of mass slaughter or bloodshed
b: a scene or a state of great destruction
c (1): a scene or a state of great disorder or confusion
(2): great confusion : mess

Whereas shamble simply means to walk awkwardly with dragging feet.

Even though my life is in shambles, referring to a state of disorder and confusion and not to a slaughterhouse or meat market, I find it calming to read Webster. Perhaps I should use Webster for meditation purposes. How do I, a fairly organized, hard working, rear-end retentive, get so close AGAIN to overdrawing my bank account, not have access to my own mail and give terrible job interviews for a position for which I am not only qualified, but also an ideal candidate? I've moved the money around so everything is covered, I'm going to my complex manager to figure out the mailbox situation and I'm going to 'let go and let God' about the interviews, but even having solutions doesn't help. That my counselor just called saying I missed our appointment for right now also doesn't help. Maybe selling my junk on Craigslist to clear clutter and make money will help. Guess I'll find out.

When you get into 'THE REAL WORLD'...

Three words I really hate: THE REAL WORLD. I've been a student virtually all of my life. Since the age of four with one year off for good behavior. So I've heard this phrase a lot, especially since I became an 'adult' at the age of 18. At the age of 18, I moved out of my parents home never to return and went to school, paying most of my way with scholarships that I earned and loans that I am now paying back.


My year off, immediately after college, wasn't spent touring around Europe on a trust fund or lounging on beaches surfing all day because that part of the world just wasn't that expensive. I moved out of state, got a job and starting getting ready for grad school.


In grad school, I started to understand a little of what people were saying, because the difficulty level went up considerably over college and even over working full time. Life was hard - I don't even like to think of how hard! But that's not even what people meant by THE REAL WORLD.


I think they just mean their world. Whatever their world looks like - whatever grim stressers present themselves to that person every day. If working at jobs I love in a city that thrives is the real world, I'll take it. Yes, I can't wait to get into the real world - I can't wait to be paid a living wage for every hour that I've worked and have my free time be my own without guilt that I should be studying. I can't wait to be able to schedule my vacations any time I want and not just during Christmas or summer holidays.


My very good friend S pointed out that the people who say "wait until..." are the same people who say "enjoy it while you're young" and they are just jealous. I like her advise, which is to just say "I love you even though you're jealous." And I would add, "Just you wait until I'm in the real world!"

Tic-Toc, Tic-Toc

I started thinking and planning my blog entry in my head tonight while driving home and several ideas presented themselves at once. Somehow the chain of illogical reasoning took me from several words I wanted to look up in my friend Websters to the literary and verbal tics that I employ/suffer. I have a fondness for writing the word 'particularly.' It is never particularly improperly used, is often particularly relevant, but is also decidedly unnecessary. One of my college professors pointed out how often it appeared in an essay I wrote and I think removing them all not only didn't change the flow or understanding of the paper in any negative way, it made the paper more understandable and even brought the paper down a page.


My verbal tics are many, but the one I'm really struggling with now is : do you know what I mean? E pointed it out to me and I can not only not stop saying, but I'm conscious of it now and have now begun a whole chain of toc's to follow that tic. Do you know what I mean? Damn, I said it again. Did you hear me say it again? I can't believe I said it again. I'm really going to try not to say that anymore, because it's really annoying....Do you know what I mean?


I don't know (what I mean) if it was worth getting pointed out or not, because now I'm just as aware, but seemingly unable to stop myself.

Personal Growth: Thoughts on Maturity

Long talk on maturity last night in the wee hours. As a certifiable age-snob with a preference for those older than me, maturity as a concept, is something I think I've got a pretty good hold on, but let's see how close I could come to Websters - I'm guess it uses the term "age-appropriate" in the definition. Websters says:

Maturity:
1 : the quality or state of being mature; especially : full development
2 : termination of the period that an obligation has to run

Mature:
1 : based on slow careful consideration
2 a (1) : having completed natural growth and development : RIPE
(2) : having undergone maturation
b : having attained a final or desired state
c : having achieved a low but stable growth rate
d : of, relating to, or being an older adult : ELDERLY
3 a : of or relating to a condition of full development
b : characteristic of or suitable to a mature individual

Wow, this was not what I expected. Maturity as a concept seems to be more about having reached "full development" but I wonder how this relates to full potential. The definition "having attained a final or desired state" might suggest that meeting one's full potential would be the end of maturing, but I wonder, "desired by whom?" There are people who do not desire any further growth, probably think they are mature and in whom I see a lot more potential. In last nights conversation about maturity, my friend queried, "Is there a point in one's years when a person reaches a level of maturity and stays there?" Well, per Webster, we may be erroneous in thinking of levels of maturity - fruit and wine are either mature/ripe/ready or not. I don't even ask if people are that way, because as a feminist/relativist thinker, of course I consider there to be a scale and I think the issue is just one of semantics.

Personal learning and growth is one of my core values, so I'm constantly seeking the way to growth. I almost wrote "better myself" but I realize that doesn't really express it and self-betterment also carries with it a tinge of the idea that I might possibly know what is better for myself. There is also an idea with self-betterment that things may also be better, cleaner, prettier or somehow more positive, whereas with growth, I think sometimes things get messier, at least at first. For example, when I started learning to communicate my feelings of anger, I often overshot my goal, said it wrong or whatnot, so my life actually got messier for a time. In the end, I do think we are "better" for having grown, but I guess part of the learning I've accomplished in my growth has been that I'm perfect right now and doing the best I can with what I have available. Given that, I can't possibly be better.

Okay, enough psychobabble. Is maturing a process that ends? My opinion: for some people, yes - for some, no. Alcoholics (and likely other addicts), for example, get stunted in their emotional growth and often retain the maturity of a teenager. Psychologists say that they can resume their growth when they attain sobriety, but I have not always seen that they do - I think the possibility is there, but it requires a personal dedication. I don't think that is exclusive to addicts, either - I think beyond our growing years, there may be a tendency to stagnate if we aren't feeding ourselves the right mental/emotional/spiritual food for growth. That food is what keeps us growing/changing/maturing. What is it? Probably varies for everyone - for me, it includes an exploration of the dao, personal journey into spiritual realms, working with a therapist and lots of exposure to and exploration of the meaning of words.

To continue along that track, I also think that kids and teenagers need a lot of exposure while they are in their growing years to these foods, whatever they may be for them - since we can't possibly know, it would behoove us to expose them to LOTS of different models. This is the same way I feel about their physical health - if kids don't eat dirt and get exposed to germs, they never develop a proper immune system; if they (and we) don't eat lots of different foods, we never develop a wide palate and/or get the nutrition we need! It's really one and the same desire to have a wide array of experience - even if we then choose to walk a more narrow road, at least it was choice and not something that was foisted upon us due to the limits of our exposure.

For my part, as someone who has used and accepted the label "mature" since I was about 11, I now rescind that label based on Websters definition. I hope the day I wake up mature is my last on this planet - I'd love to look on this earth with mature eyes for just a day before ascending to nirvana.

Hopefully I'll write this blog

So, E's friend did offer this piece that I learned a bit from:

"Hopefully, I'll go to the store."

It doesn't mean: I hope I will go to the store.
It does mean: I will go to the store feeling hopeful.

Even though common parlance and usage directs our understanding to the first meaning, I think he is correct that the exact meaning falls more in line with the second. I am not sure how I will use this information, but it does provide some food for mental mastication on the use of adverbs. I'd love to speak to an English professor and get their take on this phenomenon.

As I consider taking Hindi and/or Chinese language training, I remember how much Latin and Chinese had to do with me getting into medicine. An idea: writing a naturopathic medical dictionary. How much fun would that be?!

Impacting Language

E is always sharing these theories with me - I don't know where she gets them, but they are often very relevant. One of them is called "90-10." Basically 90-10 refers to the way in which men will be 10% sure of something and present it as total fact and women will be 90% sure of something and still present it as a possibility. Being pretty smart and savvy women, we often laugh later about how we or someone else was 90-10'ing something.

One area in which I especially hate being challenged (a la 90-10) is on language and the meanings of words. I may not be well-read, but I certainly am widely-read, if I can coin a phrase and unconsciously have a pretty large vocabulary. I cannot always give a precise definition of a word, but I can usually provide enough context for understanding. So E's friend has been correcting her a lot lately on her use of language and grammar and she often shares these pearls with me. I cannot say that I haven't learned anything from this, but I can say that she shouldn't trust everything that someone says. Just because he's right 90% of the time doesn't mean she should accept the 10% that is wrong.

Case in point: he says that IMPACT is not a verb, but should only be used as a noun. Upon further discussion, he allowed that impact may be in the dictionary as a verb, but only due to people's constant misuse. Let's see what Webster has to say on this topic:

Etymology: Latin impactus, past participle of impingere to push against
Date: 1601
transitive verb
1a: to fix firmly by or as if by packing or wedging
b: to press together
2a: to have a direct effect or impact on : impinge on
b: to strike forcefully; also : to cause to strike forcefully

intransitive verb
1: to have an impact —often used with on
2: to impinge or make contact especially forcefully

And

Function: noun
Date: 1781
1 a: an impinging or striking especially of one body against another b: a forceful contact or onset; also : the impetus communicated in or as if in such a contact2: the force of impression of one thing on another : a significant or major effect

Hmmm...last I checked 1781 actually occurred long after 1601, so it would seem that the use of impact as a verb did, in fact, predate its use as a noun and that the usage as a noun evolved from the action of the verb. Well, I guess that's one possibility.

How to Read Chinese

I'm asked often about the tattoo on my arm. I specifically put this tattoo on my inner forearm, turned so that it is right-side-up to me, so that I would see it each and every day. It's a Chinese character. Because Japanese shares many characters with Chinese, it is also Japanese and one of my Japanese speaking customers explained it's Japanese meaning which was only slightly different than the Chinese. In Chinese, it reads Dao. Tao? Well, yes, because this is the same word.


Because Chinese as a written language is not phonetic (meaning there is not a letter or mark for every sound), Europeans developed systems for romanizing the Chinese language. Romanization made it easier for them to record things because they could do it based on how the words sound rather than learning and memorizing thousands of characters (if you ever wonder how the Chinese have such great memories, it's because they have to - every word has its own character!). The older Wade-Jiles system of romanization is the one that writes Tao, Taoism, T'ai Chi and I Ching. The newer pinyin system writes Dao, Daoism, Taiji and Yi Jing. The new system is easier to pronounce correctly and is the current international standard.


Dao = Tao and they are both pronounced like Dow, as in the Dow Jones or Dow Chemical. It is never pronounced Tow or Tay-Oh, except by most non-Chinese speakers, cute girls and I would venture to guess, stupid people. The Tao of Tea plays on this alternative spelling, but is still pronounced Dow of Tea. Taoism is still pronounced Dow-ism.


Another common mistake is Tai Chi. You might see it written T'ai Chi, Tai Chi or the more modern Tai ji (can also be written as one word Taiji). Either way, it's all pronounced the same - like T-eye G.


It bothers me when I tell what my tattoo means or that I'm studying Taiji and I have to mispronounce the words before people comprehend what word I'm saying. The point of this wasn't really to discuss my tattoos, but to rant about people mis-reading, mis-pronouncing and mis-understanding Chinese romanization, but if you want to know more about my tattoo(s), it can be found here.

Personality vs. Temperament

Words of the Day:

• Personality: set of qualities that makes a person, a group of people, or a thing different from others (see also Nature: the set of qualities that makes a person, a group of people, or a thing different from others)
  
• Temperament: one's characteristic attitude or mood

How changeable are these? I think and hope they are very changeable and I'm setting out right now to change my temperament. I tend to have a judgmental, defensive attitude and a negative mood, but I'm going to turn that frown upside down and become more positive, starting now. Since people seem to like my personality, I'm going to leave that be for now, because I think this temperament thing is going to be challenging.

Oh yeah, if you don't agree that my temperament is as described, that's just because I have such a glittering personality. ;)

Bibliography vs. Reference List

Reference List: provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text. (From this site)

Bibliography: the works or a list of the works referred to in a text or consulted by the author in its production
(From Websters)

Struggling to know what to use for my thesis. Have several sources that I consulted, but not referring directly to all of them. In that case, do I do both and if so, does the bibliography include only those sources that are not on my reference list or do I repeat? Please comment if you have any thoughts on this topic.

Evocative

Used the word "evocative" in a sentence today. E likes to make fun of me when I used "big" words, but when she asks me to define them, I'm usually able to do pretty well. I thought I did okay with this one when I said that evocative was more about any emotion and provocative was more about specific emotions around sex or aggression. (A funny word that A and E both enjoyed me defining was "cur" which means mongrel dog which goes to show that not all "big" words are big at all.)

From Websters:
Evocative: evoking or tending to evoke an especially emotional response
Provocative: serving or tending to provoke , excite, or stimulate
Provoke:to arouse to a feeling or action b : to incite to anger 2 a : to call forth (as a feeling or action) : EVOKE

The Carvahlo and The Shane

Pairs of people who become very close start speaking their own language - twinspeak is a term used when this phenomenon occurs in twins (I may have made that up, because it's not listed in Websters). Sometimes this is complicated or enhanced by shared dialect or isolation, but for me, it's often comprised of inside jokes or shared experiences taken to a whole other level. I noticed the other day that A and I are starting to have our own language and I took that as a very good sign. My last partner and I didn't even share a common primary language, so it's been a really long time since I had a private language with my partner.

On the other hand, E and I, having lived together for four years and spending much of that time in isolation together, have a rich and varied personal language. Sometimes if someone else says something that has come to have meaning for us, all it takes is a look between us for the laughter to come bubbling up. Sometimes, we can't even look at each other when someone says something because it would seem so completely out of place for us to have our usual reaction to these things. Our private language is only complicated by our mutual channeling of Chibo - since he lacks the physical capacity for speech, he often borrows ours and you really can' t believe what he has to say. Sometimes, like the late great Richard Prior, I want to "slap him in the mouf..." and you know the rest of that line!

At any rate, what has me wondering about language this evening is a friend we ran into this week. As E and I walked away from our brief conversation with him, I could only mutter, "He's Carvahlo-ing it, but he doesn't Shane very well!" Yes, we've turned these names into verbs. In the spirit of word of the day, here are some origins and definition, Webster-style:

Carvahlo:
Etymology - from a long-lost friend who took flirting to a whole other level
1 (noun) : a man who flirts openly and obviously with every woman because he would take any woman
2 (verb): to flirt openly and obviously with every woman in the hopes of dating any woman

Shane:
Etymology - from a former date who knew how to make his dates friend feel very welcome
1 (noun): a man who flirts mainly with his date, but flirts enough to make her friends feel welcome without wondering if he wants them
2. (verb): to take care to make one's dates' friends feel welcome and appreciated without being sleazy

The Shane actually evolved out of the Carvahlo, because it seems there are times when flirting with the friends of the one you're trying to catch could be useful and appropriate in controlled amounts. The difference really lies in how it makes the third party feel - if she feels you're hitting on her, it's a Carvahlo; if she feels welcome and included, it's a Shane. Having been on both sides of both of these scenarios, I prefer to share a Shane.

On Top of the Sine Wave

On Top of the World. Top of the Morning To Ya! You're the Tops! A Chart Topper.

Top has a lot of meanings for such a short word - phrases such as on top of, off the top of one's head and over the top extend the list even longer. Today, I'm feeling TOPPY, if I can coin a new term, because I just found out I did NOT fail my exam as I bemoaned previously but did in fact PASS.

Yes, things are definitely turning around. Life spirals. It circles. It cycles. It ebbs and flows. However you draw it out, I'm turning my face into the spring sun and soaking up that energy of motion to create something new. A thesis. Something that wouldn't and won't exist if I don't write it down. Here I go.

Word of the Day

Here's a few words of interest from Webster:

Bucolic:
1: of or relating to shepherds or herdsmen : pastoral
2 a: relating to or typical of rural life b: idyllic

I can't remember where, but A read this to me sometime yesterday and I must say that I really had no idea what it meant. Having looked it up, it makes sense, because we were in the country.

Parkinson's Law:
1 : an observation in office organization: the number of subordinates increases at a fixed rate regardless of the amount of work produced
2 : an observation in office organization: work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion

I was looking up another word in the hardbound dictionary the other day...can't remember which word, but it's somewhere on that two page spread and this entry jumped out at me. There's an interesting fact about me that you may not know - I read in chunks. I don't read across a line of text the way most people do, but more "at a glance" and swallow whole paragraphs. That's why I'm such a fast reader of fiction, but this technique doesn't work for nonfiction as well. Also, this is why I do still so enjoy a paper dictionary - looking up words online doesn't allow for these lucky leaps across the page. At any rate, I like knowing about this law, because it explains a lot about why my thesis is not moving. No excuse though. Time to leave the dictionary and get back to writing something to turn in. But not before:

Morose:
1 : having a sullen and gloomy disposition
2 : marked by or expressive of gloom

Like my last couple posts, the weather and my general disposition today. Cedric the Entertainer and a few Pepsi's are helping though. I tell you that Norman Cousins was onto something with that laughter bit.

Spelling B

I click on my spell check button before I post my blogs. It gives me a little thrill when the results come back "No misspellings found" and that has been the message the last 2-3 times. Writing so much Chinese means it doesn't happen very often in my schoolwork. Spelling has always been challenging for me, so this feels like something to be proud of. It's a little victory, but I'll take it.