August 2010 – Page 2

Happy Unbirthday!

Icing on the cake (according to WIKI Answers, that phrase is a uniquely English aphorism. The etymology of “icing on the cake” is probably as simple as it appears: something sweeter on top of something already sweet)

Last night, I had the typical, come-to-class and take-the-final and oh-my-god-I’m-not-prepared dream.

Seems though, it was to be a vocabulary test, and I was hopeful that I’d wing it.

Then, change of plans! No test was to be given. YES! Go to the head of the class!

Next thing I know I’m in a room with a multitude of store-bought birthday cakes – the ultimate birthday cake party — some chocolate, mostly vanilla, and I was eating all the icing I could scoop up with my finger. Big gobs. Whole roses. The fluting décor that skirts the bottom of the cake…

The taste, I admit, wasn’t always full flavored. Some was a little stiff, tasteless, a day old. But most wasn’t, and I was eating away, along with another lady – she was taking some of hers home in a plastic container for later.

Then, I tried a glob of chocolate icing, usually not my favorite, and the lady wanted the green leaf. I gave her some, I guess, but not much. YUM. Taste that chocolate!

A dream come true! No final exam AND all the icing I could eat. No holds barred (which, by the way, is a wrestling term, which means “no rules, no restrictions”).

WHAT was that ALL about? Food for thought…

Footnote: My daughter, the social worker, once explained to me that eating the icing first has to do with wanting immediate gratification… Maybe so, but I’m excited about having a dream where I am rewarded for not being prepared. That has to be progress, except that I do have a slight stomach ache this morning.

Statements

Mandelbulb and Mandelbox

whatever they are.

This just looked like something i needed to remember and (since it’s math related), I’ll never get very far, but wanted to share this find, so here it is. Mandelbulb and Mandelbox…

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=13886600&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0

Mandelbox Zoom from hömpörgő on Vimeo.

To read about this kind of stuff, go here. I didn’t know such a thing existed, and I still don’t know that such a thing exists. anyway…

inspiration

I love South Florida mornings

It will get sweltering, but early mornings are delightful. Here’s a peek into my back yard!

I am not a gardener, but, I don’t care! My back yard looks great to me. No grass to contend with — drip irrigation, so I don’t have to water, and even though some numskull planted the oak tree under the power line, I can still have it pruned in such a way that it’s not a problem (yet). And another piece of good news — the mosquitoes don’t care about me anymore!

I think about my mother when I enjoy my back yard. Her’s was so perfect, manicured and prim, blooming and verdant. But I think she’d have liked my yard, too.

Statements

Urban dictionary: Bitch

I can pick and I can choose (that’s my definition).

Here’s one from the urbandictionary.com

noun 1. the new black 2. (obsolete) a former term of approbation for a woman who acted too forward, self-assured; a woman who did not conform to the patriarchal dictate that women be quiet, submissive, and un-opinionated.

Boy: “Why is that woman wearing such an heavy air of confidence and demonstrating such dead-on assertion?”

Friend: “Haven’t you heard? Bitch is the new black.”

Statements

Let’s have some bitchin’ fun

I loved this. So (bitchin) fun, for no good reason…

Here’s an email that Bob (for a visual, see him here, second down to the left) sent to his friends this weekend.

I get upset when I can’t understand current journalese, and I have NO IDEA what is meant by “she’s the girl who’s more likely to rock a tiny heart tat than a full, fire–breathing back piece.” Can anyone explain, please? And a related question: Is there any online dictionary, thesaurus, or translation website that would help in a situation like this….????

(….the following is a direct quote from an article about the woman likely to be cast in the Hollywood remake of GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO.) Ellen Page: Page is definitely the most mainstream actress that Fincher is reported to be considering. She skyrocketed to fame after playing a pregnant teen in ‘Juno,’ and this summer she hit the big screen again as a dream architect in ‘Inception’. Her name will probably bring more buzz to the film. Still, Page has a childish quality to her — she’s the girl who’s more likely to rock a tiny heart tat than a full, fire-breathing back piece.”

Here’s what I wrote back:

Wow. i might know the answer to that! here’s my guess. She’s a girl who would choose a tiny heart tattoo over a huge weird tattoo on the back of her head. urbandictionary.com – they have rock, tat and back piece in there!

This led me to watch the movie on Netflix. I managed to get through it, although I avoid this kind of film. It oozed the worse kind of violence (rape, torture, murder) toward women. But for this post, let’s not go there. Let’s just stay with words…

The female lead, Lisbeth Salander, in the Swedish version of the film, had an enormous fire-breathing dragon on her back (So, I guess I guessed the meaning of the quote pretty close).

And then, looking at photos of Noomi Rapace and Ellen Page, I further understood. Pictures can transcend communication disconnects between generations, don’t you think?

Here’s Noomi as Lisbeth in the Swedish version

And here’s Page:

Yes, I do believe that Page has a childish quality to her — she’s the girl who’s more likely to rock a tiny heart tat than a full, fire-breathing back piece.”