I love language. I enjoy playing with words and even, yes, reading dictionaries, thesauruses and style manuals.
Last fall, when I was motivating myself to write again, I recalled some advice from a very wise English teacher who told me that one of the keys to learning new vocabulary was to make the words relevant.
I thought that would be an excellent daily writing exercise for myself, so I started a daily blog on my MySpace blog with a word of the day. After the traditional definition, synonyms and usage blurbs, I added a section called "Relevance to My life," in which I'd use the word in a description of some aspect of my life.
Occasionally I'd add "What it is NOT" entries and video clips, some of which were directly relevant, and others which resulted from my stream-of-consciousness train of thought.
resembling or characteristic of a prohet or prophecy.
Synonyms: divinatory, mantic, sibyllic, vatic
Usage: It was a sibylline book with ready and infallible answers to all sorts of questions about the future.
Relevance to my Life: In a moment of sibylline clarity I could see how this was going to unfold and I was struck with that awful sense of déjà vu all over again.
"This is like déjà vu all over again."
As lovable as Yogi Berra is, I have to balance out the NYY-ness of that clip, and what better way to do that than with a tribute to the 2004 Red Sox?
Usage: The crowd jeered at the speaker, and she ran offstage in tears.
Relevance to my Life: The cacophonous din from the crowd inside my head as they jeer, taunt and belittle me can be unnerving. Talk about performance anxiety!
One of my favorite purveyor of jeers is Dr. Cox. This guy can turn a phrase and work that sarcasm. *swoon*
Top 5 Dr. Cox rants The musical sequence is one of my favorite Scrubs moments of all time
Dr. Cox Explains Humor Now this guy knows funny.
The Best of the Todd Everyone's favorite sexual deviant
Best of JD's daydreams What's Scrubs with out a JD-daydream?
yammer: (verb) To complain peevishly or whimperingly.
Synonyms: grizzle, yawp, whine
Usage: I refused to do my chores, electing instead to yammer and whine about the injustices of life.
Relevance to my Life: The other evening when faced with dinner's offering of Spaghetti Bolognese which I'd spent the better portion of the day preparing, my two kids whom I've affectionately nicknamed "My Rotten Babies" spent a good ten minutes yammering about what a Mean Mommy I was to serve them that instead of the much more fun canned Chef Boyardee Dinosaurs with Mini Meatballs.
*More yammering below...
Corner Gas: "Whiner Takes All" Part I The only thing worse than a whiny child is a whiny adult
Part II
Part III
*Whine-time. OK, Corner Gas is from Canada, and yes, it gets cold in Canada on occasion, but shit. It's cold here, too.
It's 3F / -16C right now. Thankfully, the blustery wind from yesterday and last night has died down, or it'd be like -20F / -29C.
Brrrr.
I'm glad that I'm going out for coffee in a while. I may get a fancy-schmancy latte. OOOOOOO, a gingerbread latte would be wicked awesome. :O
Usage: The sepulchral darkness of the catacombs sent a chill down my spine.
Relevance to my Life: Historically speaking, filled as it has been with severe illness, heart-crushing breakups and the occasional bout of deep depression tinged with suicidal ideation, the color and mood of November is, for me, sepulchral.
Large in number or quantity (especially of discourse)
Having great volume, fullness, size, or number.
Synonym: copious
Usage; She took voluminous notes during the lecture, and her classmates begged for copies.
Relevance to my Life: So voluminous are the noisy crowds inside my head - my Inner Critic, the Voice of My Insecurities, Little Nag, Big Nag, and the Eternal Idealist, plus the right shoulder angel and her twisted twin, the left-shoulder devil, and last and sometimes least-heard, my own authentic voice, that sometimes I feel as though I should get them a room of their own somewhere.
Sometimes the noise is overwhelming and I want to shut it out. Other than pharmaceutical aids, the most effective means I've found of doing that is listening to the right kind of music. When I say "right kind," I'm not making a value judgment, I mean that some music will have the complete opposite effect than the one I intend. For example, if I am trying to forget someone (imagine that), then listening to music he likes a lot is not going to be a great help. Sad love songs? Um, no thanks. Even angry "I hate you" songs, which may provide a bit of grim satisfaction, are not helpful.
Once again, Music Geek strikes. If music's charms are to soothe the savage breast, for me, it'll probably be classical or baroque. Again.
9th Symphony Therapy It really is hard to feel sad/pissed/whatever for long with this on my headphones.
Cont'
Miserere (Henryk Gorecki) This is just an excerpt of the piece which runs about 30 minutes long. The first time I heard this I was sitting in my car in the parking lot eating my lunch in between classes. It starts out with the 1st basses singing a simple melodic line, repeating Domine Deus over and over; gradually the other voice parts enter, until it builds to the point where it's too large to fit in a concert hall.
Anyway, I was in the car listening to this and it started to rain, just a drop at a time, then more heavily. I watched the raindrops slide down the windshield, finally merging into a clear sheet of water, while the windows were buzzing from the music. It's hard to describe - it was wonderful and trippy at the same time.
Bach Concerto BWV 1056, 2nd mvmt There are a lot of versions of this. There's a beautiful arrangement for cello and piano which I'm trying to track down, but in the meantime, enjoy.
A song or a hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person.
A feeling or an expression of grief; a lamentation.
Synonyms: coronach, dirge, requiem, threnody
Usage: And when the Duke's wife died, Chaucer wrote a lament which is called the Dethe of Blaunche the Duchess, or sometimes the Book of the Duchess.
Relevance to my life: About three weeks after my son had died, and my parents had returned home, I found myself alone in the house for the first time, no watchful friend or family member hovering worriedly over me; my husband and his sister had taken Natalie out for a walk along the boardwalk on the Bay, while I sat on the floor in a stream of improbably cheery golden sunlight and sang the only lament for my son which I could compose: a keening wail, "Why, oh God, why?"
Three pieces of music which I have been privileged enough to perform in a choir:
Lacrimosa - Mozart requiem Familiar to many, thanks to the movie Amadeus.
Libera Me (Verdi requiem) If anyone can write an operatic requiem, it'd have to have been Verdi. You should check out the Sanctus.
A German Requiem (Brahms) My favorite moment from this is in the middle of the 6th movement, at the end of the first clip. It's a slow-building movement, and really kicks into high gear at the 4-minute mark.
When you get to the section where they're singing "Tod, wo is dein Stachel, Hölle, wo is dein Sieg?" (Death, where is thy sting; Hell, where is thy victory?), it's electrifying. The section at the end of the clip, where the choir is, well, screaming out "Wo? Wo? Wo?" always raises goosebumps for me.
Brahms Requiem, Mvmt 6 pt 2 The glorious resolution of the 6th movement
blamable: (adjective) Deserving blame or censure as being wrong, evil or injurious.
Synonyms: blameworthy, censurable, culpable
Usage: You are aware that I am no way blamable in this matter.
Relevance to my life: I still have yet to hear his side of the story in this matter, but let me go on record and say that there is no way in Hell that I am blamable here. I am willing to accept culpability when I am in the wrong, but this time? No way. No lame finger of blame pointed my way will convince me otherwise, so just accept it: You're wrong here, pal.
Mea Culpa Mea Culpa? Screw that - Tua Culpa, honey.
Malice Aforethought The book which this is based on is by Francis Iles and it's my favorite mystery. It has one Hell of a twist to it. Let's just say that Dr. Bickleigh is indeed blamable, and sometimes, karma is instantaneous.
Judgment at Nuremberg - the Verdict I am by no means a blind nationalist - I'm more of an internationalist. This is a damn good movie, and the best scene from it.
Judgment at Nuremberg - Janning's Speech I was mistaken; this is the best scene from the movie, and its timeliness is eternal. I got shivers watching it. I think I may need to watch this again.
Seinfeld, the Verdict "Callous Indifference?" Oh yeah, they're blamable, but it was hilarious while it lasted.
Desecration, profanation, misuse, or theft of something sacred.
Disrespect for a person who is widely admired or a belief that is widely accepted
Synonyms: blasphemy, desecration, profanation
Usage: I entreat you, if you be a Christian gentleman, not to kill me, which will be committing grave sacrilege, for I am a licentate and I hold first orders.
Relevance to my Life: I had committed the greatest sacrilege in his eyes: While shifting my drafting table to another position, I had accidently moved one of his guitars - in its case- and set it upside down. He asked me, clearly upset, "Did you do it on purpose?"
I'm not going the horror-movie route with this word today. Instead, a different kind of sacrilege:
Brooke's Alibi A sacrilege in the fitness community at least
Stephen Colbert Upstaging Letterman? Sacrilege!
David Sedaris The mention of Amy Sedaris in the previous clip automatically led me to this
More David Sedaris Reading from Me Talk Pretty One Day
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