Weird, wacky words….shout it out loud!

For many years I have taken the Word Power quiz that can found in the back of The Reader’s Digest every month. These words are exceptionally fun, and by the way, use only the vowel “u”…enjoy!

Tub-thumping means to loudly support an issue. “These pushy kids of ours are tub-thumping for a raise to their allowance”. Source cited: www.thefreedictionary.com/tub-thumping

A mugwump is a politically independent person. Here is a sample of this word’s fascinating origins:  1. During the presidential elections of 1884, some Republicans switched sides, causing themselves to be labeled mugwumps because they didn’t remain faithful to their party. So originally it meant being a turncoat.

2. Later it came to mean a person who is independent (as in politics) or who remains undecided or neutral.  It was said they couldn’t make up their minds, being people whose “mug was on one side of a fence while their rump was on the other side”!  Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mugwump

 

And to end it with a bang, fugu is a poisonous fish that people eat! You heard me correctly!

Op-Ed: What I really miss…

What I really miss…

Of course, if we’re talking about going back in time, I would say “I really miss my vigor; the health and vitality I used to take for granted.”

But, if we’re talking about things I miss that have even a passing chance of coming back, one of those things would be…roomier parking spaces.

Yes, you heard me right!

You see, public parking lots used to have a small lane that was painted in between the cars, which would allow you to get out of your car without banging your car door into your neighbor’s car.

I guess some up-and-comer figured out that they could squeeze a few more parking spaces into a parking lot by omitting this extra space between the cars.

What that hot shot failed to forecast is that cars would become SUV/tank sized (now the car doors are bigger), while the populace of the US also increased in size (requiring more room to get out of those cars.)

What we have now is a veritable extravaganza of car door dings, scratches and body work that needs to be done after trying to exit our vehicles, leading to a proliferation of business for the auto body shops.

Not to mention more business for chiropractors as we have to become human pretzels just to get out of our cars!

All I can say to the guy who designed these new parking lots is…

“Thanks a lot, pal.”

What do YOU really miss???

Energetically, Diane Tegarden

Cat attacking printer…..

Cat attacking printer (my kitty does this too!)  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSK1D3bZhRs

The Congressman and the Little Girl–warning, a bit naughty

This short story was sent to me in an email:

A Georgia Congressman was seated next to a little girl on the airplane leaving from Atlanta when he turned to her and said, ‘Let’s talk. I’ve heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.’

The little girl, who had just opened her book, closed it slowly and said to the total stranger, ‘What would you like to talk about?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said the southern congressman. ‘How about global warming or universal health care’, and he smiles smugly.

OK, ‘ she said. ‘Those could be interesting topics. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff – grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?’

The southern legislator, visibly surprised by the little girl’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, ‘Hmmm, I have no idea.’

To which the little girl replies, ‘Do you really feel qualified to discuss global warming or universal health care when you don’t know shit?’

~~~~Hey, out of the mouth’s of babes!

31 Days of Notable Women- Lucille Ball, TV’s funny lady

Left fatherless at the age of four, American actress Lucille Ball developed a strong work ethic in childhood; among her more unusual jobs was as a “seeing eye kid” for a blind soap peddler. Ball’s mother sent the girl to the Chautauqua Institution for piano lessons, but she was determined to pursue an acting career after watching the positive audience reaction given to vaudeville monologist Julius Tannen. Young Ball performed in amateur plays for the Elks club and at her high school, at one point starring, staging, and publicizing a production of Charley’s Aunt. In 1926, Ball enrolled in the John Murray Anderson American Academy of Dramatic Art in Manhattan (where Bette Davis was the star pupil), but was discouraged by her teachers to continue due to her shyness. Her reticence notwithstanding, Ball kept trying until she got chorus-girl work and modeling jobs; but even then she received little encouragement from her peers, and the combination of a serious auto accident and recurring stomach ailments seemed to bode ill for her theatrical future. Still, Ball was no quitter, and, in 1933, she managed to become one of the singing/dancing Goldwyn Girls for movie producer Samuel Goldwyn; her first picture was Eddie Cantor’s Roman Scandals (1933). Working her way up from bit roles at both Columbia Pictures (where one of her assignments was in a Three Stooges short) and RKO Radio, Ball finally attained featured billing in 1935, and stardom in 1938 — albeit mostly in B-movies.

Read the rest of her story at: http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/lucille-ball/1147632/biography

Adorable kitten playing with a remote controlled mouse…

Here’s my favorite animal video for the week. I wish I had one of these mice so Ivan could play with it!
http://pettube.com/Kitten%20afraid%20of%20remote%20control%20mouse

Friday Funnies- Marriage in Heaven

On their way to get married, a young Catholic couple was involved in a fatal car accident. The couple found themselves sitting outside the Pearly Gates waiting for St. Peter to process them into Heaven.

While waiting, they began to wonder: could they possibly get married in Heaven? When St. Peter arrived they asked him if they could get married in Heaven.

“I don’t know. This is the first time anyone has asked. Let me go find out,” St. Peter replied and left.

The couple sat and waited for an answer, two months passed. While they waited, they discussed the pros and cons.

They wondered; Should they get married, what with the eternal aspect of it all? What if it didn’t work out? Would they be stuck in Heaven together forever?

Another month passed.

St. Peter finally returned looking somewhat bedraggled.

“Yes,” he informed the couple, “you can get married in Heaven.”

“Great!” they chorused. “But we were just wondering; what if things don’t work out? Could we also get a divorce in Heaven?”

St. Peter, red-faced with anger, slammed his clipboard to the ground.

“What’s wrong?” asked the frightened couple.

“OH, COME ON!!!” St. Peter shouted. “It took me 3 months to find a priest up here! Do you have ANY idea how long it’ll take to find a lawyer?”

Sail Away with me…Regatta by Diane Tegarden

Regatta
06/04/10
by Diane Tegarden

After the third elimination trials,
the rebuffed regatta contestants gathered on the shores
of Lake BetterNextTime to watch the finalists,
while sunning and sipping brews.

Author’s note:
A regatta is a term used to describe either a boat race, or series of boat races. Although the term typically describes racing events of non-powered water craft, some powerboat race series are also called regattas

Energetically, Diane Tegarden
“How to Escape a Bad Marriage-A Self Help Divorce Book for Women”;
“Light Through Shuttered Window”; “Anti-Vigilante and The Rips in Time” at
BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, firewalkerpublications.com

Agonizing over the plight of being a Wordmeister…word usage and abusage

ARRRGGHHHHH!

The other day Wade pulled up to a gas station (the truck was on empty), and I sat silently grinding my teeth. Busy pumping gas, he didn’t notice until he got back in the truck that something was bothering me.

“OK, what is it?” he looked around wondering what on Earth could have gotten me so disturbed.

“Those signs,” I moaned “doesn’t anyone have a dictionary in this wretched place?”

“What signs? What are you talking about now?” He looked around the gas station and couldn’t find anything wrong.

I pointed, finger shaking in indignation, at a column with wording that instructed drivers to “Move forword to the front pump”.

“OK, what’s wrong with the sign?” he sighed, not understanding how a simple instruction could get me upset.

“First of all, there’s no such word as ‘forword’. If they mean the direction, it’s spelled ‘forward’, if it’s in the beginning of a book, they mean ‘foreword’.”

“So what? No one knows the difference.” Then he looked at me, and amended “Ok, not that many people would know the difference, or even care!”

Breathing a deep sigh of disgust, I realize he’s right. I guess it’s the agonizing plight of being a Wordmeister…

How umbrellas came to be…

This was sent to me by a friend this morning…

The Elf and the Dormouse
By Oliver Herford

Under a toadstool
Crept a wee Elf,
Out of the rain,
To shelter himself.

Under the toadstool,
Sound asleep,
Sat a big Dormouse
All in a heap.

Trembled the wee Elf,
Frightened, and yet
Fearing to fly away
Lest he get wet.

To the next shelter—
Maybe a mile!
Sudden the wee Elf
Smiled a wee smile,

Tugged till the toadstool
Toppled in two.
Holding it over him,
Gayly he flew.

Soon he was safe home,
Dry as could be.
Soon woke the Dormouse—
“Good gracious me!

“Where is my toadstool?”
Loud he lamented.
—And that’s how umbrellas
First were invented.

Source cited: http://www.bartleby.com/248/1516.html

Bio
Oliver Herford (1863 – 1935) was British born (but American). He was a humorist writer and illustrator, who is as well known for his poems and quotes as for his artwork for books and slicks. For the latter, he had a long run in both the Mentor (Jill and Tobey) and Ladies’ Home Journal. He usually signed his art “OHerford”, and was nicknamed “The American Oscar Wilde.”

Source cited: http://www.americanartarchives.com/herford.htm