Word of the Day: ishkabibble

ishkabibble (n? adj?)

Various meanings: "don't worry," "a silly person," "nonsense" or an expression of surprise. Also the stage name (as Ish Kabibble) of the late comedian Merwyn Bogue.

"How narrow a plank our daily talk walks, between normalized syntax and mad entropy; and how painfully hilarious to us are those ishkabibble comedians who mimic the fluent sound of patterns of colloquial language, while refusing any--or almost any--sense to it!"
--Frederic Will, Shamans in Turtlenecks

As a kid, I went through a period of only wearing turtlenecks. I think I wanted to be futuristic, like a Star Trek person. I don't know why it's so often assumed that people in the future will wear turtlenecks (or mock turtlenecks) all the time. I believe that type of shirt has been around at least since the 1800s.

This Is How I Feel Sometimes

Brain Dump

Clean as a whistle in the dark side of the moon is made of green cheese and crackers and dip recipe for disaster recovery plan of action figure it out of your mind over matter of fact or fiction. Too good to be true blue in the face the future shock therapy group hug a tree of life is tough nut to crack the code of the West. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy toy gun control panel of experts agree with you never know your ass from your elbow joint venture forth into battle royal family guy on TV show must go on. Alrighty?

'Pick me, pick me!'

Save the Words is the wackiest online dictionary I've seen yet. You mouse over a wall of graphically rendered obscure words, each of which has its own plaintive British voice that asks you to "pick me!" You're then presented with a definition and a contractual obligation: "I heareby promise to use this word, in conversation and correspondence, as frequently as possible to the very best of my ability."

The idea is to keep these arcane words "alive in the English language."

Interesting that this balmy word play is sponsored by the conservative Oxford Dictionary.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Way I Feel

Found an abandoned cache of meditation, "environmental" and hypnosis CDs. Now, all expectations to the contrary, I'm a little blissful.... Saw a toy car on sale at Rite Aid. A red 1959 Cadillac convertible (the one with rocket-ship tailfins) in die-cast metal, about six inches long. Beautifully detailed; five bucks; had to have it. Felt juvenile at the cast register, but pleased when I got home. It sits on a shelf.... The phone (the old land-line phone we hardly use anymore) rang tonight. I picked it up and said "hello" in a tone that may have sounded annoyed, though actually, I was just distracted. Silence. Then whoever it was hung up. Felt paranoid for a second, then like I was in a cheesy scene from an old movie....

Word of the Day: cacoethes

cacoethes (n)

(pronounced kahk-uh-EE-theez)

A mania, or an overwhelming desire. Originally Latin, but long ago absorbed in English.

"We must talk, think, and live up to the spirit of the times, and write up to it too, if that cacoethes be upon us, or else we are nought."
--Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers

"Cacoethes loquendi" is a compulsion to talk or gossip. (That's NOT my problem.)

"Cacoethes scribendi" is an irresistible itch to write. (That's me, sometimes at least.)

"Cacoethes weblogi" is the obsessive urge to blog. (Not really. I made that up.)

Just Kick It

Peanuts, as written by Charles Bukowski, is here.

It began as a mistake.

The first time that Charles Branaski met Lucy Van Pelt, she was holding a football. He didn’t care for the game, baseball was his thing. Still, she held out that old football.

"Just kick the fucking thing," she said.

"Listen, babe. You just hold that thing steady and I’ll kick the shit out of it."

etc.....

Random Acts of Poetry

Cartoonist

It's yoga time upstairs
the creaking floor announces.
The fish wander in their glass prison.
I scribble in a notebook
making vague pictures, pinched faces.
My hand cramps
over ballpoint eyes and mouths.

There is a strange appliance
in the cupboard,
a thing that chops and grinds.
Why is it never used?
Silence. Someone's assumed
the lotus position.
It's not good to think so much.

These inky people look like maniacs.
"How do you spell relief?"
the radio asks.
I flip the page and find a snow field
ready to be populated.
Little people living in boxes,
their words floating off in balloons.

The T&T List

Peapack
andirons
mote
eurozone
Liechtenstein
David Byrne
Jersey's Own (TM) Root Beer
Michael Emerson
The Untouchables
Vortex
catnip
Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band

Word of the Day: witticaster

witticaster (n)

Someone who thinks they're funny -- but they're not.

"Olgar's speech is too rotten even for one who 'hath tippled somewhat already.' A post-prandial witticaster of our own day could not be nastier at the orgies of a party of bankers."
--Edwin Sauter, The Faithless Favorite

Q: Why was the math book sad?
A: Because it had a lot of problems.

I love puns, and to me, they are very funny. They're also very useful when you have to generate eye-catching headlines or little tag lines quickly, which I often must. But they are "the lowest form of humor" we're told (but poetry is much verse). Tell that to Shakespeare, who was full of puns, e.g., the cobbler who says he is a mender of men's soles in Julius Caesar. What is the highest form of humor, anyway? Surely slapstick is the lowest form, not puns. You know, guys slipping on banana peels.... Hmm, bananas. "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a...." No, I won't.

No Special Reason

Photo credit: Me!

Religion Reference Manual

Jesus was "a zombie carpenter".

Moses was an "orphan who talked to shrubbery".

Muhammad was "a guy with 11 wives".

And L. Ron was a "sci-fi writer" who wrote books like The Automatic Horse.

Learn more about major world religions at MadAtoms.