October 05, 2008
cantankerous
: difficult or irritating to deal with
Posted by renh at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2008
culminate:
intransitive verb
1of a celestial body : to reach its highest altitude ; also : to be directly overhead
2 a: to rise to or form a summit b: to reach the highest or a climactic or decisive point
transitive verb
: to bring to a head or to the highest point
Posted by renh at 08:43 AM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2008
http://psychology.about.com/od/phobias/a/phobialist.htm
Posted by renh at 07:16 PM | Comments (0)
August 01, 2008
frill
1 a: a gathered, pleated, or bias-cut fabric edging used on clothing b: a strip of paper curled at one end and rolled to be slipped over the bone end (as of a chop) in serving
2: a ruff of hair or feathers or a bony or cartilaginous projection about the neck of an animal
3 a: affectation, air —usually used in plural
Posted by renh at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2008
dapper:
1 a: neat and trim in appearance b: very spruce and stylish
2: alert and lively in movement and manners
paroxysm:
1 : a fit, attack, or sudden increase or recurrence of symptoms (as of a disease) : convulsion
2 : a sudden violent emotion or action : outburst
Posted by renh at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2008
adages
"It's very important to live your life by an internal yardstick. " - - WB
"Margaret Mead once said, Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world. Indeed, they are the only ones who ever have." - - JK
Posted by renh at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2008
thanks
I learned a few ways to express gratitude from Pulitzer wining writer.
I feel grateful to , and especially to .
I feel grateful beyond measure to and, I must say, to the fates that allowed my path to cross his.
I want to thank , who supported this project, encouraged me, and lent painstaking assistance.
My thanks to ,,, ; ,,,,,.
I want to express my gratitude to , to , to, and to all the other members, past and present, of , especially the following: .
I wish to thank .
I am in debt to as well: .
I wish to offer special thanks to , to the extended family - , , , and - for , for, for .
For their extraordinary grace and kindness, I offer my thanks to .
Posted by renh at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2008
subpoena
subpoena: a legal writ requiring the person named in it to appear in court.
Posted by renh at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)
May 20, 2008
disparate: Completely distinct in kind or quality
Posted by renh at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2008
seismology: The science that deals with earthquakes and the mechanical properties of the earth.
Posted by renh at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)
April 07, 2008
intrigue n. 1. a. A furtive maneuver or plan: plot.
rosary n. 1. a series of prayers. 2. A string of beads for counting prayers.
Posted by renh at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
March 31, 2008
CNN typo
"To say it's been difficult for the Gastons in an understatement. But above all, they love each other and work to give their children as much happiness as possible."
Posted by renh at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2007
squirm
ntr.v., squirmed, squirm·ing, squirms.
To twist about in a wriggling, snakelike motion; writhe.
To feel or exhibit signs of humiliation or embarrassment.
taut
adj., taut·er, taut·est.
Pulled or drawn tight; not slack. See synonyms at tight.
Strained; tense: nerves taut with anxiety.
Kept in trim shape; neat and tidy.
Marked by the efficient, sparing, or concise use of something, such as language or detail: a taut movie script.
extravaganza
1.An elaborate, spectacular entertainment or display: “Washington is an extravaganza of great buildings, greenery, and monuments” (Larry Griffin).
2.Music. A composition marked by freedom and diversity of form, often with burlesque elements and satirical or parodic intent.
Posted by renh at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2007
a quotation
People often say that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look, including inside ourselves.
Posted by renh at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)
August 07, 2007
go against the grain
-to do something that is the opposite of what is usually done.
eg: It's not easy to go against the grain and buy stocks when others are selling them.
Posted by renh at 07:16 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2007
squan·der (skwndr)
tr.v. squan·dered, squan·der·ing, squan·ders
1. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste.
2. To fail to take advantage of; lose a chance for: squandered an opportunity to go to college.
3. Obsolete To scatter.
n.
Extravagant expenditure; prodigality.
collateral: Assets pledged by a borrower to secure a loan or other credit, and subject to seizure in the event of default. also called security.
Posted by renh at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2007
toil:
intr.v., toiled, toil·ing, toils.
To labor continuously; work strenuously.
To proceed with difficulty: toiling over the mountains.
defer v.tr.
To put off; postpone.
To postpone the induction of (one eligible for the military draft).
nihilism:
Philosophy.
An extreme form of skepticism that denies all existence.
A doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated.
Rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to repudiate all previous theories of morality or religious belief.
The belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement.
Psychiatry. A delusion, experienced in some mental disorders, that the world or one's mind, body, or self does not exist.
Posted by renh at 01:43 PM | Comments (0)
July 05, 2007
intr.v. loi·tered, loi·ter·ing, loi·ters
1. To stand idly about; linger aimlessly.
2. To proceed slowly or with many stops: loitered all the way home.
3. To delay or dawdle: loiter over a task.
Posted by renh at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2007
The buildup to the much-anticipated interview was palpable.
buildup: n 1, gradual increase; 2, informal widely favourable publicity
Time will be the determinant of whether Hilton has changed her wily ways or if this is a spurious attempt to rebuild a battered image
wily: tricky: sly
spurious: not authentic or geniune: false
battered, batter v to pound or damage with heavy and repeated blow
she's been playing somewhat of a vacuous role.
vacuous: 1. empty: blank. 2. a. lacking intelligence: stupid. b. pointless: inane
being a good girl may not bode well for business
bode: to be a sign or omen of: signify
Posted by renh at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2007
flowers
lilacs
dandelion
daffodil
magnolia
iris
peony
geranium
dahlia
Posted by renh at 07:31 PM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2007
new words
bane: 1. cause of harm or ruin, 2. poison
baneful adj
slacker: someone who shirks work or evades responsibilities
consternation
Posted by renh at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)
April 30, 2007
informal
shaft: treat harshly and unfairly
eg he was shafted by the press.
trim: v. to cheat
Posted by renh at 06:25 PM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2007
april 24th
insinuatingly
insinuate- 1 a. to introduce (eg a suspicion) slyly; b. to introduce (oneself) by sly and ingenious means. 2. to hint
audacious: 1. bold: daring 2. arrogantly impudent: insolent
sputter: 1. a. to spit out small particles in short bursts. b. to make a coughing noise characteristic of sputtering. 2. to speak excitedly or confusedly: stammer
straitjacket:
A straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with overlong sleeves. The ends of these can be tied to the back of the wearer, so their arms are kept close to their chest with possibility of only little movement. Straitjackets are used to restrain people who may otherwise cause harm to themselves and others.
frantic: emotionally distraught, as from worry or fear
screech: 1. to scream. 2. to make a shrill, grating sound.
defy: 1. to face up to: challenge. 2. to withstand or resist successfully. 3. to dare or challenge something thought to be impossible. defier n. eg. defy the immutable law of timed stopped lights.
chagrin: n&v lack of mental ease caused by disappointment, humiliation, or failure
garrulous: talkative, esp. excessively so: chatty
Posted by renh at 01:14 PM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2007
new word - tic and tourette syndrome
started to read motherless brooklyn:
Tics are sudden, repetitive, stereotyped, nonrhythmic, involuntary movements (motor tics) and utterances (phonic tics) that involve discrete muscle groups.[6] Motor tics are movement-based tics, while phonic tics are involuntary sounds produced by moving air through the nose, mouth, or throat.
Tourette's is one of several tic disorders, which are classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) according to type (motor or phonic tics) and duration (transient or chronic).
Posted by renh at 11:50 AM | Comments (1)
April 18, 2007
April 18th
effusion: an act or instance of pouring forth; an excessive or unrestrained outpouring of feeling, as in speech.
hark: to listen closely. hark back- to return to an earlier subject or circumstance.
Posted by renh at 12:45 PM | Comments (1)
March 16, 2007
the toad
The well was deep, and therefore the rope had to be a long one; it was heavy work turning the handle when any one had to raise a bucketful of water over the edge of the well. Though the water was clear, the sun never looked down far enough into the well to mirror itself in the waters; but as far as its beams could reach, green things grew forth between the stones in the sides of the well.
Down below dwelt a family of the Toad race. They had, in fact, come head-over-heels down the well, in the person of the old Mother-Toad, who was still alive. The green Frogs, who had been established there a long time, and swam about in the water, called them “well-guests.” But the new-comers seemed determined to stay where they were, for they found it very agreeable living “in a dry place,” as they called the wet stones.
The Mother-Frog had once been a traveller. She happened to be in the water-bucket when it was drawn up, but the light became too strong for her, and she got a pain in her eyes. Fortunately she scrambled out of the bucket; but she fell into the water with a terrible flop, and had to lie sick for three days with pains in her back. She certainly had not much to tell of the things up above, but she knew this, and all the Frogs knew it, that the well was not all the world. The Mother-Toad might have told this and that, if she had chosen, but she never answered when they asked her anything, and so they left off asking.
“She’s thick, and fat and ugly,” said the young green Frogs; “and her children will be just as ugly as she is.”
“That may be,” retorted the mother-Toad, “but one of them has a jewel in his head, or else I have the jewel.”
The young frogs listened and stared; and as these words did not please them, they made grimaces and dived down under the water. But the little Toads kicked up their hind legs from mere pride, for each of them thought that he must have the jewel; and then they sat and held their heads quite still. But at length they asked what it was that made them so proud, and what kind of a thing a jewel might be.
“Oh, it is such a splendid and precious thing, that I cannot describe it,” said the Mother-Toad. “It’s something which one carries about for one’s own pleasure, and that makes other people angry. But don’t ask me any questions, for I shan’t answer you.”
“Well, I haven’t got the jewel,” said the smallest of the Toads; she was as ugly as a toad can be. “Why should I have such a precious thing? And if it makes others angry, it can’t give me any pleasure. No, I only wish I could get to the edge of the well, and look out; it must be beautiful up there.”
“You’d better stay where you are,” said the old Mother-Toad, “for you know everything here, and you can tell what you have. Take care of the bucket, for it will crush you to death; and even if you get into it safely, you may fall out. And it’s not every one who falls so cleverly as I did, and gets away with whole legs and whole bones.”
“Quack!” said the little Toad; and that’s just as if one of us were to say, “Aha!”
She had an immense desire to get to the edge of the well, and to look over; she felt such a longing for the green, up there; and the next morning, when it chanced that the bucket was being drawn up, filled with water, and stopped for a moment just in front of the stone on which the Toad sat, the little creature’s heart moved within it, and our Toad jumped into the filled bucket, which presently was drawn to the top, and emptied out.
“Ugh, you beast!” said the farm laborer who emptied the bucket, when he saw the toad. “You’re the ugliest thing I’ve seen for one while.” And he made a kick with his wooden shoe at the toad, which just escaped being crushed by managing to scramble into the nettles which grew high by the well’s brink. Here she saw stem by stem, but she looked up also; the sun shone through the leaves, which were quite transparent; and she felt as a person would feel who steps suddenly into a great forest, where the sun looks in between the branches and leaves.
“It’s much nicer here than down in the well! I should like to stay here my whole life long!” said the little Toad. So she lay there for an hour, yes, for two hours. “I wonder what is to be found up here? As I have come so far, I must try to go still farther.” And so she crawled on as fast as she could crawl, and got out upon the highway, where the sun shone upon her, and the dust powdered her all over as she marched across the way.
“I’ve got to a dry place. now, and no mistake,” said the Toad. “It’s almost too much of a good thing here; it tickles one so.”
She came to the ditch; and forget-me-nots were growing there, and meadow-sweet; and a very little way off was a hedge of whitethorn, and elder bushes grew there, too, and bindweed with white flowers. Gay colors were to be seen here, and a butterfly, too, was flitting by. The Toad thought it was a flower which had broken loose that it might look about better in the world, which was quite a natural thing to do.
“If one could only make such a journey as that!” said the Toad. “Croak! how capital that would be.”
Eight days and eight nights she stayed by the well, and experienced no want of provisions. On the ninth day she thought, “Forward! onward!” But what could she find more charming and beautiful? Perhaps a little toad or a few green frogs. During the last night there had been a sound borne on the breeze, as if there were cousins in the neighborhood.
“It’s a glorious thing to live! glorious to get out of the well, and to lie among the stinging-nettles, and to crawl along the dusty road. But onward, onward! that we may find frogs or a little toad. We can’t do without that; nature alone is not enough for one.” And so she went forward on her journey.
She came out into the open field, to a great pond, round about which grew reeds; and she walked into it.
“It will be too damp for you here,” said the Frogs; “but you are very welcome! Are you a he or a she? But it doesn’t matter; you are equally welcome.”
And she was invited to the concert in the evening—the family concert; great enthusiasm and thin voices; we know the sort of thing. No refreshments were given, only there was plenty to drink, for the whole pond was free.
“Now I shall resume my journey,” said the little Toad; for she always felt a longing for something better.
She saw the stars shining, so large and so bright, and she saw the moon gleaming; and then she saw the sun rise, and mount higher and higher.
“Perhaps after all, I am still in a well, only in a larger well. I must get higher yet; I feel a great restlessness and longing.” And when the moon became round and full, the poor creature thought, “I wonder if that is the bucket which will be let down, and into which I must step to get higher up? Or is the sun the great bucket? How great it is! how bright it is! It can take up all. I must look out, that I may not miss the opportunity. Oh, how it seems to shine in my head! I don’t think the jewel can shine brighter. But I haven’t the jewel; not that I cry about that—no, I must go higher up, into splendor and joy! I feel so confident, and yet I am afraid. It’s a difficult step to take, and yet it must be taken. Onward, therefore, straight onward!”
She took a few steps, such as a crawling animal may take, and soon found herself on a road beside which people dwelt; but there were flower gardens as well as kitchen gardens. And she sat down to rest by a kitchen garden.
“What a number of different creatures there are that I never knew! and how beautiful and great the world is! But one must look round in it, and not stay in one spot.” And then she hopped into the kitchen garden. “How green it is here! how beautiful it is here!”
“I know that,” said the Caterpillar, on the leaf, “my leaf is the largest here. It hides half the world from me, but I don’t care for the world.”
“Cluck, cluck!” And some fowls came. They tripped about in the cabbage garden. The Fowl who marched at the head of them had a long sight, and she spied the Caterpillar on the green leaf, and pecked at it, so that the Caterpillar fell on the ground, where it twisted and writhed.
The Fowl looked at it first with one eye and then with the other, for she did not know what the end of this writhing would be.
“It doesn’t do that with a good will,” thought the Fowl, and lifted up her head to peck at the Caterpillar.
The Toad was so horrified at this, that she came crawling straight up towards the Fowl.
“Aha, it has allies,” quoth the Fowl. “Just look at the crawling thing!” And then the Fowl turned away. “I don’t care for the little green morsel; it would only tickle my throat.” The other fowls took the same view of it, and they all turned away together.
“I writhed myself free,” said the Caterpillar. “What a good thing it is when one has presence of mind! But the hardest thing remains to be done, and that is to get on my leaf again. Where is it?”
And the little Toad came up and expressed her sympathy. She was glad that in her ugliness she had frightened the fowls.
“What do you mean by that?” cried the Caterpillar. “I wriggled myself free from the Fowl. You are very disagreeable to look at. Cannot I be left in peace on my own property? Now I smell cabbage; now I am near my leaf. Nothing is so beautiful as property. But I must go higher up.”
“Yes, higher up,” said the little Toad; “higher-up! She feels just as I do; but she’s not in a good humor to-day. That’s because of the fright. We all want to go higher up.” And she looked up as high as ever she could.
The stork sat in his nest on the roof of the farm-house. He clapped with his beak, and the Mother-stork clapped with hers.
“How high up they live!” thought the Toad. “If one could only get as high as that!”
In the farm-house lived two young students; the one was a poet and the other a scientific searcher into the secrets of nature. The one sang and wrote joyously of everything that God had created, and how it was mirrored in his heart. He sang it out clearly, sweetly, richly, in well-sounding verses; while the other investigated created matter itself, and even cut it open where need was. He looked upon God’s creation as a great sum in arithmetic—subtracted, multiplied, and tried to know it within and without, and to talk with understanding concerning it; and that was a very sensible thing; and he spoke joyously and cleverly of it. They were good, joyful men, those two,
“There sits a good specimen of a toad,” said the naturalist. “I must have that fellow in a bottle of spirits.”
“You have two of them already,” replied the poet. “Let the thing sit there and enjoy its life.”
“But it’s so wonderfully ugly,” persisted the first.
“Yes, if we could find the jewel in its head,” said the poet, “I too should be for cutting it open.”
“A jewel!” cried the naturalist. “You seem to know a great deal about natural history.”
“But is there not something beautiful in the popular belief that just as the toad is the ugliest of animals, it should often carry the most precious jewel in its head? Is it not just the same thing with men? What a jewel that was that Aesop had, and still more, Socrates!”
The Toad did not hear any more, nor did she understand half of what she had heard. The two friends walked on, and thus she escaped the fate of being bottled up in spirits.
“Those two also were speaking of the jewel,” said the Toad to herself. “What a good thing that I have not got it! I might have been in a very disagreeable position.”
Now there was a clapping on the roof of the farm-house. Father-Stork was making a speech to his family, and his family was glancing down at the two young men in the kitchen garden.
“Man is the most conceited creature!” said the Stork. “Listen how their jaws are wagging; and for all that they can’t clap properly. They boast of their gifts of eloquence and their language! Yes, a fine language truly! Why, it changes in every day’s journey we make. One of them doesn’t understand another. Now, we can speak our language over the whole earth—up in the North and in Egypt. And then men are not able to fly, moreover. They rush along by means of an invention they call ’railway;’ but they often break their necks over it. It makes my beak turn cold when I think of it. The world could get on without men. We could do without them very well, so long as we only keep frogs and earth-worms.”
“That was a powerful speech,” thought the little Toad. “What a great man that is yonder! and how high he sits! Higher than ever I saw any one sit yet; and how he can swim!” she cried, as the Stork soared away through the air with outspread pinions.
And the Mother-Stork began talking in the nest, and told about Egypt and the waters of the Nile, and the incomparable mud that was to be found in that strange land; and all this sounded new and very charming to the little Toad.
“I must go to Egypt!” said she. “If the Stork or one of his young ones would only take me! I would oblige him in return. Yes, I shall get to Egypt, for I feel so happy! All the longing and all the pleasure that I feel is much better than having a jewel in one’s head.”
And it was just she who had the jewel. That jewel was the continual striving and desire to go upward—ever upward. It gleamed in her head, gleamed in joy, beamed brightly in her longing.
Then, suddenly, up came the Stork. He had seen the Toad in the grass, and stooped down and seized the little creature anything but gently. The Stork’s beak pinched her, and the wind whistled; it was not exactly agreeable, but she was going upward—upward towards Egypt— and she knew it; and that was why her eyes gleamed, and a spark seemed to fly out of them.
“Quunk!—ah!”
The body was dead—the Toad was killed! But the spark that had shot forth from her eyes; what became of that?
The sunbeam took it up; the sunbeam carried the jewel from the head of the toad. Whither?
Ask not the naturalist; rather ask the poet. He will tell it thee under the guise of a fairy tale; and the Caterpillar on the cabbage, and the Stork family belong to the story. Think! the Caterpillar is changed, and turns into a beautiful butterfly; the Stork family flies over mountains and seas, to the distant Africa, and yet finds the shortest way home to the same country—to the same roof. Nay, that is almost too improbable; and yet it is true. You may ask the naturalist, he will confess it is so; and you know it yourself, for you have seen it.
But the jewel in the head of the toad?
Seek it in the sun; see it there if you can.
The brightness is too dazzling there. We have not yet such eyes as can see into the glories which God has created, but we shall receive them by-and-by; and that will be the most beautiful story of all, and we shall all have our share in it.
Posted by renh at 12:43 AM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2007
a few words from the bride
Look dead, didn't I,
But I wasn't,
But I wan't lack from trying, I can tell you that,
Actually, Bill's last bullet put me into a coma,
a coma I was to lie in for four years.
When I woke up,
I went on as the movie advertisement refered to as a roaring rampage of revenge,
I roared,
and I rampaged,
and I got bloody satisfaction.
I've killed the hell a lot of people to get to this point,
But I only have one more,
the last one,
the one I'm driving to right now,
the only one left.
When I arrive at my destination,
I am going to kill Bill.
Posted by renh at 01:12 PM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2007
oxymoron
People's Republic
United States
Posted by renh at 07:54 PM | Comments (0)