Cactus

I thought this word was a repeat since I wrote about cactus yesterday. But yesterday's word was desert!

NOW what do I write about "cactus?"

I remember someone being disappointed when I pointed out that the little cactus in a pot, that a friend had brought them from a recent trip, wasn't real at all. The main cactus part was real, but all the little flowers on it were glued on.

Sometimes I should probably be less observant.

Desert

I knew this would be today's word!

I ate cactus once. It was on the menu and I'd never tried cactus and it sounded interesting, so I ordered it. I thought it tasted like string beans, but the texture is different. I want to say it's rubbery, but it's not exactly. The surface, friction-wise, seemed rubbery, but the consistency of the whole vegetable wasn't rubbery or chewy. It was soft, like a cooked vegetable.

Dessert

There's a lot of leftovers. Too many. I'm pretty sure I've gained weight in the past weeks. I get tired, run down, and I reach for anything that I think will give energy. Usually that's protein (which also makes me gain if I eat too much), and next is sugar and next is fruit. In my own home, the only options are usually fruit and protein for quick energy fixes, and I rarely have meat in the house so I don't usually eat too much of it (I eat a lot of meat if it's around), plus I don't run myself down as much. But when I'm not at home, I eat a lot just to stay upright! I'll probably have a cupcake for breakfast...

Deaf

I had a deaf friend who used to wear a "I'm not deaf, I'm ignoring you" button :)

I took one or two years of American Sign Language in college and taught myself from books before that. I'm ok on paper but not as good in practice. As with most people and learned languages, I speak it better than I understand it. And I don't speak it that well.

I wouldn't mind taking more ASL classes someday, but I think what I'd really need is to go someplace like Gallaudet, and I don't think I'm interested enough to be that immersed in it. If a family member were deaf, I absolutely would. I've always loved ASL. I think it's a beautiful language.

Clamp

Wood Shop

I remember when we made wooden cars. Cutting them to the shape we wanted. Drilling the holes for the dowels in the car and the wheels. Using the wood burning tool to decorate them, and then finishing them off with shellac. And then, the final test for class. - Racing them to see who won.

Fireplace

I think of Christmas Stockings of course!

The rule in our house was that after 6am, we could go downstairs and open our Christmas Stockings on our own, and that we were allowed to play with those toys until our parents woke up. - That was part of the deal. Let the parents keep sleeping!

I remember one year my stocking looked empty from a distance and I was so sad. Had I really been that bad? Had my parents really done that to me? When I took the stocking down I saw it actually was packed with gifts. It had just looked flat (not bulky) so I hadn't been able to tell until I felt it.

I still remember that feeling. Believing my parents had acted that way and  deliberately left me an empty stocking. I didn't put it past them. And yet, they hadn't, and I had gifts that year after all.

Hurry

That's what I feel like now. - Do I have enough time for a OneWord post? Internet time is so rushed at the moment. People could walk in at any time and then I'd have to drop everything I'm doing, stop in the middle, and see to them. Otherwise I'd have prying eyes "What are you doing? What are you writing? One word? But that looked like more than one word? So what is it then? Explain it to me? Why did you close the computer? Why did you put it away? You can finish. I don't mind. But what was it exactly? I don't understand? Is it about me?"

It is sometimes.

Uh oh.... footsteps!

View

It would be nice to have one ;)

I know someone who has an amazing view. When I visit, it takes my breath away every morning. The thought of waking to beauty like that every single day... it's very appealing. If only it weren't so darned hot where she lives.

Sneaky

My friends and I used to play "Spy." Playing "Spy" consisted of making it around the perimeter of our block via the back yards of everyone's houses. Which was not cool where we lived! We'd sneak behind bushes and trees and flowers and gardens... we weren't trying to see or steal anything. We wanted to see if we could get through all the backyards without anyone seeing us!

I was always so afraid of getting caught by someone. I don't think we ever were. Because, really, if you're not actually IN your back yard, and you're not watching pets or kids back there, and you don't have a breathtaking view, and you're not on a hit list of some kind... who looks back there?

Platinum

Why do they keep changing the color of my credit cards? Like I care? Keep it the same darned color and add whatever benefits you want, but stop trying to impress me by changing its color. No one knows what the colors mean anymore anyway!

Remember when a "Gold Card" was a big deal? Now when someone pulls out a gray card it could be gray or silver or platinum or... titanium! Heck you could pull out a green card and it could be KRYPTONITE! Gold is so yesterday.

Centerpiece

I'm thinking of events where centerpieces exist... bar/bat mitzvahs... award ceremonies... hotels...

I remember making "memory candles" at bar/bat mitzvahs. It was the cool "in" thing to do. Grab a glass of water from the table with a nice stem, and put in mementos from the event. Things like the birthday boy/girl's name tag from the table, and maybe a flower from the centerpiece. Sometimes bits of food but ideally not! Non perishables if possible. Then you were supposed to take a candle from the table (there were always candles on the table!) and drip wax all along the surface of the water and up the edges of the glass to seal everything in. Like a time capsule.

I doubt any "memory candles" ever left a restaurant! They were probably all thrown away. I'm kind of curious now about exactly how futile those attempts were, and how long it'd take for that wax seal to start to ooze? Hours I'd think. But who knows? I never had a bat mitzvah so I was never presented with one of those "teenage works of art" ;) I probably would have tried to keep it!

Slouch

"We're slouching again... Straighten up... eyes ahead... look like all the other human beings! Great... Now we're teetering. From side to side, like some old person. We should have brought a cart."

"We didn't need a cart. It would have been empty."

"Doesn't matter, it would have given him more balance. At the very least the slouching might have looked like he was making an effort to push the darned thing."

"If it was empty?"

"Whose idea was it to go outside today anyway?"

"Somebody said they wanted pizza!"

"Look..."

"What?"

"We're slouching again."

Anywhere

Anywhere but here.

She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to go. She knew it was unlikely any of them would come back, but they could. If they did, she rationalized, she could lock the door. Refuse to let anyone in. They'd go away in time. But they'd still know she was there. They might come back another time. Wait for her outside, or drive down her street, or park across the street, looking through her windows to see if she was home. They might wait in the lobby, bother her neighbors. They might even enlist others to drive by on their behalf.

She would have to go.

"Stay" she'd thought to herself. "Stay and calm down. You'll be happier in the morning when you're still in your home instead of who knows where." This is what she'd told herself as she'd locked the doors, turned off the lights, and tried to get some sleep. But sleep hadn't come, and an hour later, she was packing. The fastest panicked packing she'd ever done. What do you pack when you don't know where you're going? Money, clothes, pajamas, laptop, dvds (for distraction), papers, bills, PDA, chargers for everything.... a backup drive of important files... Nothing abnormal. Only items that would make her unmemorable. That would make her blend in with a crowd. Sweats, caps, subdued colors. Everything had to fit in one suitcase. One case that she could roll.

"You should stay" a voice inside her still said, but the panic hadn't subsided. She'd given it a chance. She'd tried to take a nap, but that hadn't worked. So now it was time for plan B. Now it was time to run.

Skyline

Superman :)

I remember the original, I remember the Christopher Reeve version, I liked the guy on Smallville... Canadian guy... didn't watch the show much but saw the finale. I also recently saw a later film that I thought was surprisingly true to the franchise, but a bit draggy (as in tempo, not cross dressing ;) )

When I was around 10, I bought a large Superman comic book. It was at least an inch thick. More like an anthology. It was the first time I read about how he came to be Superman, and I was totally drawn in. I can still remember the images of the toddler and the ship, and the couple finding him.

I had a lot of Super Hero dreams back then. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, - Charlie's Angles ;) We made pretty great teams for a number of years.

In the real world, kids were ignored. People assumed kids knew nothing and could make no valid contributions to conversations, society, or the planet. Kids were thought to be stupid. Living in the "real world" was frustrating.

In my dreams, the bad guys also thought kids were stupid, knew nothing, and could make no valid contribution to conversations, society, or the planet. So they also ignored me. But in my dreams, that was my advantage.

♫ "Where... Where is Flare?" ♫

I don't remember the rest. But I can explain that. I never actually sang that song. A friend did. So there! :P

Flare...

Solar?

Emergency?

I like the car commercial where a family is at the edge of a canyon watching all the stuck vehicles send up flares, like it was a fireworks show - and then eventually decide to go down and help them, with their all terrain vehicle :)

(I just noticed this got saved to draft instead of posting on the 20th, so the date is correct, but it's actually being posted about 2 weeks late!)

Solitaire

See? That's why yesterday's "hearts" (vs "heart") kept pointing me to cards and card games!

Solitaire. I know someone who plays it a lot. I can always hear it in the background when I call or in the next room when I visit. She also saves games at the moment of winning so she can replay the last card over and over and watch the winning "card shuffle" animation fill the screen.

Hearts

Queen of ____

Playing cards

- It's the "s" on the end that's making me go in this direction...

Heart.

I remember when I first saw mine. The only time I think. In my 20s during a stress test of some kind. I saw it beating on the monitor, in black and white. I remember thinking how... it's tough to say.... "tired"... Maybe...? "Vulnerable?" It looked?

People are used to seeing babies hearts beating inside of them, and getting emotional, but I saw my own. And somehow, I felt sorry for it. Like, there it was, working, always, unseen and not appreciated as much as it should be. Because I hadn't known before. Hadn't really seen it doing its thing. I knew it was there of course, and had felt it, but it's one thing to know your heart is working, and to feel it beating. It's another to actually see it, pumping, unending, doing its job, on a screen, in black and white. I don't know what I expected. Something more solid looking? Maybe? This looked like a sack.

I wanted to wrap a blanket around it, and take care of it. Let it take a nap or something. To give it rest. And then of course I realized it could never rest. Not ever. Not even for a few minutes. It would always work, 24/7, forever, until it, and I, die. I'd love to let it sleep.

Left

When I was in Kindergarden and did all the school testing stuff to see if I was a genius or if I was a moron, I remember being asked to write a few words and to sign my name on a piece of paper. I did. After staring at my less than stellar 5 year old handwriting, they told me to try with my left hand instead. I did. - Then they told me to go back to my right hand ;)

Uh oh... like a frozen icicle on a roof, yesterday's word is stuck and hasn't changed over.

Unless it's due to the daylight savings thing and this thinks it's an hour... no wait.... that wouldn't work that way. Then the new word would have been posted an hour earlier not an hour later.

Yup.

Stuck...

A virtual "icicle" frozen in the entryway of OneWord...

Let's see how long it takes to melt...

Icicle

I remember the taste of icicles. Do you? That dirty water taste? Not quite magical, and yet, somehow... it still was.

Beginning

How long has it been since I had a "beginning?"

Lots of endings... Lots of "same o'les...

wrapping up, re-doing, fixing...

Beginnings can be fun.

I remember beginnings.

Prints

Finger prints.

I always wanted a detective kit when I was younger. They used to sell little finger printing kits for kids, where you could dust on white powder or black powder and then lift a print and tape it to the opposite colored paper (white powder on black paper or black powder on white...) I think a little booklet came with them and probably also a magnifying glass. The round kind with a handle (- Which I'd also seen used to burn leaves or burn initials into a seesaw!)

Patent

...leather shoes?

Tap dancing.

Everyone thought I should be a tapper. I would have loved to be a tapper! But I had trouble with the arms... I could get my feet to make the right sounds, but the rest of the body? Not so much.

I still have about four or five steps I remember that "appear" when I'm waiting for an elevator. A bit like pacing or a nervous tick... except it's falap -

falap, ball -

Crap now I have to stand up and do it!

Brush heel toe heel falap heel heel!

Autumn

My favorite season. There's nothing I don't like about it. The leaves, the temperature... not too hot and not to cold. And shorter days. I like shorter days. I like apples and pumpkins and fleecy things too.

Someday, I'd like to have a cabin. For fall and winter months. Maybe I can hibernate in the spring...

Tires

Do you know how many people don't know how to check their tires and fill them with air? (That's a rhetorical question. I don't know how many, but it's a lot!) It's easy! It's fast, it's fun.... the little tire gauge thing looks like a sonic screwdriver, and best of all, air pumps at most gas stations are free!

Downpour

I love rain.

Mostly I'm thinking of woods and camping, and summer camp... Isn't that when downpours always happen?

Poking a tarp from underneath with a stick, to release all the accumulating water.... plastic ponchos... gray... puddles... leaves... woods... gravel...

The sound of rain...

And birds... always the sound of birds afterwards. Excited, shaking water off their heads, hopping from tree to tree.

Profound

It's not difficult to be profound.

The word's origins go back to the word Profundus, which means "Deep." Actually Pro meaning "before" and fundus meaning "bottom."

The question for me is, by "before" does that mean "as you approach the bottom from the top?" so "pro" is referring to the space right before you reach the very bottom? Or does it refer to a space beyond the bottom?

Something beyond the bottom...

Now that's profound.

Epiphany

Oh boy I have a whole blog post saved up on this! More of a rant really. The short version is, just because something is brand new to you, that doesn't mean it's new to the rest of the world. It's fabulous when people learn new things. More people should learn new things! But "new to you" rarely means "New to the universe."

Shepherd

♫ Pa rum pa pum pum... ♫

Little drummer boy. I'm not sure why I love that song so much.

I also think of the boy who cried wolf.

Mostly, though, I think of the whole nativity thing.

Shepherds... flocks...

I guess they won't be needed much when robots take over those jobs.

Automatic

I've always preferred driving a stick shift. I like having that additional control over a car. Automatic cars always leave me guessing... "When is it going to shift into the next gear?" I downshift too, and I've yet to drive an automatic car that does that well, if at all. Every car I've owned has been a stick shift.

Hmmm...

Are they even still made?

Awakening

I think of the movie (with an "s.")

Frustrating. How can they NOT get into those peoples minds again and reach them? To be able to get through, and then for them to slip away again back into themselves...

I heard the doctor was kind of egotistical. Hard to know when you don't know someone in real life.

How can they not get back in... :(

Comfort

I crave this... Large soft plushy blankets and beds and seating that allow you to sink into them - without paying for it with a messed up back or neck later on!

Comfort food... the smells... the tastes...

Quiet... or at least sounds that relax me and don't grate....

Peace.

♫ "I said watch what ya say, they'll be calling you a radical. A liberal. Oh a fanatical criminal. Won't you sign up your name, we'd like to feel you're acceptable. Respectable. Oh presentable a vegetable. Oh, take take it take it yeah! ♫


♫ There are nights when all the world's asleep. The questions run too deep, for such a simple man. Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned. I know it sounds absurd. But please tell me who I ammmm.... who I ammmm... who I ammmmm.... who I ammm.......!" ♫

(Sixty seconds actually ended in the musical interlude, but I couldn't stop there!)

Warfare

Hmmm.... two things come to mind. One is war type games. Boys are obsessed with these. Some girls too, but I know fewer women who remain addicted to them as adults, than men. It's an odd preoccupation IMO. Strategy, teamwork, acuity, precision... that's all appealing, but that can be present in other types of games. It's specifically the war games that are popular with them. Shooting, killing, conquering, acquiring. I've had zero interest in these.

Advice

Ooooh this is tricky. I'm full of advice. Often unsolicited! But it's information IMO. Information I wish I'd had when I was trying to figure out A or B or C and was going CRAZY researching it once upon a time. So when I hear someone mention something I've already learned tons about, I speak up and say "Hey! I know how to do that! Have you tried this..." - And people can take or leave whatever info I give them. It doesn't matter to me whether or not someone implements information I give them. If someone keeps bemoaning a certain situation or asking for help with the same issue, I might repeat myself once or twice, in case they forgot, but that's about it.

It's kind of like an information booth. Imagine you're a tourist somewhere. You go to the info booth and they tell you all of the information they have, and the great things you can do, and how to get there, and they give you directions, and they might even repeat them a couple of times to make sure you've understood, but they're not going to follow you around for the rest of the day saying "Did you go to the museum? Why not? I TOLD YOU YOU'D LIKE IT!!!! YOU MUST GO TO THE MUSEUM!!!!"

Compassion

Everything they claimed they stood for, and nothing they possessed. They saw a need, fabricated a world to suit that need, exploited the people who believed in their cause, then killed them and used that new world to serve themselves.

Spring

Spring has sprung...

For some reason I'm thinking of those little springs inside of old push button pens. I wonder if pens will become altogether extinct someday. Or a rarity. Maybe they'll go up in price. Maybe paper will cease to exist too.

Stacks

Library

Hypercard...

What can I say about Hypercard that hasn't already been said the past few days.

Library

Did anyone ever get the Dewey Decimal System down? I was so confused by that as a kid. Just point me to the right section, don't make me try to make sense of those numbers!

Iron

Something I rarely do.

Also a pill I was never able to find. At least not an effective one. Any time I had low iron, no supplements would do. Only red meat. Which would make me sad.

I've decided, within the past year or so, that it might not be iron alone that I get from meat. I think the reason meat, and nothing else, can fix my body's wonkiness at times is not because of the iron, but possibly because of the hormones that cows are injected with. Hormones that I also cannot take in supplement form.

I figure it's kind of like those monkeys that chew food and then spit it up so their young can eat it? It's kind of like that. I can't take iron or hormone supplements directly. I need a COW to take them, and then I need to eat the cow.

There's gratitude for ya.

Setting

I learned how to make one folded napkin "thing" when I was little, and used it every time I set a table. It was a way to make a kind of "bed" or pocket for the utensils. - I always thought of it as a bed.

Fold a napkin into a simple triangle or rectangle? Unheard of!

I guess it's not too far off a tangent to add that at Disney housekeeping always impresses me with their mad towel folding skills. I'll have to corner one of them someday and ask them how that works. How many kinds are they taught... are there refresher courses... how much of their training is devoted to "towel folding...." etc.

(If you've never stayed at a Disney hotel, do an image search on the web. I'm sure there's towel pictures out there.)

Warned

"You've been warned."

"Warned? I don't understand. What are you "warning" me about? I'm doing my job."

"Maybe you're doing it too well."

"What are you talking about?"

She knew of course. But she couldn't let on. She had to figure out how much he knew, and how far he was willing to go.

Suppose

Supposably.

The problem with using words from comic scenes in shows or literature, is that most people won't understand the reference and will think you're an idiot.

"Supposably" is a Joey-ism I used to use, as was "moo." I loved "moo!"

braid

I picture braids in my own hair, when I was little, and braids on horse tails.

At one time, I considered getting braids all over my head. I thought it might look cute. Some time later I was someplace that offered to wrap a small bunch of hair in colored yarn. It ended up being about the thickness of a pencil. One little bunch of hair.

That thing bothered me SO MUCH! It hurt like heck and was always swinging back and forth, whacking me, and pulling on what felt like just a few tiny strands on my head. I left the wrap in out of stubbornness - and the thought that maybe in time I'd get used to it - and it finally broke off completely about a month later. I never got used to it. It hurt all the way to the end.

When I think that a head full of tiny braids might have been just like that, but multiplied, I'm relieved I never tried it.

Romantic

This isn't romantic at all, but it popped into my head.

I used to have several friends who worked with telephone porn companies. It was extra work, a step up in pay from telemarketing, and they could pick their own hours. To hear them compare stories at parties was hilarious. Like telemarketing, some worked in an office at a phone bank, and others worked from home and calls were forwarded to them during their work hours.

Keep that in mind guys.... the next time you think "Bambi" is into you and your fantasy, it's more likely she's in flannel pajamas and slippers, ironing, paying bills, putting away dishes, and maybe even getting ready for her real date ;)

Half

Somehow, this reminded me of a book, that has nothing to do with this word. It's called "Six is So Much Less Than Seven."

For some reason, I thought of loss when I saw this word today. Not in a glass half empty kind of way, because that's half of the same liquid. That's about quantity, not about completion. Not about different halves that are lacking other parts needed to be whole. A whole heart, a whole soul, a whole unit... I don't think singleness is sad. A single person is still whole. But half of something that is lacking another part to form its whole.... that's what I felt today when I saw this word. "Half." "Not complete." Something that's missing. I felt loss.

Dense

Fog
People...

There are far more dense people in the world than I knew. I'd thought smart people outnumbered the idiotic. Not so. And IQ doesn't play as much a part in decentness and non-idiotic behaviour as one might think.

On a slightly different tangent re: "Dense..."

I have a lot of patience with people who aren't "smart." People who don't understand how to do something or don't know something, or are slow to learn something and ask questions (even the same questions) over and over and over again. They don't bother me. I do have problems with people who don't try. Who want me to do all the work for them instead of with them. Who lie about what work they have or haven't done on their own. "Dense" people, in my world, are those people. People who'd rather complain, manipulate and make excuses, rather than try, and try, and try, and try, over and over and over again. The latter may be slower than others at times, but they are not dense. Slow and steady does eventually cross the finish line.

Playground

- This used to be my....

There was a playground near me when I was growing up. We called it "The Park." I can still remember all the rides there. There was a big concrete duck and black horse, each mounted on a giant spring that was dug well into the ground. We'd rock back and forth on those. One day a friend just rocked "forth" and the whole thing came out of the ground. I had not yet fully developed empathy at that point and wondered why the parents were so freaked out.

There was a jungle gym shaped like a train. Just the outline of one. The only solid part was the bench part to sit on.

There was one of those flat spinny things. We called it the merry go round. Kids would hold onto its bars and run around it, trying to get it spinning really fast, then jump on at the last minute for the ultra fast dizzying ride, while trying to fight the centrifugal force that threatened to shoot them all off the edges

A new slide was put in at one point, with red and white striped climbing poles and a tunnel at the top of the slide. A short tunnel, but back then that made it way cool.

Then there were the swings. Horse swings. Plastic horses, in different colors, attached at the front and back to the swing set. You'd sit on the horse's back, grab the handle bars, put your feet on the foot bars, and swing. I rode the blue one a lot and used to imagine we were flying together. It made its way into some of my dreams.

Wow... floods of memories from this place... not sure how much more to write. My 60 seconds is up anyway ;)

I remember a lot from there. Times with my dog. A friend who lived at the edge of the park and considered it her back yard. Birthday parties, a basketball hoop at the far end. Older friends telling me they set the park on fire while smoking and the police came...

I still dream about the park at times. I often have to go through it or by it to get somewhere. In a dream, it's usually connected with a very large hill that was near it in real life.

Evidence

There was no evidence. It was her word against theirs. And the handful of people she'd told, hadn't believed her. That was the part she would never understand. That when faced with the choice of believing her, her, or them, everyone chose them. She whose praises everyone had sung. She who'd helped most of them through troubles of their own, saved their lives, found them work, built them up and led them from lonely worlds to new lives... she whom everyone had trusted... None of that mattered.

What was it about the outer glow that some people had? A glow that shone so brightly to some, that it protected the bearer like a forcefield. While others, whose glow came from within, would never have any protection at all.

Pressed

Pressed Flowers:
I remember pressing some in an encyclopedia. I'd hoped to put them in a frame between two panes of glass and give them as a gift. Never happened.

Pressed Suits:
Did you know Dry Cleaners can just press stuff for you if you ask? Without cleaning? I don't usually need this service since most anything I have that's "Dry Clean Only" doesn't survive past its first laundry load.

Hot off the Press:
My friend had a miniature printing press when we were little. I remember typesetting all the letters in backwards and then cranking out ONE WHOLE SHEET of paper!!!! - Over and over again.

I also had a school trip to the New York Times when I was younger. I'm pretty sure I still have the... I don't know what they're called.... the fused row of letters and numbers that were used to print that day's date. We were each given one to take home.

Pressed for Time:
Time's up! :)

"She hasn't been herself."

"In what way?"

"She seems... preoccupied. Distant. Have you sensed anything?"

"No. Nothing at all."

Crouch

I got nothing.

I'm thinking of another word that's similar, and yet very much not this word.

I'm also thinking of Barty Crouch.

I'm also thinking Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

I'm also thinking of sore knees from memories of crouching too long!

Celebrate

- All kinds of music with that word in my head.

I'm not sure I'll be able to write anything creative. The music is too loud.

Concern

Unhelpful people come to mind. It's understandable for people to be concerned from time to time. I get concerned too. But it's also important to not let that concern become an annoyance or burden for the other person.

Some people think that any help is still help. That's not so. It doesn't matter what the giver believes is helpful. Help is not help unless it's considered helpful by the recipient. Any other "help", undue concern, or calls or unwelcomed visits are often immensely detrimental. It's not charitable, it's self serving. It's entirely for the benefit of the giver who needs to feel like they're doing something useful, or see the person, or hear from them, or be convinced everything is ok...

I've seen the damage people like that can do, and I won't allow people like that in my life. I have a couple of family members and a neighbor who fall into that category, - who I can't "get rid" of! - so I lie. Always. No matter what is happening in my life, to them I will always be 100% perpetually "fine."

Rally

Pep Rally

I wanted to be a cheerleader when I was younger. I really did. I thought it would have been fun. But I didn't pursue it. For all the reasons people don't become cheerleaders. Because cheerleading was less about cheerleading and instead was about boys and popularity and coolness and looking like Barbie. - And football. There was something in there about football too...

I just wanted to cheer. I would have loved cheerleading!

Hover

Hovercraft of course.

Also "Hoover" which was the name of a robotic dog in a comic strip I used to love. As the comic became more popular the dog's name was changed to "Bleeker" to ward off potential future trademark issues. But he'll always be "Hoover" to me :)

Here you go: http://bleekercomics.com/

Bars!!!!

LOL!!!

I'm sorry. I used my bar jokes in the last post!

Existence

Descartes walked into a bar and the bartender asked "Would you like a drink?" Descartes said "I think not." and he disappeared.

Joke #2 (Courtesy of Cheers)

Q: How many surrealists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: A fish.

Thank you folks! I'm here all night!

Ant

I knew someone who had a competition with her friend to see who could buy each other's kids the most obnoxious gift. My friend thought she had a clear win when she bought her friend's kids a drum set. Her friend bought her kids an ant farm. - Her friend won.

Division

I liked long division in school. But then when the next wave of kids were taught to write the carried over numbers in different places? Messes me up. Gotta do it my way!

I also thought mitosis was cool.

Ok, this seems to be a "school" day. That's what comes to mind with "Division." That and divisiveness amongst people - and I'd rather go back to school than there.

Pepper

Who didn't want to like Dr. Pepper growing up? Remember those commercials? "Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too!"

I TOTALLY wanted to be a Pepper! I wanted to love the stuff and dance and sing down the street with that guy and all the cool kids behind him!

Then I actually tried the stuff, and I hated it. I tried it several times because I SO wanted to like it.

Ick.

I wonder what happened to the Dr. Pepper guy?

(Gosh I love the interwebnet. The Dr. Pepper guy was David Naughton.)

Salt

What's with throwing salt over the shoulder to get rid of the devil/demons? Wasn't salt a luxury way back when? Was the idea to scare them off or get it in their eyes? Or, given salt's scarcity, was it more like throwing a bunch of money in the air and having the demons all scatter trying to gather it up?

Sponge

Don't want to write about sponge bob or absorbing info like a sponge... Sea sponges bring to mind some nice images, but I don't have much to say about them (nor about another type of sponge that comes to mind.)

So...

A tip.

Sink sponges: Cut them in half. You'll end up with double for your money. Do your sponges really need to be THAT big when you're cleaning up and/or doing the dishes?

avenue

Q :)

I haven't even seen the darned thing. Except on awards shows and a little online. But oh, that hasn't stopped me from knowing most of the music!

I would love to do that show. - Except I could never hold a puppet up over me for that long. I can't believe the same people are able (physically!) to keep doing this show years later. They must be made of steel.

Offer? No one had ever offered. What were they talking about? Was this even allowed without her consent? She never gave her consent! What had her family been thinking??? And what was she supposed to do now?!

Mist

Myst :)

I LOVED THAT GAME! I got through the whole thing with no cheats - played it obsessively - and didn't even own a copy! I played on and off at a friend's and finished it while working elsewhere for a summer, playing on an office worker's computer.

Eventually I got my own copy and then the sequels came out. I pre-ordered Riven and it arrived a day early! I couldn't believe it. Sadly, that was all I looked forward to at the time. I remember, for some reason, the question arose "If I died tomorrow is there anything I'd miss?" and I thought for a long time and realized, no. There wasn't really anything I'd feel like I missed. If someone flew down and said "Hey you wanna go now?" I'd have said "Ok!" But then I realized Riven hadn't come out and I WANTED to play, and was waiting, and I realized I'd be really upset if I died before I had a chance to play that after all my waiting! - Lame huh? :D

I did a two day marathon of playing once I got it and finished the game, - Alive again. No hints. - Then kept seeing maglevs in everything as I walked around my neighborhood. Weird the brainwashing that two straight days of playing can do to you! I liked Riven, but liked the first a bit better.

The third I didn't like at all. I needed two hints for that. One was due to the graphics which I thought were terrible. I literally couldn't see the clue. Not because I wasn't looking but due to the quality of the graphics. The 2nd was my fault. Too immersed in the game. I felt pressured to make a split second decision and panicked and chose incorrectly. Had I taken myself out of the game and put it on PAUSE - which you can do because it's ONLY A GAME! I might have figured out the correct thing to do. But that NEVER OCCURRED TO ME! It was so strange, afterwards, when I realized that. I felt the pressure and immediacy to choose QUICKLY! - and I did. And it didn't go well at all. And my heart SANK. Really truly did. I had chest pains, I lost my breath, I believe I screamed or did one of those silent screams.... - WAY too immersed. Very real at the time. My reaction surprised me. I was very shaken!

I bought Real Myst and loved it. Then got the next in the series, and lost patience with it pretty early on. It was sad to see how poorly the game progressed once it was sold to another company.

I have all 3 books, in hardcover. A t-shirt and a squee somewhere. A CD somewhere too. All part of a bonus package. Loved the world. Used to visit Cyan's website and wonder about playing frisbee... Still remember the action figure mockups of the staff :)

Angry the Myst series was sold to others.

Years later someone bought me Pyst (speaking of "being taken over by others!") which I'd always wanted, out of curiosity, but never wanted to shell out money for because I'd heard it was THAT bad. - I am thrilled to have a copy now. But oh yes, it is THAT bad. It's terrible.

Myst is the only computer game I was ever into. I tried a few others and had zero interest. The puzzles weren't challenging. The worlds didn't interest me... I do like virtual reality games but can only use a helmet for up to 15 minutes. After that my brain goes all wonky and it takes me too long to recover (as in over an hour to re-establish equilibrium!)

What else can I say - now that I'm way past 60 seconds!

I loved Myst. I even have the demo on my phone :)

Edit: I just realized I DID get a clue to the first game. Sort of. Someone looking over my shoulder made a comment about the sounds, and I hadn't really been paying attention to the sounds (and often played on mute!) and I realized there might be audio clues I was missing. There were. I'd thought the sounds were just there for ambiance. - Didn't make that mistake again!

"It's great to be a secretary in the White House, DC.
You get inside information on Algeria.
You know every move they're making in Liberia,
You learn what's what and what is not in the land of the free.
Every corner that you turn you meet a notable,
with a statement that is eminently quotable.
Oh it's great to be a secretary in the White House, DC"

Lyrics again. Did that show years ago. Didn't even like it. Still doesn't stop me from remembering the lyrics. Though I'm uncertain about one word... and I think I was uncertain about it then too.

Have I mentioned before that I still know all the lyrics AND dance movements to my first grade Easter play? ;)

destruction

Weapons of Mass...

Did you know that one of the very real concerns of scientists "back in the day" was that if an atomic bomb was detonated, it could ignite Earth's atmosphere and a chain reaction could wipe out our atmosphere completely? Before the first test bomb was deployed this was a very real theory of theirs and a genuine concern.

- AND THEY SET ONE OFF ANYWAY! :oO

May the Force be with you ;)

I always liked the idea of "the Force." An energy that surrounds and connects all things in the universe, that could be tapped into, and would enhance your own energy and abilities depending on what parts of the force you were tuned into.

"The Force is ... an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together."

The song comes to mind.

Childhood umbrellas. I remember a clear plastic one that was shaped like a dome. Not flat like other umbrellas. I believe there was a cartoon character on it. I'm picturing the color red, yellow, and black, but I can't remember what the character was. I want to say Annie, but that might be incorrect. I think there was a red plastic ball on the tip too, but I also remember a long silver tip, so maybe not?

I tried jumping off the jungle gym with it once. You know.... to use it as a parachute. It didn't work. I considered jumping from higher spots to catch more air, but wasn't completely confident that that was the problem and decided to not take the risk.

I experimented but I wasn't a complete idiot.

Silk

My dad gave me a little silk kit thing once. It was a small box, with a small square of pink silk, and I think half of a silkworm cocoon. It was some kind of sample or promotional item from some business related "silk" thing. My sister got one too.

Poison

Earlier, I was thinking about drinking water vs washing water. I'd just as soon have everything filtered, but it's not practical. When people ask me why I want my cooking water filtered too, since it's boiled, I compare it to urine. What if unfiltered water = urine. You might use it to rinse off your plates, but would you boil your food in it or use it in your soups? I think not.

(Ok, some people know that urine is actually quite sterile and that some people drink it for health benefits on purpose, but those aren't the kinds of people who ask "Why do you want filtered water for boiling?" :P )

Attempts to silence people by disgusting them aside, not all contaminants in water can be boiled away. Where I live, one of the bigger issues is rust from pipes. Do you know how much rust, lead, and other metals are removed from water when you boil it? - None. 'Nuff said.

Transport

"Any time people eagerly board a transport, en masse, to get to a 'promised land' there's bound to be trouble." She said. "This isn't charity. How about giving them a bunch of free tickets to come and go at their leisure. Anybody ever think of that?"

Thread

Unravelling...

Fix the problem or start anew. There is no right, unless you're trying to fix something that it's truly time to throw away.

Near

I tried to write something creative, but all I can think is that the people outside are TOO NEAR MY WINDOW RIGHT NOW!!!

If it were a quiet celebration, I would enjoy it. I'd hang out, I'd buy stuff. Give me quiet festivals any day. Or move the music indoors.... nowhere NEAR me.

Discovery

Channel.

Grrr... Commercial stuff again.

[Eyes closed.... erase.... next.....]

He led her to an open lot. Empty, except to her. The boy had suspected as much.

"Is it them?" he asked. "What do you see?"

She stood, silent. How could she not have known? Where had all these people come from? And how had this graveyard come to be?

answers

She wanted answers. But she was never going to get them. Really, she had the answers already. She just hadn't heard them. And until she was capable of understanding the answers she already had, newer information would not be revealed.

Elastic

Super elastic bubble plastic!

And Stretch Armstrong!

... I need to get some "later in life" memories.

Isn't that what senile people do? Remember everything from their childhood, because those memories have been in the "brain system" longer? But they couldn't tell you about newer events, like what happened yesterday?

- I can tell you what happened yesterday. I had a crappy day!!! I can also tell you lots of other more recent things, but they're not the first things that come into my mind with these exercises. More ingrained stuff pops immediately to mind. - Like "Super Elastic Bubble Plastic!"

I can still remember how that stuff looked (dull mixed colors, and the (relatively) clear bubble that would come out the side, never in the center of the glob on that red straw, no matter much how I tried to position and re-position it and aim my blowing), felt (Cold. Why did it feel cold? It did though.), smelled (Hard to describe, but I remember it.) - and every other detail from puncturing the tube, to making the small ball of goop and pressing the edges onto the straw to make a seal so the blob wouldn't shoot off like a piece of gum when you started to blow. To rolling the tube to squeeze the last bits of the plastic-y stuff out, to when the tube would tear (as part of that effort,) and the goop when it hardened (in bubble form or not,) when it wrinkled as it'd deflate and feel like a dried up skin, to the blobs that would harden, but not all the way, and the sound and look and feel and the tension of those blobs as you tried to stretch them and they'd snap in half, and what a clean snap it'd be... flat, and short. Both sides.

I could go on but the details are overwhelming. This is from eons ago! But my brain forgets very little.

Edit: Super Elastic Bubble Plastic at Retroland

Driving

Wow. I thought of that JUST as the word came up. Really. I was thinking about car rentals and gas fees as the word appeared.

Spoooooky!!!!!

I was having a bit of "flight" syndrome. "Flight" being the other half of "Fight or Flight." I generally choose "Flight."

But just now, when I looked up what it would cost to literally "fly" last minute, I was not amused.

It's unlikely I'll go anywhere. I'm just having a bad bad day and thought hey, maybe I should get away. But since that's not going to happen today, by the time I go to sleep and wake up tomorrow morning, I'll have talked myself out of it.

Nevertheless, while I was waiting for the page to load, I'd started to think "What if I drive..."

* Note to the world: If I'm not doing "Flight" that leaves "Fight. It would not be advisable to show up at my door today uninvited and without cookies.

I'm not particularly cheap. But I don't like wasting money. I think that's pretty Basic right?  Isn't that fairly Basic for anyone? Specifically, does anybody want to spend more money than they have to? Ok maybe that's not Specific enough. Here's a better Example. I try to exercise some Control in my spending, so I don't get Swept away in the excitement of seeing a new product and pay ridiculous prices for it. It Almost always works. I've Wondered at times about people who think that spending more money on something makes some kind of Statement about their own self worth. Like people who wear expensive Scarves in February and March.

This post is not a OneWord exercise. It's an attempt to fix Blogger's broken search feature on this site.

The search feature on Blogger doesn't work correctly. Hasn't for years. As such, some of the pages on this site don't appear in search results - which kind of makes the search box pointless! 

I noticed that most (all?) of the pages that don't show up in searches also aren't indexed by Google. So let's see if linking to some of them in that first paragraph gets Google to wake up and say "Oh! Those pages!!!" It's not my best writing but the links are there. We'll see if they show up in a search in a few weeks.

Brick

"A splendid edifice can climb one brick at a time...."

"The work a mason does, is made to last..."

Songs and musicals keep coming to me first, recently.

Also the typical loose brick that opens a secret door or hides a key or box, or serves as a stepping stone to climb...

I'm remembering an exercise I did years ago. In my late teens. Some kind of test (for fun) that a friend was giving everyone, where we were asked to picture a number of things and then were asked to describe what we'd pictured, and then she tried to interpret what our specific images said about our personalities.

I remember for one part we were supposed to be walking in the woods, and then come upon a wall. I pictured a brick wall. I think that, later, she said this part of the "test" had to do with how we viewed and dealt with obstacles.

One person had a huge insurmountable wall that went all around the forest and they tried to go around it. Another person had pictured a little short stone wall and they just stepped over it. My wall was tall, but not massive. Maybe 20 feet tall, and about as wide. It looked new and out of place in the forest. It was just "there." When asked what I did about it, I said I climbed over it.

I realized later, when I'd heard some of the other descriptions, that my wall wasn't super wide. It didn't go on and on like some others. I wondered why I hadn't just walked around mine? All I can think of, is that I felt like I was supposed to climb over it. So I did. - I wonder what that says about me.

Canvas

"White. A blank page or canvas... So many possibilities."

If I became an artist, it'd be such a mess. Large canvases all over the place... The problem with creating art is figuring out where to store it. What to do with it when it's done. I couldn't just paint over it. I created it! I'd want to save everything.

Manager

I don't really like managing. I like doing. Managers tend to sit back with a lot of paperwork in small offices with desks and phones. - That's not my idea of living.

If people need someone to get them organized I can do that. I can "manage" people, but I wouldn't want that to be my every day job.

I've often annoyed "higher ups" by turning down managerial positions and staying at my lower paying position. Their confusion about my not wanting the "honor" of their promotion - or the pay increase - and their lack of understanding as to why anyone would like the job I currently had, told me a lot about how much they'd lost touch with their clients and the mission of their companies. They no longer dealt with either. They dealt with paper.

Level

I saw this yesterday and didn't answer because I've been working with tools recently and I thought that kind of level would be boring. But, I'm almost finished with my project and again, that kind of level (with the little bubble) is what's coming to mind.

I'll say this... putting in an air conditioner is best done with two people, not one. And in looking at my almost finished project, -I think it was more level before. The tilt looks too far to me now but it's sturdy and staying as is.

Man I'm going to be sore in a few hours.

Boiling

Springs.

I drove through a town with that name years ago. The directions I was given consisted of phrases like "Turn left at the cornfield," "Turn right at the bungalows," and "There's no traffic light in our town, but we do have one stop sign!"

- I felt like I was driving through a cross between a Stephen King movie and the Twilight Zone.

It's changed since then, which makes me sad in some ways. I'm not big on change. Especially when it saps a place of its charm.

Root

I picture treasures hidden in the roots of trees. Or underneath them. They can stretch out so far and so long....

I hid a couple of "treasures" once. Money. Just because. I knew exactly where I'd buried each and there was something almost magical about returning to those spots over a year later and finding everything exactly how and where I'd left it. Somehow, I'd expected my jars of money to be gone. I don't know why. But they weren't. They were there. Exactly how I'd buried them. There was something immensely comforting in that.

Wings

Wow... old favorite line.

"Wings! I don't have wings!"

"Of course not! You're a boy."

Although I've often thought flying would be nice, I've rarely wanted wings. They look so fragile to me. And I imagine they might be cumbersome for a human. I also think flying with wings would be tiring for a human. But maybe not. - I'll have to ask the next winged human I see.

Step

Cinderella

House steps

"Step kick kick leap kick touch. Again..."

"On the steps of the palace..."

"Step in time step in time, step in time step in time. Never need a reason never need a rhyme..."

"And I took myself one step. One high steppin' one step. And taking that one step, I won't stop with two."

"Steppin' to the bad time...oooh ooh oooh (Steppin' to the bad time....)"

"Somebody get me an anti-depressant. She's at the most maybe post adolescent. Time can be so unkind. I'm a beat behind."

I could probably come up with more, but that's about 60 seconds :)

muse.

Funny. I almost used "muse" for yesterday :)

Muse...

I didn't even know what that word meant until after college.

"You are my muse, and I, your prism."

Amuse

"We are not amused...."

Amusement park.

I've always had dreams about amusement parks. When I was young they were dark dreams. Funhouses mostly. I don't have as many of those darker dreams nowadays, but I dream about amusement parks very often.

Lots of times it's about Disney. - Except it's not Disney. But in the dream it is. And sometimes it happens to be one that's close by and open seasonally. Why it's specifically Disney in those cases and not just any o'le amusement park I'm not sure. Sometimes there are water parks next door too which I'm always trying to figure out how to fit in. Very often there's something about a main roller coaster I want to go on, but as with the real Disney, the park is large, some lines are long, meeting up with people is complicated, and there never seems to be enough time to get everything in when and how I'd like.

Sometimes I'm there when the park opens and there aren't many people yet. Sometimes I "remember" about the park late in the day and wonder if it's worth it to go for a couple of hours before the park closes... will I get enough done in that short time to justify the cost of the ticket... is even that little bit better than nothing.... will it be a waste of time and money for only a few hours since - with walking, and lines and all - I'll probably only get to do ONE ride before closing.

Time management, theme parks, and getting everything in I want to do seem to be the common themes in these dreams. And a longing of some kind. Wanting to be able to fit in what I want "this time" and not leaving feeling like I've missed out on what I really wanted to do most, again.

Band

Elementary school band. I could probably still play all those tunes if I had the right instrument.

Ok maybe not. But I remember them all vividly.

My orchestra teacher was always talking about how parents would come up to him astonished by how good we were. He'd tell them "I give them music that's appropriate to their skill level. They know how to read music, and they know how to count... So if they play what they see, why is everyone so surprised?"

As an adult, I now better understand both sides of that. After hearing numerous abysmal children's performances, I'm left wondering what the big deal is. They know how to read music, they know how to count... why aren't they playing the pieces perfectly?

Thunder

Interestingly, this brings up the old disco song for me, whereas yesterday's word didn't.

I also think of "A sound of thunder." I read that short story in first grade, I think, (maybe 4th... I'm trying to picture the classroom.) That story stayed with me all through adulthood. It had a huge impact on me, and I never forgot it.

Science fiction should be a larger part of childrens' curriculum. Makes them think.

Lightning

Lightning bugs.

I love these. Still. They're so magical to me. I wish I had a good way to capture that magic in a photo or a film or a painting.

They're a bit scary close up though. I guess most magical looking things are, if you take a really good look at them.

Hmmm... that's a bit deeper than usual ;)

Skeleton

"Skeletons in the closet." Interesting image. Interesting that that became a popular phrase. What must life have been like back then...

Ticket

Golden ticket
Ticket to platform 9 3/4

Hattie.  Hattie is someone my father knew when I was very young. Younger than five. She worked as a coat checker at some high scale place. I'll need to ask my dad where. I remember going to visit her and sitting at the window taking the red tickets. She lived near a museum, so our visits to her included her apartment, some very very long white steps, a visit to the museum, and sometimes swinging by her work to visit her at the coat check.

She was very nice, and had white white hair.... dad said she was ancient ;)

I heard her name mentioned later in a monologue (first and last name) and I wondered how many people there could be with her name? The monologuist had lived in the same city and they could have known each other. I'm so curious about that now, but they're both long gone. I wonder if they knew each other.

violet

This is interesting (to me! Lol!) I was going to write that Violet was the name of Snoopy's original owner. But it's not. Lila is the name of Snoopy's original owner. Which in Spanish is the word for Lilac, which is purple.... like violets are...

The mind works in mysterious ways....


* Of course there's always "You're turning violet Violet!"

Violent

"Violins on television..."

Anyone remember that? ;)

Can't think of the rest of that routine at the moment.

No. I'm not going to write about violence. What could I say?

megaphone

"GOOD MORNING [INSERT NAME] FAMILY!!!!"

;)

That's the first thing that comes to mind.

Megaphone...

Gosh does anyone even use those things anymore? Besides him?

trophy

Why did "trophy wife" come to mind?

The next thing that came to my mind was trophies I earned as a kid. I had a whole shelf full of them. Some because my father forced my siblings and I to play sports so somewhere along the way I was bound to win some trophies or ribbons.

The most important to me, though, were the non-sports ones. The ones I didn't even expect to win. The ones I didn't even know there were trophies for! Those are still the most important to me.

There was one for music, one for.... what did they call it... it basically meant "best friend to others" at camp. I was runner up, but I was surprised to have been noticed or considered at all. I didn't even know there *was* an award for that. It was voted on by staff. A couple of them came over to me after the "big camp awards ceremony" to make sure I wasn't upset with not having won first place. That was so strange to me. Like I'd be insulted? Lol! Runner up was fine with me! And still surprising.

I have another award for humor, and one for art. An unexpected one from an old roommate that I still have -Makes me laugh to this day! There was also one for most improved in a class I didn't even take. - Talk about not expecting an award ;) Right teacher, wrong class. I was in his other class. He was mortified. I still found it funny. I felt bad later for telling him he goofed because he seemed upset by that, but I understood what the award was for and I appreciated it regardless of what the little printed words on it said.

Oh.... and I also just remembered one more trophy I have. It isn't even mine. Well, it is now. It was "awarded" to a character played by a friend of mine. The friend passed away, but I still have the award with his "alter ego's" name on it.

I miss him. I don't think I have anything else of his... Just that, and some pictures, and my memories... and a vague recollection of some really bad jokes he used to tell...

I miss you D

Sticks and stones...

Sticks... Fire.

I was recently thinking about a friend I had when I was young. Maybe six or seven years old? (I seem to have a lot of memories from around that age and younger.) She told me she knew how to make a fire and I wanted to see. I would never make one because I didn't know how and I knew it was dangerous. But heck, if SHE knew how and had done it before...

She said she shouldn't because she'd get in trouble and her mother would hit her with a spoon (apparently it was a large slotted spoon that hurt.) and I, being the good friend that I was, continued pushing her to make a fire anyway and just not get caught!

She did eventually. (How horrible am I? But I was so curious! I thought it would be so cool to have a small little fire with sticks! Like a campfire! But smaller!) We got a few sticks -twigs really- she cleared away a small section of grass, which I didn't even realize was something that needed to be done. She really had done this before, and I was learning a lot! Once there was a small patch of opened dirt, we put the twigs in and she nervously lit some matches. She was very quiet and kept looking up to see if her mother was coming, -afraid she was going to get caught.

I had no fear at all. It wasn't my parents. I'd never been caught playing with fire and whacked with a spoon, so I didn't have a real frame of reference for that. I didn't think at all about her. My thought was "She knows how to do it, she's done it before, just don't get caught and you don't get hit by the spoon! No big deal!"

I'm sure this is the part where you're expecting me to say that something disastrous happened and we learned some valuable lesson. - Sorry. It didn't. She made a small fire, I was TOTALLY impressed, then she put it out less than a minute later, covered it with dirt, and we went back to the rest of our play date.

As I've been writing this, and remembering how quiet and hesitant she was, I've been thinking about how terrible I was and what a bad position I put her in, pressuring her like that - I did keep pushing her to do it! And yet, if memory serves me correctly, (and I believe it does) she had the matches already in her pocket! I think that's how the whole subject came up!

Gosh I hope no kids read this!

Another cigarette? I have a headache from all these cigarettes. Maybe the new word will come soon.

* Now see, if I smoked cigarettes I could go have one now while I wait. But I can't. 'Cause I don't. ... Ooooh! Unless I can find one of those old bubblegum ones! Remember those?

(Note: The word didn't change over on time today. This was my ever so subtle hint to the remarkably diligent Brian who usually changes the daily word like clockwork!)

Cigarette?

Is this like the "Vodka" question? ;)

Cigarette. I don't use 'em. I tried one once out of curiosity. I didn't want to smoke, I just wondered what it was like. It's hard to explain this to people but I felt the effects of it instantly, and for about a day or so afterwards. In my throat. Talking was ok, but I felt a difference, and singing was very difficult. I couldn't control my vocal cords as effectively. A couple of days later things were fine, but I was surprised that any effect like that would last beyond a few minutes.

I have the same trouble with helium. You know how people sometimes inhale helium to make their voice sound funny? My voice stops sounding like a munchkin after a minute or so, but even after it sounds normal again, it doesn't work 100% normally until a day or two later. Every once in a while the cords will just spasm and completely give out, and no sound will come out. Even during regular talking.

I can only imagine what the long term effects of daily smoking must be like if I could feel such a difference from a couple of puffs. - That and er... helium addiction...

bow

Hair bow. Boat bow.

Bow wow....

Bow legged.

I bow to the wind, and the wind lifts me up. Invisible, soothing, familiar. Whispering, "I am here."

Etiquette

I know to use the outermost utensils first and work my way in.

I know the fork goes on the left, because my friend once told me "It looks better on the right side doesn't it?" and I said "Ah ha! So it does go on the right!" and she said "No, I meant on the CORRECT side." - Frankly it looks the same to me on either side.

I know my napkin is supposed to go on my lap, but I've never understood that. I don't use a napkin on my lap unless I've been given two.

I need my napkin for my hands, or face, or the table if something drips or spills there. How could I spill something on my lap? It's under the table!

If I must cover my clothes, it makes more sense to me to wear a bib. Or a large tarp. Because what are the odds that something would spill on my lap without getting anywhere else on the way down?

Plague

I think "Bible."

I gave up on the Bible when I was about six. It described such an angry petty God. The God I imagined was nothing like that. So I decided the writers didn't know what they were talking about and continued to believe in what I considered to be a more enlightened and less hormonal omnipotent being.

Straw

The last one of course.

The last straw with me is when you put my life in jeopardy. I generally try to stick to a two to three strike rule, but when you screw with my life, whether you meant to or not, - whether you knew you were or not - I won't have anything to do with you.

I may not stop caring or wishing things were different, but I'm not a complete idiot. (Though I'll sometimes wonder how bright I could be to have missed this trait in you.)

I would never be so careless with a life. That you would be, speaks volumes.

- May you get every single thing in life, that you deserve.

Mean

People come to mind. Specific people.

What does that mean? "Mean?" Maybe it means intentional harm, or pleasure derived from harm to others, or maybe it just means someone who doesn't care enough about anyone but themselves to make sure they never do anything to harm another.

I hate people sometimes.

(Yeah I know... pot... kettle.... blah blah blah.)

Expecting

She hadn't been expecting this. She'd thought it would be more like a working vacation. Getting to know new people... learning new skills... Visiting places she'd never seen before. That no one had ever seen before. Being a kind of pioneer in an era when there wasn't much left to explore. Well, not in her immediate vicinity anyway. But this...? This was not what she'd signed up for.

Maroon

Geek alert.

Let's just say, I don't own one.

For anyone in the dark about that, don't worry. That just means you're NORMAL.

My friend broke her leg in first grade. The teacher told us we could all sign her cast if we wanted to but that we should take turns, and not all go over at once. The place to sign the cast was on the floor, over by the window.

- I had no idea what a cast was but eventually I went over to sign it and almost jumped out of my skin when I saw that my friend was attached to it.

* I was expecting to see a card, or a box. Not the person I thought was miles away!

Stem

When I was younger, I noticed a small tree growing. I don't know why it was such a big deal to me but I watched it grow, and I'd talk to it... check on it when I came home from school... I was so excited to see it get taller and taller. Taller than me even. I'm not sure if you could call it a tree. It looked more like a tall green branch. But it had maple leaves on it and it was growing out of the ground.

Then one day the gardener mowed it down.

Life sucks.

Assisted

She assisted, more to keep an eye on things than to be of any real help. She didn't know what they were doing. And he did not need her help. She wondered, did he know why she was really there? No... it was enough that she'd said she'd wanted to be. No further explanation had been needed.

She craned her neck to see above the barricade. Not too far, and not too obvious, or they would see her.

How did this happen. Why hadn't she left sooner?

Because she'd wanted to believe that these were good people. That someone would still come through. But all of them had known from the start.

Crane

Paper

Frasier

Crane your neck

Crane in a construction zone....

Ugh.

Paper cranes. Always wanted to know how to make them. Then did. Then I think I forgot. I can still make a blow up balloon/box/ball thing though. And a frog. Used to jump those all around the classroom from desk to desk. Because that's what you do when you're a creative/geeky type and bored in class. - Passing notes was so "yesterday."

Given

It was a given that she'd be going along. There was no way she was going to miss out on this adventure. Her husband could stay at home and take care of things while she was away. It wasn't as though they wouldn't be in touch. Oh, "the powers that be" could try to limit communications, but she knew how to get around that.

Honest

Honesty is everything to me. Honesty in your words, in your dealings with people... and especially in your dealings with me. And that includes standing by your word. If you give your word, whether casually ("I'll call you!") or definitively ("I promise."), you'd darned well better stick by it, if you ever expect me to stick by you.

It stopped. The ceilings, the walls, of countless floors above, reduced to a pile of chaos. Dust filled her nostrils and burned her eyes. She didn't dare try to move.

Through the beams she could see her friend. Motionless. "Can" - was all she got out before choking on the ash and debris that rushed into her opened mouth. She buried her face in her coat until her coughing subsided, then slowly shifted her weight, only the tiniest bit, to free up her left hand which was pinned above her head. She could feel the the stinging sensation of needles rushing through her arm as she tried to move it the slightest bit, but the tingling stopped at her wrist. The rest of her hand was firmly wedged. In what she couldn't tell, but it wasn't going to move. Not without bringing down the structure surrounding it.

Lust

I've been in lust. But not very often. I prefer love. I like love. Lust is fun though. Well.... when it's requited. Otherwise it's a drag.

Though not as bad as when Love is unrequited.

Hmmm... Lust is looking better all of a sudden...

Morals

Aesop's fables.

"Where do the animals walk like we do, where do the animals talk like we do? In the fables of.... Aesop..."

That's a line from a song in a show I did when I was six years old. I remember most of the score. My mind does that ;)

"There's a lesson in every fable. Find it if you're able. Every animal that you see, is a portrait of you and me..."

Antlers

I think of ski lodges. And reindeer... And male animals butting heads. Man that always looks like it hurts. I mean really hurts! They bash hard!

Now I'm thinking about a jackalope....

Drive out through the midwest and you'll see them for sale at several places. Taxedermied Jackalopes. Along with chupcabras.

Cells

Division... mitosis...

Bubblewrap

Cancer (there's a happy thought.)

Spy cells...

Biology class... I still have a biology book I need to throw away. From High School. It was a study guide for something. Yellow cover. I still like reading it sometimes. I liked bio. I found it interesting.

Somehow I managed to get through school without ever having to dissect anything. I wouldn't have been able to handle that. An autopsy? Maybe. But killing something just for the purpose of dissecting it? Makes me ill even thinking about it. And angry. Incensed is more like it. Can't wait for holograms or synthetic substitutions to take over the role of "expendable specimens."

Predict

All this crap about “no one can predict the future?” Of course we can. Cause and effect. You jump off a cliff, you’re gonna die. Unless it’s a really lame little cliff.

Psychics and oracles? Lots of the time they’re just a little more aware. They notice things other people might not and can factor that into some of their predictions. If you had the ability to notice the factors that they do, and had a lifetime of applying that knowledge to cause and effect, you’d probably be able to predict some futures too.

Is anything predictable to 100% certainty? I don’t think so. For example, that cliff? A UFO could swoop in at the last moment and break your fall. Or a really really big bird.

I held my breath thinking that, if I acted dead, no one in the room would bother with me. Maybe they wouldn't even see me. They could just steal anything they wanted and GO.

There was no one in the room, but after a nightmare I was always terrified to move. Terrified to look like I was breathing. I'd try logic "There's no one in the room. Why would someone be in the room? There's NEVER been anyone in the room. You're just thinking about this because you had a nightmare, but there's never been anyone in the room before, so what are the odds that someone would break in THIS night, for the first time EVER, JUST because you had a nightmare?"

And my reply to myself was always "Yes but that doesn't mean there couldn't be someone in here right now!

Staring....

Don't move....

Don't breathe...."

When I was younger I'd also try to make myself as flat as possible under the covers so it would look like I wasn't even in the bed. - I can't quite pull that one off anymore.

Held

I held the stone in my hand. Afraid to let it go. I wasn't sure why. I knew there wasn't anything really special about it. But it had been a gift. The first I'd ever received from them. And I held it tight. All the way home. And all through the night in my bed.

belief

arg.

I wrote something, and then saved it to my computer instead of posting it. I believe that some things are best kept off the net. Which sucks because sometimes that stuff is really good! But if it's a memory, it may be too identifying. And if it's a story arc, it could be stolen (*gasp!*).

Some people don't believe this at all. They put themselves whole-ly out there. I admire them. But I don't think I could ever be like them.

-That's my belief anyway.

Wonder

Bread.

What was with the colored dots on the wrapper? Maybe it was meant to make the bread more "fun." I always thought it was. Used to ball it up into a big dough blob...

Ok now I want some. I don't care how bad it is for you, I liked it!

Smile

I think of the musical. Which probably very few other people remember. It was a musical that kind of poked fun of beauty pageants, but not in a mean way. I thought it was nicely done. It was cute, and funny. It was a musical after all. I remember a couple of standout songs and performances, and at least one person went on to have a pretty big career. But very few people remember the show.

Train

The one I missed after bashing into the wall?

I wonder how long it will be until trains are obsolete. They run in straight lines, on a track... They're pretty crude compared to other transportation.

Another 100 years maybe? How long until people decide they're not worth maintaining?

Station

I ran towards the wall as fast as I could, bashed up my grocery cart and got a huge bump on my head.

Embraced

She held onto him and knew she was going to die, and she didn't want to let go. She didn't want to face it alone. She wanted death to come swiftly, and wished with all her heart for a rouge sniper to appear from the woods and shoot her so she could die at that very moment, and everything would stop and never continue. But there was no mercy in the Universe. Not before, and not then. She felt his embrace weaken, a sign that he'd had enough. She prayed for a sniper once more, then stepped away, knowing they would never see each another again.

Funeral

I didn't want to go to them when I was younger. I wanted to remember people the way they were. I didn't want to go to memorial services either. I was aggravated. Felt like it was private. I felt like I'd be annoyed with other people there.

Who were they to impose their feelings on me or expect me to act a certain way? They didn't know the deceased the way I did. They knew them the way THEY did, which was fine, but I didn't want to deal with them. I wanted to grieve in my own way.

Now I attend them, and can't think of a reason why I wouldn't, unless I expected to run into people there I didn't want to see.

Teacher

I liked so few of my teachers. It's not that I didn't like them really. It's that so many of them didn't know what they were doing. In grade school that was frustrating. I mean if they didn't want to be there why should I? But by the time I got to college? Seriously? I was paying for an education and I knew more than most of my professors? - Aggravating.

(Again, this is not to say all teachers are like this. I just had a bunch of duds! I also had a few that were inspirational. But very few.)

Corner

That's where the sound was coming from. But there was nothing there. There never had been. She'd always assumed she'd just imagined it. That, after being sent there so many times, boredom had caused her imagination to start hearing things. But in fact, it was her spending so much time in that corner, that drew them to that space.

Painted
... ponies go up and down...

Painted... I think of clowns. Ok now I'm thinking of a very funny comedy bit I heard recently. Too long to post though. Had me laughing out loud in the Dentist's office of all places, as I listened to it in the waiting room, then the dentist chair, then while waiting for my filling to dry...

Laughing. At the dentist's... -It was that good.

"Clown!"

Chalkboard? Hmmm....

Are those even used anymore? ;)

Remember, there was a thingy that was used to draw a bunch of lines parallel to each other? Like a holder that held maybe six pieces of chalk? I think it was used for drawing music staffs on the board. Maybe also for grids and graphs.

I tried using one a few times. The chalk always broke or fell off, and the lines I made were all jagged with gaps...

It took real talent to use such a highly complicated device.

I guess I wasn't meant to be a music or math teacher (yeah that's why... the chalk...)

Radio

Song is in my head now. Thanks a lot. It'll be there all day.

"And you said it really loud you said it on the air, on the radio. Whoa oh oh oh ohhhh, on the radio, Whoa oh oh oh ohhhhh..."

There. Now it's in your head too ;)

Remember...

I remember this word from yesterday ;)

I'll give it a little more time to change over :)

remember

I remember. I always remember. Good... bad... but I don't often look at the good too much because then I think about the bad too. How someone died... what someone did... I think about endings, eventually. And I don't want to think about those. So while I know the good memories are there, I don't "look" at them too much, because it makes me sad in the end.

Despair.

Despair.com Once again, advertising completely shoves all other creativity out of my brain. But they do have a few posters there that I LOVE. The falling star one is one of my favorites. I should buy that. I like their valentines candy too but haven’t had the nerve to send one to anybody.

mint

When I was younger we'd visit relatives in California, and one of our stops was the U.S. Mint in San Francisco. My grandfather was into coin collecting, so that's probably how that became one of our regular stops. The chocolate factory was another place. So was the biggest hill and the windiest road. Big thrills for my dad but I didn't understand what the appeal was with these. I mean I was in a car, not wagon. There was also a Chinese (Japanese?) garden with a kid's train in it. (and a bridge over some water with koi) No hills, no winding road, just a small train track that went in a slow flat circle. Now THAT was fun! :)

Canteen!

My camp had a canteen! I LOVED canteen!!! That was its word for the snack bar that was only open for about an hour a day. What a BIG DEAL that was. Highlight of my day going to buy things from there and wondering what I could get. Grape soda was a given for me. Maybe a chocolate bar if I had extra money. I always wondered if I'd be able to get one of the camp t-shirts. They looked so cool to me. And new! New stuff! Like a present! Except we all had teams we were divided into and I liked the other team's shirts better, which always posed a bit of a dilemma for me.

Grape soda... :)

Oh! And a grape charms lollipop!!! I would get those too! - They were WAY bigger then than now!

Oh and Chunkys! I'd get a Chunky too if I had enough money.

I loved canteen!

torch

Thinking literally again.

Neat image though... dark cave... torches on the wall, or a torch being carried by someone leading others (maybe one other?) through a cave.... walls made of earth... dirt...

Someone watched too much Tom Sawyer as a kid ;)

Booth.

John Wilkes :)

I was at the Ford’s Theatre once, but it took me a while to realize it. I was having a slow moment ;)

I was there for an interview and I knew it was called “Ford’s” theatre but I didn’t realize it was THE Ford’s Theatre! I had no idea I was even in the same state where Lincoln got shot. My mind was elsewhere.

As I looked out into the theatre I thought to myself “Wow… this looks exactly like that theatre where Lincoln got shot. This is SO WEIRD… It looks SO much like it. It’s EXACTLY like it!”

I couldn’t get this thought out of my head. How EXACTLY it looked like all those pictures I’d seen throughout my childhood. Then it finally dawned on me… Washington DC… FORD’S THEATRE… and then (because did I mention I was having a slow moment?) I thought to myself “- I guess that’s what all that civil war stuff was about down in the lobby….”

thief

Oh the stories I could tell about this. I’ve had my car robbed – that was traumatic. The car wasn’t stolen. The contents were.

I’ve had my suitcase stolen – aggravating experience all around.

And yet, despite all of this, the first image that came into my head when I saw this word was the Hamburglar.

pretzel

Definitions and images again... grrrrr. (in my head I mean).

Hot soft pretzels with lots of salt. Too much salt. I always brush off all the salt and then eat the dough. Which is kind of boring at that point.

wrath

Of Kahn :)

Beware my wrath...

Wrath is such a dramatic word. Can you imagine someone using it with you? If someone actually used that with me I'd feel like I'd just stepped into the Twilight zone. I mean "wrath?" Seriously? I'd be less afraid of their "wrath" and more concerned about their mental instability/delusions of grandeur!

mole. I’m thinking of animals and undercover people… nothing particularly creative comes up for either. I’m also thinking about the skin kind of mole. Ooooh! Maybe it’s Mole, like chocolate mole!

The first time I had that I thought I’d like it. Not so much though. Doesn’t taste anything like chocolate to me. Not even cocoa. I’m not sure what the appeal is. If I recall correctly, it had a sort of chalky texture. What would be appealing about that? Unless you’ve got that disease… pica? Is that it? Oooh! Maybe mole could be a way to wean those people back to more acceptable food! (Maybe someone with pica invented this food!)

tempted.

I’ve been tempted, often, to do things I know are wrong. I don’t follow through, but oh am I tempted.

I’ve recently (maybe in the past year or two) tried to get myself to stop even fantasizing about temptations. Wrong ones I mean. Since I wouldn’t carry any of them out anyway, I’ve been thinking that fantasizing about some stuff may not be an innocent therapeutic indulgence. It’s likely more of a waste of time.

Oh boy though… I am SO tempted sometimes! ;)

curious.

Curious George of course! Or that curiosity that killed the cat, but let’s not go there.

Curiouser and curiouser… (Alice)

Ugh, looks like another “definition” type day for me. It’s a great word but it’s so strongly linked to other slogans or sayings in my head. Hard to break free of those ingrained associations in 60 seconds. How frustrating that I’ve been so effectively brainwashed.

And how curious…

Forgotten. A rare word with me. Other than occasional absent mindedness (“I forgot to call so and so!” etc), I forget very little. Much as I try.

Somehow, trying to think of something more to write for this word makes me sad. I either think of “forgotten ones” (like forgotten people, or people left behind… abandoned…) or of things everyone else seems to have forgotten. But I have not. I don’t forget.

vodka lol!

I used to drink vodka and Seven Up behind the theatre when I was a teenager. Not a lot. I was never a drinker. Just a few sips. The point was we weren’t allowed to have it on the property (and in our hands at our age) and I was drinking it! And that alone was fun.

wasteland…

Wish I could take a snapshot of the image in my brain.

I’m reminded of a project from first grade. It wasn’t my project. Someone else made it. It was made from a styrofoam cup, some cardboard or cardstock, and a bunch of sand and rocks I think. The cup was on its side and mounted to the wall, and a “peephole” was cut into the bottom. When you looked through (to the enclosed layer of sand and rocks) you were supposed to be seeing how our future world would look if we kept having pollution. (Pollution was big when I was in grade school!) I looked through the peephole all the time. I found it fascinating.

I find it fascinating now that I was fascinated by *that* back then!

glowing

Why my dear you’re positively glowing! (I have no idea what that line is from but I can hear the voice in my head….)

— There was a light up ahead, it looked like it was glowing… pulsing… but glowing from where? And what did it mean? Was this where the sound was coming from?

bones.

I used to love gnawing on big huge steak bones. There must have been some primitive somethingorother in me. I remember taking one to the park and gnawing on it by the swings… must have looked like some weird cannibal kid!

Take 2

His fingers darted across the console but nothing seemed to be working right. “Damn it” he thought. It was as if all knowledge of how to operate the system had left him. Lights blinked, images and messages flew by, but he didn’t know how to interpret them or what buttons to press in response. He’d known it before. He knew he’d known it before. Hadn’t he?

hmmm… console like the emotional response or like and electronic console…

There was no consoling her. Her world had just ended. Everything felt numb. Looking out the window, seeing people outside, walking by, going about their days… sunlight, leaves waving in the breeze… It all seemed surreal. Muffled in a way. She stopped speaking in time. What was the point? Nobody listened. She had talked. She had screamed! And nobody did a thing. No one had done anything at all. Words were useless. Why talk at all.

I passed the captain’s exam, but I wouldn’t take the final step. When asked why, I told the instructor I wasn’t ready. She seemed disappointed in me. Like I’d let her down. But I knew I wasn’t ready. And I believe knowing that, and putting the needs of my future crew first, was a greater sign of leadership than pride.

Birth.

All I can think of is my own. What I was told about it. It’s nothing I want to share though. But it brings up images, memories of what I imagine it was like – based on what I was told about that day. Memories of pictures I was shown. Of my baby book and clippings, pictures and cards from that day. Yellowed at the edges and shiny.

One day Brian overslept and, in his delirium, he accidentally picked up an eyeliner bottle and poked himself in the eye. What he thought it actually was we’ll never know.

Due to this unfortunate accident, he wasn’t able to see the OneWord.com site clearly and, as such, did not realize that the word of the day was not changed over at its usual time.

The end :)

Eyeliner?

Really. That’s the word?

Tammy Faye.

For many years I considered her to be pretty much a joke. I feel bad about that now. I saw her on a reality show at one point and I really liked her. She was so nice, and so open minded. I think she was an amazing person with an incredibly gracious heart. I would have been honored to have had her as a friend. I cried when she died. I still cry when I think about her. I believe the world lost an incredible person.

Dinosaur

Barney :)

My nephew LOVED Barney. I personally never understood the whole “Barney” thing but there ya go. I found it particularly interesting that baby bop was originally the same size or taller than Barney and then shrunk later in life. It can happen to anyone I suppose.

On another note, I once knew a guy who was an archeologist and he said there’s loads of dinosaur bones under New York City. I guess that makes sense right? I mean there were no real dino boundaries back then. They went pretty much everywhere there was land. But it surprised me at the time, to think there were dinosaurs THERE and not just in some remote desert (which is where I guess I pictured them.)

There are machines that send out waves of some kind (Electrical? Sound? Other?) into the ground and, based on where they meet resistance, a kind of X-ray of the underground is formed, and they (archeologists using these things) can see whole pictures of dinosaurs underground that way.

I thought this was kind of neat. Who knows this kind of stuff?

(And ok yes this was more than 60 seconds but I wanted to finish my thought :) )

bandana

I always wanted a red bandana when I was younger. Finally got one. Wore it a lot. Like a triangle on my head, or around my neck like… a cowboy I guess. I can’t imagine wearing one either of those ways now. But I will still wear one rolled up as a kind of sweat band on my head if it’s insanely hot outside. The difference is, the one I have now, the rolled up one, is a GEL band. I don’t care how goofy it looks. If it helps me survive those super hot days, I’ll wear goofy all over!

Fluorescent.

I think about glow in the dark tubes. Also lightbulbs of course. The long ones, the circular ones…

I think of hospitals. Cold white fluorescent lighting. And sometimes I like hospitals. But when I picture one with that lighting…. it’s absence of all living anything.

Clover

Too many things in my head for this word too. Including a slightly off color song about a roll in the clover.

I also think about four leaf clovers. I knew someone once who had a ritual of finding a four leaf clover every place she worked out of town. Always looked for one, and always found one before she returned home. Every time.

Chorus.

Lift your voice in joyful chorus?

High School chorus is coming to mind. Ugh. What a wreck. Why am I getting so aggravated thinking about that? Because it was a waste of time I suppose. Boring… learned nothing…. I think I stayed a year (a year too long!) before I quit.

What I remember most about chorus was the teacher coming in one day, noticeably pregnant, and saying “I guess you’ve all noticed I’ve been putting on weight.” – Um no. No one had noticed at all. On Friday she’d been skinny, then Monday she was “suddenly” very pregnant.

Deadbolt.

I see it, I see the door, I hear the sound.

I picture a woman behind that door. A man locking it. The bolt clicking into place. The lock. Unopenable. Used for security, to keep people out. So who was the woman in the closet/room he’s locking in?

Maybe it would be better if the lock were on her side… and there was a secret passage to get her out. A passageway in the stone room. And the deadbolted door, once locked, the outside won’t see.

Trailer. The first thing I thought of was a movie trailer. Then a trailer in a trailer park.

- maybe a trailer *about* a trailer park!

Or someone leaving a trail as they walk on the beach. A trail left by the long tail they had hanging behind them as they walked.

…. maybe that’s how the word came about. From people with long tails leaving trails on the beach.