But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
-Lord Byron
And make millions think is exactly what J.D Salinger did with his 1951 novel “The Catcher in the Rye”. I would have a loved see a world filled with more of his work, but genius is a fragile thing. I have often wondered why those who have the ability to touch the soul of us; who understand humanity so thoroughly, whither in the presence of those very same souls, that very same humanity.
There is talk, as there always is after the death of an artist, about unseen work. They say there might even be a vault filled with unpublished writings. If this stash does exist, I hope they never get their greedy, self-serving, grave-robbing hands on it. Would I like to read some previously unpublished work by J.D Salinger- Yes, that goes without saying. What I would like more, is to respect the wishes of man who gave us more in one book than many others have in ten.
That one book made me and I’m sure countless others see themselves and the world a little different. Goodbye, Mr. J.D Salinger you made us think.
I remember going camping with my school, and we each got a little compass to help us navigate our way through the woods. That was a lot of fun. That was before GPS and a whole lot of things I would have never imagined. Must be so easy now for the kids to be pioneers. But sometimes it’s not about finding your way. Sometimes it’s about choosing a path and the signs can seem to be quaquaversal.
Quaquaversal, my fellow wordphiliacs, means point in all directions.
There’s nothing like going to a flea market and making a “discovery”. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you get really luck, and sometimes there’s no luck and all. That’s what flea markets are all about.
I love a good flea market as much as anybody but I’ve always wondered why they called it a flea market. I thought maybe a long time ago someone (at the then, just plain old market) was selling some items, maybe rugs, and they were infested with fleas. Someone hoping to purchase the rugs noticed the pest and as they scratched insanely yelled “what is this, a flea market!”. And as things have a way of sticking, it stuck.
Needless to say, I was wrong. Think you can come up with something better? Ok, I’ll give you five minutes to think about it. Go.
Done? Ok, let’s see how you did. Well, as it turns out, flea markets have absolutely nothing to do with fleas. Way back in the day, during dutch colonialism there used to be markets where people sold odds and ends just like today’s flea market. These markets took place in the Vallie (valley) which was located in downtown Manhattan. Vallie was soon abbreviated to Vlie which then started being pronounced flea. Yep, folks that’s how it happened. Some how we got a flea out of the Valley.
They say to go withershins is unlucky. I’m not one to believe in bad luck or good luck but whenever I do go withershins it just doesn’t feel right and I always what to turn around and go the other way. I’m guessing everyone else feels this way to since most everything is designed to go clockwise. If you haven’t guessed yet, withershins means in a direction contrary to the sun’s course or counter-clockwise.
A long time ago I was having a conversation with someone who shall remain nameless (but who I know reads this blog) and I said that there had been an implosion of something or another. I can’t quite recall the conversation, like I said it was a long time ago.
This person stopped me mid-sentence to tell me that implosion was not a word. I’m sure you know as well as I, that implosion is in fact a word which means the opposite of explosion. When something implodes it collapses inwards instead of pushing outward. So that day, I won two things. One, the argument about whether or not the word implosion is in fact a word. Two, the ability to get away with using words questionably- all I have to do is bring up the argument about implosion and I get to use words all willy nilly.
I say all this because the day’s word reminded me of the “implosion incident” since supplosion rhymes with implosion and there just aren’t that many ‘plosion words and all. Supplosion, my fellow wordphiliacs, is stomping your feet in disapproval.
Would you look a that, there’s an actual word for it.
You want to lick the screen don’t you? Are these not the most sapid looking sugary treats you have ever seen? Yum. Sapid, my fellow wordphiliacs, means tasty, flavorful.
It has been brought to my attention that I’ve made a grave error not mentioning pogo.com as a great place to play word games. In the words of my reprimander (yeh I made that word up), “Pogo is like the best place to play games and they have some fun word games too! Have you played their scrabble?”
I have to agree, Pogo is thee best place online to play games. So why didn’t I mention it before? It’s a very popular site and thought I’d be a little redundant in mentioning it. I made a mistake, my bad.
When I say pogo is a popular site, that’s not an exaggeration. At any given time their are close to 200,000 players online. Pogo hosts a variety of games which includes 15 word games ( a few a reserved for paying club pogo members) including Scrabble, hangman, tumble bees, bookworm and Boggle to name a few.
Not only is Pogo a great place to play games because of the amazing graphics and unique games but it’s a really cool place to just hang out. Pogo has a very active community and the in-game chat ability makes it easy to make e-friends
Pogo also gives out cash and other prizes. You have the chance to win up to 4,999 dollars just by playing. There are also daily, weekly, and monthly drawings you can enter. Tickets for the drawings are paid for with pogo points. No need to pay all you need to do is play.
You get more than just avatars at pogo too. You get “minis” totally customizable little you’s. There’s a mall where you can shop for clothes for your mini and right now you can purchase a red cross t-shirt for your mini with all proceeds going to the efforts in Haiti. I have mine, get yours at pogo.com today.
I don’t know where that man is taking that woman. Hopefully, they’re just acting. One thing is for sure, wherever they are going she won’t be doing much talking (which is something I’ve never been accused of). Nope, I never been a taciturn person. But since silence is golden and a virtue, I might try it out sometime.
Taciturn, my fellow wordphiliacs, is to be reserved in speech, saying little, or uncommunicative.
The day’s word sounds a little inconspicuous. It just doesn’t sound like what it means, to me. The gentleman pictured above is not at all inconspicuous as he entreats passerbyers for a beer. Entreat, my fellow wordphiliacs, means to ask earnestly of a person.
It’s that time of the year, when it’s almost unavoidable to catch some sort of virus. If you’ve found yourself under the weather I’m sure you’ve tried to recall the advice “feed a cold, starve a fever”. People have been following this bit of advice that is accredited to Greek physician Hippocrates, “the father of medicine”, for many centuries. Unfortunately there is no scientific evidence to support this.
