This morning I finished my 300th book since I started tracking such data back in June of 2015. The book which pushed me over this milestone was the surprisingly good anthology 101 Famous Poems, originally published in 1958. (Hence my surprise.) This book had been sitting in the meditation chamber of my bedroom for some …
Author Archives: mysterious6030
Friday Vocabulary
1. palestra — (ancient Greece) place devoted to public teaching and wrestling and athletics Epicurus knew well how divisive his teachings were and preferred to instruct his followers at his home, shunning outdoor schools such as the Academy where onlookers would kibitz as if at the palestra. 2. ataraxy — state of freedom from …
Friday Vocabulary
1. valetudinarian — person obsessively concerned with his or her poor health Their daughter caught what I call the valetudinarian disease, her parents worrying her so about any possible vector for germs in her environment that she seemed to have built up no resistance whatsoever to even the simplest illnesses, and thus she was always …
Friday Vocabulary
1. clepsydra — ancient timekeeping device using discharge of water to measure time; water-clock Like water through the clepsydra, so are the days of our lives. 2. frass — insect excrement The spider webs behind the appliances were spotted with frass that betrayed the unseen life forces which threatened the old homestead. 3. …
Friday Vocabulary
1. brickbat — piece of brick, esp. when used as a missile Piled behind the barricades were cobblestones and brickbats to be used against the government troops during the inevitable reactionary assault. 2. fret — to gnaw; to wear away by gnawing, friction, corrosion, etc. He was proudest of the ivory box lid in …
Friday Vocabulary
1. jade — vicious, worn-out, or worthless horse; disreputable woman Though she be but a jade your contemptuous attitude towards her does you no credit. 2. circumvallation — state of being surrounded by rampart or entrenchment Vercingetorix was unable to lift the siege of Alesia after the circumvallation of that settlement, leading to the …
Friday Vocabulary
1. dark lantern — lantern with a shutter to hide the light “Watson, be sure to bring the dark lantern so that we can conceal our presence in the chamber after traversing the underground paths to the tomb.” 2. arrant — notorious, unmitigated We have rarely heard such arrant falsehoods since Satan was imprisoned …
Friday Vocabulary
1. kakistocracy — government by the worst citizens If all good people abdicate their responsibilities as citizens, eventually we shall all live under a kakistocracy. 2. exuberate — to be exuberant; to abound I would fain exuberate your news has moved me so! 3. stillicide — a falling (as of water) in drops …
One Hundred and Nine Thousand Songs (109,000)
Closing in on the next 10k, I’ve just listened to my 109,000th unique iTunes track, a slightly better than usual offering from the CBS Radio Mystery Theatre, “The Solid Gold Zarf”, which aired in the fall of 1981. 109,000 unique tracks makes up 812.42 GB of data, with a total duration of 413 days, 22 …
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Friday Vocabulary
1. fleer — to grin or laugh in a rude or coarse manner How my old low companions did fleer when I confessed to them that my great plans for a tremendous heist had been foiled by two meek nuns and a truculent novitiate. 2. empennage — the stern of an airplane or airship, …