A home for our "Off-Topic" Chats. Like to play games? Tell jokes? Shoot the breeze about nothing at all ? Here is the place where you can hang out with the IBDoF Peanut Gallery and have some fun.
Algot Runeman wrote:... I would let a granddaughter take the credit for these self-glorifying stories, but that trick seems to have been taken by another participant in the forum.
Hey, don't let silly old me stop you. We're in a forum about fiction, aren't we?
Moreover, with my grandma and your granddaughter surely six generations apart, there is sufficient leeway.
equipoise\EE-kwuh-poiz; EK-wuh-\ , noun: 1. A state of being equally balanced; equilibrium; -- as of moral, political, or social interests or forces. 2. Counterbalance.
What matters is the poetry, and the truest readings of it "are those which are sensitive to the strangeness of Marvell's genius: its delicate equipoise, held between the sensual and the abstract, its refusal to treat experience too tidily, the uncanny tremor of implication that makes the poems' lucid surfaces shimmer with a sense of something undefined and undefinable just beneath."
-- James A. Winn, "Tremors of Implication", New York Times, July 9, 2000
I cannot see how the unequal representation which is given to masses on account of wealth becomes the means of preserving the equipoise and the tranquillity of the commonwealth.
-- Edmund Burke, "Reflections on The Revolution In France",
Our little lives are kept in equipoise
By opposite attractions and desires.
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Haunted Houses",
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equipoise is equi-, "equal" + poise, from Middle English poisen, "to balance, weigh," from Old French peser, pois-, ultimately from Latin pensare, "to weigh."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
At any social event where my grandma made her regal entrance and slowly took off her fur coat, all desultory conversation stopped abruptly.
Of course my grandma, when taking off her fur coat, impressed her audience with her sensual and laissez-faire equipoise, unmatched by any of her contemporary professional strip tease performers. Understandably all male bystanders were overwhelmed with her sex appeal and self-confidence.
Though my judgment was no doubt affected by all the wine we'd consumed, I remember being elated by our performance that night: our inspired spur-of-the-moment dialogue, the actors fleshing out their roles with such brio.
-- Gail Godwin, Evensong
For him, life must be a party, a ball, an endless carnival. Each person must invent a role for himself and play it with brio.
-- Lydia Flem, Casanova: The Man Who Really Loved Women (translated by Catherine Temerson)
The Internet has always been home to plenty of unvarnished brio.
-- Timothy L. O'Brien, "Corporate Love Letters: Youstink.Com", New York Times, April 4, 1999
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brio is Italian, from Spanish brio or Provençal briu, both of Celtic origin.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
insouciant\in-SOO-see-uhnt\ , adjective: 1. Marked by lighthearted unconcern or indifference; carefree; nonchalant.
The insouciant gingerbread man skips through the pages with glee, until he meets his . . . demise at the end.
-- Judith Constantinides, "The Gingerbread Man", School Library Journal, April 2002
They don't seem to care whether they become stars or not, and their irony . . . has a scoffing, insouciant feel.
-- Thomas Frank, "Pop music in the shadow of irony", Harper's Magazine, March 1998
There's a Steely Dan-ish wit to the title track ("The truth itself is nothing but a gamble/It might or might not set you free"), but Peyroux tosses off the lines with an insouciant shrug of the shoulders.
-- Geoffrey Himes, "Getting to the Heart of It", Washington Post, June 19, 2009
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Insouciant is from the French, from in-, "not" + souciant, "caring," present participle of soucier, "to trouble," from Latin sollicitare, "to disturb," from sollicitus, "anxious." The noun form is insouciance.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
Sidney had a saucy aunt whose behavior raised the eyebrows of most around her. She cast insouciant glances as she passed among them. Some envied her free spirit as she swayed down the street and some secretly coveted her, as well. None of it mattered to her. Their concerns and desires meant nothing to her. Her plans lay ahead, far from this little town.
luminary\LOO-muh-nair-ee\ , noun: 1. Any body that gives light, especially one of the heavenly bodies. 2. A person of eminence or brilliant achievement.
There's something comforting in those occasional lapses when a luminary lurches and trips over the humble stone his powerful torch somehow failed to reveal.
-- Brad Leithauser, "You Haven't Heard the Last of This", New York Times, August 30, 1998
. . .such jazz luminaries as Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Louis Armstrong, and Earl Hines.
-- Daniel Mark Epstein, Nat King Cole
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luminary derives from Latin luminare, "a window," from lumin-, lumen, "light."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
furtive\FUR-tiv\ , adjective: 1. Done by stealth; surreptitious; secret; as, a furtive look. 2.Expressive of stealth; sly; shifty; sneaky. 3. Stolen; obtained by stealth. 4. Given to stealing; thievish; pilfering.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Furtive is from Latin furtivus, from furtum, "theft," from fur, "thief."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
Despite his carefully crafted air of insouciance, the thief couldn't stop himself from the occasional furtive glance at the elderly grandmother's fur coat.
celerity\suh-LAIR-uh-tee\ , noun: 1. Rapidity of motion or action; quickness; swiftness.
Though not in the best of physical form, he was capable of moving with celerity.
-- Malachy McCourt, A Monk Swimming: A Memoir
Furthermore, as is well known, computer technology grows obsolete with amazing celerity.
-- Alan S. Blinder and Richard E. Quandt, "The Computer and the Economy", The Atlantic, December 1997
The lightning celerity of his thought processes took you on a kind of helter-skelter ride of surreal non-sequiturs, sudden accesses of emotion and ribald asides, made all the more bizarre for being uttered in those honeyed tones by the impeccably elegant gent before you.
-- "A life full of frolics", The Guardian, May 19, 2001
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celerity is from Latin celeritas, from celer, "swift." It is related to accelerate.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
"Budge up, yeh great lump." -- Hagrid, HP:SS
-=-
The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador
undulation\uhn-juh-LEY-shuhn, uhn-dyuh-, -duh-\ , noun: 1. A regular rising and falling or movement to alternating sides; movement in waves. 2. A wavelike form, outline, or appearance. 3. One of a series of waves or wavelike segments.
Considering the difficulty of the golf course, the severe undulation of the greens, the magnitude of the event and the quality of the competition, Inkster ranked it as her greatest victory, particularly because she turned 42 last month.
-- Clifton Brown, "GOLF; One for the Ages, As Inkster Wins U.S. Open at 42", New York Times, July 8, 2004
Both works suggest depth; "Greenscreen" feels as if you could tumble into it, whereas "Mt. Shasta" depicts it via landscape. Even the hint at undulation achieved with subtle shifts in shadow echoes the mountain's shape.
-- Cate McQuaid, "An artist with breathtaking scope: Painter races from concept to caress", Boston Globe, January 17, 2008
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Undulation is from Late Latin undula, "a small wave," diminutive of Latin unda, "wave."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
Though a fur coat somewhat concealed the appealing sexy shape of my grandma's curvaceous body, this was more than offset by the exquisite undulation of her graceful walk.
By the early 1500s rice was being planted on the Cape Verde island most propitious for agriculture, Santiago.
-- Judith A. Carney, Black Rice
It is hard to imagine a less propitious start to a marriage: in a single blow Vincent forfeited the trust of his wife, the respect of her family, and the means of his own support.
-- Matthew Sturgis, Aubrey Beardsley: A Biography
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Propitious derives from Latin propitius, "favorable."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
"Budge up, yeh great lump." -- Hagrid, HP:SS
-=-
The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador
When my grandpa first met my grandma, he was in the fur coat business. She considered him a most propitious young man and didn't hesitate to lavishly bestow her protean favors on him with fervid celerity.
E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:Though a fur coat somewhat concealed the appealing sexy shape of my grandma's curvaceous body, this was more than offset by the exquisite undulation of her graceful walk.
I must confess to feeling a bit ... unsettled ... by the use of sexually propitious adjectives regarding one's own grandparent. Personally, I'd rather chisel out my own bicuspids with a rusty 10 penny nail and a roofing mallet, than think that way about my late paternal or maternal grandmother.
E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:Though a fur coat somewhat concealed the appealing sexy shape of my grandma's curvaceous body, this was more than offset by the exquisite undulation of her graceful walk.
I must confess to feeling a bit ... unsettled ... by the use of sexually propitious adjectives regarding one's own grandparent. Personally, I'd rather chisel out my own bicuspids with a rusty 10 penny nail and a roofing mallet, than think that way about my late paternal or maternal grandmother.
This is a case of my perpetual English ambiguity problem: is this hyperbole, good-natured fencing, sharp-edged sarcasm or just straight raw opinion?
So is your statement part of the game or are you really admonishing me for what you consider unsettling? If the first I can grin and ignore it, if the latter I must seriously reflect on it.
