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Sunday, March 22, 2015

Break From Politics

(For politics, please scroll down)

One of my Facebook finds and a fascinating lesson about our lexicon:

18 comments:

  1. AOW, your up late.....or early. I hope you're feeling better.

    I grew up with the LoTR's books, and didn't know that Tolkien coined 'tween'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CI
      I queued up this post in advance. But I am indeed an early riser.

      My stomach is still iffy, but better than yesterday.

      Delete
  2. A perfect diversion for a slow day. Fun!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alas! my foul Flash Player again has failed.
    This is at least the fifth such time this year.
    'Twould do no good, or else I would have wailed
    And railed against the Powers we must fear.

    "And who are they?" you ask. I cannot say ––
    Nameless, faceless, hidden as they be.
    In plush palatial suites on us they prey
    Causing men to risk their sanity

    Dealing with accurs'd upgrades eternal
    Might a peptic ulcer cause to dwell
    In the stress'd digestive tract internal
    Making rounds quotidian a hell.

    The blessings of modernity are mixed.
    Had I been Czar, I would have had them nixed!



    ~ FreeThinke - 3/22/15

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FT,
      Oh, no!

      I just know that you would love this video. If you could only view it!

      Technology is the enemy.

      Delete
    2. And that, dear friends and foes, is just my roundabout way of saying I cannot appreciate AOW's offering today, because it won't play in my 'puter.

      When an irksome problem lands,
      Don't think too much in it.
      Instead, just use your head and hands
      To fashion a new sonnet.


      §;-D=

      Delete
    3. See if your browser supports the "ClickToPlugin" extension.

      It replaces Flash with HTML5 when possible.
      I have had no problems with it installed on Safari

      Delete
    4. Thank you, Ducky, but I'm quite hopeless at this sort of thing. If I want to get the function back, tomorrow, I'm going to have to call in the Marines.

      By the way, no one called me on it, but here's a much needed correction:

      When an irksome problem lands,
      I don't think too much on it.
      Instead, I use my head and hands
      To fashion a new sonnet.


      It keeps me from being overwhelmed by my inferiority complex at being a total tech moron.

      Delete
    5. FT,
      I was a techtard until Warren taught me a few tricks about how to manage certain web issues.

      For years, I placed "Help!" calls to him on a regular basis. Now I can finally figure out most things for myself. Most -- but not all.

      Delete
  4. FT,
    When your Flash Player comes back, you should make time to watch this video. I guarantee that you'll love it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I especially loved all the riches from Shakespeare. I was talking with a dinner companion last night about the generous vocabulary of the English language (yes, it's what you get when you're invaded by or a refuge for many nations) and remembered my German teacher. She was German by birth, and acquired Spanish as a second language. She loved reading Shakespeare in both. But her face lit up when she talked about the joy of finally learning English well enough to read him in the original language and have the full impact of his word smithing and turn of phrase. It makes me smile just to remember her joy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Baysider,
      As you might know, I'm a huge devotee of Shakespeare (and the Authorized King James Version of the Bible).

      This year, I had great success with my introducing Shakespeare to my middle schoolers. Amazing to watch these children understand the play and dig for depth of meaning. In fact, the children are better readers of Shakespeare than their parents are! Must have something to do with brain plasticity, which is much more malleable before age 18.

      IMO, educators today wait far too long to introduce students to Shakespeare. I've seen for myself that 10 years olds can actually appreciate and enjoy Shakespeare's plays and Shakespearean wordsmithing.

      Delete
  6. I don't want to sound cliched but this was an amazing video for me. It proves that I will forever be a student.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cube,
      Mental Floss doesn't always post what I consider good material. But this video is a gem!

      Delete
    2. I'm a big Zappa fan, so the Mental Floss reference wasn't lost on me, but this video was definitely good. Thanks for sharing.

      Delete

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