Saturday, July 18, 2015

NOVA this week (July 18, 2015)



Observations from my weekly wanderings, usually in Northern Virginia (NOVA), but since nova means “new” you could also take it to mean new this week.

And the pic is just a really sweet 64 Chevy NOVA II SS.




For starters, Happy 35th Anniversary today, to my Beautiful Bride. Let’s do another 35 years.

**********
Random Quotation of the Week: In this world goodness is destined to be defeated. But a man must go down fighting. That is the victory. To do anything less is to be less than a man. ~ Binx’ Aunt Emily, from The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

**********
Scripture from this week’s reading of The One Year Chronological Bible (NIV): Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. Psalm 119: 1

**********
Excerpt from my current read:  The agent told him that he would see doves and plumed quail, but during all the time he lived there, he saw only a few large, black velvet spiders and a lizard. He grew very fond of the lizard. ~ Narrative regarding Homer Simpson (yes…Homer Simpson.)

**********
Shocking news of the week: There is a character in The Day of the Locust, published 1939, named Homer Simpson. (yes…Homer Simpson.) He’s a bit socially awkward, and I keep imagining him exclaiming…”D’oh!!!”

**********
New vocabulary from my current read:
Garrulous: pointlessly or annoyingly talkative

**********
Vanity Plate of the week:  Yesterday morning it was a tossup between MCBLUE (Virginia plate that also had the University of Michigan logo on it), and OH2 READ. But I happened to see OH2 READ both on the way to work, and on the way home, so it’s the winner. I don't think I need to explain.

**********
Other thoughts: I don’t know, might become my weekly rant, except a notable personality has already claimed to be the sole ranter of rants, so this may become my weekly philippic. I’m not sure yet. I’m not a negative person, but we all have things we don’t like right? And it can be therapeutic to vent now and then right? So again, I don’t know, but this may become my forum for a weekly philippic.  Anyway: I thought I’d express my dislike for – hmmm – what to call it, the propensity to shorten words to near gibberish, ie: selfie, grats (congratulations), you so cra (you are so crazy), guac (guacamole), dis (disrespect), vom (vomit), etc.

So, let me just say – Ughh!!!

That’s all. But I was wondering, if fellow bookish bloggers, whom I assume are sort of logophiles, or word nerds, feel the same? Bit like Orwellian newspeak isn’t it? Yeah, it’s quick, easy, efficient – ugly.

I read a phrase last week from Toni Morrison’s Beloved that was so beautiful, I read it about six times just to indulge myself.  Denver, a young African American girl, who had known little kindness in her life, had a young gentleman say to her: Take care of yourself Denver.

And Morrison described Denver’s reaction: she heard it as though it were what language was made for.

It IS – what language was made for!

**********
But otherwise, the stroll along Mulberry Street was rather pleasant this week.

3 comments:

  1. I'm only annoyed by shortened words when they confuse me, lol. After all, I talk on the phone, put my food in the fridge, used to read poetry at an open mike night, and regularly say "Congrats!" to friends on Facebook.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am actually commenting on your bookshelf. You and I have largely the same taste in literature. I'm glad to be able to read your reviews just from clicking on a book. I think I would like to get a shelf like that for my blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sharon, I really like the look of the bookshelf on the blog myself. You simply create your shelf on shelfari.com, then go to profile, and my shelf, and there is a widget there to put the shelf on your blog. After that you update your shelf on shelfari, and it will automatically update your blog.

      Delete