Friday, 17 May 2024
I got curious about what word or phrase rhymes with hydrangea. I couldn’t think of any, so I requested suggestions from Out There. AI must have generated the lists I saw, as offerings included grandma, grandpa, and raffia. Mentally, I give each zero points and a nasty buzzer noise.
Thursday, 9 May 2024
The English word avocado etymologically traces to the Nahuatl (“Aztec”) āhuacatl also written auacatl. The spelling is different, but the sounds are more similar. That final -tl is tricky. We English speakers tend to stick a vowel sound between them. Nope. It’s slightly easier for me to eliminate the vowel temptation by starting with tl- in practice. Still, -tl without a vowel sound is against the customary English sound patterns.
It’s better to learn a language by listening rather than reading/writing, I think….
Friday, 29 March 2024
Had a few plumbers through the house today, even though we don’t have lead pipes (I hope!). Mostly plastic instead. We don’t call them plasticers (plastickers?), though. Anyway, the word is that the flushing mechanisms now are all tip-top.
Wednesday, 27 March 2024
I used our spring REI discount on a lightweight, well-cushioned shoe for my near-daily walks. They look a bit like modernized corrective shoes, but, man-o-man do they feel good for my feet and knees (after two days). [Fingers crossed this continues!]
Words floating by today: Patapsco, prill, torque.
Tuesday, 9 January 2024
I enjoyed algebra in an odd way because I got to look at x y and z more often…than in literature and other subjects. I still like those letters, their linearity and symmetry, and that they’re at the end of the alphabet.
Sunday, 7 January 2024
Photo from this day in 2020. Never quite grasped the logic behind “the world is your oyster.” Oysters are slimy and evanescent. Their shells are durable and hang around for thousands of years. If the saying refers to pearls, as some allege, why doesn’t it use the word pearl? I’d rather find parallels, and hope, with oyster shells.
Tuesday, 5 December 2023
I’m heartened to see this magnolia awaiting the arrival of the spring awakening.
On the other hand, this pansy is living in the present.
Title refers to lame alliterations in each sentence.
Monday, 4 December 2023
Acorns or oak-horns. With what we kids called hats and botanists call cupules. Way back then, I put an acorn hat on a Barbie; she was a forest creature, not a pink city gal.
Saturday, 18 November 2023
Dewy morning.
Dew on blue.
Blue with clouds.
Red Japanese maple leaves. Okay, this is the line that changes the game, although it’s the end here.
Tuesday, 7 November 2023
The fennel was showing off in the sunshine. Somewhat ironically, the flower form, an umbel, not only is delicate, but the word comes from the Latin umbelle then the French umbella, both meaning sunshade. Sun to sunshade…the circle is complete.