Welcome :)

Anatidaephobia

meaning - The fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you ...LOL

Check out this site for some amazing words
http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/miscellaneous/great-words.html

Chrono-synclastic infundibulum
A place in time and space where
different, yet entirely valid, understandings meet - there by determining a more
accurate portrayal of reality. [see Vonnegut, Kurt]

Mu
A Chinese word meaning "not yes, not no" or "this does not have
any meaning." It could be the answer to the Zen koan, "Does a dog have the
Buddha nature."

Moon River

Moon River, wider than a mile,
I'm crossing you in style some day.
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker,
wherever you're going I'm going your way.
Two drifters off to see the world.
There's such a lot of world to see.
We're after the same rainbow's end--
waiting 'round the bend,
my huckleberry friend,
Moon River and me.
music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Johnny Mercer

http://www.reelclassics.com/Movies/Tiffanys/moonriver-lyrics.htm
I just love this song ...simple and great composition

Favourite English Essays 1

The very first of chosen ones from the world of English Literature(s)....( the list to come is in no particular order)


"On National Prejudice", Oliver Goldsmith
http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/goldsmithessay7.htm


Some snippets ....

Among all the famous sayings of antiquity, there is none that does greater honour to the author, or affords greater pleasure to the reader (at least if he be a person of a generous and benevolent heart) than that the philosopher, who, being asked what "countryman he was," replied that he was a citizen of the world. How few there are to be found in modern times who can say the same, or whose conduct is consistent with such a profession! We are now become so much Englishmen, Frenchmen, Dutchmen, Spaniards, or Germans, that we are no longer citizens of the world; so much the natives of one particular spot, or members of one petty society, that we no longer consider ourselves as the general inhabitants of the globe, or members of that grand society which comprehends the whole human kind.

On being called a PRUDE !

A prude is a person who is described as being overly concerned with decorum or propriety. They may be perceived as being uncomfortable with sexuality, nudity, alcohol, drug use or mischief. It can also refer to a person that has little sexual experience, despite the fact they may want to engage in such behavior.
The name is generally considered to mean excessive modesty, and hence unflattering, and is often used as an insult. A person who is considered a prude may have reservations about nudity, participating in romantic or sexual activity, drinking alcohol or consuming other drugs, or participating in mischief. These reservations may stem from shyness or strict moral beliefs. Actions or beliefs that may cause someone to be labeled a prude include advocating or practising abstinence, advocating prohibition, advocating censorship of sexuality or nudity in media, disapproval of being topless in public, avoiding or condemning displays of affection, or exhibiting unusual levels of discomfort with sexuality, alcohol, drugs, or mischief.
Like modesty, one's perceived prudishness may vary according to who is present.
Sexually repressed or sexually repressive are other terms used to describe people who might be labeled prudes. The term Puritan is sometimes used in the same way, reflecting the stereotype image of members of the Puritan religious sect

Courtesy- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudery

Definitely the mother of all labels I ever got !!!

The problem is that I can't even defend myself to the mastermind of this label... I am helpless bound and gagged ironically by a very visible code of propriety imposed on me....

I can't defend the label as defending it would involve enumerating the serious digressions from the moral code of conduct as limited by the term "prudery" and which I cannot since I have to abide by certain rules of the institution I serve...

Vicious circle it is ...

Well I shall hold my tongue ...

Borborygmus

Don't ask me...I just felt like saying the word.... :P

Herstory

The pain was
refused
a cry
a language

Lies
buried
deep

The
stirring
inside
bequeaths
a story
to every tommorow...

Eternal optimist

With all the threats of an imminent disastor resulting from global warming, especially living in a coastal metropolis in a flat overlooking the sea on three sides and being threatened with the possibility of one's habitat being engulfed in the rising sea .....it's sort of difficult to stay positive ...

But for an eternal optimist 'like me' ...I 'm supposed to be happy at the fact that they have found another planet worth living in another solar system in some "impossible-to-reach-in-this-lifetime" corner of the universe.
amen...

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/070425-habitable-planet.htm

Standard Deviation????

"There is a good deal of the yahoo in every gang of adolescents that goes berserk, whatever their color(sic)"

Jonathan Swift Gulliver's Travels(1726)

The quote rings a bell when I ponder over the misfortunes that "man"kind ends up inviting on itself on a remarkably regular and consistent basis. ... be it ignoring the climate crisis or orchestrating and fanning strifes in various corners of the world for selfish reasons or planned or random acts of violence...
The scale on which such issues come up poses a question to my mind ...

Is it human to be so selfish or is it a standard deviation?

I know reducing the problem to selfishness is very simplistic yet it could also be the key... we are all born selfish... the values of sharing and giving are instilled in us during our rite of passage into the adult world...
A child learns to share and give while trying to protect herself/himself from a perceived danger that is displeasing the parents... she/he learns the first lessons of moral responsibilty at this young stage...Yet the basis of this very act of learning is a selfish urge to protect oneself...

and no I am not a misanthrope ...au contraire ....

Unusual reading

http://mywiki.ws/The_Most_Unusual_Books_of_the_World

Obiter Dictum

Am I just running in circles ?
running after a self-destructive path of chasing some ignis fatuus or
charging blindly at the windmills...
My life has become a sort of congeries of different directions I might or should take in life...