Shakespeare and the English

Cracked.com has one of those wonderful articles about Shakespeare and the English language.  The article includes info on the quotes in which these terms were first used in print, the source, and the history of the terms since Shakespeare first used them.  I'm sure you'll find them of interest..check em out...

Eyeball
Puking
Skim Milk
Obscene
Hot-Blooded
The Game is Afoot
Epileptic
Alligator
Wormhole
Household Words

http://www.cracked.com/article_15859_10-words-phrases-you-wont-believe-shakespeare-invented

INFJ website with Incredible Posters

http://www.bradgarbus.com/Personal-Details/personality-profile/INFJ/infj-posters-charts

Check out the rest of his page.  The images are delightful, thoughtful, well presented.  I think you will find something there to give you a moment's pause.  Certainly, I did!

Another North Dakota Surprise

The New York Times has done it again; surprised me!  The picture above and the link below are for a travel article in today's Times.  The first photo was taken in North Dakota and I'm just jazzed to find it. You may wish to read the article as well.  Here's the addy:

 http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/travel/correspondents-select-some-of-their-favorite-roads.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120519

It's almost seven in the evening and I've just come in from a two mile walk out to the fairgrounds on the county road across the slough.  My first view of goslings!  Been watching mom and dad guard the nest for a couple of weeks now.  The goose stands guard most times in the middle of the road.  He's not afraid of much, but politely steps aside when I pass on my evening walk.  On the other side of the road a three some are aptly taking care of another clutch of eggs.  I'm sure soon they too will be proud parents and I'll be seeing them with mom in front and dad and male cohort taking up the rear as they paddle across the water towards the setting sun.

And to add another surprise to the day I report that as the Aussie was going out to check the water supply for the town this early morning, what to his wondering eyes should appear but a full grown female moose sauntering up First Street which is really our main drag.  Long legs took the beauty soon out of reach of the camera so I have no photos, but I promise we'll keep it close in future in case she decides to return.

Spring is truly sprunging in our world..hopefully with joy in yours as well.

Coursera - About Time

 Thomas Ng, Stanford Uni Professor teaches 100,000 students in one semester - cost to each $100.  Not bad for Ng, not bad for the students.  The ever rising cost of tertiary education has ben stymied by the Net, finally.

University of Phoenix and National University are two on-line tertiary providers who have been teaching on line for quite some time.  Looks like Silicon Valley has finally signed on to make billions on education without short changing students.  Seems a win-win situation all round.

Below is a link to the NY Times article on the program.  Take a look.  I suspect you will be impressed if not at the very least interested.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/opinion/friedman-come-the-revolution.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120516

Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories

 Yesterday, I bought Booker's sweet little book for my Kindle.  Today, I've read the first chapter and am in awe of not only his research but also his style.  Here is a superb piece of academic research presented in a conversational style.  Hell, we could be having coffee down at Rosalie and talking books, one of my fav convos.  The reading is way too easy; it draws me from example to example in a most gratifying manner.

How can I convince you that I think you ought to read it?  You need not be an aspiring author to enjoy.  You need only be a curious thinker about all things human to engage with Booker in this charming piece of research that took him 30 years to compile.

Amazon has it for Kindle at $16.00 American. Go buy.  If you are an English teacher or a lit teacher at any level or if you just love stories, buy it.  You'll be entertained, informed, and delighted.  Of this, I am certain.

In the meantime, I'll be back to share some sweet vignettes in future posts.

love you all..enjoy!

 

 

Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories (Paperback)

by Christopher Booker

How the space station sees EARTH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spXqcPRa2bw&feature=youtu.be

check it out!..stunning.....

Phew! Beware of Psychological Typos

And what is this all about?  A correction on a post from a year ago.  Thank goodness a reader brought it to my attention.  I typed Obama when I meant to type Osama -- ouch!!

And now back to our regular programing:

Have had four readers on The Manuscript.  All are published writers and all commented on my chapter one.  It is devastating to discover that I write fiction as badly as I seem to.

In an attempt to correct the error of my ways - please excuse the cliche`, I am going to rewrie each chapter as a short story and see if I can create a dramatic arc.  If I limit myself to a certain number of words, let's say six thousand and make each story a complete entity unto itself, I may be more successful - however, there is the fact that I have yet to get a short story published either.  And I've sent many off.  No telling if this will improve the interest level of the story.

Nonetheless, I cannot quite see myself rewriting the chapters and in the midst of such an endeavor giving up all my 'darlings'.  I have many!

BTW, the picture in today's blog entry is of the Flaxton Clean Up Day, last Saturday.  Let the cleaning of the community serve as a metaphor for my clean up my writing life.

Bold Faced Truths

Erika Dreifus

Words of wisdom from the author of The Borrower, by Rebecca Makkai.

Quotation of the Week: Rebecca Makkai | ErikaDreifus.com

www.erikadreifus.com“One of the first difficult lessons that I had to learn as a writer was to push my characters into doing really inappropriate things, whether it’s a criminal act in this really extreme case, or just saying something that a normal person would keep their mouth shut about, or


My characters may not be this real, but my self, the persona accompanying me on the journey today, certainly is!  When will I ever learn to keep my peace, my mouth shut, etc etc etc?

Never..and those of you who know me realize just how true this admission is.  Sitting here right now stung by the reaction of those I love and admire to my 'bold' assertions of just how things are in my world...  Oh well! ;)

love you all..

Ennui slithers, you know..doesn't creep on little cat's feet.  Slithers, insidiously creeps under the established barriers, slides inside brain cells and deposits tentacles that grab hold of consciousness.  So hard to counter.  So difficult to leave behind. 

Like a shadow, ennui grabs hold of the bottom of feet and follows one's steps from dawn to dusk.  What happens after dark?  Damn ennui slides inside like one of those worms that tickle a toenail and slip into bloodstreams through the feet, slipping out of the soil which keeps us grounded in order to wrap itself around essential organs squeezing the very life out of us.  Ennui - you know.  Every now and again, I know you know.