P-utrid?

How many words can you come up with for unpleasant things that begin with the letter 'P?'

Pictured to the right is a punch. Not pleasant. Not pleasant at all! Get to typing!

[editor's note: I know I'll regret asking at some point when somebody comes up with something truly nasty, so forgive my curiosity in advance...]

Words I Don't Know: 'N'

I combed the "N" section of the pocket-sized dictionary I owned, trying to cull the words that to this point in my life had eluded me. This was all I came up with:

neonate: a baby four weeks or younger.

That's it. That's everything.

Now, on the other hand there are plenty of words that I like such as nefarious and nepotism. Got any favorites from the letter "N"?

Friday Fun Day (Word Puzzle)

TWO PUZZLES FROM LOSTDOG:

puzzle 1:

































































puzzle 2:








































Here's one I made up:

This Day in History - February 22nd

Hello, History lovers and welcome to another addition of This Day in History! (Little known fact: the study of history is called history!)

Today, February 22nd, has a long and colorful history in the events of our planet. Let us begin.

First of all, it was on February 22, 300009BC that fish completely evolved into flying turnips. And that is why we have land vegetation.

February 22nd also gave us the births of George Washington in 1732, first President of the United States and the bain of cherry trees everywhere; Jean-Bédel Bokassa in 1921, military leader and later self-proclaimed king of Central Africa (reputed to be a canibal, but never proven); Jeri Ryan in 1968, American Actress who would haunt the reveries of lonely nerds for years to come, thanks to her tightly-clad portrayal of Seven of Nine on the popular space-age series Star Trek: Voyager.

Oh, and Drew Barrymore in '75.

Moving on to the deaths of February 22nd. Since someone has to die on this day, we are selecting a handful of eventful deaths to show that February 22nd is even-handed when it comes to mortality. Dead as a doornail on this day in 1799 Heshen, imperial brown-noser and eventual destroyer of the Qing dynasty, allowed to commit suicide at home rather than suffer the "death by a thousand cuts" promised him by the judge. Other notable dead leaders include a sheik, a Sicilian king, a Count named Flanders, and this guy who apparently helped keep things chilly during the cold war only to end up full of hot lead in 2002.

In other dead news, lots of artists went down on this day in history. Among them were Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in 1875, father of the Impressionist movement, and Andy Warhol in 1987, father of the weird, albino, fruitcakes movement (aka Pop Art).

And last but not least, February 22nd was a good day for the Catholic Church. Not only is today the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter (they eat chairs? What?), but it also marks the auspicious day to celebrate the celebate St. Isabel of France (and for a Frenchwoman, that's a pretty impressive feat). They also saw two popes bepoped in the years 1281 and 1288.

Happy February 22, 2007! What's going on today in your history?

Crunchy Critters = Entomophagy

The study of bugs as lunch is called entomophagy. The study covers all human and non-human aspects of insects gettin' et up. I am directing you to a wikipedia page, but if you are fragile, do not read the section entitled "unintentional entomophagy." You have been warned.

You learned something new today I bet! : )

Democratic Squirrels

Hahahahaha! (I'm sorry.) Hahahahahaha! HA! (excuse me.)

Pop Princess in Close Shave

Britney Spears flies coach from FL to LA on Friday, stops into a hair salon and requests a completely shaved head. The kindly owner of the establishment refuses and tried to mother the poor girl a bit. At which point Britney takes a set of clippers and shaves her own head. The owner takes pity and evens up the trim for her (making the best out of a bad situation) where upon Britney reportedly looked at the mirror and cried, "What have I done? My mom's gonna kill me." She then decided to cross town to a local tattoo parlor where she got two tattoos. A crowd gathering outside vied for glimpses of the meltdown volcano inside.

Good girl, Britney. Way to scare yourself silly by doing something non-lethal, but visually appalling. Way to cry for attention in some way that will not have permanent lasting effect. I applaud you. And now, let's see if we can help you get some dignity back, too.

Word Puzzle Redux

Since anonymous got the answer so quickly I thought I throw out another quick Word Puzzle for the weekenders. Love and kisses! (It's easy, you'll see right through this one.)

Or Try this one on for size:

Quote of the Day

Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?

~Henry Ward Beecher

North Dakota

Did you know...

...the capital is Bismarck
...it's the birthplace of Angie Dickinson, Phil Jackson and Lawrence Welk
...17th largest state
...milk is the official state beverage
...the town of Rugby is the geographical center of North America (a 15 foot obelisk marks the spot)
...the town of Rutland cooked the World's Largest Hamburger weighing 3,591 lbs, feeding 10,000 (now been surpassed by an 8,000 lb burger, I believe...gross!)
...grows more sunflowers than any other state, but the state flower is the wild prairie rose
...the all time high was 121º F at Steele on July 6, 1936
...the all time low was -60ºF at Parshall on Febraury 15, 1936

Friday Fun Day (Word Puzzle)

And now for all of you who think you are so smart, (I don't know why I think these will be hard for you. You seem to get all my puzzles instantly. p.s. I will post your entries if you send them to me.) here is this week's word puzzle. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, too!

Las Vegas Elopement 411

This is terribly romantic...

But then, I'm a sucker for poor decisions. : )

Happy Valentine's, everybody!

Words I Don't Know: 'M'

From the pages of my dainty 35,000 word pocket dictionary:

mantilla: a scarf or short cape (of mantle)

martinet: a strict disciplinarian

meretricious: related to prostitution

militate: (I read the definition and I still don't know what it means.)

minuend: a number from which a subtrahend is to be subtracted

moot: (I did not know this definition: see adjective) open to debate, questionable

multiplicand: a number that is to be multiplied by another

mycology: study of fungi

myna (mynah) : Asian starling

Bonus points to anyone who will write a short story using all these words in the densest possible fashion (dense meaning closely packed together, not stupid... although that could be fun, too!)

Monday Madness (Word Puzzle)

I was sick last week and failed to produce the word puzzles given to me for Friday Fun Day. Forgive. I am better now and proudly present two puzzles for your amusement, compliments of Worldgineer:



Puzzle 1





























Puzzle 2

Blonde Ambition

The already tragic Anna Nicole Smith has assured herself a tragic ending by dying in her hotel room yesterday. Her five-month old daughter Danielynn and several hungry paternity suits survive her. Her dream of being the next Marilyn Monroe seems to have reached it's fruition. Best known for marrying an old billionare and acting crazy at the 2004 American Music Awards. (Video here)


Tabloid execs everywhere are grieving.

And now, a few snapshots of her (strange) life:

Best Comeback Ever?

When someone else's child in the grocery store says, "Can she be my new mommy?" As her dad blushes, what should a young woman say?

(Story from Marie over on Multiply)

Success

"Get up one time more than you're knocked down. "

~Peter's Principle

The Empty Space and You

I've been a little busy of late, adjusting tags on my old posts. So if things seem slow here on the front end, it is because I am tinkering with the guts of the blog.

Also, I have a new (old) site on wordpress waiting for me to spur it on to greater things. (Have I mentioned it before? Only two years ago!)My new glorious web address is ksrasra.com. What could be simpler or more refined than that? Nothing, I tell you. And right now, nothing is exactly what I have posted over there.

Before I blaze trails and haul my worthy readers to a new site, I thought I would ask you all, what would you like to see on the new site? Are there features of YLSN(a)ED that you like, features you don't like? I'm asking your opinion. You don't even have to be a regular reader. Your vote counts!

How cold was it?

Last night the temperature in Cleveland dipped to a chilly -19ºF (that's -28ºC). Right now on a Monday morning, we're bristling with a sunny, but chilly 1ºF.



Why!?! Winter, why? *breaks down crying*

Ga$ FYI

If you are like me, you may have been tempted to sock in a few extra dollars for higher octane gasoline ready for the added benefits higher mpg it promises. Read the facts from the Federal Trade Commission.

*sigh* Now I have to wean my Volvo off the stuff. *grumble*

Puzzle Me

Apparently, my word puzzles are easier than trash to pick out, so I'm throwing this whole genre wide open to my adorable public. You have a better word puzzle idea? (and for the sake of sanity, we will limit the entries to four pictures or less) Email it to me at ksrasra AT gmail DOT com. I will post them on Fridays for the amusement of all our readers!

Friday Fun Day (Word Puzzle)

Word of the Day

Epistemology