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With whimsy, imagination and a little something from the heart. |
 Do you have a tendency to sip or spill the tea? Maybe you met someone and caught feelings. Has anyone ever said you are a G.O.A.T.? If so, you should be flattered. These are just a few of the 2019 slang terms I’ve heard from my grandkids. I will translate before continuing. Spilling the tea means to gossip. Sipping tea is keeping things to yourself. When you realize you like someone you’ve caught feelings. G.O.A.T. is used frequently in sports, but works anywhere. It means the Greatest Of All Time.
These words and phrases have become so much a part of our culture. The Merriam-Webster dictionary, for example, has added 533 new words and definitions to their dictionary this September. You’ll see words and phrases like fabulosity, vacay (short for vacation), deep state, dad joke, autogenic training (a self-relaxing technique) and so on. I thought it would be fun to time travel backwards and get a smattering of what was popular in different eras. 1920’s: the real McCoy, 23 skidoo, cat’s pajamas, bee’s knees, hotsie totsie, moll (gangster’s girl friend, Speakeasy). 1930’s: monkey’s uncle, gig, moxie, juke joint (a casual, inexpensive establishment that had drinking, dancing and blues music), slack meaning drunk. 1940’s: fat head, bupkis (nothing) take a powder, keeping up with the Joneses, in the hot seat. 1950’s: Daddy-o, dig it, cat (a cool person), threads (clothes), pad (residence). 1960’s: The Man (someone of authority or in power), groovy, bug out, passion pit (drive-in movie), burn rubber, fink, freak out. 1970’s: far out, dig it, the real deal, dufus, gig, cool (still in use), workaholic, starting every sentence with ‘like.’ 1980’s: bodacious, dweeb, gag me with a spoon, poser, duh, bad (meaning good), air head, yuppie. 1990’s. dis, booyah, as if, not, whatever, my bad. 2000- 2010: cool your jets, don’t have a cow, my bad, it’s all good, going postal. 2010 to present: binge watch, woo-woo, YOLO (you only live once), TBH (to be honest), ghost, basic (mainstream). Undoubtedly, you have many more phrases in your memory banks. There certainly is an innumerable list from the beginning of slang usage. For now, no worries. It’s all Gucci. Comments are welcomed.
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 Having recently written about inspiration, I wondered what path I would meander down this week. There have definitely been some obstacles along the way. For example, I had an injury which has resulted in pain taking over my consciousness along with my physical body. No doubt any of you who have or are suffering severe pain can attest to what it does to brain function. There is a lack of clarity, focus and motivation. Nonetheless, we find a way to do what needs to be done.
So here I am, giving this writing a go and we’ll see where it ends up as I mosey along. Okay. I think I am on to something. “I love nonsense,” said Dr. Seuss. “It wakes up the brain cells.” That’s it – a little nonsense, a little whimsy, a little imagination and a lot of fun.“ I’m sticking with a little more Dr. Seuss. The good doctor says “you miss the best things when your eyes are shut.” Rather obvious, right? Suppose we open up our inner eyes. That moves us into the realm of infinite possibility. My tendency is to partner with whimsy. Whimsy and I have had some delightful adventures. Some adventures even took place in my own home. Like the day I opened a window and whimsy blew in on the wind followed by several neighborhood fairies. I had to supply them with tea and petit fors while they gossiped. Another time whimsy and I found ourselves in an enchanted garden. At first glance it appeared to be a regular garden. Looking around we (whimsy and I) noticed the most charming gazebo. Being a big fan of gazebos we went straight to it, stepped in and had a seat. Having a second glance the garden was anything but regular. What we saw and experienced is for another time to tell. Of course, we mustn’t forget the wizard down the street. I have yet to figure out exactly where he lives. He shows up intermittently with some message for the day. He might say something like, “Kindness. Don’t leave home without it.” I think you get the drift of all this. And, as I’ve written before, science has proven imagination, creativity, fun, play are all components of a life of well being. “The writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” And so, I burden you no further. The end. Comments are welcomed.  Friday the 13th brought the most famous Full Moon of the year - the Harvest Moon. The Old Farmers Almanac had several little known facts I thought you might find interesting.
Astronomically, the Harvest Moon is the full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox (and things really are being harvested right around now). The Harvest Moon isn’t always in the same month. It can fall in September or October . This year it was this past Friday the 13th. Why Does the Harvest Moon Look Orange? Nothing differentiates a Harvest Moon in appearance. It’s more of a lunar phenomenon. This full Moon might look orange and enormous when it’s low. But all Moons do that. They look orange or red in color because your eyes are looking through a greater thickness of Earth’s atmosphere. They look larger when near the horizon because of what we call the "Moon Illusion." What about Friday the 13th? Nothing makes a full Moon on Friday the 13th special except that it’s a fairly rare calendar coincidence since Friday the 13th only happens one to three times a year. The next full Moon on a Friday the 13th takes place on August 13, 2049. The moon:
The Moon is one of only four celestial objects that can cast shadows on Earth (the other three being the Sun, Venus, and the rare fireball meteor). Still, the Moon is NOT a good reflector of light. In fact, it’s awful. On average, its terrain reflects just 8 to 13 percent of incoming sunlight, which matches the darkness of asphalt. By comparison, Earth reflects 35% of the sunlight hitting us, while shiny Venus reflects 76%. If a moon-sized Venus sat at the Moon’s distance from us, it would appear seven times more brilliant than the full Moon, enough to give us a blue sky at night. On Weather: The air nearest to the ground experiences a worldwide monthly warming of about 0.04 (4/100) of a degree Fahrenheit during the period from 5-8 days after the full Moon. This tiny monthly temperature rise is still not understood, but may be caused by the moon’s hot daytime surface throwing infrared heat our way, like a bathroom heater. In addition, there is a statistically greater probability of cloudiness, storminess, and rainfall around the full Moon than would be expected by chance. This effect, too, has not been fully explained. There you have it – a little potpourri of Moon this and that. And, nothing unlucky about it. Just the facts. Comments are welcomed.  So I’m sitting here at my computer wondering where I might find inspiration. It’s been said that inspiration can be found in the most unexpected places. Or was that something else in unexpected places? I’m sticking with inspiration. Now I not only need to find inspiration, but I also need to find unexpected places. That’s a little bit of a conundrum, wouldn’t you say?
Okay. Where to begin? I scoured my apartment from top to bottom, checked all the nooks and crannies. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing to latch onto to write about. Guess I’ll have to don a trench coat, fedora, and spy glass and go out into the world to do some sleuthing. Ah, those unexpected places harboring inspiration, where could they be? They are not in my neighborhood as everything is a crazy mess due to road construction. I’ll have to look elsewhere. Or, maybe I need to rethink this whole thing. Ok. I am now in rethinking mode. There are a number of ways to go with this. One is going out in the world to try to find something or someone that gives you pause in a positive way. Another may be about being inspired by beautiful artworks or music. Maybe we have memories of special events or people who touched our hearts. Maybe a walk in nature that brings forth awe and wonder for all creation. What I finally realized is that you do not have to go anywhere or do anything special to be inspired. Inspiration often comes from the heart and/or soul. When that happens one does what one is prompted to do be it something of a creative nature or a way to be of service to others or both. Coming to that realization was rather comforting and left me feeling more relaxed and peaceful. I also became aware of something worth noting. In my case there is a trigger to all this. The trigger is – wait for it – coffee. Yup. You can consult Professor Google to see the myriads of benefits of coffee depending how many cups you drink. Although I only have one cup a day, I still find it quite the elixir. Since I only have the one cup, it must be of the highest quality and organic when possible. What is the connection between coffee and inspiration? Glad you asked. The benefit that popped for me was when coffee gets to the brain from the blood stream, it inhibits the neurotransmitter andocine. That causes a stimulant effect which boosts memory, energy, mood and brain function. That pretty much says it all. With a little bit of coffee enhanced mood and brain function, I am good to go. Alright, now that I’ve sorted out this inspiration thing, let’s see what unfolds for next week. Comments are welcomed.  Happy Labor Day. Or is it being the last long weekend of summer. It begins all over again tomorrow – school, work, realizing the year’s end is more near than far. Forget I mentioned that last one. There is so much excitement, wonder, adventure to be had in the coming days.
Being a former teacher, I’d like to revisit a couple of memorable school days. The experiences I had as a Special Education teacher often lead to people suggesting I write a book. If you’ve read any of my blogs in which I talk about my anti-writing attitude, you know that ain’t gonna happen. Instead I’d like to relate a couple of stand out memories from my own school days. The first one took place in second grade. This might horrify parents in today’s culture around student discipline (or lack of it). One of the boys was a bit of a cut up. Miss L would get a little exasperated with him. One day she apparently had enough. Her big punishment was to have H sit under her desk. The morning continued on and before we knew it was lunch time. Off we went to the lunch room, but there was no H. Where was he? What could have happened? Turns out that he fell asleep under Miss L’s desk and everyone, including her, forgot about him. H turned out to be a fine person suffering no signs of PTSD from his confinement. He actually rather enjoyed having a mid morning nap. The rest of us had lots of chuckles about it. I’m sure Miss L did not find it amusing. Fast forward to tenth grade. Back in the day a tracking system was used. My cousin and I were in the college prep track. For some unknown reason the powers that be authorized students to sign up for the track of our choice. Of course, my cousin and I enrolled ourselves in the track we figured would require the least amount of work and effort. There we were all smug and smiles certain we would skate through the upcoming year. Then one not so fine day we were called into the office. Seems they caught onto us and promptly returned us to the college prep group. It was great fun while it lasted and we still felt like we got away with one short lived as it was. My friends and I engaged in countless shenanigans over the years as young'uns are want to do. All were quite harmless. All part of growing up while enjoying the early years. Now my favorite thing about back to school week is that I no longer have to go back to school. In closing, I’d like you to know that if I had your address I would send you a beautiful bouquet of Crayola crayons. Comments are welcomed. |
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