Today's word

cheeseparing \CHEEZ-pair-ing\ - 1. something worthless or insignificant  2. miserly economizing

It has been a good week for new words-of-the-day.

Today's word

zeitgeber \TSYTE-gay-ber\ - an environmental agent or event that provides the stimulus setting or resetting a biological clock of an organism

I'd most definitely never heard of this one.

Today's word

I was already familiar with the WOTD, but didn't really know it's etymology. I immediately understood (and have confirmed via Wikipedia) how it came to be part of the name of the main newspaper in New Orleans.

Divisiveness

I'm very tired of people across the political spectrum treating those who disagree with them like idiots. I'm equally tired of that full range of people acting in ways that justify that opinion in others' minds.

Today's word

solatium \soh-LAY-shee-um\ - a compensation (as money) given as solace for suffering, loss, or injured feelings

Finally, another new word-of-the-day. 

A better choice than stewing

"Offer praise as your sacrifice to God;
fulfill your vows to the Most High.
Then call on me on the day of distress;
I will rescue you, and you shall honor me."

"Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honor me;
I will let him whose way is steadfast
look upon the salvation of God." - Ps 50, 14-15, 23

God is good!

A post-gig letdown

I was looking forward to today's music get together.

The turnout was anemic - just the few musicians and our wives. My performances were not as crisp as I wanted - especially on the original songs that mattered most to me - and I felt inadequate as an instrumentalist next to the other fine guitarist there.

I'm pretty bummed about it, actually.

Maybe I need to keep my music ministry in its proper place?  Or maybe I need to readjust my expectations?

The other thing is, I was the only musician (today) to share Christian or original music. I wonder if it might have been different had Kevin been able to make it . . .

Checking for listening devices

Today's Woot Digest dialog:
 
Monte: So, I think we should get rid of cable.
Mortimer: No!
Monte: We could just subscribe to a service like Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime and ...
Mortimer: NOOO!
Monte: But think of all the money we could ...
Mortimer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

We've never had this conversation in my house, but this is exactly how it would go.  :)

More snippets

"I know how it feels son, 'cause it runs in the family."
Can you see the real me?

Goodbye, cruel world, I'm leaving you today . . .
Goodbye, all you people. There's nothing you can say 
to make me change my mind.

In my secret heart where I run to hide
Nobody knows me but you

I misunderstood that second one for the longest time. I thought it was a song about suicide, not about completing the wall.

As for the third, my secret heart is okay. It's my secret mind that I worry about.

Patience pays off

This week my choir director asked me if I had any issues with the lyrics to this song. Apparently another parishioner had expressed misgivings about this same issue, insisting it was weak theology. I was so relieved that I wasn't the only one who thought so, and got a chance to express my concerns. Woo hoo!

Harrumph?

Of course infidelity is near the top of the bad-news food chain. - Carolyn Hax

In terms of percentile rankings this is probably true. Still, the absolute magnitude scale is a different matter. Entirely.

Today's word

small beer \SMAWL-BEER\ - 1. weak or inferior beer  2. something of small importance : trivia

Life is too short to tolerate anything fitting the first definition, or to sweat over things fitting the second. 

Today's word . . .

. . .  fits:

senescence \sih-NESS-unss\ - 1. the state of being old : the process of becoming old  2. the growth phase in a plant or plant part (as a leaf) from full maturity to death

Silly man

So our choir director asked me if I'd like to offer my opinion on some new music from a catalog from which she's thinking of choosing a few pieces. Since I had choir last night, I figured I'd have a listen to it during the work day, but when I put the first CD in all I saw was PDFs of the first 5 pages of each piece. I'm not so gifted as to get a good sense of piece from looking at its sheet music. At first I thought that maybe it was just my computer at work that wouldn't play the audio portion, but at home before rehearsal I got the same result.

So last night I was returning the catalog to her with my apologies for not doing a better job, and she starts popping the CDs into the CD player. And it turns out that the catalog indicates right on the front cover that there are audio samples. She said she didn't have any trouble playing them on her computer, so I guess I'll give it another shot on both of ours and see if I can't get better results now that I know what I have in hand.

Of course, there doesn't appear to be a single piece in the entire catalog that has a guitar part.  I'm really tired of being treated like the black sheep of the musical world.

(Edit, 12:15) I forgot to mention the "silly" part: the front of the catalog clearly indicates that there are audio samples.

I know I'm blessed

Sometimes I have to make it a point to remind myself of that very real truth.

Because sometimes the child in me feels really alone. At such times, when I want to lament that there is no one in my life who was always there, it's really important for me to remember the people who are part of my life now.

<3

There are things that I still desperately wish that there was some way to go back and undo.

You are definitely not one of them.

I want to make you feel loved every day, not just today, my love.

It was a pure-hearted question

But no, I would not like enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, wheat bran, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, dextrose, oat fiber, honey, contains 2% or less of: propylene glycol monoesters, dried molasses, baking powder (baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate), wheat starch, modified corn starch, mono and diglycerides, salt, calcium carbonate, eggs with sodium silicoaluminate added as anticaking agent, corn starch, propylene glycol monostearate, soy flour, cocoa processed with alkali, polysorbate 60, hydroxylated soy lecithin, sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium sulfate, niacin, iron, tbhq and citric acid (antioxidants), vitamin B6 hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamin mononitrate, vitamin B12 and milk for breakfast.

But I really do think it was very thoughtful and loving of you to offer.

People my age

First came the call last night that informed us that a fellow parishioner took his life last night. We also learned that another fellow parishioner attempted the same thing a few months ago.

Still last night came the message from my high-school/college friend's (and bandmate's) ex that he is in the hospital with GI bleeding and pain and some disturbing memory loss issues. (I may have reported heart issues to some people, but I didn't have access to the message.)

This morning came the e-mail indicating that a fellow charismatic who has been fighting against cancer has lost - well I suppose it's really won! - her final battle.

It has been a pretty exhausting news stream.

Today's word

cesta \ˈses-tə\ - a narrow curved wicker basket used to catch and propel the ball in jai alai

I got this correct in today's Dictionary Devil puzzle only because I knew all the other words, including the mystery word. I suppose if I had learned or now remembered more Spanish I wouldn't have had to count on the process of elimination.

Today's word

anodyne \AN-uh-dyne\ - 1. serving to alleviate pain  2. not likely to offend or arouse tensions : innocuous

I'm sure I have understood this word in context before, but I sure didn't recognize it by itself.

Today's words

regnant \REG-nunt\ - 1. exercising rule : reigning  2a. having the chief power : dominant  b. of common or widespread occurrence

As soon as I saw this word I was pretty sure I knew what it meant, figuring something along the lines of its first definition. The 2b definition even make sense in the context of the first two. I'd have never gotten the pronunciation right, though; the Latin "regnat" would have crossed me up, and probably will if I ever encounter this word again. 

parvenu \PAHR-vuh-noo\ - one who has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it

Maybe I've seen this one before, but it seems new. I'd have mispronounced it, too.

Today's word

chowderhead \CHOW-der-hed\ - dolt, blockhead

Hmm. Not even remotely related to soup. And I doubt I'll ever use this one.

Today's word

meed \MEED\ - a fitting return or recompense

At first I thought I'd never seen this word, but it seemed more familiar when I read the examples.

Sibs

Twice this week - once online and once in person - I have been witness to an older sibling teasing a younger brother. Both times it has brought tears to my eyes.

The fact that I am not alone doesn't keep me from feeling so lonely sometimes.

Today's word

soigné \swahn-YAY\ - 1. dressed with great care and elegance : well-groomed, sleek  2. elegantly maintained or designed

An adjective which rarely applies to me.

SB

I have been feeling really unenthusiastic about having a "Super Bowl party" this year, complete with dishes representing each of the teams. So I thought I had escaped when we decided we'd just smoke a little salmon to have as an appetizer and maybe have a Denver omelette for brunch.

Then I casually mentioned last night that I should have thought to do up a tri-tip for tomorrow. So now I am, and now people are coming over, and our house is a wreck, and I have too much to do, and I'm concerned we don't have enough food for a change, and my mood is as gray as the day has been, and I'm tired already.

Thank you, God, for friends, and food, and cooking skill, and a house to clean. And thank you for my new tri-tip hook that I get to break out tomorrow.