Downsizing!

When this newest batch of demotivators (courtesy of www-dot-despair-dot-com) was released last fall, I couldn’t wait to start sharing them. They are simply marvelous!  I have personally never had to face or had to worry about a “downsizing” on the job, so this may not seem quite as funny to those who have, but in the true spirit of poking fun at anything and everything . . . carpe diem!

Nonconformity!

Happy Saturday!  How about some oxymoronica to start the weekend?  According to Dr. Mardy Grothe, the word oxymoronica is used “to describe quotations that contain imcompatible or incongruous elements.”  Here’s a quotation from Bill Vaughn on nonconformity that exemplifies this point beautifully.

“If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it’s another nonconformist who doesn’t conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity.”

Source: Oxymoronica by Dr. Mardy Grothe

Fun Fact Friday, Number Twenty-One!

Today’s fun fact will come from the category “food.”  Do you know after whom was the dish eggs Benedict  named?

They were NOT names after the American Revolutionary War traitor, Benedict Arnold, but rather Samuel Benedict, who, in 1894 ordered bacon and poached eggs on toast with Hollandaise sauce at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel.  Instead of the bacon and toast, he received ham on an English muffin and a new breakfast sensation was born.

Source: Sorry, Wrong Answer: Trivia Questions That Even Know-It-Alls Get Wrong by Rod L. Evans.

More Palindromes!

If you like palindromes, then visit this website.  The “longest palindrome” was pretty amazing.  Below was one of my favorites.

Dennis, Nell, Edna, Leon, Nedra, Anita, Rolf, Nora, Alice, Carol, Leo, Jane, Reed, Dena, Dale, Basil, Rae, Penny, Lana, Dave, Denny, Lena, Ida, Bernadette, Ben, Ray, Lila, Nina, Jo, Ira, Mara, Sara, Mario, Jan, Ina, Lily, Arne, Bette, Dan, Reba, Diane, Lynn, Ed, Eva, Dana, Lynne, Pearl, Isabel, Ada, Ned, Dee, Rena, Joel, Lora, Cecil, Aaron, Flora, Tina, Arden, Noel, and Ellen sinned.

A Fragrant Journey!

I am truly fortunate to have honeysuckle growing alongside the trail that I usually walk/run upon.  This is one of nature’s aromatic fragrances and it is certainly a welcomed bonus to my exertions during exercise.  Here’s a photo I took last evening during my run.

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Dipsacales
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Genus: Lonicera

Permeate!

While I like this word and use it on occasion, I am certainly open to using some of the synonyms below (when appropriate).  Even as these words are considered synonyms, there are always slight variations of meaning depending upon how they are used.  So, by all means, add some of these other words to your vocabulary, but don’t necessarily discard permeate completely.

\ pur-mee-eyt \, noun;

1.  to pass into or through every part of

2.  to penetrate through the pores, interstices, etc., of

3.  to be diffused through; pervade; saturate

verb (used without object), permeated, permeating.

4.  to become diffused; penetrate

But according to my copy of The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate, here are some other options to help extend your vocabulary (depending on your specific need or usage):

• imbrue
• imbue
• impregnate
• inosculate
• interosculate
• interpenetrate
• pervade
• supersaturate
• tincture

Source: The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate by Eugene Ehrlich.  Definitions courtesy of http://www.dictionary.com

Breaking News!

On this day (in 1936) engineers from the RCA-Victor company provided the pictures/footage of firemen answering an alarm call in Camden, New Jersey.  This represents the first unscheduled event to be televised as it occurred.  It was shown in green tint, 5×7 inches, 24 pictures per second, on a 343-line screen.

Other “firsts” for April 24th include the following:

• American naval victory in British waters during the Revolutionary War (1778)
• College named after an American president (1783)
• Health board established by a city (1795)
• Docks owned by a state ((1863)
• Organization to offer free lunches for the poor and sick (1873)
• Medical society for African-Americans (1884)
• African-American Catholic priest assigned to work in the United States (1886)
• Round-the-world solo sailing journey (1895)
• Skyscraper higher than 750 feet (1913)
• Joint stock land bank (1917)
• Army general to fly over enemy lines (1917)
• Catholic nuns in a cloistered community (1922)
• Fathometer (1928)
• Pipeless organ (1934)
• Glider commercial freight service (1946)
• African-American professional basketball player (1950)
• Civilian pilot wounded in Vietnam (1954)
• Coast-to-coast telecast by satellite (1962)

Source: Famous First Facts (6th ed.) by Joseph Nathan Kane, Steven Anzovin, and Janet Podell.

Peter and the Wolf!

Happy Birthday Sergei Prokofiev (1891)!  Here’s one of his more famous pieces, “Peter and the Wolf” (and one of my favorites as well).  What an entertaining piece to both hold a child’s attention while at the same time teaching about an assortment of orchestral instruments.  Enjoy!

Some Humor for the Weekend!

Happy Saturday!  Here are a few computer-related jokes that I have had the pleasure of running across lately.  Enjoy!

Did you know that the oldest computer can be traced back to Adam and Eve?
Surprise!  Surprise!
It was an Apple.
But, it had extremely limited memory . . .
Just 1 byte . . .
Then everything crashed.

“If at first you don’t succeed, call it version 1.0.”

I changed my password to “incorrect,” so whenever I forget what it is, the computer will say “your password is incorrect.”

Computer: Press any key to start.
User: Where’s the “any” key?

Need a few more?  Check out this page.

 

Fun Fact Friday, Number Twenty!

The “heart” of the matter.  Today’s facts will center on unique facts about the heart.  Were you aware that . . .

• a hummingbird’s heart beats 1,400 times per minute? (Real Fact #127)
• the blue whale’s heart is the size of a small car? (Real Fact #232)
• ancient Egyptians believed the “vein of love” ran from the third finger on the left hand to the heart?  (Real Fact #309)
• the common garden worm has five pairs of hearts (Real Fact #750)
• women’s hearts typically beat faster than men’s hearts?  (Real Fact #829)
• the King of Hearts is the only king without a mustache? (Real Fact #1012)
• an octopus has three hearts?  (Real Fact #1031)

Source: http://www.snapple.com/real-facts