evanescent \ev-uh-NES-unt\, adjective:
Liable to vanish or pass away like vapor; fleeting.
This word does not mean what I thought it was going to mean.
Sounds like some thing bubbly. Like effervescent. Ginger ale. Champagne
No one knew their pensions were evanescent. Or their jobs for that matter.
It sounds more upbeat than the word really is. It's a fleeting thought that you can't get back. Not something you pop open to celebrate.
It's not a word that springs easily off my tongue. It isn't a word I use at all so it was new to me when I saw it in my inbox.
And I can see how powerful it could be. But for me it now has negtive connotations.
But things that are fleeting can be negative. In the sense that you'd like them to last longer.
Can you use it in a sentence?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Happy News Monday - IFC Dance Marathon
$7,490,133.87 total. Damn good! #THON
Each February the Interfraterity Council at Penn State University holds a 2-day Dance Marathon. The money is raised for The Four Diamonds Fund. This fund goes to researching cures for childhood cancers
That weekend past was Thon weekend.
Thon is my one regret from college. I wanted to be a helper not a dancer, but I never did. I slept late that day and I didn't get to the meeting. Could I have called someone and volunteered? Probably. I just didn't. It was my last semester at PSU and it was a nutty one. I was working very hard taking a lot of credits.
I'm sorry to this day that I never did Thon. I once delivered pizza to Thon. That's the closest I've been.
All year long you see students with cans at intersection. I've seen them all the way in NJ.
Of course I give every time.
More than $50 million has been given since the event began in 1973.
WE ARE
PENN STATE!
Each February the Interfraterity Council at Penn State University holds a 2-day Dance Marathon. The money is raised for The Four Diamonds Fund. This fund goes to researching cures for childhood cancers
That weekend past was Thon weekend.
Thon is my one regret from college. I wanted to be a helper not a dancer, but I never did. I slept late that day and I didn't get to the meeting. Could I have called someone and volunteered? Probably. I just didn't. It was my last semester at PSU and it was a nutty one. I was working very hard taking a lot of credits.
I'm sorry to this day that I never did Thon. I once delivered pizza to Thon. That's the closest I've been.
All year long you see students with cans at intersection. I've seen them all the way in NJ.
Of course I give every time.
More than $50 million has been given since the event began in 1973.
WE ARE
PENN STATE!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Hot Hunk Friday - Benjamin MacKenzie
Yeah, another young one and another one from The OC. Right now I'm teaching an online course for the Orange County Romance Writers of America. Guess that part of the country is on my mind.
Benjamin MacKenzie has that dark, brooding look that I don't normally go for. That bad boy with a heart of gold.
Not really my type, but he is pretty hot. In a book I'm waiting to hear from a publisher about, I actually have one of those. He's based on someone I once knew. This guy was Spock to my Captain Kirk. And he was proud of it.
So my character is like him. Doesn't admit he has emotions.
I often take the physical characteristics of a well-known person and use them in the appearance of my hero or heroine. I haven't used Benjamin Mackenzie, but that doesn't meant I won't.
If you are a writer, have you ever used a famous person as the physical model of a character? If you're a reader, have you thought the description of a character was close to a famous person?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Word Wednesday - vacuous
vacuous \VAK-yoo-uhs\, adjective:
1. showing no intelligence or thought
2. having no meaning or direction; empty
I've known very few people who were vacuous.
I'm glad of that. I think people like that would be hard to deal with. They would have no sense of humor.
I haven't read anything that I can remember that had a vacuous character. They would have not depth. The only role they could play would be comedy relief, but I don't think they would be funny. It would be sad to be devoid of intelligence.
Not that I'm a rocket scientist, but I held my own in school.
How do you deal with someone who you consider vacuous?
1. showing no intelligence or thought
2. having no meaning or direction; empty
I've known very few people who were vacuous.
I'm glad of that. I think people like that would be hard to deal with. They would have no sense of humor.
I haven't read anything that I can remember that had a vacuous character. They would have not depth. The only role they could play would be comedy relief, but I don't think they would be funny. It would be sad to be devoid of intelligence.
Not that I'm a rocket scientist, but I held my own in school.
How do you deal with someone who you consider vacuous?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Happy News Monday Kurt Warner
What a classy guy.
Just when you think athletes are overpaid.,( I live in Yankee country!) they go and do something like this.
I actually am speechless. That's hard to do.
We put athletes on pedestals. Not really sure why. But we do. They fall off them on a regular basis.
It is heartwarming to know that there are athletes who have a heart. Who have class. Who care about someone other than themselves. And what an example he can be for children. I wish this story had been on the front page of the NY Times. We could all use some good news.
I once had a stranger at a diner of Route 80 in PA buy me a piece of pie. I was pretty strung out from driving in a snow storm. I stopped at this diner for a piece of pie and to rest. When I went to pay for the pie and the soda, the waitress told me some trucker had already taken care of it. I must have looked pretty bad.
It creeped me out a litte, but since there was no one waiting for me at my car it filled me with a warm feeling.
Has anyone done anything like that for you?
Just when you think athletes are overpaid.,( I live in Yankee country!) they go and do something like this.
I actually am speechless. That's hard to do.
We put athletes on pedestals. Not really sure why. But we do. They fall off them on a regular basis.
It is heartwarming to know that there are athletes who have a heart. Who have class. Who care about someone other than themselves. And what an example he can be for children. I wish this story had been on the front page of the NY Times. We could all use some good news.
I once had a stranger at a diner of Route 80 in PA buy me a piece of pie. I was pretty strung out from driving in a snow storm. I stopped at this diner for a piece of pie and to rest. When I went to pay for the pie and the soda, the waitress told me some trucker had already taken care of it. I must have looked pretty bad.
It creeped me out a litte, but since there was no one waiting for me at my car it filled me with a warm feeling.
Has anyone done anything like that for you?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Hot Hunk Friday - Adam Brody
Let's take out the fact that Adam Brody's probably young enough to be my son, he's got the nerd thing going for him.And regular readers know that I have a thing for nerds.
And yes, I watched The OC. In the beginning. It got weird as most shows do after awhile.
Seth Cohen had this enthusiasm I remember from some friends I had in high school. Not sure I really appreciated how much fun they were. I actually know someone now, someone I work with, that has this level of enthusiasm. He's young and nerdy.
I haven't, but I will have to include a character like Seth Cohen in one of my books.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Word Wednesday - Narcolepsy
narcolepsy \NAHR-kuh-lep-see\, noun:
a disorder characterized by uncontrollable bouts of sleepiness during the daytime, occasional loss of muscle power and paralysis, and hallucinations during sleep
I love to sleep. If something ails me physically or psychically I sleep. It all looks better after a good night's sleep. If there were suddenly 25 hours in a day, I would sleep during it. So would my siblings. It is in our genes.
That said, I think this condition would drive me nuts. I would hate the loss of control.
What do you do when you are under stress?
a disorder characterized by uncontrollable bouts of sleepiness during the daytime, occasional loss of muscle power and paralysis, and hallucinations during sleep
I love to sleep. If something ails me physically or psychically I sleep. It all looks better after a good night's sleep. If there were suddenly 25 hours in a day, I would sleep during it. So would my siblings. It is in our genes.
That said, I think this condition would drive me nuts. I would hate the loss of control.
What do you do when you are under stress?
Monday, February 9, 2009
Happy New Monday - Andi MacDowell
Andie MacDowell is raising awareness about heart disease.
Heart disease is not sexy. No one is losing their hair. (scroll down a bit to see what I mean.) There are no cute kids to use as poster children. There is no run for it. There are very rarely celebrites speaking out on the issue. Until Andie MacDowel has taken it on.
Nonetheless it is a national health crisis.
According to www.americanheart.org 1 in 3 women have some form of heart disease. Each year 60,000 more women than men have strokes.
I know someone personally who just had a quintuple bypass. And he's skinny, works out and eats right. It's genetic. It runs in his family.
Heart disease is invisible. Your first symptom can be a fatal heart attack.
So I'm glad to see a celebrity talking about it.
Do you know that for women, heart disease kills more than all cancers combined?
Someone in Hollywood needs to take up the mantle of this devastating disease. For some reason, when celebrity lends thier name to a cause it makes it more real for us.
So brava to Andie MacDowell.
What can you do?
You say you don't have any risks?
Get a checkup. Get blood work done.
You've already done that?
Take a CPR course. It isn't the EMT's that will save a person, it is you. You will be the one there when someone collapses in a movie theater or in the mall. You will be there when someone has a stroked in a restaurant.
Go to www.americanheart.org to find a class near you.
And save a life today!
Heart disease is not sexy. No one is losing their hair. (scroll down a bit to see what I mean.) There are no cute kids to use as poster children. There is no run for it. There are very rarely celebrites speaking out on the issue. Until Andie MacDowel has taken it on.
Nonetheless it is a national health crisis.
According to www.americanheart.org 1 in 3 women have some form of heart disease. Each year 60,000 more women than men have strokes.
I know someone personally who just had a quintuple bypass. And he's skinny, works out and eats right. It's genetic. It runs in his family.
Heart disease is invisible. Your first symptom can be a fatal heart attack.
So I'm glad to see a celebrity talking about it.
Do you know that for women, heart disease kills more than all cancers combined?
Someone in Hollywood needs to take up the mantle of this devastating disease. For some reason, when celebrity lends thier name to a cause it makes it more real for us.
So brava to Andie MacDowell.
What can you do?
You say you don't have any risks?
Get a checkup. Get blood work done.
You've already done that?
Take a CPR course. It isn't the EMT's that will save a person, it is you. You will be the one there when someone collapses in a movie theater or in the mall. You will be there when someone has a stroked in a restaurant.
Go to www.americanheart.org to find a class near you.
And save a life today!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Hot Hunk Friday - Thomas Gibson
Regular readers of this blog know I love nerds. There is something charming about thier innocence and anal retentiveness.
I first saw Thomas Gibson in Dharma and Greg. He played a very straightlaced lawyer. Greg reminded me a lot of my husband. I would almost fall off the chair laughing thinking my husband would do something just like this character. In a later season, he and Dharma were in a car accident. When Greg and his friend go the police station to pick up the trunk contents the cop hands him an itemzied list. The friend remarks how nice it was of them to do that. The cop said it was taped to the inside of the trunk lid.
Now my husband hasn't actually done that, but I could see him doing that.
I haven't watched Thomas Gibson on Criminal Minds for two reasons. I don't watch too many cops shows. I know too many real cops and how unrealistic those shows can be. Also, I think his attractiveness to me is tied in with the Greg character.
At least two of my works in progress have nerds in them. I reveal them as heroic, but not in an overbearing way. They are reluctant alpha males.
It's kind of fun.
Can you name your fave nerd hero?
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Word Wednesday - tintinnabulation
tintinnabulation \tin-tih-nab-yuh-LAY-shuhn\, noun:
A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.
I picked this one today because it sounded like a fun word.
Say it out loud.
Go ahead
I'll wait.
Fun isn't it?
Not sure it sounds like bells when you say it. It sounds more gutteral to my ears. But hey, English is an odd language.
Not sure I could use it in a sentence easily.
How about you?
A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.
I picked this one today because it sounded like a fun word.
Say it out loud.
Go ahead
I'll wait.
Fun isn't it?
Not sure it sounds like bells when you say it. It sounds more gutteral to my ears. But hey, English is an odd language.
Not sure I could use it in a sentence easily.
How about you?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)