2019 - Day 333/32 - Friday...Hegemony...

Black Friday was not such a big deal here in central Texas, because Grey Thursday did not leave and let Black Friday come in. It has been foggy (incredibly foggy) all day long, and grey and chilly. Not cold, just think cool and damp. REALLY damp. Here is something weird that happened: Texas beat Texas Tech. How in the hell did that happen? I just checked the score again to make sure it was not a mistake, kind of like Dewey Defeats Truman. Incredible. What is the world coming to when you can't rely on Texas to lose (yet another) football game. I was all primed for that. Whatever. We did make it over to Michael and Lynda's for lunch this afternoon, and that was very nice. Lynda wanted a picture of me, Jody and their son Josh, so that is the photo in this journal entry. Enjoy! And as long as you're up, will you bring me a towel?

Hegemony -- Noun. 1. dominant influence or authority over others. 2. the social, cultural, idealogical, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group. Consumers welcomed the diversification of the software market as smaller innovators challenged the hegemony of the large companies.

Did You Know? Hegemony comes to English from the Greek hegemonia, a noun formed from the verb hegeisthai ("to lead"), which also gave us the word exegesis ("exposition" or "explanation"). The word was first used in English in the mid-16th century in reference to the control once wielded by the ancient Greek states, and it was reapplied in later centuries as other nations subsequently rose to power. By the 20th century, it had acquired a second sense referring to the social or cultural influence wielded by a dominant member over others of its kind, such as the domination within an industry by a business conglomerate over smaller businesses.

2019 - Day 332/33 - Thursday...Turducken...

This year, apparently, Black Friday arrives the day after Grey Thursday, also known as Thanksgiving Day. It has been grey and chilly all day, with just little dribbles of rain. Not really rain, but kind of like a heavy fog. Every now and then I would be surprised by a BIG drop of rain, but it was infrequent at best. I did get the lights up and working up by the road. That is our tradition. Lights on the fence from Thanksgiving until New Years Day. We used to do a lot of decorating, but not any more. Jut the lights up by the road. I may try to sneak something in somewhere along the line, who knows. Callie has always enjoyed fires in the stove, and today was no different. She starts out right next to the hearth, and then edges herself a little further away every now and then. We hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving, and that you all have LOTS to be thankful for.

Turducken -- a boneless chicken stuffed into a boneless duck stuffed into a boneless turkey. Terry couldn't decide which bird to cook for Thanksgiving, so he went with a turducken to give his family and guests some options.

Did You Know? You can probably guess the origins of turducken just by looking at the word; it is a portmanteau (a word whose form is derived from a blending of two or more distinct other words) created by combining the words turkey, duck, and chicken, and the dish does indeed incorporate all three varieties of fowl. Turducken was first noted in print in 1982, although it may have been in use before that. The dish is a cousin of ballotine, a less familiar food item consisting of deboned meat, poultry, or fish stuffed with seasoned meats or vegetables, rolled and tied into a bundle shape, and usually braised. (The word ballotine derives from the French word for "bundle.")

2019 - Day 331/34 - Wednesday...Intemperate...

I am having a hard time remembering that today is Wednesday. I had an appointment to get my car serviced (the result of a low speed impact [2 miles per hour] on MoPac a couple weeks ago. It caused the radar stuff in the car to go wacky, and a warning light on the dash would NOT QUIT! So, I arranged to have it fixed. It was (all things considered) a cheap fix by the dealer. The worst part of it was taking the time to get it done. I ran a couple errands before dropping the car off, and I had no real expectations that I would get the car back today. My overall errands included three (yes, count them, three) trips to Costco, twice to the office, one listing appointment, one visit to a property to remove signs and lock box, a visit to Upper Crust and I think that is it. When I was headed home, I stopped at the dealer and they said they could 'probably' have my car ready in about an hour if I wanted to wait. Of course I wanted to wait. Bottom line, I got my car back, everything is working, and I don't have to go back and forth with an empty car. I now have regained access to ink pens and the ability to open the garage door without getting out of the car. Life is good.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve...

Intemperate -- Adjective. 1. not moderate of mild. severe. 2. lacking or showing lack of restraint. 3. given to use of alcoholic beverages. After the student's long and intemperate rant, the teacher told the class that any more such disruptions would not be tolerated.

Did You Know? Intemperate means more or less "not well tempered"-and that definition also provides a clue about its origins. The word derives from the Latin intemperatus, formed by combining in- with a form of the verb temperare, meaning "to temper" or "to mix." Both intemperate and its antonym temperate entered the English language in the 14th century. Other temperare words include distemper, temperment, temperature, temperance, and temper itself. Synonyms in intemperate in the sense of "not controlled" include unbounded, unbridled, unrestrained, and unchecked.

2019 - Day 330/35 - Tuesday...Deipnosophist...

Oops! He got his days mixed up...I do much of these entries in advance...I have them socked away up through December 22nd at the moment. Last night, when I was supposed to be posting Day 329, I posted Day 339 in error. I think it sucks that no one noticed the error. What is worse is that maybe no one is reading! That would probably NOT be the worst thing. It is at about this time of every year that I start questioning as to whether or not I will continue this journal after the end of the year. When I push the 'Publish' button later this evening, it will be the 3,980th post. That is almost 11 years of posting this journal on a daily basis, save for a day or two. I am still undecided, but I am also too compulsive to quit. I have too many quirks to stop, but that is yet to be seen. That was not to be the topic of this post either...I went to look at property to put on the market this morning; a main house, a cabin and a ruin. I was most intrigued by the ruin. It is definitely an open floor plan, and I think it is a really cool place!

Deopnosophist -- Noun. a person skilled in table talk. Mary knew that many of Janine and Frank's friends were deipnosophists, so there would be much jubilant conversation to be had at their upcoming party.

Did You Know? Next time you are at a dinner party, you might want to try working deipnosophist into the conversation (or maybe not) to impress the other guests with your sparkling vocabulary. When they ask where the term comes from, you can explain that it comes from Deipmosphistai, the title of a 15-volume work written by Green grammarian Athenaeus in the 3rd century. The seipnosophists of Athenaeus are learned banquet guests whose table talk, presented as a series of lengthy quotations from about 800 authors, covers subjects from poetry and grammar to food and philosophy. The work's title is the plural of the greek deipnosophistes, itseld a combination of deipnon (meaning 'Meal") and spphistes (meaning "wise man" or "sophist").

2019 - Day 339/26 - Thursday...Cunctation...

Today was not an extraordinary day when compared with winning the lottery, and having an election go in your favor, but it was a good day in much smaller regards. I got a GIANT bull frog out of the pool this morning when I was cleaning the skimmer. The frog though he could out smart me, but it appears that I am smarter than the average bull frog that does not have enough sense NOT to jump in the pool. Mission accomplished. AND, I took 69.6 pounds of coins to the credit union to be cashed in. It took a few trips from the coin machine to the car and back, but it was kind of interesting. It turns out that a pound of coins translates in to about $13. And I got some change back from the deal. I think I had been saving those coins for about two years, so it was fun having some free 'walk-around' money!

Cunctation -- Noun. delay. Henry couldn't attribute the cunctation of his reply to his editor to anything but his natural tendency to procrastinate.

Did You Know? Cunctation isn't the only word we have from the Latin cunctari, which means "to hesitate." There are the adjectives cunctatory, cunctations, and cunctative ("tending to delay") and the noun cunctator ("one who delays"). Without hesitation, we will tell you that although cunctation has been around for over 400 years, all these words are pretty rare-but that's not to say that no one ever uses them now. They do turn up occasionally: "The FAA has a cunctative approach to supervising airline security," wrote Playboy magazine in 2002. So, if you delight in hard words, don't forever put off using one of these vocabulary-boosting terms.

2019 - Day 328/37 - Sunday...Maieutic...

I have NO IDEA who this guy is. I reprised my role (it's an annual thang) of 'trash-man' for the Austin Empty Bowl Project. Today, I was much more delicate and quiet, and I added 'free-hugs' to my gig. It was interesting who was up for free hugs. It was kind of a peer pressure thing. People were hesitant, but if one person in the group said HELL YEAH, they all came in for a hug. If one member of the group said 'no, I'm good,' then nobody wanted a hug. I am thing 75% to 80% went for the hugs. Many were really appreciative and thanked me, some just wanted a hug. I see the same people year-after-year, and they remember me too, and that is fun. One friend of mine has been married since last year, and I got to meet her husband. All-in-all, it was a really fun day, several folks from the office (and their spouses) came to volunteer, and a good time was had by all!

Maieutic - Adjective. relating to or resembling the Socratic method of eliciting new ideas from another. "I am grateful to him for his maieutic (may-you-tick) inquiry about my own views, which had not crystallized." William F Buckley Jr., Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 27, 1973

Did You Know? Maieutic comes from maieutikos, the Greek word for "of midwifery." In one of Plato's dialogues, Socrates applies maieutikos to his method of bringing forth new ideas by reasoning and dialogue; he thought the technique analogous to those a midwife uses in delivering a baby (Socrates's mother was a midwife). A teacher who uses maieutic methods can be thought of as an intellectual midwife who assists students in bringing forth ideas and conceptions previously latent in their minds.

2019 - Day 327/38 - Saturday...Gamut...

Today was a day of running a few chores, naps, and The Empty Bowl Project Preview Party. It's a toss up for the best part of the day, it's between taking the naps and the Preview Party, but I think the Preview Party comes out ahead. I get in a few naps every weekend, The Empty Bowl Preview Party only happens once a year. Again, the Preview Party was a sell-out, and it is always fun to be there, anticipating the crowds that will be in line for their own very special bowls tomorrow. Th
e food was good, the soups were excellent (so I was told) and the variety of bowl pickin's was excellent as well. So far I have a couple items in mind for bidding during the silent auction, and I will be bidding for others throughout the day as well. Now, it is time to catch a few winks!

Gamut -- Noun. 1. the whole series of recognized musical notes. 2. an entire range or series. "The films offered at Kauai's Hawaii Ocean Film Festival run the gamut from sports to science. Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, August 16, 2009

Did You Know? To get the lowdown on gamut, we have to dive to the bottom of a musical scale utilized by 11th-century musician and monk Guido of Arezzo. Guido called the first line of his bass staff gamma and the first note in his scale ut (from the hymn Ut queant lasis"), which means that gamma ut was the term for a note written on the first staff line. In time, gamma ut underwent a shortening to gamut but climbed the scale of meaning. It expanded to cover all the notes of Guido's scale, then all the notes in the range of an instrument, and, eventually, an entire range of any sort.