Creative Vs. Formal

I have come to a conclusion. When writing formally or taking notes, I love to use the computer and type them out. When writing creatively I much prefer to hand write and then transcribe, proof read and edit simultaneously.

But where in the world is the line between formal and creative?

Well obviously notes and resumés are formal and stories, poetry, and prose are creative. But what about essays, cover letters, letters, and other small assignments such as 'informal responses'. Well essays, no matter how formal require a bit of creativity to create phrases and comparisons that will last with the reader. Cover letters themselves are very creative in that the whole point is to stand out from the rest. Letters in general depend upon their purpose and who they are sent to. And most assignments are more formal than creative. And yet I still prefer to write essays, cover letters, letters, and assignments. However I do much prefer to do pre-writing by hand. And I do not think I could 'pre-write' a blog and then transcribe. And one can argue that a blog is the truest form of prose.

Go figure.

unconceivable (ADJ)

1. not believable; incredible

syn. inconceivable
(It is actually a valid word)

Architecure

As previously mentioned (link) my Art history class is providing me with a plethora of definitions. Oddly enough for the first section, Indian Art, most of the definitions are in regards to architecture. Not only are these words necessary for my class, most of them would come in handy when describing actual factual buildings. Personally I think anyone who designs a building purely to be remembered is a sycophant. For example instead of saying "On top of the pillars there was a wonderfully sculpted phoenix," one could say "The pillar's capitol was a wonderfully sculpted phoenix." And if the receiving party doesn't understand you then you get to feel smart in explaining it. And what is a large vocabulary for if not to feel more intelligent?



Oh right, proper communication and the ability to clearly get ones point across.



Most of the words deal with arches and fences. A roundel, for instance, can be defined as "a decorative plate, panel, tablet, or the like, round in form". we learned about ones using scenes from the Buddha's life. Primarily for proslytization. Some depicted scenes included the buddha taming a mad elephant and the dream of Queen Maya. We saw roundels on fences of Buddhist Stuppa's (that's a definition for another day). We also talked about the columns, and the lintels which is "a horizontal architectural member supporting the weight above an opening, as a window or a door". Basically the horizontal bit above columns. Both the roundels and lintels were quite the spectacles.
What I found most interesting about this section was that most of this stuff was made out of red sandstone. Red sandstone is much redder than I thought, perhaps not vermilion but very close. What I have deduced about both the Buddhist and Hindu beliefs is that they are anything but anthropocentric. However Hinduism seems to be less autonomous for the lower classes. I would love to explain my professor, however to do so would be do be detracting. I would have to describe her as jejun and not very austere. And then i would have to abjure my statements.
Random thought: Do you ever wonder if there is large amount of comstockery going on in the universities?

challenge: (N)(V)
1. a call or summons to engage in any contest, as of skill, strength, etc.
2. something that by its nature or character serves as a call to battle, contest, special effort, etc.: Space exploration offers a challenge to humankind.
3. difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.
–verb (used with object)
4. to summon to a contest of skill, strength, etc.
5. to take exception to; call in question: to challenge the wisdom of a procedure.
6. Archaic. to lay claim to.
7. to make or issue a challenge.

(I cut this down from 23 for you)

Here's your challenge: How many words that I have previously defined did I use in this rant?

Well, have fun I am off to play with something effulgent!

Soap Box Preacher

If you ever hear the word 'Evangelism' what comes to mind. Allow me to guess. What you don't want me to, to bad. Crazy man, over zealous charismatic Christians, weirdos on your door step? Likely at least one of the above. Sadly it's not true. Evangelism comes in all forms, and people often don't even realize they're being evangelized. This is a word that has become entirely made up of its connotation:

Evangelism (N)
Zealous preaching and dissemination of the gospel, as through missionary work.

even the dictionary seems biased. What is one to do? Suffer I suppose. All evangelism originally was was telling the world the Word of God. Alright, so I'll admit it has Christian origins, but it's Greek, not my fault.

However the real reason for this post is that my art history class has provided me with a plethora of new terms, not all new. So now I really have no excuse not to post. Well, we shall all see what happens. But here you are, not one but two new definitions (however synonymous).

proselytization (v)
1. Tto convert or attempt to convert as a proselyte; recruit
2. To induce someone to convert to one's own religious faith.
3. To induce someone to join one's own political party or to espouse one's doctrine.

Personally, I think this ones sounds more like crazy people on my door step.

Failed

I haven't posted since May 20th. Wow. Shame on me. Well since then I've gotten a new job for my government at the provincial park entry and campground office. With a very nice paycheck also allowing me more free time at the end of the summer which is a big de-stresser. Best part of the job, I am almost guaranteed it next summer.

A while ago, actually the week in the May 25th, I was playing a game of cranium with friends in my basement. My team got a 'lexicon' card. For those that don't know, it's a multiple choice question in regards to a words definition.

Thanks to April 29th's post I knew for sure that 'a rampaging elephant' was incorrect because the Latin word for elephant was based on pachyderm. Eventually my partner and I decided on an answer which was correct.

The word was Sycophant and means:
(N)
a self seeking, servile flatter; fawning parasite. (Random house dictionary via dictionary.com)
or according to the game "someone who gives false compliments and praise".

And I promised a friend that this would be the basis of my next rant. So there you have it.

Tea Time

Tea was fun. The real adventure was making my cake.

The first one (the top part) I made the batter, maybe didn't beat the eggs enough, not too terrible. Went to turn on the oven so it could go in and the oven broke. I called a friend to use her oven and she wasn't going to be home, so I couldn't and so I went to the church and used that oven (yay for my dad).

Needless to say that cake was quite a bit denser then the bottom part. I made the second one after our oven got fixed. It was much lighter and fluffier than the first. In the middle was a concoction of pudding and whipped cream with blueberries. Then decorated with whipping cream and blueberries. Looks cool no?
You can also see our fancy table settings. The dark coloured china and the dark blueberries was intentionally planned (:P).















These are the invites I made. I addressed each one as Ms. "_____" simply because it made it sound that much more formal. Note the little fancy edge. That took forever using fancy scissors.

It sounds stupid but engineering the little bow that held it together took major effort. Originally I had intended to have the lace go all the way around the inside of the invite, but I couldn't figure out a simple way. But I refused to give up on the idea of having a bow hold them closed. So I cheated and only had the bow.

And today's definition is only because it's primarily british.
Portmanteau [pawrt-man-toh, pohrt-man-toh] (the emphasis can be on either the second or third syllable)(N)
- a case or bag to carry clothing in while travelling especially a leather trunk or suitcase that opens in two halves.
SYN: Suitcase

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EDIT: Dear God this was impossible to line up, the preview button lies!!!

Cakes

Do have any idea how to make a sponge cake?

I don't.

And I am going to attempt one on Saturday. Not just any sponge cake mind you, but cool, sweet totally wicked awesome looking spongecake. That is barring any catastophes or regular problems.

Assuming I manage to successfully create two sponge cakes (that's right two, because one stupid challenge isn't enough for me:P) I will then have to maneuver them on top of each other bonded together, of course, with sweet sugar whipped goodness. Then decorate it all pretty like. And then manage to serve it. This will be fun, worst come to worse? ENGLISH TRIFLE! (This has become my save all dish for when cakes go crash, literally and figuratively.)

Aside from that, I have some excellent ideas for little mini sandwiches. They're even easier because you can simply cut one sandwich into many via little squares or little strips. Yay for fancy finger foods.

If you haven't figured it out. I am hosting tea on Saturday. Not just any tea, but an elite tea with three guests and a dress code of dresses (hats, gloves and accents are optional).

Why am I hosting tea? Because it sounds like horrible fun, and besides, just because we grew up did not mean we grew out of tea parties. All it means is that we grew up into the fancy tea sets and the ability to actually make the fancy foods that go with it.

trifle [trahy-ful] (N)
1. a dessert usually consisting of custard and cake soaked in wine or liqueur, and jam, fruit or the like
2. anything small or trivial
3. an article or thing of little value
4. a matter, affair, or circumstance of trivial value or importance
5. a kind of pewter made of medium hardness
6. a small quantity of anything
7. a literary, musical, or artistic work of light or trivial character having no great or lasting merit; bagatelle
(V)
8. to deal lightly or without due seriousness or respect
9. to play or toy by handling or fingering
10. to act or talk in a frivolous way
11. to pass time idly or frivolously; waste time; idle

Wow, a lot of definitions for one itty bitty word.

bagatelle [bag-uh-tel] (N)
1. something of little value or importance; a trifle
2. a game played on a board having holes at one end into which balls are stuck with a cue
3. a short and light musical composition, typically for a piano.

And that folks is a word with many uses, actually a few uses but a large variety.

Maybe next week I will have pictures of the cake. (Alas, I do not have pictures of the adorable invitations I made unless one of my guests is willing to lend me theirs back.)

Apologies

So Wednesday passed and I never posted anything ^^' I'm slipping. But I've barely started, well to my two readers sorry.

Not too much to rant about right now, no any fancy definitions to pester you with. I need my classes back to give me words I do not understand.

I have no evil professors nor evil classes to rant about, as they all finished for the summer. And my grades, well I deserve the grades I got (mostly) so I can't even rant about that.

My cat's are kittenish and cute as always.

I do greatly dislike gardening though. It is boring and no matter how much dirt you haul to make a new flower bed it is never enough! And then when all the dirt has been hauled one has to plant the flowers and hedges. With all that done, it must be weeded and watered, whilst doing this it has to be edges to look all pretty. Fine so it looks pretty in the end and it all works out, however we are making three new flower beds this year. THREE <excessive !> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</excessive !> why three? The answer is simple so that the yard looks nice and the massive amount of pine trees look nice at the ground instead of a drip line and millions of pine cones and needles.

So I guess I did have a rant in me.

detraction [di-trac-shun] (N)
1. the act of disparaging or belittling the reputation or worth of a person, work

je-jun [ji-joon](ADJ)
1. without interest or significance; dull; insipid
2. juvenile; immature; childish
3. lacking knowledge or experience; uninformed
4. deficient or lacking in nutritive value
5. lacking matter; empty; void of substance
-ly (ADV)
-ness, -nity (N)

Random and interesting always fun.

Mouse VS Elephant

mouse{mouz] (N)
any similar small animal of various rodent or marsupial family

elephant [el-uh-funt] (N)
Either of two very large herbivorous mammals, Elephas maximus of south-central Asia or Loxodonta africana of Africa, having thick, almost hairless skin, a long, flexible, prehensile trunk, upper incisors forming long curved tusks of ivory, and, in the African species, large fan-shaped ears.


A mouse is an elephant built by the Japanese.

That is all.

One Word

So I am now finally starting my finals. Studying has commenced for a week now, and it is amazing at how much the understanding of one class is dependent on one word. One single bloody word. A word that the instructor(s) do not feel the need to explain, one that they assumed should be understood before the class is taken. And of course these are the profs that move so quickly that keeping up with the notes is all one can do let alone ask questions.
So in studying I have found theses two terms to be of great importance and I did not know the full definition, that is I knew them in context but the full meaning was lost. (How can you tell that I've been working on essay questions?)

anthropocentric[an-thruh-poh-sen-trik] (ADJ)
1.regarding the human being as the central fact of the universe
2.assuming human beings to be the final aim and end of the universe
3. viewing and interpreting everything in terms of human experience and values

autonomy [aw-ton-uh-mee] pl -mies (N)
1. independence or freedom, as of the will or one's actions
2. the condition of being autonomous; self government or the right of self government; independence
3. a self governing community
4. the quality or state of being independent, free and self directing
5. independence from the group as a whole in the capacity for a part of growth, reactivity or responsiveness.

Remember, a dictionary is ones friend. An annoying, heavy, smarter-than-you, overly confident friend, but a friend nonetheless.

And now I go back to studying for a class I almost certainly can not do too well in. Adieu.

Flitch

The whole purpose of lent is to come closer to Christ. You give up things to realize how much hold the world has on etc. My church says I fast strictly, luckily my parents weren't evil when I was young and we only fasted from meat. No meat, dairy, oil and fish. Tried that once, got very sick very fast, doctor said never again ^^'.

Do you have any idea how much meat we consume in North America?
This is from the site World Watch Institute

Global meat consumption is expected to grow 2 percent each year until 2015, especially in developing countries where eating meat is seen as a sign of wealth and prosperity. Half of the world's pork is now eaten in China, while Brazil is the second largest consumer of beef, after the United States.

Forty-three percent of the world's beef is raised on factory feedlots, and more than half of the world's pork and poultry is raised on factory farms.

An estimated 70 percent of all antibiotics in the U.S. are fed to pigs, poultry, and cattle merely to promote growth and compensate for the unsanitary and confined conditions on factory farms. By volume, livestock in the country consume eight times more antibiotics than humans do.

With its high meat content, the average U.S. diet requires twice as much water per person per day as an equally nutritious vegetarian diet. A meat-rich meal made with imported ingredients also emits nine times as much carbon as a vegetarian meal made with domestic ingredients that don't have to be hauled long distances.

A diet high in grain-fed meat can require two to four times more land than a vegetarian diet.

The summary: we eat way more meat than we should. Look at what you eat in a day, got a picture of that in your head? Good. Now imagine what people used to eat. Mostly bread, or rice or something grain depending where you were from. A grain and a legume give you one complete protein. Look at how healthy they were. So even if the food we're consuming is prepared healthily and not mainly made out of fat/grease, we're still eating out of proportion. Try eating vegetarian for some time like a week; you'll notice just how much meat we consume. That's without even being vegan.

Can you tell I miss meat? Oh well, only about 3 more days.

Flitch [flich] (N)
1. salted and cured side of a pig
2. fish steak cut from a halibut
(also has some uses in carpentry, but that doesn't fit with the rant now does it?)

According to dictionary.com "flitch" originate from Swift's writings. You know, the guy who wrote Gulliver's Travels.