Last May, I shared about my four staples of inbox reading before blogging – they are Delancey Place, A.W.A.D., The Slice, and WISEgeek,- and they are also linked in my sidebar.  Here are my top posts from those four for the year 2014….

Side note: – For those that don’t want to read a lot of text (and I hear ya on that, believe me) – well I made some Word Clouds (at Tagxedo HERE) so you can skim and go if you’d like!

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#1

Delancey Place Top Ten

 

 

10. Stonewall Jackson Opposed the War HERE (Rebel Yell) Living in RVA makes this topic dear to my heart, but also seems like a great book and I sent a copy to my brother for Xmas this year.

9. The Julep and the Mint HERE (The Kentucky Mint Julep) I grew peppermint for a long time, lost it all from the frigid polar vortex we had 2 winters ago – but enjoyed this background. 

8. Downside of China’s Exports HERE (Avoiding the Fall) Just good for understanding more about China’s economy and its need to rebalance.

7. More on the Microbiome HERE (Missing Microbes) Earlier this year when I was researching A LOT of health things, and this expert was right on time…

6. White Collar HERE (Cubed) There was a time when “office work was (viewed as) unnatural. In a world in which shipping and farming, building and assembling, were the order of work, the early clerical worker didn’t seem to fit.” – hm…

5. The Commuter HERE (Here is New York) We just love NYC and interesting to read “there are roughly three New Yorks.”

4.Gloomy Days and Clear Thoughts HERE (Drunk Tank Pink) Not only did I love this topic (color research)- but the practical application rippled here right away – i.e. – I was getting ready to tutor a teenager on MLA style and instead of grabbing my pink jacket – I went for the navy one – ha!)

3. Pain of Comedy HERE (Comedy at the Edge) Love a bit of good comedy and this post featured two classic dudes – Carlin and Pryor- and the side of comedy we do not always hear about. 

2. Napoleon and Champagne – HERE (Widow Clicquot) Who knew?!#!

1. The Marooned Man of Haiti — HERE (Haiti After the Earthquake) This was my fav – even though it was difficult to narrow down – to select my ten I chopped the sugar addiction, taste buds, invention of basketball, chess, English breweries, snowball fight, filter bubble, and Brazil) – but this Haiti excerpt is special for a few reasons…. 

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#2

Top Ten of 2014 from A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg (HERE).

10.  polyphiloprogenitive – adjective: Extremely prolific. From Greek poly- (many) + philo- (loving) + Latin progenitive (producing offspring), from pro- (toward) + past participle of gignere (to beget). Earliest documented use: 1919, in a poem by T.S. Eliot.

Okay, so not only is this a fantastic 20 letter word that we all need to know – and use – but it has such everyday applicability  – like we can refer to those polyphiloprogenitive weeds in a garden, polyphiloprogenitive people who give so much to others with reaching out and love, and polyphiloprogenitive books that enrich our lives! 

9. Proem – (from the theme of “words that appeared to be misspelled”- noun: An introduction, preface, or preamble. From Old French proeme, from Latin prooemium, from Greek prooimion, from pro- (before) + oime (song). Earliest documented use: 1410.

I picked this word because I know so many bloggers who write poems -like Sir Spaniard – and isn’t interesting to know that there is an actual word “proem” – and it is not misspelled?  

8. Philadelphia Lawyer –  noun: A shrewd lawyer, one who is adept at exploiting legal technicalities.

…thinking of Saul from Breaking Bad…. ha!

7. zeugma – noun: The use of a word to refer to two or more words, especially in different senses.

From Latin zeugma, from Greek zeugma (a joining) – from the Indo-European root yeug- (to join).

Examples: “He caught a fish and a cold” or “She lost her ring and her temper.” 

Writing can be enriched by adding a zeugma or two – here are some more examples: 

“Give neither counsel nor salt till you are asked for it.” (old saying)

Dickens’ zeugma example: “Miss Bolo  – went straight home, in a flood of tears and a sedan chair”

Thoreau’s zeugma example: “Where the washing is not put out, nor the fire, nor the mistress”.

6. orgulous – adjective: Haughty. From Old French orguill (pride). Earliest documented use: 1275.

I love learning succinct descriptive words fro certain social behaviors-  and with this word – well I hope I never become orgulous!

5. kibitzer – noun: An onlooker who offers unwanted advice or criticism, for example at a card game. From Yiddish kibitsen, from German kiebitzen (to look on at cards), from Kiebitz (busybody, literally pewit or lapwing, a bird with a bad reputation as a meddler). Earliest documented use: 1927.

This word is an example of how some words are just fun to say out loud – and it is words like this that keep things fresh – while also help us to teach teens about behavior, integrity, and manners – “Kids, don’t be a kibitzer.”

4. prorogue – verb tr. – 1. To discontinue a session of something, for example, a parliament. 2. To defer or to postpone. From French proroger (to adjourn), from Latin prorogare (to prolong or defer), from pro- (before) + rogare (to ask).

This may seem like a word from the hot list for the SAT’s – but it is another one that seems to be misspelled, but is not. 

3. trump card – noun – 1.  In card games, a suit chosen to rank above the others. 2. Something that gives an overriding, decisive advantage.

Card games can be so much fun  – they can be long or short and there are SO many options – and it was just fun to learn the origin of “trump card” after hearing this term since childhood. 

2. gemeinschaft – noun: Social relations based on personal ties, affection, kinship, etc.  From German Gemeinschaft (community), from gemein (common) + -schaft (-ship).

I think this is a great word for the blogosphere because we have gemeinschaft relations with a feeling of intimate and informal online rapport. 

1. bon vivant – noun: One who enjoys good things in life, especially good food and drink. From French, from bon (good) + vivant (a person living), from vivre (to live). Earliest documented use: 1695.

Reminded me of the blogger Kan… 

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#3

Top Ten snippets from Jill Carattini’s writing on The Slice

 

 

10. From THE AUDACITY OF IMITATION

The pressure to be the inventor and not the imitator, the original and not the clone, the drive to make a new statement about oneself ad nauseam is both a strange and exhausting task.

9. From GIFTS AND DISCOVERIES

And yet maybe even broken images of God somehow matter, as God approaches to shatter and re-form even these.

8. From Consider the Lilies 

Wendell Berry has written a poem that haunts me frequently.  As a creative writer, the act of paying attention is both a spiritual and professional discipline. But far too often my aspirations for paying quality attention to everything dissolves into something more like attention deficit disorder. As it turns out, it is quite possible to see and not really see, to hear and not really hear. And this is all the more ironic when my very attempts to capture what I am seeing and hearing are the thing that prevent me from truly being present. Berry’s poem is about a man on holiday, who, trying to seize the sights and sounds of his vacation by video camera, manages to miss the entire thing.

The Vacation by Wendell Berry 

7. From BEAUTY IN THE SUBWAY

It is not always easy to talk about beauty without a minefield of objections or at best complicating list of qualifiers. Its modern place in the “eye of the beholder” gives it a tenuous feel at best. While Henderson describes a world without classical music as soul-less, others may not miss it so much.

6. From The Other Side of Silence

Artists often work at pulling back the curtain on these places we have wadded out of sight and sound, showing glimpses of life easily missed, pulling off the disguises that hide sad or mortal wounds, drawing our attention to all that is deemed mundane and obscure.

5. From Surprised by Time 

As we consider the idea of time itself, seconds on the clock faithfully pass even as we ponder. All the same, we recognize that time is not just a fleeting thing. As Ravi Zacharias notes, “[Time] never moves forward without engraving its mark upon the heart—sometimes a stab, sometimes a tender touch, sometimes a vice grip of spikes, sometimes a mortal wound. But always an imprint.”

4. From SUMMER IN MY HEART

All that is found in the promises of summer has long been a theme on the lips of poets and songwriters. Poet or otherwise, I imagine we have all agreed at some point with Shakespeare: “Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”

3. From HYPERSEEING IN A HYPER-FILLED SPACE

In other words, Muggeridge saw that it was possible to see so many news clips that we are no longer seeing, to hear so many sound-bites that we are no longer hearing, to seek so many “exclusives” that we are no longer understanding.

2. From THE WAY IT IS

Through winding, trash-strewn roads and poverty-lined streets we made our way to another world. Clotheslines hung from every imaginable protrusion, a symbol of the teeming life that fought to survive there, and a contrast to the empty, darkened world of night. The only light in otherwise pitch-black alleys came from the glow of cigarettes and drug pipes, which for split seconds illumined faces that lived here. It was late and I was sick, discovering after a long flight that I had not escaped the office stomach flu after all. Our van was full of tourists, their resort brochures a troubling, colorful contrast to the streets that would bring them there. Strangers who only moments before wore the expressions of anticipation of vacation now rode in expressionless silence. One man broke that silence, just as the taxi turned the corner seemingly into an entirely new realm and resort. With pain and poverty now literally behind him, he said quietly, “Well… It is what it is.”

(and later, “…those simple words “It is what it is” are a coping mechanism that should sicken us every bit as thoroughly as the scenes that make us want to utter them in the first place.)

1. From Books and Bibliophiles 

Looking at the shelves of books that surround me, I wonder what clues will be gleaned of my ownership years after they have all left my hands. There are some indeed that evoke a rich history: a book of sermons written by my great-great-reverend grandfather inscribed to my mother and later inscribed to me on my graduation from seminary, a book on lament purchased on the anniversary of a loved one’s death, text books marked up and down in agreement and disagreement, several first-editions from favorite authors, Bibles filled with epiphanies, occasions, questions, and funeral liturgies. Of course, there are also those books on my shelves that also appear rather homeless, void of marks and underlinings, with bindings that accuse me of never having read them in the first place.

Glancing through my shelves at the rich history that is present, I am also sorely aware of all the history that is conspicuously not present. My most beloved books tend to be books I encourage as many people as I can to read, and again and again I loan them out at the forgotten risk that they will never return and often do not. Of this history, wherever these books might end up, whichever lives they might come to influence, I hold on to the clever thought of C.S. Lewis:

“Yes,” my friend said. “I don’t see why there shouldn’t be books in Heaven. But you will find that your library in Heaven contains only some of the books you had on earth.”

 “Which?” I asked.

“The ones you gave away or lent.”

“I hope the lent ones won’t still have the borrowers’ dirty thumb marks,” said I.

 “Oh yes they will,” said he. “But just as the wounds of the martyrs have turned into beauties, so will you find that the thumbmarks have turned into beautiful illuminated capitals or exquisite marginal woodcuts.”

Top Seven from WISEgeek 2014:

7. Pollution from Asia is making Pacific storms stronger and changing North
American weather patterns.

6. The largest collection of rarest plants is found on the island of Socotra, located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Yemen.

5. One hamburger contains the meat of up to approximately 100 cows.

4. US Civil War General Stonewall Jackson’s amputated left arm was buried (in Chancellorsville, Virginia)
separately from the rest of his body (which was later buried in Lexington, VA).

3.The world’s most expensive bottle of wine is a (3-gallon bottle) of 2009 Bordeaux from
Château Margaux, which retailed for $195,000 US Dollars (USD) in 2013.

2. Hershey’s Chocolate played a role in World War II with the company
creating a special chocolate bar just for the US troops, as part of
emergency rations to sustain the soldiers’ energy levels during combat.

1. Henry III received weird gifts from other leaders as ruler of England from
1207 to 1272, including an African elephant, three lions, a camel and a polar bear.

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Have a great day!

 

~~~~ and blog buds

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the 2014 blog bud page. This is still being updated and most of the images have an active link to the blogger.

Many of the images were created using PS, image flip, or Photofunia (HERE).

Disclaimer – if you are featured here and wish to be removed – please email me (or leave a comment) and you will be removed immediately. 

All images and artwork shared belong the the rightful blog owner and are protected under copyright.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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for redstufdan

 

 

for spicy road

bill and maria

 

 

 

Kan

 

Dan

 

AB

Janet

 

NAH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This page is a work in progress and is to celebrate the 2014 year only.  I am also going to come back later and link each photo to the blog owner, so you can click the image and visit their blog. 🙂

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Custom AWARDS Given out by Priorhouse:

2014 In Review:

Top Ten Lists