July 2011
90 posts
17 tags
“When someone seeks,” said Siddhartha, “then it easily happens that...”
– from Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
10 tags
Trivia Bit 07/30/11: tires
Making tires black, instead of the natural white color of rubber, produces a much stronger and longer lasting tire. Carbon black works as a reinforcing filler in rubber, which increases the durability and strength of the rubber.
10 tags
15 tags
Word of the Day 07/30/11: pusillanimous
Pusillanimous [pyoo-suh-lan-uh-muhs]: Showing a lack of courage or determination; timid
He’s too pusillanimous to stand up for his beliefs.
14 tags
The Curious Entymology of the Word "Esquivalience" →
7 tags
18 tags
“Don’t forget that everything you deal with is only one thing and nothing...”
– from The Alchemist by Paulo Coeltho
10 tags
Useless Knowledge
xunholyx:
Snakes do not urinate. The secrete and excrete uric acid, which is a solid, chalky, usually white substance.
10 tags
11 tags
Word of the Day 07/28/11: recalcitrant
Recalcitrant [ri-kal-si-truhnt]:
adjective
1.resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant;refractory.
2.hard to deal with, manage, or operate
noun
3.a recalcitrant person.
The group of recalcitrant teenagers annoyed the substitute teacher.
15 tags
“It is a slightly arresting notion that if you were to pick yourself apart with...”
– Bill Bryson (A Short History of Nearly Everything)
11 tags
10 tags
Word of the Day 07/25/11: belletristic
Belletristic [bel-li-tris-tik]: written and appreciated for aesthetic value rather than content
Allegra wished to read belletristic novels after having just plowed through heavy philosophical works.
15 tags
18 tags
15 tags
15 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent →
13 tags
Trivia bit 07/24/11: Dolphins!
Dolphins don’t breathe automatically, rather it is always consciously done. How dolphins handle this when they are sleeping is to put one half of their brain to sleep, while the other half is still conscious and functioning. They then alternate which side is sleeping periodically.
9 tags
13 tags
Word of the Day 07/24/11: pulchritude
Pulchritude [puhl-kri-tood, -tyood]: beauty, loveliness
Audrey Hepburn was pulchritude exemplified.
11 tags
“The chance which now seems lost may present itself at the last moment.”
– Jules Verne (Around the World in Eighty Days)
9 tags
8 tags
Word of the Day 07/22/11: susurrus
Susurrus [soo-sur-uhs]: Whispering, murmuring, or rustling
The susurrus of the stream calmed her down.
9 tags
10 tags
11 tags
Word of the Day 07/21/11: elucidate
Elucidate [ih-loo-si-deyt]: Make (something) clear; explain
The legal consultant e-mailed her to elucidate the terms of the lengthy contract.
13 tags
“Don’t let us forget that the causes of human actions are usually immeasurably...”
– Fyodor Dostoyevsky (The Idiot)
23 tags
14 tags
9 tags
Word of the Day 07/20/11: prevaricate
Prevaricate [pri-var-i-keyt]: Speak or act in an evasive way, lie
He seemed to prevaricate when the journalists questioned him.
16 tags
“Because, what does it mean, to say that things aren’t going well? Compared...”
– from The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie [hilariously witty book!]
15 tags
15 tags
7 tags
Word of the Day 07/18/11: otiose
Otiose [oh-shee-ohs, oh-tee-]: adj
superfluous or useless
ineffective or futile
being at leisure, idle, indolent
My efforts to speed up the process have been otiose.
12 tags
11 tags
The Laughing Heart
your life is your life don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission. be on the watch. there are ways out. there is a light somewhere. it may not be much light but it beats the darkness. be on the watch. the gods will offer you chances. know them. take them. you can’t beat death but you can beat death in life, sometimes. and the more often you learn to do it, the more light there will be. your life...
11 tags
Word of the Day 07/17/11: jentacular
Jentacular [jen-tak-yuh-luhr]: of or pertaining to breakfast
I took a post-jentacular walk to settle my stomach.
8 tags
8 tags
11 tags
Study Finds Internet Use Affects Memory →
…aka the “don’t have to memorize, just google it!” tendency…really interesting article. The study doesn’t imply that the internet is bad for us. The internet is an amazing resource for new knowledge, however, it does affect the way we store and search for information.
10 tags
Today I Found Out: Tibetan Monks Can Control the... →
8 tags
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
– Kurt Vonnegut (Mother Night)
9 tags
7 tags
Word of the Day 07/15/11: desuetude
Desuetude [des-wi-tood, -tyood]: the state of being no longer used or practiced
Our Wii has fallen into desuetude.
