Honestly, my world has ended so many times that when people speak of such things I tend to just roll my eyes. Been there, done that, and I have the tee-shirt, or at least, I havethe scars.
Once some people came to my door selling the end of the world and I was ready to buy, too! I’ll take three. Bring it on. Can’t get here fast enough as far as I’m concerned. I’m out in the middle of the street looking for the delivery truck.
The last time my world ended I was filled with regret, like I’m not finished yet. I’m like a pot roast that has not yet been tenderized. All we have here is a low grade cut of meat and some crunchy potatoes. I need time to slow cook, to infuse those spices, to spoon myself off the bone.
I haven’t been a newbie on Word Press for 5 years, but while I should be getting more familiar with its challenges I have been having my own, as each year passes. So although I read some of the “One Day” invitations to write and post on a topic, the struggle to accomplish the goal usually proves too much. In this posting I started to respond to the word diligent, then gave up and hours later (I’ve been at this computer for a long time) gave up on submitting it to the joint enterprise, and this is what I am left with:
Don’t know how this works, but I’ll put my toes in, responding to “diligence.” I looked it up in Roget’s Original International Thesaurus--great deal at Thriftbooks– and was led into a garden overflowing with what we ourselves are told not to use when writing–cliches. It was such fun I’ll share a few suggestions, under a sub-meaning of voluntary action:
Dealing; done deal; do one’s stuff; swing into action; run with it; get off the dime or one’s dead ass; fish or cut bait; shit or get off the pot and put up or shut up and put one’s money where one’s mouth is; lift a finger; get a life; do the trick; cut the mustard; carry the ball; rise to the occasion; have a go at; in harness…
And going from diligence in action to activity, we’re told about pep and moxie and oomph and pizzazz and piss and vinegar; hubbub; hullabaloo; hoo-ha and foofaraw and flap; many irons in the fire; much on one’s plate; get-up-and get; eager beaver; wheeler-dealer; finger in every pie…have other fish to fry.
So–a thesaurus could come in handy in character development dialog when writing fiction, even though we are cautioned not for us authors to use cliches (which I often ignore when blogging– I think it’s fun) which brings to mind something I read yesterday, in The Julian Jaynes Collection, edited by Marcel Kuijsten, p 86: “Every word we use to refer to mental events is a metaphor of something in the behavioral world.” (I see I just used “brings to mind,” above).
Why was I reading Julian Jaynes? I often sit in a comfy chair next to my bookcase when drinking coffee, and pull out a book to look at while relaxing. I had bought the book about Jaynes’ theories because in 1985 I had heard Jaynes speak at a 6-day gathering of the Association for the Study of Dreams and the International Dream Conference II at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and had been duly excited when during the discussion period he stepped down from the podium while speaking and into the aisle while another dream expert in the audience left his seat to join Jaynes in the aisle while the two experts politely though energetically offered their conflicting views, waving their arms in the energetic exchange of ideas. That small drama was quite exciting to observe. I wasn’t that young, but still impressionable. Actually, I still am, more than 35 years later.
Painting “Splitting Space and Time”: Dwight L. Roth
Today at d’Verse, Laura asked us to look at the use of repetition in our poetry. Epiphora, from the Greek means ‘to turn about/upon’… and is used to drive in a point through poetic repetition. I am using the word time in my poem to show how we flow and change in time itself.
The painting is an abstract that I did a number of years ago. I thought it fit well with my theme!
I got lost in my search for truth this week. I trace my Alice in Wonderland experience back to two different sources. The first topple was when I looked up “civet” on Google and was taken to the www.britannica site…
Civet, also called civet cat, any of a number of long-bodied, short-legged carnivores of the family Viverridae. There are about 15 to 20 species, placed in 10 to 12 genera. Civets are found in Africa, southern Europe, and Asia. Rather catlike in appearance, they have a thickly furred tail, small ears, and a pointed snout. The coloration varies widely among the species but commonly is buff or grayish with a pattern of black spots or stripes or both. Length ranges from about 40 to 85 cm (16 to 34 inches), with the tail accounting for another 13 to 66 cm (5 to 26 inches), and weight ranges from 1.5 to 11 kg (3.3 to 24 pounds).
African palm civet (Nandinia binotata). Robert C. Hermes from the National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers
Civets are usually solitary and live in tree hollows, among rocks, and in similar places, coming out to forage at night. Except for the arboreal palm civets, such as Paradoxurus (also known as toddy cat because of its fondness for palm juice, or “toddy”) and Nandinia, civets are mainly terrestrial. The Sunda otter civet (Cynogale bennetti), the African civet (Civettictis civetta), and the rare Congo water civet (Genetta piscivora) are semiaquatic. Civets feed on small animals and on vegetable matter. Their litters usually consist of two or three young.
The anal glands of civets open under the tail into a large pouch in which a greasy, musklike secretion accumulates. This secretion, known as civet, is used by the animals in marking territories. The secretion of the small Indian civet, or rasse (Viverricula indica), and of the Oriental civets (Viverra) is employed commercially in the manufacture of perfume. In addition, coffee beans fermented within and excreted from the digestive tracts of civets in the Philippines and Indonesia are sometimes used to enhance the taste of coffee.
This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty, Editor. Encyclopaedia Britannica’s editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree….
Already off-center after reading how civet excretion adds pleasure to our lives, I began surreptitiously reading in Colin Wilson’s Alien Dawn–surreptitiously so as not to model questionable behavior for my children. On page 233 I came across a description of Ebe, the extraterrestrial biological entity. “They have been visiting Earth for 25,000 years…They have been manipulating DNA, and aiding human evolution. It was also stated that Jesus was an extraterrestrial, created by the aliens, placed on earth to teach men about love and nonviolence.”
I had quit believing in UFOs after Trump said they were real… But I reckon we need all the help we can get, especially now…
Remember in Home Alone 2, when the family lands in Miami and they are passing everyones luggage down the line – “Give this to Kevin” – only to find out that, “Kevin’s not here”? And then Catherine O’Hara finds out and is like, “Kevin’s not here lolz” before screaming, “KEVIN!” and faints?
Remember that hullabaloo?
Well, take the essence of that scene, apply it to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and congratulations! You’re now fully caught up on the last six playoff exits, dating back to 2013.
It’s the slow realizaton that you don’t actually have what you thought you did, and you’re about to boomerang yourself back into a horrible situation.
Now then, let’s get the official police statement – if you will – out of the way before I go any further.
Ahem.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were leading their first round playoff series, 3-1, against the Montreal…
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