Word of the Post
Today's word is: pedipulate
/pe*dip"u*late/
"To operate with one's feet." ~~ Grandiloquent Dictionary
The word idea for today came from my parents-in-law. They are just as funny about words as my dad is. The definition came from this neat site I found online, and recommend that you visit. I did not write this entry, it is the property of the guy who runs the site. Like I said, go visit his site. http://www.islandnet.com/~egbird/dict/dict.htm
~~~~~~~~~~
I have a tendency to get lost on the information super highway. I need a map. Google Maps seems to work pretty well.
Have you ever Googled yourself? I have done the cute little search where you type "Name needs" or Name wants", and you get all sorts of people talking about how someone with your name needs to grow up, get a life, or get back on track. You can type any variation of your name, and find any number of sites that are talking about (not) you. Apparently, Chelf is a popular surname. This blog came up on page 4. Oh, boy, someone is actually watching!
My maiden name is a doctor, VP of Marketing, CEO, and several other wonderful occupations, as well as a Sim keeping a Diary online... I don't get it. My married name is an artist, a real estate agent, and my real self came up on page 3 of that search, too. I am the first (and a few later ones as well) entry when I Googled my favorite nickname, "mychelf". I have never thought about how just living would put little old me into a Google search.
What was I hoping to find? Really, I don't know. Was I hoping that I would be the first or only entry with any of my searches? Would I find significance in knowing that there are more people out there making the same jokes as me with their names, too? How would not finding myself made me feel any better?
The Bible says there is nothing new under the sun. Does that mean that there was a Chelf back in Bible times? Probably not; but someone must have made a wordplay out of their name or hobby. In my case, it just happened to be both. Did pre-literature times have computers? What happened to the written history of the world? Maybe it suffered a crash like we once feared from Y2K. All the old parchments were scanned into the computer... and then the weather fried the systems, and all history was lost, except for what a few typists could remember. Secretaries Rule!
The history of the world is still written down by the winners. Efforts will always be made by the losers to forget or revise the misery. And weather will always play havoc with your electronics. Thunderstorms are a-coming. More thoughts will pour out of my head later, when the pitcher is emptied of the rain.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Saturday, May 5, 2007
On The Chelf, Aging
Word of the Post
Today's word is: birthday
/birth"day/ noun
Day of origin or commencement; the day in which any person is born; the day of the month in which a person was born, in whatever succeeding year it may recur; the anniversary of one's birth; the celebration surrounding any such day.
~~~~~~~~~~
I need a party, it's my birthday!
Famous Holidays: Cinco de Mayo (Mexico); Children's Day (Japan, aka Boy's Day); Martyr's Day (Albania).
Famous Births: 867-Uda, Emperor of Japan; 1813-Soren Kierkegaard, Danish Philosopher; 1926-Ann B. Davis, Actress (Alice on Brady Bunch); 1943-Michael Palin, Actor (Monty Python); 1974-ME!
Famous Deaths: 1821-Napoleon I of France; 1971-Violet Jessop, Titanic Survivor (amazing story, go look it up!).
~~~~~~~~~~
This is the 33rd anniversary of the day that the world was graced with my presence. I am now 21, with 12 years of experience. This is also my 33rd post. I saved it, just for today. Tradition has it that Jesus was 33 when he was crucified. Tradition also has done some math, and every few years, Ascension Day happens on May 5. It happened last year, and will happen again in 2016 (If we survive past the newest End-of-the-Earth prediction of Dec 21, 2012, of course). I have said for years that the birth of Christ was most likely in the Spring, because the shepherds were out with their sheep; this usually happened only in lambing season (Spring), and so... why couldn't I guess that He was born on May 5? It was every bit as likely as Dec 25, and in fact, a closer guess. Now I have found that He ascended back to the Father, probably near May 5. Ha! That is great. (Hail, Princess Delusion of Grandeur, long may I reign!)
My best friend and her daughters call me on or near my birthday each year... they sing to me over the phone. I have grown fond of the "Happy Cinco de Mayo to you!" It is a joke that has existed between us since before we were as old as her daughters are now. Her younger daughter asked one year WHY they did this. She answered that we just do, because we love Auntie Chelf. Little one still doesn't get it. Oh, well, at least we still get a kick out of it.
This leads me to think of a friend in college, who played "My Michelle" by Guns'N'Roses for me, instead of playing (or worse, singing) "Michelle" by the Beatles. I think I am the only Michelle I know who was NOT named for that song. Every person who meets me tries to sing it. I have a rule about that. If you wish to sing it, you must know more than the first three words, and the French part is extra credit if you pronounce it correctly. My DH and his first roommate from college are the only two people who would have been qualified to sing it, because they are the biggest Beatles fans I have ever met. And, thankfully, they are the only two who have never tried. DH is such a sweetie, he even skips it on his CD sometimes, just so I don't have to hear it. Which is funny to me, because I actually like the song... but only when sung by the Beatles.
I love these guys, and their crazy computer geek workplace antics. (click on it to make it bigger... that tiny type is hard to read, especially for us old fogies...) Makes me wish sometimes that I had tried harder in those computer classes at school. But, I am more of a post-production testing sort of geek, not the sysadmin sort of geek. If you know anything about computer programming, this is your joke source. If you don't, well... the finer jokes may go over your head, but the gist of it is still funny.
I have "My Next 30 Years" by Tim McGraw running through my head. I could really use a lot more Jesus in my next 30 years. I have done so much that was nothing but selfish. I have done some good, too. I have helped friends in need, I have sacrificed time and talent to show Jesus in many ways. But I know that simply being a "good person" is not enough. I have to strive to be better than "good". I have to BE Jesus to the lost and dying world, because they won't listen to His Word. But they SEE.... they see ME, and I am in no shape to be seen yet. "Eat a few more salads..." Yep, My next 30 years will be better; but I have to work, and I certainly don't relish that.
I am off to see a chick flick with the DH, and I have a wedding to attend this evening. All in all, today is going to be a great day. I have presents, people who care about me, time to have fun doing what I want to do... The only thing that could make it better would be to have no worries to come back to. Reality will still be here when I get back, but, for now, I can ignore it. Mental vacation, here I come!
"Happy to me, happy to me!" ~~ Best friend's daughter on the occasion of her 2nd birthday.
Today's word is: birthday
/birth"day/ noun
Day of origin or commencement; the day in which any person is born; the day of the month in which a person was born, in whatever succeeding year it may recur; the anniversary of one's birth; the celebration surrounding any such day.
~~~~~~~~~~
I need a party, it's my birthday!
Famous Holidays: Cinco de Mayo (Mexico); Children's Day (Japan, aka Boy's Day); Martyr's Day (Albania).
Famous Births: 867-Uda, Emperor of Japan; 1813-Soren Kierkegaard, Danish Philosopher; 1926-Ann B. Davis, Actress (Alice on Brady Bunch); 1943-Michael Palin, Actor (Monty Python); 1974-ME!
Famous Deaths: 1821-Napoleon I of France; 1971-Violet Jessop, Titanic Survivor (amazing story, go look it up!).
~~~~~~~~~~
This is the 33rd anniversary of the day that the world was graced with my presence. I am now 21, with 12 years of experience. This is also my 33rd post. I saved it, just for today. Tradition has it that Jesus was 33 when he was crucified. Tradition also has done some math, and every few years, Ascension Day happens on May 5. It happened last year, and will happen again in 2016 (If we survive past the newest End-of-the-Earth prediction of Dec 21, 2012, of course). I have said for years that the birth of Christ was most likely in the Spring, because the shepherds were out with their sheep; this usually happened only in lambing season (Spring), and so... why couldn't I guess that He was born on May 5? It was every bit as likely as Dec 25, and in fact, a closer guess. Now I have found that He ascended back to the Father, probably near May 5. Ha! That is great. (Hail, Princess Delusion of Grandeur, long may I reign!)
My best friend and her daughters call me on or near my birthday each year... they sing to me over the phone. I have grown fond of the "Happy Cinco de Mayo to you!" It is a joke that has existed between us since before we were as old as her daughters are now. Her younger daughter asked one year WHY they did this. She answered that we just do, because we love Auntie Chelf. Little one still doesn't get it. Oh, well, at least we still get a kick out of it.
This leads me to think of a friend in college, who played "My Michelle" by Guns'N'Roses for me, instead of playing (or worse, singing) "Michelle" by the Beatles. I think I am the only Michelle I know who was NOT named for that song. Every person who meets me tries to sing it. I have a rule about that. If you wish to sing it, you must know more than the first three words, and the French part is extra credit if you pronounce it correctly. My DH and his first roommate from college are the only two people who would have been qualified to sing it, because they are the biggest Beatles fans I have ever met. And, thankfully, they are the only two who have never tried. DH is such a sweetie, he even skips it on his CD sometimes, just so I don't have to hear it. Which is funny to me, because I actually like the song... but only when sung by the Beatles.
I love these guys, and their crazy computer geek workplace antics. (click on it to make it bigger... that tiny type is hard to read, especially for us old fogies...) Makes me wish sometimes that I had tried harder in those computer classes at school. But, I am more of a post-production testing sort of geek, not the sysadmin sort of geek. If you know anything about computer programming, this is your joke source. If you don't, well... the finer jokes may go over your head, but the gist of it is still funny.I have "My Next 30 Years" by Tim McGraw running through my head. I could really use a lot more Jesus in my next 30 years. I have done so much that was nothing but selfish. I have done some good, too. I have helped friends in need, I have sacrificed time and talent to show Jesus in many ways. But I know that simply being a "good person" is not enough. I have to strive to be better than "good". I have to BE Jesus to the lost and dying world, because they won't listen to His Word. But they SEE.... they see ME, and I am in no shape to be seen yet. "Eat a few more salads..." Yep, My next 30 years will be better; but I have to work, and I certainly don't relish that.
I am off to see a chick flick with the DH, and I have a wedding to attend this evening. All in all, today is going to be a great day. I have presents, people who care about me, time to have fun doing what I want to do... The only thing that could make it better would be to have no worries to come back to. Reality will still be here when I get back, but, for now, I can ignore it. Mental vacation, here I come!
"Happy to me, happy to me!" ~~ Best friend's daughter on the occasion of her 2nd birthday.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Little View, Big Thoughts
Word of the Post
Today's Word is: schadenfreude
/SHOD-n-froy-duh/
noun
A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.
From German, from Schaden, "damage" + Freude, "joy." It is often capitalized, as it is in German.
~~~
The historian Peter Gay -- who felt Schadenfreude as a Jewish child in Nazi-era Berlin, watching the Germans lose coveted gold medals in the 1936 Olympics -- has said that it "can be one of the great joys of life." ~~ Edward Rothstein, "Missing the Fun of a Minor Sin", New York Times, February 5, 2000
~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes you have to stop and smell the flowers.
I don't so much like the smell of roses. The intoxication of honeysuckle is much preferred. Even stinky old dandelions are pretty, if you bother to look at them. I am not a fan of the iris, I think they are ugly. I don't really know why that opinion was formed, it just is. I wonder what these little purple things are in my yard. I know that the plant is a creeping vine. It surrounds my backyard, and has crawled to the front of the house, and up the bushes that I would love to chop down. The flowers are so pretty, I have delayed destroying their ladders.
April Showers bring May Flowers, May Flowers bring June Bugs. Ugh.
May brings Tornadoes. At least in Oklahoma. We had a small one yesterday, somewhere in the state, that the news called an F0. F Zero? How can it be a Tornado if it doesn't even qualify for a number? Aren't those called Dust Devils? These people crack me up. Apparently, the poor baby Tornado stirred the air enough to shake a few leaves off of a tree. No damage that a good gust of wind couldn't have managed. The next question is, logically, "Why is this news?" They must have had a slow day. Which is good, because that means there were no REAL Tornadoes, nothing in the range of F3 or F4.
This past Sunday, we were at my church building. My niece was visiting with Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend, and the three of them came to our Family Day. She had wandered into an empty classroom. I was letting her run, because she had ridden in the car for an hour and a half, and then sat through one church service, and was expected to sit through another one soon. She got to spinning while she played, and she started asking for "Ashes?" She wants to play Ring Around the Rosie. So I start singing for her. She turns in circles, and will say "rosie" and "posies" and "ashes", and then yell "Down!" with you, and sits on the floor. Then she lays down on her back, and puts her feet above her head and hollers "Whee!" while throwing her legs down the length of her body. She also does "I'm A Little Teapot" pretty well. She is enthusiastic, in a way I don't remember from my own childhood. She keeps me young.
I think now I understand better why Jesus said to become like Children to get to Heaven. Children approach things so honestly. They want to know all the great questions of research: Who, what, when, where, why and how? They don't have an agenda or any presuppositions, they simply wish to know more. They are happy to stand on their heads and observe the shoes and purses behind them on the church floor. They are concerned when another child cries. They are amazed at the way the pencils and cards fit into their own holes in the pew in front of them. They are happy to say Hi and give "fives" to anyone nearby. They know that hitting is wrong, and yet they still try it as a reaction to injustice.
Significance is harder to find as I grow older. The fact that I see Blue in the sky was significant to me as a child. Now, I find that political and religious debates show me significance. I have ignored the significance that observation can bring. I have forgotten to stop. I have forgotten to smell the flowers. I have simply forgotten to observe, to question, to consider. Proverbs 6:6 "Go to the ant, O sluggard, Consider her ways and be wise."
Is it bad to want to use my glasses to burn ants? I do remember that from my childhood; it was fun.
Today's Word is: schadenfreude
/SHOD-n-froy-duh/
noun
A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.
From German, from Schaden, "damage" + Freude, "joy." It is often capitalized, as it is in German.
~~~
The historian Peter Gay -- who felt Schadenfreude as a Jewish child in Nazi-era Berlin, watching the Germans lose coveted gold medals in the 1936 Olympics -- has said that it "can be one of the great joys of life." ~~ Edward Rothstein, "Missing the Fun of a Minor Sin", New York Times, February 5, 2000
~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes you have to stop and smell the flowers.
I don't so much like the smell of roses. The intoxication of honeysuckle is much preferred. Even stinky old dandelions are pretty, if you bother to look at them. I am not a fan of the iris, I think they are ugly. I don't really know why that opinion was formed, it just is. I wonder what these little purple things are in my yard. I know that the plant is a creeping vine. It surrounds my backyard, and has crawled to the front of the house, and up the bushes that I would love to chop down. The flowers are so pretty, I have delayed destroying their ladders.
April Showers bring May Flowers, May Flowers bring June Bugs. Ugh.
May brings Tornadoes. At least in Oklahoma. We had a small one yesterday, somewhere in the state, that the news called an F0. F Zero? How can it be a Tornado if it doesn't even qualify for a number? Aren't those called Dust Devils? These people crack me up. Apparently, the poor baby Tornado stirred the air enough to shake a few leaves off of a tree. No damage that a good gust of wind couldn't have managed. The next question is, logically, "Why is this news?" They must have had a slow day. Which is good, because that means there were no REAL Tornadoes, nothing in the range of F3 or F4.
This past Sunday, we were at my church building. My niece was visiting with Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend, and the three of them came to our Family Day. She had wandered into an empty classroom. I was letting her run, because she had ridden in the car for an hour and a half, and then sat through one church service, and was expected to sit through another one soon. She got to spinning while she played, and she started asking for "Ashes?" She wants to play Ring Around the Rosie. So I start singing for her. She turns in circles, and will say "rosie" and "posies" and "ashes", and then yell "Down!" with you, and sits on the floor. Then she lays down on her back, and puts her feet above her head and hollers "Whee!" while throwing her legs down the length of her body. She also does "I'm A Little Teapot" pretty well. She is enthusiastic, in a way I don't remember from my own childhood. She keeps me young.
I think now I understand better why Jesus said to become like Children to get to Heaven. Children approach things so honestly. They want to know all the great questions of research: Who, what, when, where, why and how? They don't have an agenda or any presuppositions, they simply wish to know more. They are happy to stand on their heads and observe the shoes and purses behind them on the church floor. They are concerned when another child cries. They are amazed at the way the pencils and cards fit into their own holes in the pew in front of them. They are happy to say Hi and give "fives" to anyone nearby. They know that hitting is wrong, and yet they still try it as a reaction to injustice.
Significance is harder to find as I grow older. The fact that I see Blue in the sky was significant to me as a child. Now, I find that political and religious debates show me significance. I have ignored the significance that observation can bring. I have forgotten to stop. I have forgotten to smell the flowers. I have simply forgotten to observe, to question, to consider. Proverbs 6:6 "Go to the ant, O sluggard, Consider her ways and be wise."
Is it bad to want to use my glasses to burn ants? I do remember that from my childhood; it was fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)