My life is so boring all I can think of to discuss is my garden produce.

Mostly. So….

Dju know…that Italy’s wolf populations are s-l-o-w-l-y bouncing back? See, this has to be important to Italians because a mama wolf (no grizzly, she) was a leading player in the legend of Rome’s founding…. Turns out there are several founding legends, but the twins and the she-wolf was always the story I heard….

I got such good material last week in NYC, I just had to use one more New York Snap. This is from the famous boat house in Central Park. Actually, it’s not the “boathouse” where you rent—I kid you not—”excursion crafts (row boats),” but the building where you can keep and refurbish your model sailboat—just sign up on the list on the bulletin board inside. Then, take your boat-treasure right out across the apron and set it afloat on the “Conservatory Water“—don’t get me started on that name! Anyway, this is the building’s carefully framed Certificate of Occupancy. Can you see the date in the upper right? 1954. The other thing I found interesting: down at the bottom of this clip: occupancy is limited to 5 male and 5 female. Just how do they figure that?

Some definitions:

Profane means non-sacred or outside the temple—thus, irreverent or blasphemous. The term is also used for general verbal expressions that sound or are intended to sound insulting, rude, or disrespectful.

To blaspheme is to speak irreverently about sacred or holy things (apologies for the circularity). Blasphemy has a religious component. Some countries ban blaspheming.

Obscene means outside the standards of decency and morality, and often is applied to sexual matters. What is obscene is contextual. And good luck with a universal distinction between obscenity and indecency.

Curses, strictly speaking (haha), invoke supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on someone or something. Cuss is an informal version of the word, in this context.

Swearing is to make a solemn statement; it’s also to use offensive language, often in anger.

Vulgarity is an indecorous expression specifically chosen for its unrefined character; it generally has a social and moral component, even if casually chosen.

Okay. Now, don’t confuse or blur these!

And note that they don’t all overlap. Remember this when listening to the current hubub about the Supremes’ latest decision on language and broadcasting. And remember that profanity, obscenity, etc. are contextual, both in the moment (who are the speaker and audience? what is conventional for them?) and within the social experiences of the user of the language.

So, “swear words” may be profane, obscene, vulgar, or curses, but rarely are all of them. Most common swear words in the US of A these days are obscene and vulgar. A few are profane and curses; to some, that makes them also vulgar. But, the overwhelming majority users of these words do not think of any of the common swear words as blasphemy—and may not be able to come up with any words they think of as blasphemy. See how complicated it is?

Stibnite is the mineral that contains antimony and sulfur. Usually it’s found in large masses with few free-standing crystals (so says the AMNH‘s label). This half-ton specimen is truly exceptional.

I suspect the museum paid or traded for this, which came from China. Or maybe it’s on loan. The label doesn’t say.

I have now read a book on TD (aka Teddy, stands for That Device, known in commercial circles as an iPad). And watched a full-length movie. I have to say, it worked well for both. I can see why Kindle fans find the surface glare distracting under some conditions. However, the clarity of the movie, wow!

Speaking of Teddy, can you read the quote? The title is Youth. This is from the Teddy Roosevelt salon, now the east-facing main entry to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. The façade is under construction, so you enter beneath cleverly disguised scaffolding. Outside is a monumental sculpture of Teddy on a horse, with a compliant Indian standing next to them. The composition is just plain weird if you have twenty-first century values in your brain when you look at it. I realized, however, that if you’re interested in horse tack, the sculpture offers tremendous detail, with rosettes, saddle decorations, and the like. Anyway, the Teddy quote*:

I WANT TO SEE YOU GAME BOYS

I WANT TO SEE YOU BRAVE AND MANLY

AND I ALSO WANT TO SEE YOU GENTLE

AND TENDER

BE PRACTICAL AS WELL AS GENEROUS

IN YOUR IDEALS KEEP YOUR EYES

ON THE STARS AND KEEP YOUR FEET

ON THE GROUND

COURAGE HARD WORK SELF MASTERY

AND INTELLIGENT EFFORT ARE ALL

ESSENTIAL TO A SUCCESSFUL LIFE

CHARACTER IN THE LONG RUN

IS THE DECISIVE FACTOR IN THE LIFE

OF AN INDIVIDUAL AND OF NATIONS

ALIKE

Is this the first example of the phrase “game boy”? Yeah, I know I’m supposed to have a loftier take-away, but my feet were hurting when I read this the first time….

* Apparently punctuation was beyond precious. Or anti-style. Sorry, I couldn’t get the technology to display the proper indents—which are inconsistent anyway.

Picture this: you’re driving through this town, and you know from the map that ahead of you is the confluence of locally major rivers. In your mind’s eye, when you crest the ridge, you will see a Y of rivers, the two coming in and the one flowing out. Maybe there’ll be some parkland right along the edges, even. And maybe there’ll be a fisherperson or two casting into the water.

Pah. No. This is the US of A’s northeast. Rivers were highways, and instead of being rimmed with recreation areas, in cities they were Important to the City’s Business. You’d think.

We whizzed along, no time to stop, but this confluence, from my view eastbound in Easton, then a right at the bus, got me confused. Far right is the railroad bridge. Then the Mickeys, and then, to the left, business as usual. Where is confluence-centric construction and space? Maybe hidden behind those trees?

Credit this image to my spouse. What a lovely arrangement of our tomato-bounty!

The green tomato is one a squirrel—perhaps this one—ahem, pruned, and my science experiment is to see if it will ripen at all.

Not meaning to rub it in, but here’re the peppers we came home to. They’re supposed to be sweet, but I have my doubts based on their shape. I’ll use science tomorrow when I pluck and taste one….

Yellow columbine, with a nod to KW.

NEX.

Plex.

This is older, but: PEX.

My conclusion: the “ex” ending is hot in product naming.

And secondarily: capitalization is flexible.

NEX is from Sony’s αNEX series of cameras—Sony’s impressive counter to the micro four thirds lines offered not long ago by Olympus and Panasonic.

Plex is software we’re using these days to replace cable, which we dropped over the winter (even though it’s a legit biz expense for Someone).

PEX is “cross-linked polyethylene” pipe or tubing. Think snap-together plumbing in the Great White North. Don’t ask what it may be leaching into the water (I tell myself).

Plex and PEX aside, my new camera lust* is the αNEX line (especially this one). Nif-tee!

* This in spite of the fact that we have three fine up-to-date digital cameras, including the iPhone.

Sometimes you just gotta capture a roadside moment, even though there’s glare on the windshield and the light is pure crap.

This is on the south side of town, out where it feels like “out in the country” to me, as I guess it was a half-century ago!

People respect non-fiction, but they read novels.

—E.O. Wilson, entomologist/sociobiologist/novelist in an interview with Diane Rehm today; Wilson is promoting his new, first fiction publication, Anthill

Okay, the picture is a nodding trillium (Trillium cernuum). You didn’t think I’d spend the afternoon in the woods in the spring on a sunny day, and not give you at least one flower picture, didja? Yes, from yesterday…. (The nodding part is from the flower hanging below the leaves.)