Word of Whenever: droll

Hey, it's another word like "bemused"!

droll adj.
amusing in an odd way; whimsically humorous

I usually see this word used to mean "dull". I'm not sure how this came about, because when I see it used correctly, the context does not imply that the situation is boring or monotonous or dull. The only example of correct usage that comes to mind is from the animated Disney version of Robin Hood. Prince John sees Robin Hood and Little John cross-dressing as gypsies (wut) and says, "Gypsies! How droll!"

I almost never use or hear this word, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Ballad of the Halo Man

Man soothes broken heart with Master Chief's armor.

Eric Smith was a noble man
Of modest house and means
He bought a ring for his maiden fair
To make said maiden his queen

But this maiden was yet untrue
And she did tell him this
"There is another man, my sweet,
"I cannot accept married bliss."

Sir Eric's heart was cloven in twain
By his fair love's betrayal
The ring to represent his love
Now represented an epic fail

The ring was sold on the Bay of E
And with his pockets now filled with gold
Sir Eric hastened to fill the void
With the armor of a champion bold

Master Chief was an imposing man
And his armor was known worldwide
Sir Eric now owns a replica
And wears it to cons with pride

So if your lady or lad of love
Leaves to your chagrin
Hock that ring and buy something
That will make it an epic win

Artsy-Fartsy: Draw a Stickman

Suitable for all ages and quite a bit of fun.

http://www.drawastickman.com/

Firefox

Me: Firefox, load Mailchimp.

Firefox: *Loads Mailchimp*

Me: Firefox, load Gmail.

Firefox: *Loads Gmail*

Me: Firefox, send me a test of the lastest e-mail campaign.

Firefox: Don't wanna.

Me: ...Firefox, send me a test of the lastest e-mail campaign.

Firefox: Nuh-uh!

Me: *Loads IE*

IE: *Dribbles on itself*

Me: ...IE, load Mailchimp.

IE: *Stares blankly, then slowly rolls onto its side and uses one leg to push itself toward Mailchimp*

Me: IE, send me a test of the latest e-mail campaign.

IE: *Slaps itself, then sends the e-mail*

Me: IE, load Gmail.

IE: *Loads some of it*

Me: IE, load all of it.

Gmail: I'm sorry, I can't work with him!

IE: *Bawls and pees*

Me: Whatever. IE, load the Mailchimp test.

IE: *Chokes on the edge of its shirt*

Me: Aaaaaaargh! Fine, fine...Firefox, load Gmail and then load the Mailchimp test.

Firefox: *Loads everything but the content of the e-mail*

Me: FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- FIREFOX Y U NO LOAD E-MAILS?!

Firefox: I 'unno.

Me: ...*Installs Chrome*

Chrome: *Glowing red eye* Hello, Dave.

Me: Hello, friend.

Word of Whenever: dreck

I love this word.

dreck noun
1. excrement; dung
2. worthless trash; junk

This comes from a yiddish word, "drek", of the same meaning. I love the way it sounds. Dreck. It's short. It's ugly. It's abrupt. It's perfect.

I don't use this word very often, because it feels like such a strong word to me.

"That book was dreck."

"The food there is dreck."

"Don't listen to that dreck."

Best said with an expression of disgust and served ice cold, or withering.

Holy Hiatus, Batman!

I'm not dead yet!

Holy moley, it has been approximately thirty years since I blogged. I'll try to sum up where I've been and what I've been doing between then and now.

1. Wisdom teeth excavation have long since healed. I will do a post on what I learned about keeping things clean, taking painkillers, eating and generally living with holes in your mouth.

2. I went to Anime Expo. Pictures to come. I don't cosplay, but I fawn over those that do.

3. I started to learn how to sew. My goal is to get up to the point where I do costuming for a living.

4. I got into steampunk.

5. I broke my ankle. More on that later.

6. I didn't go all-out for Halloween this year, thanks to the ankle.

I plan to get back into the blogging game regularly very soon.

Word of Whenever: wind

I am trying very hard not to start this entry with a fart joke.

"Wind" in this case refers to air in natural motion. It's caused by a difference in air pressure, so when air moves from one area to another, wind happens. I'll bet there's something else that causes wind.

*Giggle*

But there are so many words to describe the characteristics of wind!

A "breeze" is a light wind. In meteorology (which is the study of weather, not meteors) it's defined as a wind ranging from 4-31 MPH. This seems like way to broad a scope, since I imagine a 4 MPH wind ruffles your hair and a 31 MPH wind would probably throw a small dog into the air [citation needed]. You can also use words like "gust", "waft" and "zephyr" in its place.

"Gale" is defined as "a very strong wind". It also has the specialized meteorological definition "a wind of 32-64 MPH", which is probably ranges from dog-tossing (is that a euphamism?) to hatchback-tossing. It has the fun synonyms "squall" and "tempest".

A bit of a specialized word, but nonetheless relevant, is "chinook". It's a warm, dry, periodic wind that blows down the eastern side of the Rockies. I have no idea how you use this word in a sentence, but I thought it was worth mentioning. On the subject of really specific wind definitons, there's also "mistral", which is a northerly wind in France.

Or a northerly wind in your pants!

Image credit ilovebutter